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Some guy

macrumors member
Apr 12, 2013
63
1
Only for certain game types: even Lightning -> HDMI has a slight lag, and AirPlay (AppleTV) has even more (seems to vary depending on the type of action being transmitted). Fine for racing in my view, and puzzles and strategy... not so good for twitch shooters or ultra-precise platformers. (Although the game parameters could be tweaked to help hide the lag for some actions.)

I love gaming from iOS to TV, and would love a controller, but I'm realistic about the limitations. iOS is best on its own screen. (Which would make portable controllers for iPhone/iPad Mini very tempting.)

He was saying that he wanted apps on his Apple TV, not that he wanted more games to be AirPlay enabled.

They could easily make the controllers work, with no lag, for Apple TV the same way they're going to do with iOS (mobile) devices: by using bluetooth.
 

mslide

macrumors 6502a
Sep 17, 2007
707
2
Come on, Nintendo. Just give up on mobile gaming hardware and make your games for the iPad.
 

smellalot

macrumors 6502
Dec 6, 2011
277
2
I'm sure this settles it. Apps are coming to Apple TV! Only question is: will it be for existing ATVs too or will the next iteration be bigger, more expensive and get apps exclusively?
 

Casiotone

macrumors 6502a
Oct 12, 2008
825
111
Come on, Nintendo. Just give up on mobile gaming hardware and make your games for the iPad.

Considering that the 3DS is selling reasonably well and is way more profitable than the Wii U, I don't see why they would do that.
 

WilliamLondon

macrumors 68000
Dec 8, 2006
1,699
13
I don't understand anyone who says Apple needs an App Store or an SDK for the Apple TV. Both iOS and OS X already:

1 - Have app stores
2 - Have SDKs
3 - Can stream any content to an Apple TV

There's no need for the Apple TV to have an official App Store - all that Apple needs is for developers to start making more apps that can stream content to the Apple TV and to promote those apps.

I've just recently (for some silly reason) tried the AirPlay Mirroring with a few games, and though a couple of quite good, some don't do well at all. With a controller that'll fix a lot of the issues with some of the games that don't AirPlay mirror well.

However, with these new controllers, which is great and I'm very excited, what Apple requires in their certification programme is that these controllers are *optional* for games to use, that the touch interface will remain the primary way to interact with and control any game or app.

If games were able to run on the ATV, that restriction would obviously be removed, and I'm sure games would be very different if they didn't have the legacy tether to touch to worry about.

It's a first step, it's big and it's exciting - can't wait till autumn to see the first certified controllers and the game that can use them running on iOS 7. :)
 

ifij775

macrumors regular
Nov 6, 2012
154
0
Boston, MA
If I were to bet on Apple's forthcoming new product category, it would have to be an Apple TV with an App store, but I've been waiting for that for a few years now. It is probably more wishful thinking than anything else.
 

gorskiegangsta

macrumors 65816
Mar 13, 2011
1,281
87
Brooklyn, NY
I don't understand anyone who says Apple needs an App Store or an SDK for the Apple TV. Both iOS and OS X already:

1 - Have app stores
2 - Have SDKs
3 - Can stream any content to an Apple TV

There's no need for the Apple TV to have an official App Store - all that Apple needs is for developers to start making more apps that can stream content to the Apple TV and to promote those apps.

iOS and OS X having "app stores" and SDKs does nothing for Apple TV, since the latter is closed down to all of the above. Additionally, needing an extra several hundred dollar device to "airplay content over" to ATV is a case of asking customers to needlessly bend over backwards and is pretty much the antithesis of "it just works". Apple TV needs its own SDK and a 3rd party app store in order to become its own thing, rather than being a glorified accessory, albeit a well positioned one.

Of course, it is ultimately up to Apple to decide what they want Apple TV to be. IMO, they have a golden opportunity to capture lion's share of living room entertainment devices (incl. consoles) and I believe them expanding APIs to include 3rd party "controllers" as well as Tim Cook's "area of intense interest" comments makes me believe Apple is thinking of moving in that direction.
 

Taustin Powers

macrumors 6502
Apr 5, 2005
263
549
If I can use this to play games like GTA on my iPad, it is an instant buy. Great for long flights!! Just pop up the iPad on a stand on the tray table, and game away!

Touch screen controls are the worst, I've been waiting for decent controller support for years!
 

APlotdevice

macrumors 68040
Sep 3, 2011
3,145
3,861
Lightning HDMI connector has lag? That's VERY disappointing. Airplay is understandable as it's wireless, but there shouldn't be lag with a lightning connector to HDMI.

Unfortunately the lighting connector cannot handle a raw video signal. To get around this they use the airplay protocol to send a compressed signal to a processor inside the HDMI adapter, which then outputs a proper signal. This naturally introduces a slight lag.
 

