Naming issues aside, the vast majority of consumers and experts [...]]]> You’d have to live in a cave to have missed Apple’s big announcement this week. The iPad’s debut, after much speculation and excitement, immediately prompted a lot of geeky infatuation and a flurry of feminine hygiene jokes. Insert “where are the wings” comment here.

Naming issues aside, the vast majority of consumers and experts seem to be divided. Is it just a big iPod touch? Or is it the wave of the future? Is it a Kindle-killer? Will Steve Jobs corner the digital publishing industry in the same way he has the legal downloading business? And what about games?

Yes, what about games?

Steve Jobs has said that the iPod Touch has become primarily a gaming device, even if that wasn’t really the intention at the outset. And the iPhone is no slouch in the gaming department either. It’s the iPhone, not the Wii or DS, that can lay claim to the title of fastest-growing video game platform.

Not only are there more titles available in the iTunes store than for both the Sony PSP and the Nintendo DS combined (over 20,000 iTunes game titles versus 600 for the PSP and 3,600 for the DS), they are also cheaper. Major titles like Sims 3 and GTA: Chinatown Wars that sell for $30 to $40 for handheld console versions sell can be purchased through iTunes for $7 and $10, respectively.

So what does all this mean for the iPad? Will we see people playing large-format touchscreen editions of GTA and the Sims on their commute home? According to the experts, maybe. In terms of playability and processing speed, the jury’s still out. The handful of titles currently available are simply re-purposed iPhone games, and those with more difficult control mechanisms don’t make the jump well. Which, for the time being, make the iPad a heavier, more awkward, less portable, more expensive version of the iPhone, but just for casual gaming.

Which brings me to the most serious issue of all – do you really want everyone on the subway knowing you play Bejeweled?