When the iPad was first launched, it was marketed as a device to assist businesses and people in their everyday lives. Despite this, no one could have predicted how versatile the device would become. It can do anything a smartphone or laptop does and more. Perhaps most surprising of all is how popular the iPad has become as a gaming device, and you can find out the prices of these over at the Phones4u’s o2 shop.

It’s large and ultra-responsive touchscreen lends itself perfectly to some genuinely unique and hugely addictive games, turning the world of mobile gaming on its head. According to John Riccitello, the CEO of games developers Electronic Arts, the iPad is now the fastest growing gaming platform.

In a recent interview with gaming blog IndustryGamers, Riccitello spoke of how the entire gaming industry is changing, with focus increasingly becoming shifted to mobile devices like the iPad, despite it only being on the market for 18 months. He suggested that gamers are moving away from devices with incredibly advanced, powerful hardware saying, “I would argue that there’s more to be provided in terms of value for the consumer in micro-transactions and social experiences and driving those better in cross-platform gameplay between a console and a PC and a handheld device and a social network than there is supercharging graphics.”

This statement seems to suggest that the future for gaming industry does not lie in creating more and more powerful consoles, opting instead to develop cross-platform games for consoles, mobile gaming devices, smartphones and tablets. This comes after it was announced that consoles now make up 40 per cent of the gaming industry whereas, as recently as 2000, they made up 80 per cent.

The iPad’s gaming success has been due in part to affordable, highly addictive games like Angry Birds HD and Cut the Rope. But will it ever be enough to please hard core gamers and eliminate the need for consoles altogether? Only time will tell.