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You are here: MacNN Forums > News > Mac News > Editorial: The Apple TV is not the future of gaming, and that's okay

Editorial: The Apple TV is not the future of gaming, and that's okay
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NewsPoster
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Sep 11, 2015, 04:18 PM
 
I've loved the concept of the Apple TV, even before there was one -- as I've mentioned a few times before, I've had a Mac mini attached to a television since the genesis of the model in PowerPC form. I'm laden with them in the house, coupled to my home server, and the combination sings. So, this week, Apple rolled out what it's calling the New Apple TV, and I'm on tap for the review, whenever we can get our hands on one. I'm going to lay it on the table -- it's not going to revolutionize gaming as it is -- but there is something that will "blow the roof off the joint" so to speak. Lack of revolution doesn't mean its not important for the industry, though.

The hardware is fine, that's not the problem

The hardware is Apple's "standard" for modern iOS hardware right now, so in that regards, it's fine. Sure, the still-available iPad mini 2, and iPad Air have the A7 processor, but even the new iPod touch has the A8. Reports are claiming 2GB of RAM inside the Apple TV, and an entry-level storage capacity of 32GB, with some of that shared amongst streaming needs and apps for $149. Very reasonable.

There's a strong headwind against mobile OS-based consoles. The Ouya was not so much of a collapse as a slow deflation, and companies like Razer are trying to pull it off with mixed success. Even micro computers, like the Intel Compute Stick, are looked at askance, and lack a major market presence. So, now, in comes Apple, with the New Apple TV, now with apps. How much this will help Apple's former "hobby" remains to be seen.

The software... well, that's going to be a problem

The software exists already, in a manner of speaking. While tvOS is an operating system in itself, it is still an offshoot of iOS, just with a requirement that binaries be no greater than 200MB. All other assets must be downloadable. Developers will figure out a way to deal with this, and still deliver the experience they want. Developers that can't, simply won't deliver. Like any early software for a new gaming console (and make no mistake about it, this is a console now) there's going to be some gems, and some very, very rough titles.

Speaking of rough titles, there are a load of them on the App Store now, and with any luck, there'll be some curation for the first batch of Apple TV titles. Here's hoping that the new "Fat Binary" for every iOS branch isn't just a toggle switch, and developers have to do some work to accommodate the unique control mechanisms specific to the Apple TV.

Fans who thought that the Apple TV could put a dent in Microsoft's and Sony's dominance in the space were probably dreaming, but that's okay. The Cupertino media player is $150, not $400. The device is another Apple inroad into your house, in case it needed another one, and little more. Developers won't make $70 AAA titles for it, as the mobile user base rails at anything much more than $1. For instance, on Reddit, the new Star Wars: Uprising title is taking heat for being free to play, but with in-app purchases rather than just costing $2 to $5 for everything. This is a licensed title, and gamers only willing to pay the mobile toll for a completely unlocked app won't pay the bills.

There is another hope, but it's a long shot

The Wii had very few standout titles -- other than those leveraging Nintendo's crop of superb intellectual property. This year's Mario Kart, despite being critically well-regarded, has sold the least of all the other versions because of the console's bad penetration. Before the event, there were rumors of a Nintendo appearance, and given the right controller (like the Steel Series Nimbus), Nintendo and Apple would be a natural fit, and make millions upon millions for both companies.

I'm not so sure that this is ever going to happen, given Nintendo's stance on mobile gaming on anything other than the Gameboy-series of devices. We'll see. If anyone can convince Nintendo to partner with them and get those mobile app releases, it's probably Apple.

Look to the future

In the short term, The New Apple TV will sell in droves -- but not as a gaming console. It'll sell because Plex will see daylight. It'll get some converts from FireCore, Stream To Me, and a host of other media streamers which will finally and utterly exile transcoding for iTunes to the waste bin of history. Apps will be a nice addition to the streamer, but gaming's penetration will likely be light, as it was for the Ouya, and continues to be for Steam Machine-like PCs. It certainly isn't a slow-motion train wreck or a disaster like the gaming press has declared. It is simply not for them or their target audience -- does that sound familiar?

