Nick Wingfield, writing for the New York Times:
Apple stumbled into the games business almost by accident not long after it released the iPhone in 2007, igniting a new multibillion-dollar mobile games industry in the process.
That’s sort of true, though this ignores Apple’s original foray into the console business, with the 1995 release of the Apple Bandai Pippin console. But I digress.
It’s tough to know how compelling the games on Apple TV will be until the company reveals the system this week. Yet many of the components necessary for a satisfying game experience will come with the device, the people say — including more power for better graphics, a new remote that could double as a controller and, perhaps most important, an app store to buy and download games.
The controller is critical. If the Apple TV nails this design, makes a controller that truly enables a powerful gaming experience, that might be just the ticket to bring both gamers and game designers to the table.
The problem is, how can you design a true gaming controller that also serves as an unobtrusive remote? A solid gaming controller needs to fit in both hands comfortably, with easy access to buttons, trackballs, joysticks, or some other form of highly responsive controls.
The existing Apple TV remote is a minimalist’s dream, about as far from a gaming remote as you can get. Will Apple ship a Bejeweled-capable remote with an option to purchase a Call of Duty-capable gaming controller as an add on?
Or will Apple pull a real rabbit out of its hat, with a magical device that somehow serves TV, Bejeweled, and Call of Duty? Will the new remote take advantage of Force Touch in a way that’s not been done before?
Guess we’ll find out Wednesday.
the iphone might be the controller and the remote. appstore games dont need real buttons.
spot on analysis.
i think it will be the bejeweled-capable remote. i just don’t see them making a “fully functional” game controller without compromises that also fits the apple design philosophy – be it as an add-on or as a one-fits-all solution.
maybe they’ll try, but it’s hard to imagine an apple controller that’s equivalent to the full-rumble-analogsticks-d-pad-shoulderbutton-thing you need for comlex games with many parameters to control simultaneously. there’s nothing “simple” like the haptics of analogue buttons and sticks. even force-touch on an mbp touchpad, that feels like magic to me, still can’t rival the haptics of the curved surfaces of analogue sticks and or analogue shoulder-buttons.
so they’ll probably go the “we have this beautiful and very functional controller, you can even use it for simple sports/party/racing/casual gaming, and for the “hardcore games” (which won’t be that hardcore due to limited power and storage), feel free to use the new logitech “pro” or any other mfi compatible controller. did we mention, it’s gorgeous? look at those sharp edges, gleaming in the light. amazing”
I agree that the iPhone will be able to mimic whatever the new remote will do – it just makes sense. And more than likely there will be some sort of force touch, more reason to upgrade your phone.
There are plenty of app store games that work better with buttons – pretty much any platformer, fps, some driving games… mfi and some sort of traditional controller will undoubtedly be a big part of whatever Apple does, but not the primary input. Just as it is now on iOS.
“chamfered edges”
IMO, that would be a disappointment. Touch screens and gestures work for a certain class of games, but a true controller is much, much better for many games.
With the app store, recent A-series chips, and the Metal API, Apple looks ready to take a real run at the Xbox and PS4. And the fact that they could sell a realistic competitor for less than half the price must have Sony and Microsoft worried. But without a serious controller, I don’t think they’re going to make much of a dent in that market.
Further, using the iphone itself as a controller seems very awkward. You can’t look at the TV and the phone screen at the same time. Ever used the Apple TV remote app on the phone? Not that great an experience.
A product that aspires to do many things well is not the Apple way.
i agree, there are a lot of games that work better with buttons, but as you say none of them need buttons on ios.
i am with you at this point. but i think apple is not gonna make a playstation from apple tv. my hope is, there would be some third party remote support.
i think we should not expect apple tv to become a xbox or ps4 competitor. i believe the whole game thing will be a additional case to make apple tv more atractive for families and hobby gamers. xbox and ps4 are playing in a different league – the A8 chip is way to powerless. i just hope for some third party remote support. but who knows, i am just speculating.
indeed, its kinda awkward. but apple tv is not a ps4 or xbox. i can imagine, if the Ax processor becomes powerfull anough, apple could fullfill our dreams. that could be in 2 or 3 years.
But for games like Real Racing, the iPad is a brilliant controller. you can look down to see the map, and the tilt to steer is great. My guess is that’s the type of thing Apple will push.
I actually much prefer Remote on my iPhone, particularly for search. The biggest problem I find with it is the bunch of seconds it takes to turn it on (as opposed to the “always on-ness” of the physical remote).
I think all in this thread would pretty much love Apple to add games (likely), make their own cool controller (likely) and also support mfi (also likely). The way the APIs are going on iOS/osx, I would bet we get both worlds, casual and limited AAA, and like Johnny Styler states below, I could also see them updating to a pretty powerful chip down the line.