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Apple TV to Gain Game Support With Bluetooth Controllers By March
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i dont think they would be jumping thru all these hoops for MFi it they were planning on that.
Nintendo is losing money because Wii U living room penetration fell short. Reasons for that are specs, branding issues, and market timing. Notice Sony and MS are doing fine and they're in the same market as Nintendo.
Square Enix iOS titles are basically ports of really old Final Fantasy games and Chaos Rings for $ 8-15. Meanwhile it's putting Bravely Default on the 3DS for $40 next month. $40 on iOS means you've priced yourself out of the market.
What are these AAA games? GTA San Andreas (AKA ports of 10 old games)? Candy Crush? Clash of Clans? Cut the Rope 2? These are the hottest iOS games right now
Mobile is a disruption but it's not a game changer. The 3DS has outsold the N64 and original Xbox in only 2 years. Meanwhile it has a 5-6 year lifespan.
Apple can't do anything to take over the console or handheld markets without raising the quality of games on the app store. They can't raise the quality of games without raising the market competitive pricepoint to support big budget development. Which they're unwilling to do because their strategy has always been to turn software into a commodity to drive hardware sales.
1. Apple has never been afraid to cannibalize itself.
2. It would not be cannibalizing, because said person in your example has an iPhone. And would keep said iPhone. As AppleTV/Gamestore is further lock in to the iTunes ecosystem.
$29 a controller seems unrealistic. how much do quality XB or PS controllers cost?
I hope it's true, and also that they offer comapatability with the current atv, because a new model seems very likely. Basically we need the current 8mb ram for it's os, and movie buffering to maintain its current performance, suddenly getting access to loads of apps is going to eat into this, especially if 4k movies become available and weigh in over 7gb at a time. Although it opens the delicious possibility of having one £99 atv for media and one £99 atv for apps. This also is a reason why I think there would be a new device.
Either way I hope they freshen up the interface.
Either way I hope they freshen up the interface.
IPad was announced cold March 2010.
App developers had to scrample to update for it.
Same for the tallphone 5 screen, and Retina.
It's not totally unusual.
what do you expect, thats a dedicated gaming machine. just like the iphone isnt a dedicated camera, nor would its console be. these are generalist machines that appeal to casual users.
If Apple adds an app store and controllers to Apple TV, then this "hobby" is starting to get interesting.
Of course going down that road means they probably have to start beefing up the specs of these boxes (faster CPU, faster GPU, more memory), which will increase the cost (under $100 could be considered an "impulse buy" price point for many), maybe require better cooling or a larger case. Right now they are made with just enough to run the interface and stream video, which they do well, but running games would vastly increase the demand for power. I'm using a 2nd gen AppleTV right now which still works great (feeding a 50" plasma that is 720p anyway). But it wouldn't run many modern games, as it's basically just an iPad 1 (A4 processor) in a small box.
Of course going down that road means they probably have to start beefing up the specs of these boxes (faster CPU, faster GPU, more memory), which will increase the cost (under $100 could be considered an "impulse buy" price point for many), maybe require better cooling or a larger case. Right now they are made with just enough to run the interface and stream video, which they do well, but running games would vastly increase the demand for power. I'm using a 2nd gen AppleTV right now which still works great (feeding a 50" plasma that is 720p anyway). But it wouldn't run many modern games, as it's basically just an iPad 1 (A4 processor) in a small box.
None of the current AppleTV's can do 4K video anyway...
It would be very easy for Apple to introduce tiers of AppleTV with different storage amounts.
Multiple AppleTV's would be hysterical, switching between receiver inputs. Configuring multiple ones for accounts. hahaha, not likely.
XB360 controllers are still at $50, PS3 controllers just dropped to $40 with the PS4 release.
PS4 and XBOne controllers are $60.
casual gaming for casual users. one of the hottest gaming franchises in history, Angry Birds, began as a casual game on iOS only.
will never happen. thats a niche market and not apple's core business. theyd prefer to let hardware vendors make controllers and software vendors make games....all on iOS. play on ATV or your iOS device, cloud sync, etc.
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Personally, I'm excited for the dozen new incarnations of Angry Birds we'll see.
Sadly, I'd be surprised if it were only that few.
XCOM?
Infinity Blade?
Grand Theft Auto?
Baldur's Gate?
Angry Birds?
...etc. plenty of quality games for casual gamers, which is what any apple gaming will be aimed at.
They need some third parties to make stuff... So they can "Sherlock" whichever iJohnny like best.
if a new iOS casual gaming push (mobile + on the screen) disrupts Nintendo, where do you think Nintendo is going to go? iOS. thats a lot of sales to Apple in hardware and app store.
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you got it.
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1) apple's never been afraid of cannibalizing its own products.
2) TV gaming and mobile gaming are two entirely different markets -- you dont stop buying cell phones because you have an ATV. in fact, by leveraging icloud save-game sync across all devices, it increases value for having multiple devices.
It's not just the Wii U.
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/01/18/nintendo-smartphone-move/
A drop in forecasts of 25% on Nintendo's biggest money maker is pretty huge. This is the market that Nintendo directly competes with Apple in and it's dropping fast.
You're right, and I would gladly pay for Bravely Default for $20 on iOS. But at $40? Why do you think 3DS sales are dropping?
Galaxy on Fire 2 HD, Asphalt 8, Infinity Blade 3, Shadowlands, Real Racing 3, Modern Combat 4, NOVA 3, Anomaly 2, Deus Ex: The Fall, X-Com: Enemy Unknown, and much more.
Sorry but I just disagree with your statement. With the facts and numbers that I read, they've already begun to take over the handheld market.
for that it will need a lot more RAM and storage
my xbox one is around 8GB RAM and 500GB hard disk with games installing 20GB or so to disk
and this is still the first year. it's not going to be until later this year or next when the real next gen games come out with the huge levels and open worlds
casual gaming is key here, which is fine for indy/small dev shops. but for AAA look no further than XCOM or Infinity Blade. XCOM is of particular interest, because its a new console port. so they made the game on a big budget for console sales, then piggyback the iOS experience....it costs them little to include that. some additional support costs, thats about it.
...did apple set out to take over the point-and-shoot camera market? nope. but thats what happened anyway w/ a "good enough" cellphone camera:
http://www.flickr.com/cameras
..."good enough" and take over casual gaming, and id bet handheld.
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No different than a $199 product which includes the controller.
(I'll GIVE you the dollar if it comes to that.)
Better that they sell the base device alone, and you add whatever controller (or none at all) you like as desired.
iOS gaming wont set out to replace your console, anymore than iOS photography set out to replace high-end DSLRs. yet iphones are the most popular camera on flicker today. different market...."good enough" for casual use is pretty big. really big.
I think 2 models would be absolutely necessary. Can't do gaming for what they are charging today, but you also don't want to ask people who just want to watch movies, or companies/schools using Airplay for presentations, to shell out big bucks for a lot of stuff they will never use. And that's a pretty easy sell because there is a very clear line in intended use (and price).
Roku competitor = $79-$99
PS4/XBOX competitor = $199-$249
More like playing on the iPhone while traveling, then getting home and resuming the game on the ATV. Auto-installing the app on all devices, and iCloud-sharing game status between them, means you can focus on the game using whatever ecosystem-friendly device is convenient.
OK...let me clarify, then. I don't want to see an iPhone as the "default" controller. I want Apple to include a dedicated controller by "default".