In the long term, Apple will have a toehold on the television with the now non-hobby black box. While I think that the 4K omission now is a failure on Apple's part, as the new iPhones shoot 4K video, it'll still come to the Apple TV sooner or later (as baseball fans say: "next year for sure!"). However, Apple TV fans have to get used to the fact that we're probably looking at annual upgrade cycles now, rather than every three years like we've seen up until now. Apple's got to get used to the fact that the app sales may be somewhat less than they wanted.

-- Mike Wuerthele
Managing Editor
( Last edited by NewsPoster; Sep 11, 2015 at 04:32 PM. )
     
Makosuke
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Sep 11, 2015, 06:26 PM
 
This is the first relatively accurate appraisal of the situation I've read. The ATV isn't going to challenge the "big iron" consoles, but it's going to devour the "good enough" gaming market on account of cheap system and a plethora of cheap games. I'll take bets that Nintendo will be out of the console market within 2 years.

Speed wise, using an iPhone 6 as baseline (same A8), the ATV should be somewhere between the Wii and Wii U in terms of power--probably in the same ballpark as a PS3. Given that I don't have a single friend who owns a current-gen console (yet, anyway), despite their spending a fair amount of time gaming, tells me that's enough to get the job done. And at $150, it's plenty of bang for the buck for casual or not-so-frequent gamers.

If Nintendo had been smart, they would have taken this opportunity to release a specialized first-party controller and started moving their A-list titles over to Apple as a way to save the company. Sadly, it doesn't look like that's to be. Who knows, maybe the NX will be the miracle box that saves the company, but I seriously doubt it.
     
coffeetime
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Sep 11, 2015, 08:12 PM
 
"Gameboy" is from the old school (from our time). Nowadays kids call their Nintendo handheld "3DS".
( Last edited by coffeetime; Sep 12, 2015 at 10:54 AM. )
     
coffeetime
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Sep 12, 2015, 01:46 AM
 
The incredible details to attention on game play (and graphics) from Nintendo is still way, way, way ahead of any iOS games. iOS games are always quick fix. I doubt that tvOS games will push any further than what iOS is offering. Unless Apple is going all out like Xbox. Nintendo is not going to disappear. If tvOS games ever catch on current Nintendo game play levels, by then Nintendo is already years ahead of its time while Xbox and PS4 are a couple of years ahead of Nintendo.
( Last edited by coffeetime; Sep 12, 2015 at 11:01 AM. )
     
coffeetime
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Sep 12, 2015, 09:28 AM
 
If Nintendo ever ports their games to iOS, it's a supplementary, not a replacement. They have been releasing games for two platforms simultaneously in the past: main console and handhelds (3DS/Gameboy). They are not hurting each other profits, kids actually want both platforms because they each play differently.
     
Mike Wuerthele
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Sep 12, 2015, 11:56 AM
 
Yeah, agreed, Coffeetime. We spoke about this at some length on the podcast we recorded last night, TL;DR version is that it would be great, but we're not sure that Nintendo can see the future so well.
     
panjandrum
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Sep 12, 2015, 12:06 PM
 
While I will almost certainly not be playing games on the new Apple TV (with the sole exception of the revamped Baldur's Gate games I've never found a single iOS game to could hold my attention for more than a handful of hours - I simply like a different types of games than those which are being released for iOS devices), I can see how this might be a real hit among people who just don't want a new gaming device. I could, for example, see my parents really enjoying a good easy-to-play-but-well-written mystery-game series. Like many Apple products, this may surprise us in terms of popularity. But, if I had to guess, this will not be a huge hit because it misses a couple of key points that make it less appealing that it otherwise would be. First, the $99 price tag on the Apple TV was a huge selling point. It's at that price where schools will gobble them up and even people who often weigh every purchase with angst could just snag one without too much introspection. I think the new price is going to be a roadblock. Certainly it will price it out of the range of people who start comparing what they want against the considerable number of other, now considerably cheaper, streaming boxes. And while they may be planning 4k for the next revision in the grand planned-obsolence war of continuous consumption, I think that at the price they are asking this should have been included.
     
