A new version of Civ is on the way. The release date is apparently late this year. It'll be good if they have a simultaneous release (or nearly so) on iPad.

Civ or Sim City would be good on an iPad. But I'd give either of them a go on any platform.

I agree with that assessment; the increased screen area would make it ideal.

Since the front page article links here...

I'm seeing the upcoming tablet as something that will be a great gaming machine - but not graphics intensive games that you play on a console or handheld. There are numerous strategy games, board game ports, and the like that have potential. Sure, it won't be big enough to play Risk on, but if they can port Monopoly or the Game of Life, or even Sim City or Civilisation, to the iPhone, I'm sure they can come up with something fun on a slate. Apple has pretty much revolutionised the casual gaming space and I reckon they'll be eyeballing it seriously.

Recently finished BioShock on the hardest setting.

The hardest could be harder, but I'll reserve final judgment on that until I play it on my new i7 iMac. I've been playing the game on the entry-level 27in iMac and the frame rate is a bit slow to accommodate more challenging gameplay. Or my mouse is too jittery. Or both.

Pixels are same the width at 2560. Height: the 30" has more, 1600 versus 1440. So basically you don't see as much of a long web page on the iMac.

The 30" is a 16:10 display whereas the iMac's is a 16:9 or true HD proportions. So on the iMac, a full screen HD movie or TV broadcast should play at 1920x1080 without black bands. The 30 incher gives us black bands.

Side by side without getting out a tape to measure, an Apple 30" Cinema HD display looks a similar size as the entire front of the iMac if you recall the large aluminium lower panel. But taking a little more care, the iMac's main body is higher. In fact it's huge but it sits lower on it's non-adjustable stand. Considering this some more... a full 30" screen with an iMac lower bezel would look very ungainly and be just too bloody big. The 27" display looks just about exactly right for this model.

The 30" is matte whereas the iMac's display is glossy glass. I had zero concerns with the 30's reflections as there are none. However, it is hard to appreciate the image quality of the iMac's because of its glossy reflections in anything but a very dark room.

The slightly higher pixel density of the iMac's does not make a lot of difference compared to the other display. But the iMac's excellent LED backlight obviously improves colour and brightness/contrast. I simply just had to have this iMac because of the superb images. Now if only those reflections...

Quick question, what's the 27" iMac's screen like compared to a 30" Cinema Display? Does the extra 3 inches make a huge difference? I'm yet to see the two together.

When the Intel Macs first started entering our lives, I was one of the early ones into slipstreaming WindowsXP DVDs. There was no Boot Camp then and drivers had to be found on the 'net. Googling geeks made it easier. It was only possible to install Windows on Mac Pros at the time because these can have spare internal hard disks. Though, for the adventurous, you could have tossed out your MacOS and replaced it with Windows on any other IntelMac. A Mac that only booted Windows! I was never that adventurous because I like to have my OS X for my productivity apps.

I played many PC games on my 2006 Mac Pro. My favourite genre has always been RPGs as I get bored quickly with FPSs. Tried lots of FPSs but I never play beyond about the first couple of hours.

So, on the Mac OS X side, I enjoy Second Life (an online 3D social networking world) which is hell on earth graphics-wise for most Macs***, except for my new 27" iMac Core i7. The iMac is far superior at Second Life than even my recent 2008 high specced Mac Pro3,1. I don't think Xeons are really suited to 3D gaming. C2Ds are better and the i5 and i7 are better again. I tried The Sims 3 on the Mac Pro but soon got tired of the repetitive nature of nursing my characters through their early lives.

As I intimated, I play almost exclusively PC games on my Macs. I don't own a working PC any more.

It's always been RPGs for me, especially those from Bethesda Softworks. Games like Morrowind, Oblivion, and now on the new iMac under Windows7, Fallout 3: Game Of The Year. Actually this is my third time through this last one; I can't get enough of it. Full detailed attention to all the expansions and all the little side quests as well as the main quest takes me five to seven months to complete depending on whether I give up on my real life or not. I have an admission to make. Fallout 3 is described as an RPG but there is a heck of a lot of FPS about it. However, I think the devs got the balance pretty right.

*** esp. if you run a big 30" display.

Unreal Tournament 2004. FPS with balls.

I just gave Command and Conquer III Tiberian Wars a go with the Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen & Touch - wow! How much more enjoyable I found it using a pen on a tablet to control the game! I never would have thought it would be so good.