Good point, just like "system requirements for software", "3rd party gaming controller with xx functionality required for this game" should be a no-brainer disclaimer at download time, you'd think.
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Apple Drops Requirement for tvOS Games to Use Siri Remote as Controller
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The Apple TV isn't primarily a gaming device, gaming is just an additional feature. If they included a controller and charged an extra $50 for the Apple TV, those that don't play games would be peeved.
As with all products, cater for the majority and allow the minorities to buy the additional bits they want/need unless you want sales to suffer. Case in point, Microsoft launching the Xbox One with Kinect included, far too expensive for gamers that didn't give a crap about Kinect.
This should have been standard when the Apple TV was launched. A baffling and crazy decision by Apple - it pretty much guaranteed the machine was stone cold dead as a gaming machine before it even came out in the shops!
Now time to play serious catch up and MARKET THE **** out of it.
One of Apples stranger and poorer decisions of recent times.
I've been wanting my Apple TV to become my arcade box: give me Space Invaders, Pac Man, etc in addition to the Atari, Intellivision and Activision anthologies. There should be minimal work involved in making this happen now that the controller restriction is removed.
And as for users without 3rd party controllers, enable a warning before you download a game reminding the user that a controller is required. Easy.
And as for users without 3rd party controllers, enable a warning before you download a game reminding the user that a controller is required. Easy.
Assuming there will be some kind of warning before purchasing an MFi-controller-only game, this is fantastic news. Can't wait to see what devs come up with!
Fiiinaly the common sense hit Apple !!
Apple has quietly dropped the requirement that tvOS developers make their games playable using the Siri Remote as a controller.
The policy change was discovered in an update to an existing Apple TV support document covering the use of game controllers, and highlighted by MacRumors' sister site TouchArcade as a revision that will surely be welcomed by developers.
The MFi-compatible Nimbus Steelseries Controller
The updated document now recommends to developers: "When designing a tvOS game, you may require the use of an MFi game controller, but where possible you should also support the Siri Remote."
The wording reflects a subtle but significant softening of the company's previous stance on Siri Remote controller support. At the launch of the fourth-generation Apple TV last year, Apple initially encouraged game developers to support the Siri Remote included with the device, but eventually hardened its stance by stipulating the support as a necessary requirement.
That vexed some developers who complained that the Siri Remote simply doesn't function well as a controller for more complex games that involve finer grained control and subtler movements.
The reversed stance therefore paves the way for developers to bring games to Apple TV that would have previously been considered unplayable on the platform.
On the flip side of course, it's also likely to mean that some games which subsequently appear in the Apple TV App Store will be out of reach of users who do not own a compatible third-party MFi game controller.
In related news, Apple yesterday demoed an updated Remote app for the fourth-gen Apple TV and tvOS which mirrors the functionality of the Siri Remote and also allows users to play games using their iPhone.
The company also used its WWDC 2016 keynote to announce an updated version of tvOS that includes new functionality and features for Siri, single sign-on and more.
Article Link: Apple Drops Requirement for tvOS Games to Use Siri Remote as Controller
I was about to sell this useless apple tv .
Now i just need ff7 to be updated for it and i am happy man
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True,
I just hope its not too late !
That had no vision when they laubched this !
Such a powerfull machine with the best appstore arround limited to netflix
Catch up with what? Do you honestly think that the primary intent of this device is to compete with Xbox/ps/wii? The Apple TV has always been an entertainment media player first and foremost, why would you think its marketing should take a 180 degree turn just because it gained some game support? iPads have supported game controllers for some time now; should Apple have begun including game controllers with all iPads?
Not sure why the PS4 controller doesn't work on the ATV when it works fine via Bluetooth on the Mac. I wonder if Sony had something to say about it, that it cut a little too close to home and requested Apple disable support.
Edit: I guess it's because it's not MFi certified.
Eh, semantics. It's more iOS than it is macOS. The thing runs iOS apps that don't require much work to tweak for the TV.This is a "tvOS" update and not "iOS'. But I agree the majority of updates announced yesterday made sense. Although STILL no Bluetooth mouse support for iOS, really Apple?!
iPhone 6/6S/SE, 2015 MacBook, MacBook Pro, 21.5" iMac, iPad Mini 2, ATV4, ATV2
An iPad does not scream console entertainment system quite like the Apple TV on that big lovely screen we all have in our homes.
I honestly sighed and my heart sank when I read the Macrumor story that it was not a, being bundled with a controller and b, forcing devs to support the horrendous remote control to release a game.
Mortal Kombat on the old Apple TV 4 on that remote? Ludicrous.
And yes, I do expect the Apple TV to take on the Xbox, Wii and Playstation at casual and indie gaming - WITH A PROPER CONTROLLER. As someone else said, the best app store in history and we were saddled with one decent app... Netflix. How many games at launch that were honestly good (due to controller limitations?)
Now bring on the games and let we the gamers have a nice time and the debs (and ultimately Apple) make lots of green.
Or have the right remote connected to the Apple TV before they purchase. Thus, the app store can announce, "Proper controller for game not connected." thus avoiding a purchase action.
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Been told that, under no circumstances, will you ever see a mouse pointer icon on an iOS screen. Supposedly this comes form Steve Jobs himself before he passed away. Thus, it may be Apple cannon.
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Supposedly the games market is not the primary push for tvOS. Like games on iOS, it is a one of many application categories. Apps for TV shows, interactive TV and other mass media is what's focused.
IMO, tvOS is a huge opportunity to revive the real-time viewer feedback concept that failed / discouraged since the 80's.
One of the first was the Qube Network that has moderate use as a cable TV provider (there is a good Wiki page on it.) You would have four buttons on a remote selecting four options displayed on the screen. The Qube network would read the selection of thousands of viewers in a matter of seconds across an entire city's cable TV network. An amazing technical achievement for the time.
Then there was DaVinci Time & Space. They developed this incredible cable TV set top box that included real-time user feedback. Not a single cable TV provider went with the concept and they folded in the 90s.
Now we have an infrastructure that has lowered the barrier for interactive TV where traditional cable television is bypassed. You just need the right streaming server for the video and the installed app sends data bytes back for real-time surveys to guide the programming.
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I just got the Steelseries Nimbus, and I've got to say that for absolutely everything but a few racing games like Asphalt, this is a FANTASTIC decision. Besides, of all the high quality controllers being made these days, the Nimbus is absolutely my new favorite, and I would love to see some games come along that can really capitalize on how fantastic that controller is.