So The New iPad Is Graphically Superior To The PlayStation Vita

Portable game consoles have one big problem: Tablets. Tablets are refreshed pretty much yearly; Google, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon fire them out like clockwork, every year. True, tablet processors are a bit behind, say, the more advanced desktops.

But the simple fact of the matter is that Moore’s Law is on the side of tablets.

And now there’s a a benchmark that should make Sony very, very nervous.

It’s pretty straightforward, really, as VentureBeat explains:

The new iPad uses the new A6X processor, which includes a new graphics processing unit (GPU) that is twice as powerful as the third-generation iPad. As we noted in our review of the PlayStation Vita, the Vita has a nearly identical GPU to the third-generation iPad. The only differences are the clock speed and design architecture (to fit the Vita’s processor). This latest iPad — which is a tablet, not a dedicated game console — has a more powerful GPU than the PlayStation Vita.

This doesn’t mean the fourth generation iPad is going to destroy the Vita: Raw graphical power isn’t everything, not least because the Vita has a few other advantages, like actual buttons, a smaller screen, and the fact the Vita actually has a better CPU, with a quad-core processor that can get up to double the speed of the current iPad.

That said, though, Moore’s Law is not Sony’s friend, here. And it makes sense to compare the two, as the Vita is the victim of increasingly lowered sales expectations and increasingly mobile games are selling more, although mobile is not necessarily the land of plenty even when you make an awesome game.

It probably says a lot that Microsoft is rumored to be getting into portables… with a 7-inch tablet.

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