14 DAY TRIAL // The iPad and its successor are dominating the tablet market at the moment and many other developers, including the mighty HP, seem to have given up on assaulting that entrenched position but with the announcement of the Kindle Fire, which took place a few weeks ago, Amazon seems to be ready to take up this challenge and, in the process, redefine the tablet gaming market.
The Fire is set to arrive on November 15 and, for the price of 199 dollars (about 151 Euro at the moment), it will deliver a 7 inch (17.78 centimeters) screen featuring multi-touch, a dual core processor from Texas Instruments, Wi-Fi and access to the store and the online storage from Amazon.
Could gaming flourish on such a device, maybe even more than it did on the iPad from Apple and its successor?
Much will depend on the sales numbers for the Fire and on how Amazon will deal with those who will be interested in creating video game for the new platform.
The Kindle fire might benefit from the relative freedom that Amazon will allow for developers when compared to Apple, which will translate into a more varied games offering and, maybe, in PC gamers adopting the Kindle as a sort of second gaming device, to be used on the go and in bed.
Imagine a world where all big launches, like Assassin's Creed or Call of Duty or Starcraft II, comes complete with a multimedia offering on the Kindle (and probably on the iOS devices) offering some sort of tie-in book or a comic and a stripped down game linked to the same universe but using simpler mechanics.
Publishers like Electronic Arts have quickly understood that Facebook is a good platform to advertise their big games by persuading players to spend time and not necessarily money engaged with something like The Sims Social or Dragon Age: Legends.
Something similar might happen on the Kindle Fire as long as the device manages to sell, creating a new hardcore gaming platform for the PC enthusiast.