As touchscreen technology advanced, smartphones and tablets became not only ubiquitous in everyday life, but necessary. Nowadays, it's safe to assume every consumer has a screen at their fingertips essentially all the time.

For video game players, this is known as a second screen. The iPad wasn't the beginning of second-screen gaming, but it could have been a tipping point for this idea, inviting developers to innovate on standard input methods as more players than ever had access to additional hardware. It was the right device at the right time. However, despite a few valiant tries, second-screen play didn't really stick on the iPad. Or any other device.

I'll address the obvious rebuttal first -- yes, the Nintendo Switch has a second screen. However, it's truly a single-display console, favoring either the handheld screen or the TV, but never both. Nintendo is alone among video game companies in its willingness to play with hardware design, and it often releases wildly unique devices that change the way people interact with their digital experiences. The Switch is a fine example of this ethos.

However, the Switch is an all-inclusive, proprietary piece of hardware. It doesn't leverage the devices that everyone already has -- the smartphones, tablets and laptops that are always by our sides when playing games, usually with a tab already open to GameFAQs or crafting guides or YouTube walkthroughs. This is the market the iPad could have led.

Nintendo took up the second-screen mantle in early 2002 with the Game Boy Advance link cable for the GameCube. This turned the GBA into a second screen for some GameCube titles, unlocking new modes and displaying stats like health, maps or ammo in titles including Splinter Cell, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, Phantasy Star Online, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and the original Animal Crossing.