mindwaves
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Sep 13, 2015, 12:11 AM
 
DEFINITELY going to buy one of them. The remote is nice and the gaming is nice. I would never ever buy a console (Xbox, PS, Wii) as I'm not a gamer by any stretch, but an occasional game on my TV, sure.
     
Steve Wilkinson
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Sep 13, 2015, 03:10 AM
 
Apple did this right.... it's a media center opened up to the library of iOS games, great for the casual gamer. The big consoles are excellent at games, but have totally failed as media centers!

In other words, true gamers are going to have both. But people who just want a good media center will go for this and also have the added incentive of it be able to play some of the games they already enjoy on their phones or tablets.

Regarding the lack of 4K, I don't think it was an oversight at all. 4K is currently pointless outside high-end home-theatre of which the Apple TV isn't probably considered anyway. Yes, the phones and computers deal with 4K as source material, but unless you can actually display it in a way that matters, why bother?
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Charles Martin
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Sep 13, 2015, 03:43 AM
 
I think mindwaves and Steve W have hit it on the head. This is a console for people who don't want/need a console, but wouldn't mind playing an occasional game, and have a great general-purpose media center that may not be the absolute best at every given feature, but is a compelling all-rounder. See also: iPod, iPhone, iPad, MacBook, Mac mini ...
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Makosuke
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Sep 13, 2015, 03:54 PM
 
@coffeetime in regards to game quality. I think you're wrong on that. Nintendo makes fantastic 1st party games, to be sure, and a majority of iOS games are relatively cheaply made casual games, to be sure.

But (for example) Final Fantasy 1-7 and Dragon Quest 1-8 are all top-notch, at-least-A-grade console games from a few generations back (DSfor FF3 and 4 and Tactics:WoL; PS2-first for DQ8). Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City, and San Andreas were at least A-list games in the PS2 era, and Bard's Tale was up there for PS2. Bastion, Transistor, and The Cave were relatively recent top-grade indie games. The World Ends With You is generally considered one of the best DS games, period. All are available (some in enhanced versions) for iOS.

For iOS first, there's small but fantastically polished games like Leo's Fortune, and the entire Chaos Rings series from Square-Enix.

Point not being that there's a lot of current- or immediately-prior-gen AAA games available for iOS. But there *are* a lot of top quality games of a couple of generations back, and some highly polished original games being produced as well--and all that was before there was even the option to play them on a TV.

I'm genuinely skeptical that the small number of really fantastic famous-franchise games Nintendo produces will be enough to keep them in the console market without the casual and good-enough gamer market to prop it up. It *certainly* wasn't enough to keep Sega in the console market, and that was with two console competitors, not three.

To give an example, while I'm not an avid gamer, the Wii U is the first Nintendo console I haven't bought since the original NES. A new Zelda game *might* push me to get one on sale or something, but I'm not sure.
     
smacker
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Sep 14, 2015, 01:26 AM
 
Can somebody please elaborate on this statement "It'll sell because Plex will see daylight.". What does that mean?
     
Grendelmon
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Sep 14, 2015, 09:22 AM
 
Originally Posted by Makosuke View Post
I'll take bets that Nintendo will be out of the console market within 2 years.
LOL. Nintendo fans have been hearing this for years.

Originally Posted by Makosuke View Post
If Nintendo had been smart, they would have taken this opportunity to release a specialized first-party controller and started moving their A-list titles over to Apple as a way to save the company. Sadly, it doesn't look like that's to be. Who knows, maybe the NX will be the miracle box that saves the company, but I seriously doubt it.
Why or how exactly does Nintendo need to be "saved?"

