So AppleTV 4 has been out for a while and I jumped on the bandwagon full of excitement about the ‘potential’ etc. But I’ve felt somewhat deflated about what seems to be quite a slow uptake on the gaming side. I check maybe once a week to see what’s new and usually find only one or two new games that are worth looking at, a whole bunch of obvious iOS ports with iPhone graphics, and one or two bigger things maybe in genres that I’m not into. Then there’s the really obvious unimaginative TV-pleaser apps like fireplaces and living-room-fitness apps… It’s almost like people just don’t know what to do with the TV and are jumping to the stereotypes and not very fleshed-out ideas. And then the AppleTV also hosts iTunes, movies, tv-shows, which in a way makes it seem like ‘just another passive device’ on which Apple can shovelware all of their existing content. So at times it feels like, well, this is all the same stuff that’s available on other devices, other screens, and not really much unique or interesting for a new piece of hardware. AppleTV doesn’t have much of an ‘identity’ of its own, and it is seeming more and more like it’s not really a ‘game console’ … It just doesn’t feel like one. Games seem like an afterthought, and where are all the games, anyway? Bubble burst.
I don’t have any actual numbers to base this on, but my assumption is there are far fewer AppleTVs (especially new ones) out in the wild than there are Xboxes, Playstations, iPhones, etc. Of the devices out there, I also imagine a large portion of those consumers don’t look at their AppleTV as a gaming machine, but rather just a high-end Roku.
Consequently, I believe development of games for the platform will be slow to take. That does suggest, though, that a high quality release would have very little competition and would be much more visible to customers, so the likelihood of a breakout hit seems more possible, so it may not be a lost cause.
From a consumer perspective this seems about the same adoption as Fire TV had when it came out. We’re about 6 months in and things are slow but steady in the amount of releases. If you were expecting an explosion of adoption like the iphone then I understand the disappointment, but a set top box was never going to have that. It will have it’s own niche and can have decent sales numbers eventually but it’s certainly always going to be less than the mobile market.
From a developer standpoint, there does seem to be a few people trying to use the unique aspects of the platform to build something new, but like any first generation product they have some issues to work out. The tried and true successes were always going to top the sales charts with their ports to the Apple TV (ie. badlands, pacman 365, asphault, etc).
From a personal perspective and my only view at developer adoption (I have a tool for Apple TV in the store) I will say that sales have been higher than I expected and not just from hobbyists. Obviously game development takes some time so hopefully that means good things as we get later into the year.
Pretty much. I don’t know if it’s what I hoped for, but I’m happy with it. It would have been nice to have a couple of buttons on the end without the touch pad for more complex games but in general it serves the purpose it was designed for.
I’ve been working on a game for it slowly and I think the platforms nice.
Definitely agree with this sentiment. I think to some there was this hope that because it was Apple it was going to follow in the footsteps of the Iphone and Ipad and I think that was unrealistic. It will be a decent performer in the category like the apple watch was but it isn’t going to dominate the market.
I like the platform and it’s experience. The games on the platform are nice. In time I think there will be a few unique games that come out for it and catch on.
I know everyone always wants to go from 0 to a million overnight and there is nothing wrong with indie’s having a dream of making it big, but don’t undervalue these smaller markets. While they are smaller, they are also way less saturated. On mobile you have to scratch and claw to get noticed, but on these platforms you can do so much easier. In a way, at least to me it seems like a great platform to get feedback on without having to break the bank on advertising.
I guess for me the main distinction is that because it doesn’t JUST focus on games and the controller isn’t JUST a game controller, and because most of the content is shoveled from other platforms, it doesn’t have its own ‘identity’ in the way that a game console does. It’s like you can do games ON it but it isn’t ‘a game console’ as such. It needs to have some exclusive ‘killer apps’ or whatever and to really make a name for itself, but it seems more like this is just another extended piece of a larger Apple ecosystem so it sort of is struggling to give that impression. Something like Ouya for example had far more console-like identity, even if it was poor on performance and uptake. I would’ve LIKED for it to be a more ‘hard-core’ rock-n-roll sort of gaming masterpiece with tonnes of excellent games … like, more games than I have money to possibly ever buy sort of thing… but it’s really been slow so far. Maybe also the higher price tags on the games has something to do with slowing things down. There definitely is opportunity for early adopters to get in there and please the audience because you see games that normally probably wouldn’t make it to the top being quite popular - through lack of quality alternatives, mostly. It’s not what I hoped it would be, but apparently what I hoped it would be is really not what Apple wants it to be.
The NES had Super Mario Bros. The Genesis had Sonic the Hedgehog. The N64 had Mario 64. The Wii had Wii Sports.
