With today seeing the launch of the latest version of the iPad family, and the expected advances in technology seeing the introduction of an HD screen and an improved processor, this might be the moment when tablet gaming becomes the real next big thing, bridging the gap until the arrival of the next generation consoles and hopefully cementing a position that will see it continue to grow beyond even that point. It is roundly expected that the iPad 3 will be one of the most powerful tablets on the market, and though there are some suggestions that the engine will be a souped up A5 processor rather than the desired A6 (which will instead beef up the iPhone 5 after the unspectacular reception of the 4S), it will still be a formidable machine on which to play games, and one that could well offer exactly the right kind of showcase for tablet gaming. I'm not talking mobile gaming on tablets here: that term seems to have developed to mean only the disposable gaming experience that one has on a smart-phone, limited by the time it takes to commute, and with game design that is explicitly influenced by that rampant episodic consumerism. No I mean gaming that considers the tablet to be a genuine competitor for consoles in terms of the gaming experience, with perpetual play defined conventionally by save points and deep gaming encouraged at every turn. We already have that type of gaming thanks to the wonderfully game-changing On Live system, whose app allows for tablet gaming of console staples like Arkham Assylum and Pro Evo 12 - games which would require a refit to work as mobile games in other words. And there is every suggestion that tablet gaming will play a massive part of the market by the end of the year, when the Wii U is eventually released. That console will draw on the technology of the mostly failed uDraw tablet (which was cruelly over-looked by most gamers, but which was undoubtedly ahead of its time), to bring tablet control to gaming in a major way. If Apple really wants to herald the next stage of tablet gaming, then the iPad 3 powers that be should have their eyes cast firmly on the market development that the WiiU will certainly inspire. And if they can develop an alternative to the DVA adapter that will allow link-up with a TV in such a way that mimicks the WiiU's controller dynamic, making the iPad 3 a hugely advanced games controller as well as a console in its own right, then Apple will rightly be considered as a power to be reckoned with on the gaming market. Heaven knows they have the money to bring about that development. So here's to the iPad 3, and all the gaming developments she might well bring with her.