Retro gaming, most people aren't retro. You don't get this. The device isn't for the Amiga user pining away in the fjords of Norway. There will always be a niche for the retro fans. The X1000 and the SAMs are proof of that, boat anchors to 99.99999% of the world, they will always sell to the true believer. iPad is about the rest of the world, who couldn't give a s**t about operating systems and just want to do things. There is talk of virtual reality games when the next version with a camera comes out. Games will change to fit this device, not the other way around. Understand that we live in 2010, a lot of young people don't even know what a joystick is.
You either embrace the future or confine yourself to a backwater. You are free to choose, but don't complain when others don't choose to follow you into the backwater....
You must not be very hip to the current gaming scene. Plenty of young people know what joysticks are, and the iPad doesn't have the same capabilities as an actual gaming rig, be it a PC or console. Games changing to fit the device means the games will probably be crap, since usually the device is made to adapt to the GAMES. Console/PC gaming has evolved nicely over 3ish decades now, and both young and old people alike realize whats up.
introducing a new platform for gaming and having the games "adapt", again proves that Apple is out of sync as far as the gaming world. The gaming feature often seems tacked on. I would love to see a game as impressive as Metal Gear Solid 4 on the iPad, and have it be perfectly playable with the touch screen.
Noone who is serious about gaming, and enjoys having an actual controller with nice, tactile response, is going to really enjoy fingering up their screen trying to play some substandard game on a 500$ clipboard, especially when for <500$ you could get a PSP AND DS, or buy a PS3 and a dickload of games.... also, Wiping the cheeto dust off a controller is alot easier than cleaning it off a touch screen also.
There is no confinement to the backwater, or old amiga farts pining away in norway. Its gamers realizing that the device is ill suited for gaming. Just like the 360 is ill suited for surfing the net, and storing notes/crap.
Trying to defend the iPad as a gaming platform is like trying to defend a baseball cap as a crash helmet.