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Apple TV revealed, $149, select games and gaming info detailed

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
http://www.apple.com/tv/games-and-more/

Basic Information:
-$149 for 32GB, $199 for 64 GB
-Has an A8 processor (iPhone 6/6+).
-Comes with a remote that has motion control, a touch panel, and several TV minded buttons.
-Can use iPhones/iPads/iTouches as controllers for any game that supports them.
-Can use third party GamePads for any game that supports them (Apple explicitly shows off the $50 SteelSeries GamePad repeatedly).
-Showed off a variety of existing iOS games and a couple of exclusives.
-Games that support the feature can instantly resume where you left off on other systems (Transistor was given an example.
-Crossy Road was shown off with multiplayer exclusive to Apple TV.
-Harmonix's Beat Sports was shown off as an exclusive game that kind of looks like Rhythm Heaven. Has four player local co-op.
-Disney Infinity 3.0 was also announced for the system.
-The pitch was obviously pretty minded as a Wii-esque type device for general gaming mindset, at least on Apple's side.

Pictures:

System:

ogw6s7h.jpg


Remote:

touch_remote_large7ysfk.jpg


Other:

ports_largeztsdf.jpg


hero_largeqns9e.jpg

Third Party Controller (SteelSeries, $50 Separate Purchase):


Games (from their website):

Galaxy on Fire: Manticore Rising

apps_and_games_large64ssz.jpg


Rayman Adventures:

rayman_adventures_lar8ksaj.jpg


Shadowmatic:

shadowmatic_largeg8sgh.jpg


Transistor:

transistor_largeyls83.jpg


Guitar Hero Live:

guitar_hero_largeg1sh8.jpg


Beat Sports:

apple-tv-beat-sportsr2kew.png
 

ZhugeEX

Banned
I want to get the first post in here.

Here's the thing. It's not directly competing with consoles, it's indirectly competing with them.

There are more people who watch tv/movies/music than people who play games (core) and so this device is an easy and cheap way for the first group to get smart tv features in their living room and as a plus they can play games.

So why would they purchase a console? Sure they may not have done so anyway but we're already seeing set top box shipments overtake console shipments per quarter in the US which isn't great when Sony and Microsoft would prefer to take the living room.

Ultimately it's not helping console sales or appeal at all. Now I'm not saying this is going to kill consoles, it's not. What I'm saying is that it's going to be an indirect competitor that may contribute to the decline in console purchases/install base.

Overall the set top market is forecast to grow in the US and Apple, Amazon and Google will be at the forefront of that growth. These devices are going to be the go to "living room" devices for a lot of families and individuals and looking at Apple TV in particular it's clear to see why some people would.

Apple are already a strong brand in the US and the original Apple TV has already sold in more than 15 million devices in the US contributing to the already 36 million install base. This TV streamlines a lot of the features from their old devices/competitor devices and provides these features at a low entry cost that isn't that high when you think about it.

The gaming side is interesting as there will be the motion controls behind it which are familiar already (+ external controller support), the exclusive games, cross play/save and also multiplayer support. It's not going to be a threat to consoles directly but certainly can see a lot of casuals getting this device for the streaming stuff and then using the gaming every now and then. Certainly if the install base grows we could see families/kids move from PS3/Wii/360 (where family friendly games still sell most) to Apple TV and so that's why we already have support for Guitar Hero and Disney Infinity etc...

Is this going to kill the console? No. Consoles still have a large enough dedicated user base. Will set top boxes indirectly affect sales of consoles to potential casual gamers in the future? Maybe.

Thoughts?
 

Comandr

Member
Thanks for the new thread Nirolak. Hopefully we can keep salt levels to a minimum here. It was pretty deplorable in the last thread.
 

TI82

Banned
So much for a regular controller. I could see this being cool for the kids that like these kind of games and already have iPads... but honestly they already have an iPad...
 
This lays the foundations for more TV-centric gaming on non-console devices more than anything. The genesis of the App Store will help move along couch gaming as well I think.
 

MCN

Banned
I will say that I thought that Apple's first TV gaming box would be a lot more expensive. That's actually not a bad price at all.
 

ReyVGM

Member
This is sort of what I think Nintendo is going to do with the NX. Except, it will have Nintendo's own premium games.
 
So much for a regular controller. I could see this being cool for the kids that like these kind of games and already have iPads... but honestly they already have an iPad...
An iPad as a controller is a bit silly. But allowing for iPhone is actually pretty smart. It means lots of people come to your house with a controller already ready to go.
 

Jaruru

Member
I have my consoles, my smart phone, my portable.
probably will just play my mobile games on mobile phone
 

muteki

Member
Needs to be shipped with a proper controller at least for console-esque games to take off.

The masses aren't going to go out and spend $ on 3rd party stuff.
 
The only thing I haven't seen is any word if it can do like Miracast and play your iOS games on a big screen? Might be worth the small $150 model if I can play them on a TV.
 

Hsieh

Member
So instead of competing against Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo's NX is going to be competing against Apple?
 