SvenSvenson

macrumors regular
Jul 17, 2007
218
162
I don't understand anyone who says Apple needs an App Store or an SDK for the Apple TV. Both iOS and OS X already:

1 - Have app stores
2 - Have SDKs
3 - Can stream any content to an Apple TV

There's no need for the Apple TV to have an official App Store - all that Apple needs is for developers to start making more apps that can stream content to the Apple TV and to promote those apps.

Because if the ATV had it's own App Store,you could play games directly on the ATV with the new iOS7-supported games controllers without having to run the game on your iPad, iPod or iPhone and stream it to the ATV, with all the potential for lag.

You could even go out and buy an ATV and an iOS7 game controller and play iOS games without even having to have an iPad, iPhone etc.
 

DeepIn2U

macrumors G5
May 30, 2002
12,821
6,875
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Late in this Game (pun)

Apple is a bit late in these specific API's .


Apple should also consider working with Unity along with Moga - like BlackBerry is doing.

http://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/06/blackberry10-gamepad-unity3d/

Some videos here:
http://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/02/blackberry-10-gamepad-support/

BlackBerry is baking in direct 3rd party game controller support in Unity.

And there internal developers have already demonstrated a few times connecting a BB10 device via MicroHDMI=HDMI using Bluetooth for MOGA controllers.

Still this is VERY good for the industry as a whole - not just the developers and manufacturers of both phones and controllers, but also for us the end users of various platforms.

Man ... I remember the days of S60 Symbian with that Zeemote JS1 Controller. I still like that 1 handed controller of old.

Cheers guys and lets hope Apple speeds this development up before mid summer 2013.

----------

Come on, Nintendo. Just give up on mobile gaming hardware and make your games for the iPad.

Nintendo is not simply a software/hardware company like Sega was ... and it took Sega a LONG time to open up even 1/4 of their library to other platforms, so I don't wish this for Nintendo. Their still a toy company at heart to be honest but their going way to wild innovate.
 

donutbagel

macrumors 6502a
Jun 9, 2013
932
1
OK, please not a knockoff of the XBOX controller. Not that it's a bad design, but that's so unoriginal.

----------

Considering that the 3DS is selling reasonably well and is way more profitable than the Wii U, I don't see why they would do that.

Pfft, 3DS games? The only good one is Mario Kart 7. I'd love to see GameCube and N64 games for iPad and GBC, GBA, and maybe DS games for all iOS devices.

Look at Pokémon Crystal. Nothing that Nintendo makes can play it, but it's still a good game (best Pokémon game IMO). Why don't they release it for iOS?

----------

At the rate that iOS devices get hardware upgrades, an iPhone could be more powerful than a PS4 before the next generation of consoles is over.

Maybe if this next generation takes a very long time. Battery power consumption is a big problem.
 

Zerilos

macrumors 6502a
Dec 18, 2012
903
24
There are so many games I refuse to play with virtual controls. This device would make Apple so much money it's redonk.
 

Sol

macrumors 68000
Jan 14, 2003
1,564
6
Australia
Laughably wrong.

Laugh all you want but the iPad and iPhone get updated annually while consoles are updated at least every five years; longer if the current generation is a precedent. When you consider that the iPad renders comparable (to current gen) 3D graphics on a display that is higher resolution than 1080p and that consoles typically render 720p upscaled to 1080p, you can see how quickly portable graphics caught up.
 

JaySoul

macrumors 68030
Jan 30, 2008
2,629
2,865
If Apple just put:

1) A decent processor in the Apple TV

2) Work with a few games powerhouses (e.g. Ubisoft & EA)

3) Make the system work physically (games controllers)

4) Allow online play with friends

They could literally take an entire segment of the video games industry. It could happen SO easily, c'mon :apple: do it!!

PS - Just let me play FIFA, that's all I ask. And buy out Nintendo for a laugh.
 

Bill Killer

macrumors 6502
Dec 29, 2011
495
98
Laugh all you want but the iPad and iPhone get updated annually while consoles are updated at least every five years; longer if the current generation is a precedent. When you consider that the iPad renders comparable (to current gen) 3D graphics on a display that is higher resolution than 1080p and that consoles typically render 720p upscaled to 1080p, you can see how quickly portable graphics caught up.
Rendering an image is in no way, shape, or form indicative of a device's processing possibilities. The iPhone and iPad are behind the PS4 and Xbox One by substantial margins in terms of sheer hardware power.
 

donutbagel

macrumors 6502a
Jun 9, 2013
932
1
Jailbreak it, and you can do all that.

I did. The GBA and GBC jailbreak emulators work well, but the N64 one is terrible, and the GC one doesn't exist. And I'd prefer for it to be in the App Store, not a jailbreak thing.
 
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