Apple TV to dominate gaming?
HOLY SHIT THE TECH INDUSTRY IS ONE GIANT RECORD OF BRAIN DAMAGED FOOLS ON REPEAT!!!!
It has come again! Another way to play games on TV and another wave of claims that Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo (is Nintendo even still a thing) are doomed by extension.
I imagine that the new Apple TV will have the same broad and dooming impact on these markets as such historical threats as the Steam Box (no one will need a console when they can play PC games on their TV, right?) or the Ouya, or any Android set top box?
What was the sum impact of all of those combined? 0-ish? I expect Apple to be 20000x better! So, 20000 x 0 = ... still 0-ish! On the upside, no matter what the numbers, Apple can claim to be at least as successful in this market as their competition. That is meaningful. Right?
But seriously, how do people NOT understand this yet?
Sure, the iPad and iPhones are, in terms of sheer units sales, more successful gaming devices. But they aren't cannibalizing sales of consoles because they offer a different experience and different types of games. The gaming experiences that sell consoles are premium AAA console and PC style games. These games simply DO NOT EXIST in the Apple or Android ecosystems. Sure indie games are popular, but generally as cheap stopgap solutions in between major releases.
Another reason people play these games is a preference for playing them via game pads. The Apple TV remote is no better than a touchscreen when it comes to competing with analog sticks, D Pads, triggers, and an array of buttons.
In other words, none of the core console gamers will give a damn about Apple TV for gaming. And this changes NOTHING.
The Apple TV DOES NOT come with a game pad. It comes with a remote control with a touch surface and some accelerometers based on the racing game demo. From a gaming console perspective it is less appealing and less advanced than even the original Wii controller.
From a graphics perspective the raw performance of the device doesn't even take a nibble out of modern consoles either. And YES they are making use of all of that power in those premium titles. And they aren't doing so using an SDK of the sort that iOS developers are using. PS4 and Xbox One devs are coding at a much lower level and they have a multi-year head start on learning how to push those APIs to their limits. So, the real world differences in performance capabilities will be more pronounced even than the technical ones.
Which is even predicated by the problem that none of those games studios are even trying to make those premium titles on Apple platforms at the moment. Even if the performance capabilities were there, someone would need to take the initial gamble and invest, literally, tens of millions of dollars into a full scale production.
Show me an Apple TV with a gaming style controller, dedicated GPU, 8GB of RAM or more, a serious 8-core processor and enough storage space for a decent number of premium game titles and I'll start revising my outlook.
Until then, no, Apple TV poses absolutely no threat to the console gaming industry.
This should be even more obvious than my point that the iPad Pro isn't really competing with the Surface Pro... but this time I'm not just speculating... Apple is NOT trying to compete with the PS4 or Xbox One. That is not the purpose of this device. It isn't what it is marketed for. Furthermore it won't "accidentally" take this industry by storm. They aren't IN that industry.
It has come again! Another way to play games on TV and another wave of claims that Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo (is Nintendo even still a thing) are doomed by extension.
I imagine that the new Apple TV will have the same broad and dooming impact on these markets as such historical threats as the Steam Box (no one will need a console when they can play PC games on their TV, right?) or the Ouya, or any Android set top box?
What was the sum impact of all of those combined? 0-ish? I expect Apple to be 20000x better! So, 20000 x 0 = ... still 0-ish! On the upside, no matter what the numbers, Apple can claim to be at least as successful in this market as their competition. That is meaningful. Right?
But seriously, how do people NOT understand this yet?
Sure, the iPad and iPhones are, in terms of sheer units sales, more successful gaming devices. But they aren't cannibalizing sales of consoles because they offer a different experience and different types of games. The gaming experiences that sell consoles are premium AAA console and PC style games. These games simply DO NOT EXIST in the Apple or Android ecosystems. Sure indie games are popular, but generally as cheap stopgap solutions in between major releases.
Another reason people play these games is a preference for playing them via game pads. The Apple TV remote is no better than a touchscreen when it comes to competing with analog sticks, D Pads, triggers, and an array of buttons.
In other words, none of the core console gamers will give a damn about Apple TV for gaming. And this changes NOTHING.
The Apple TV DOES NOT come with a game pad. It comes with a remote control with a touch surface and some accelerometers based on the racing game demo. From a gaming console perspective it is less appealing and less advanced than even the original Wii controller.
From a graphics perspective the raw performance of the device doesn't even take a nibble out of modern consoles either. And YES they are making use of all of that power in those premium titles. And they aren't doing so using an SDK of the sort that iOS developers are using. PS4 and Xbox One devs are coding at a much lower level and they have a multi-year head start on learning how to push those APIs to their limits. So, the real world differences in performance capabilities will be more pronounced even than the technical ones.
Which is even predicated by the problem that none of those games studios are even trying to make those premium titles on Apple platforms at the moment. Even if the performance capabilities were there, someone would need to take the initial gamble and invest, literally, tens of millions of dollars into a full scale production.
Show me an Apple TV with a gaming style controller, dedicated GPU, 8GB of RAM or more, a serious 8-core processor and enough storage space for a decent number of premium game titles and I'll start revising my outlook.
Until then, no, Apple TV poses absolutely no threat to the console gaming industry.
This should be even more obvious than my point that the iPad Pro isn't really competing with the Surface Pro... but this time I'm not just speculating... Apple is NOT trying to compete with the PS4 or Xbox One. That is not the purpose of this device. It isn't what it is marketed for. Furthermore it won't "accidentally" take this industry by storm. They aren't IN that industry.
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