BiGBoSSMk23

A company being excited for their new game is a huge slap in the face to all the fans that liked their old games.
So gaming consoles will continue being gaming consoles and set top boxes will be set top boxes.

Apple(s) and oranges really...
 

Surface of Me

I'm not an NPC. And neither are we.
I really cant see this making waves in terms of gaming. The people who made the Wii huge stopped playing it after a few months and I cant see them going for the same shit over again.
 

Boss Man

Member
Think of it like a Wii with Wii U hardware but with the best UI design and app support in the market. The only thing it's missing (for now) is Nintendo games.

Imagine that alongside a gaming PC and I don't know why you'd need another box under the TV, which is sort of the point.

I don't think the goal is to compete with PS4/XB1 directly, but if you combine a gaming PC with an Apple TV then why would you own a dedicated game console?

PC is better at serious games. Apple TV is better at all other entertainment and still provides enough to scratch the couch gaming/co-op itch. I don't think anyone is going to be buying an Apple TV for games, but I do think that Apple TV along with PC gaming is really starting to squeeze the relevancy out of gaming consoles.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
No optical out is a bummer.

Is it? I mean, I don't have HDMI input on my receiver, but that's because I bought it 15 years ago. It's been standard for a long time.
 

Ploid 3.0

Member
I want to get the first post in here.

Here's the thing. It's not directly competing with consoles, it's indirectly competing with them.

There are more people who watch tv/movies/music than people who play games (core) and so this device is an easy and cheap way for the first group to get smart tv features in their living room and as a plus they can play games.

So why would they purchase a console? Sure they may not have done so anyway but we're already seeing set top box shipments overtake console shipments per quarter in the US.

Ultimately it's not helping console sales or appeal at all. Now I'm not saying this is going to kill consoles, it's not. What I'm saying is that it's going to be an indirect competitor that may contribute to the decline in console purchases/install base.

Overall the set top market is forecast to grow in the US and Apple, Amazon and Google will be at the forefront of that growth. These devices are going to be the go to "living room" devices for a lot of families and individuals and looking at Apple TV in particular it's clear to see why some people would.

Apple are already a strong brand in the US and the original Apple TV has already sold in more than 15 million devices in the US contributing to the already 36 million install base. This TV streamlines a lot of the features from their old devices/competitor devices and provides these features at a low entry cost that isn't that high when you think about it.

The gaming side is interesting as there will be the motion controls behind it which are familiar already (+ external controller support), the exclusive games, cross play/save and also multiplayer support. It's not going to be a threat to consoles directly but certainly can see a lot of casuals getting this device for the streaming stuff and then using the gaming every now and then. Certainly if the install base grows we could see families/kids move from PS3/Wii/360 (where family friendly games still sell most) to Apple TV and so that's why we already have support for Guitar Hero and Disney Infinity etc...

Is this going to kill the console? No. Consoles still have a large enough dedicated user base. Will set top boxes indirectly effect sales of consoles to potential casual gamers in the future? Maybe.

Thoughts?

So they will be competing with Amazon Fire TV since they look like the same exact products but on different cellphone OS platforms. After a while people may just forget about Appletv as a device that can also play games. The reason phone games are so popular is because they allow you to waste time anywhere. Those same games on the tv just don't work so well when you may have your sibling, or partner's awesome gaming console under the tv that can also do multiple entertainment things.
 

mrkgoo

Member
The Wii novelty wore off a long time ago. I dont see this doing that well as a gaming device.

Change a few nouns here and there and you pretty much get the same comments for every apple device ever.

A few tweaks here and there, there's always a chance that apple products can shake up the industry. For the Apple TV and the console market all it will take is just a few devs deciding they will have a version for the Apple TV and it can gain traction.

I imagine standard controllers can be used if devs support them.
 

Hawk269

Member
Not sure how big this is going to be, but CNN is doing the coverage and the only thing about it that they talked about it was that you can Netflix and other apps for watching TV. They said the word "games" once, but never talked about it. Most of the coverage surrounded the new phone and I-pad.
 

Swass

Member
Consoles are safe.

Consoles are safe, Roku is safe, Apple stock..? We will know in the next few days but in my opinion this was Apple's most underwhelming conference to date and last years, where they announced the Apple Watch, was already a new low.
 

maxcriden

Member
So instead of competing against Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo's NX is going to be competing against Apple?

I don't think so, no. NX will be a dedicated games machine and as far as I can tell the Wii ___ IPs are being shelved for the moment.
 

Comandr

Member
The only thing I haven't seen is any word if it can do like Miracast and play your iOS games on a big screen? Might be worth the small $150 model if I can play them on a TV.

The old Apple TV has done this for years through AirPlay. Being that this will have access to (presumably) the same App Store, there is no reason why you couldn't just download the games you already own for iOS and play them on your Apple TV natively.
 

BiggNife

Member
So.. OUYA for IOS games?

More like a FireTV for iOS games, considering the OUYA was massively underpowered and the FireTV/Apple TV aren't.

There's also going to be Apple TV games that won't be available on iOS proper, but they haven't shown much yet. Right now there's Disney Infinity 3.0, Beat Sports, and Guitar Hero Live.
 
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