While the third generation of the iPod Touch disappointed a good lot of folks when it came out without a camera module (like everyone was expecting), it should appease the complaints with what Apple ended up packing it with. Simply put, the iPod Touch 3G is now a full-fledged gaming console, in addition to its already powerful range of features.
So why was the camera left out? According to Steve Jobs, the decision was made to keep the cost of the device on par with both the PSP and the DS, the two most prevalent current-gen handheld gaming consoles today. With the wealth of top games (including ones from notable publishers like EA and Gameloft) now available from the App Store, the Touch 3G has received the corresponding hardware upgrade necessary to put it on par with those machines.
Nothing was changed with the device from the outside, as it sports the same 110 x 62 x 8.5 mm dimensions, 115 grams of weight and 3.5-inch touchscreen. Inside, however, the third-generation Touch now comes in 32GB and 64GB models, with full support for OpenGL ES 2.0, allowing it to process high-end 3D graphics. Performance is noticeably faster, with snappier performance on both locally-executing apps, as well as over the Wi-Fi connection.
At the current state of App Store games, the OpenGL ES 2.0 support is only really necessary for a handful of games (best guess is you can count them on two hands). As such, going for a cheaper older model doesn’t sound too bad for now. That will probably change in a year or so. For now, the extra storage is really the only defining characteristic, but should prove very necessary if you like to have tons of media files on tap.
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