It’s software that defines a platform, not hardware. Unique experiences tied to the hardware, designed specifically for the hardware. The AppleTV needs the same if it is going to gain its own identity as a gaming device. It needs software that is more than a simple port. It needs software that will define how you play games on it. We have not seen that software yet.
This is the danger of putting out hardware without an internal game development team.
Partly though they didn’t want to ‘turn off’ non-gamers who wanted iTunes videos/music/tv shows, so they couldn’t really brand it as a ‘game console’. Whether it evolves into more of one I guess time will tell.
Maybe they could use some of that offshore money to fund a couple indie dev teams to create some exclusive content - only available on AppleTV.
Agree - the remote is a limiting device.
This is the wrong way of looking at the problem. Limitations are a challenge, not a hindrance. The structure of poetry is limiting, but some of the greatest literary works come out of those limitations. Learning to work within limitations is a major component of true art.
A good artist, or a good craftsman, do not look at their canvas and lament its size or quality. They do not refuse to work if what they have to work with does not live up to the potential they believe they should be provided with. They work with what they have, and attempt to make it shine.
The same holds true with game development. The Wii was an inherently limiting system. It was underpowered at the time it came out, with a control scheme far removed from what people were used to. Yet Nintendo managed to produce a capable game tailor-made for the hardware. They sold 100 million pieces of hardware on the strength of that one title. THAT is the power of working within limitations.
The Apple TV has similar potential. The limitations of its controller are not what is keeping it from success. A good developer could take that controller and make it shine. They could develop a game that harnesses what is there and brings out the best of what it could become. All that is really lacking is the effort.
I got an Alienware Alpha for $350. It was a good deal. I configured it into launching Steam Big Picture mode automatically and set it up in my living room. My little brother plays Ouya games he remembers and good Steam titles on it. Supports 4 controllers. Does us fine. I think if you want to do console games, just make stuff for pc.
Agree - we work with what we have - luckily we have a choice to work with other tech that offers less limiting controls. I suspect good developers have passed on creating content for the system simply because of the remote, same was the case with the Wii - a lot of games were not shipped for the Wii because the Wii’s controls were so different.
As a gamer - I hated the controls.
Agree - a good developer could make something that really shines on the system, however the limitations of the remote would be a hurdle the developer had to overcome or greaty limit design because of it’s limitations.
I suspect there will eventually be some really cool things that come out for Apple TV that use the other iOS devices as controllers - most likely though the controls won’t be setup to use the limited remote.
To be completely honest the Apple TV remote is less of a hurdle than the Fire TV remote, or any of the Android TV consoles except the Nvidia shield (which came with a game controller but was never going to get anywhere because of the price). Every other tv box only came with a remote so controller only games really don’t get noticed in the marketplace.
This was never going to be console caliber system, however it still has the most potential for games on the tv outside of consoles, even vs. the fire tv which still has way more apps.
3 buttons and a touchpad is a little bit limiting but most control schemes do have options for most types of games. Obviously, the wii style games are possible with the accel/gyro but even fps’s can work as shown in my below video.
The difference between the Wii and the Apple TV is that the Wii is marketed and sold as a gaming device. I get the impression that most people buying the Apple TV don’t even know it can be used for games.
If Apple had bundled a controller, I think more people would have seen it as a gaming device, and it’d have more success as one. I think just a D-pad and two buttons, like the original NES controller, would have been a perfect fit for it.
I can see why they wouldn’t want to market it as a gaming device though. It’s severely underpowered compared to an Xbox or a Playstation, so they’d want to avoid a comparison.
I’ve had the newest ATV for few months and got it mainly to replace the old one with better support for streaming/content services. I’ve also downloaded a lot of free games and those that I had already purchased for iPad/iPhone.
This device is far from gaming device with included controller and download system. Most of the games just rely on the gyro or single click gameplay which is mostly very boring gaming experience. The gesture or touch pad based games don’t give that nice gaming experience either, for example Lumino city was pretty dreadful experience after knowing how it was on an iPad. The layout of the remote is not good most of the people did not like it compared to phone gaming experience when they tried some games.
Then the content downloads :(… Many of the good looking games had often “downloading something” when you switched scenes or played the game after a break (I know all the tech specs behind this but still…). It’s not like that the other platforms would not have any loading screens at all but more that it felt a lot slower than on other devices for no reason.
Well I have a ROKU MDHL Stick and tried a game I forget from who, Lucky Charms, and it was OK art wise but quickly boring. I think I will see if I can get my game to play in WebGL via ROKU and see what the ROKU controll buttons can do in that game…
