You know it’s gonna happen… Apple TV is going to become a game console…
I think Apple is just holding off and waiting until the chip in it becomes powerful enough to be a viable contendor for games.
But you know if Ouya proves succesful thats a console is viable with a tegra 4 level chip, I think this will open up the notion to Apple even more.
Well, it seems as if it will happen sooner rather than later now that the Apple controller was confirmed.
Apple Controller? Wait you mean an actual gaming controller is being developed by apple?
There are supposedly going to be two versions, one that fits around the iPhone 5 and one that is a standalone controller. They are being built by Logitech, but are official Apple controllers. Here is a leaked image from an alleged trustworthy source:
Don’t mind me saying but…that doesn’t look like Apple logo… I highly doubt that’s an actual product from Apple.
I was about to say the same thing - it doesn’t look very Apple-ish 
Yeah that’s the logitech logo, unfortunately…
And I quote, “They are being built by Logitech, but are official Apple controllers.”
I believe Apple holds the patents to them.
I still doubt it, unless it came from an apple representative. I was under the impression that apple designed the software and how it works then other companies then are to design the actual design of the controller and these are just the flagship ones.
Yea, so far it sounds like Apple probably won’t be making any Apple branded (first party) controllers, and you know Logitech is going to be one of the first out of the gate as the have been making Apple branded input devices for years.
It is going to be pretty interesting to see how this evolves. They have everything in place and needed to make a highly successful (mini?) console. The hardware, OS, store and biggest pool of developers ready to go. It will also be the biggest move from Apple post-Jobs. (though I think patent filings first arose while he was still running things.)
I downloaded the iOS7/AppleTV SDKs, I am hoping to get time to play with it this weekend, and see if there are any hints in it.
One of the big pieces of news was third party controller support in iOS 7. I don’t have an Apple TV, but plan on getting one soon, especially for dev purposes (who knows, maybe Unity-made iOS apps will at some point work on the version of iOS on the Apple TV). That means no more need for third party accessories to act as Bluetooth keyboards. There is now official game pad support. I agree that a move to a console for the Apple TV will be one of the biggest steps since Jobs’ passing, but this has been predicted for years, even when Jobs was still alive.
It will need much more power to be a console that can compete even with Ouya and those mini consoles… Wasn’t the TV a duel core but then they changed it to a single core?
True, I think it is comprable to the iPod current gen, but is technically still 3rd gen which was released over a year ago. It’s about time for product update. I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets a full over-haul, or possibly a second tier product line like “Apple Game/TV” or whatever. Apple isn’t shy about moving forward and leaving older versions/products unsupported for current goals.
Really all that is needed for Apple to make a game console is jam iPad3 in a box. Without the touch display and camera and other elements required for mobile they could get it down to a reasonable price. But then again, given all the push of AirPlay, they might just leverage an external device for driving it and use the ATV as sort of a Docking/Display sort of deal.
I want to as well, but I’m going to wait, as it appears that the beta for the AppleTV build is really just to test airplay and other new features against iOS7.
If you haven’t checked it out yet, there are a lot of other cool new features/frameworks in iOS7 specifically for game support. Stuff like like networking and peer to peer stuff. And though not specifically relevant to Unity, it now has a native sprite kit for games.
I heard about the sprite kit and networking, but didn’t go much into the details of the latter. I’ll be sure to take a look into the rest of the new features once I have a fair bit of time on my hands.
I think it’s only a matter of time… maybe by this christmas would be interesting? I think they’ll try to overhaul tv and perhaps make it also a dvr-type product and also a sustainable app/game market. I can imagine they have a lot of things to get right and get in place to make it happen but I think they can do it and all the rumors seem to suggest it’s likely.
No I think it will be atleast a few years, if even, and it will be done more quietly as a ‘side-benefit’ or being in the iOS ecosystem.
Microsoft is trying to claim the living room as it’s central space. Typically Apple doesn’t go head to head in an already defined market, they will kind of snake their way around the fight to simply be seen as ‘something entirely new’. Apple has also I think clearly defined itself as THE mobile computing company. iPhone and mobile, more mobility is all central to them. This is why the Apple TV has been just a struggling little brother for so long, and it’s relation to the iPad has been just an easier way to stream video from the iPad to the TV. Apple is in no way going to present itself a ‘Living Room Media Company’ like MS or Sony, they will only present themselves as an increasingly more mobile, more portable company, with the Apple TV being a nice side-benefit of their main mobile contenders.
So with that I think any game capability Apple TV will be announced with a new iPad, and it will be something like “Check out this new iPad with new GPU, standardized controller, awesome shit, and now also the Apple TV can play these same games by itself, but the experience is greatly supplemented by the new iPad being able to interact with the game on the TV in ___________ way”. And there will be some new API’s available that let you connect an Apple TV and iPad together to produce some novel gaming experiences.
For Apple to up and out right introduce a console would admit they were trailing behind in a market… which is not how Apple works. They will spin this introduction as them somehow doing something new no one else has done.