I don't believe the ATV is going to make much of a dent in Nintendo's profits. The same thing was said about the iPhone/iPad, yet the 3DS is outselling all current consoles in orders of magnitude, and they've been in the black for quite a while now.
     
Grendelmon
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Sep 14, 2015, 09:34 AM
 
A few other thoughts...

Apple just doesn't understand the gaming market. They appear to encourage game studios and indie developers, but they lay a poor foundation. For example, the primary remote for the ATV is not a game controller. It may hold it's own merit for motion controlled games like the Wii did, but for shooters, etc, it just won't fit the bill. Even more troubling is the 200mb app size limit. This is just incomprehensible to me. Even for casual, popular titles available on Steam that could be ported to ATV... are the developers really going to invest more time and coding to "work around" this resource limitation? For the very successful, and profitable titles, maybe... but the fun indie titles? Most likely not.

Also, the App store just doesn't have the same type of titles available on the traditional consoles. They are all time-wasters (with a tiny few exceptions like panjandrum mentioned, Baldur's Gate, etc). They are mostly "free to start" IAP money suckers. The App store just doesn't have the recognizable IPs that Nintendo has. And for the titles Nintendo will be releasing for the mobile stores- they'll be supplemental (the "halo" effect).

I just don't seriously consider the ATV to be much of a threat to the home consoles; even to Nintendo.
     
Mike Wuerthele
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Sep 14, 2015, 11:03 AM
 
Originally Posted by smacker View Post
Can somebody please elaborate on this statement "It'll sell because Plex will see daylight.". What does that mean?
Plex = third party pretty-much universal media streaming server/app combo. Server lives on another computer, App would live on the Apple TV. This prevents transcoding video for iTunes. No way to put it on an Apple TV before the new one, without some sort of hackery.

So, Plex by itself will sell Apple TVs.
     
Makosuke
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Sep 14, 2015, 08:10 PM
 
@Grendelmon: I *am* a Nintendo fan. Not a hardcore one, but I bought every Nintendo console through the Wii and DS shortly after launch with the exception of the Virtual Boy and GBA. I wouldn't touch an Xbox with a ten foot pole and only got a PS3 as a Blu-ray player. I *want* Nintendo to be successful.

And whatever your standards are, that has not been the case for the last several years. Post-Wii-high, their financials have been shaky at best (though to their credit, they did turn an annual profit last year), and cumulative console sales across all makers have gone down every year since 2007.

Could be that even in the face of near-ubiquitous smartphone penetration Nintendo's handheld consoles will continue selling well. Could be that the NX will sell fantastically. Could be that Amiibos will be the ongoing killer app that makes Nintendo consoles must-have devices.

But the way the world has been trending over the past 7 or 8 years, I'm highly skeptical that's going to be how it plays out. And, again, I *want* Nintendo to be successful and healthy. We'll see in a few years who's correct.

I will 100% agree with you that Apple doesn't do gaming well at all. I'd say it's more accurate, though, that they don't *care* than they don't "get it". They don't seem to have any desire whatsoever to *want* to get it. Personally, that disappoints me tremendously, but oh well. And who knows, maybe tvOS will change that a bit. At the least, there's a decent-looking $50 3rd party controller announced.
     
Grendelmon
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Sep 15, 2015, 12:12 PM
 
Originally Posted by Makosuke View Post
And whatever your standards are, that has not been the case for the last several years. Post-Wii-high, their financials have been shaky at best (though to their credit, they did turn an annual profit last year), and cumulative console sales across all makers have gone down every year since 2007..
I realize this (although they hadn't seen a profit for only three years), but they did eventually start getting back into the black. As long as they're making a profit, they won't end up like another "Sega" story. People fail to understand that they are not competing for big iron market share.

They did turn the 3DS around. They unfortunately couldn't do the same with the Wii U. I do hope that the NX is successful... it will be interesting to see how Kimishima handles the company.
     
   
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