4 ms·

A little surprised apple didn't create they're own game controller...I think it would make Apple TV even a bit more compelling overall.

by mpg33 11y ago

duaneb 11y ago
And open themselves up to be judged as a serious game player? I don't think they want that, as someone who views the gaming community with a great deal of disgust. Whiny, entitled children who are extremely critical. Apple has an amazing casual market and it makes more sense to capitalize on that.
- ThomPete 11y ago
  I upvoted you because I dont think you deserve to be downvoted for an opinion. Having said that do you care to elaborate on your first claim. Not sure I understand where you are getting that from.
  - duaneb 11y ago
    This is coming from a few observations: 1. The gaming community is one of the most critical, volatile, toxic cultures I've ever seen. See: Gamergate. This isn't a comment on individuals, just the collective. This is where my impression of whiny, entitled children comes from. 2. Apple seems quite comfortable in the casual gaming community. 3. Coming out with their own hardware would be a commitment to gaming that would open themselves up to actually WANTING the criticism of the gaming community. I don't see Apple relishing this at the moment, especially after the Apple Watch flop and the introduction of a stylus 8 years late.
qzervaas 11y ago
iOS 7 (2013) introduced the GameController framework, an SDK to allow game developers to detect physical button presses / D-pad, etc... This was designed to work in conjunction with hardware makers who made game controller shells that housed iPhone / iPod Touch, but with some extra physical buttons. I always viewed this as laying the groundwork for an Apple TV App Store, but it seemed to instantly lose traction and haven't heard anything about since the couple of months following WWDC 2013. I assume that API will gain some more steam now.
numbsafari 11y ago
I was thinking about this a week ago while contemplating their gaming moves with AppleTV. I think Apple wants to focus their own design energy on the broadest customer base, which means casual gamers. Based on that, it makes sense that they would basically deliver their rendition of the Wii-mote. It's interesting to compare it to the FireTV remote as well. Honestly, there's a lot of "hard core game" controllers out there and they all fit in the mold of the XBox/Playstation dual-stick model. It's a smaller market, and people tend to be brand loyal and also generally not fans of Apple. So I think it makes a lot of sense for them to stay out of that racket and leave it to third parties.
- alttab 11y ago
  This puts a lot of onus on the game developers to provide a good consumer experience. The hallmarks of great Apple products is when they get in there and say "no, you want it this way don't you?" This seems like capitulation or a punt more than anything. What have they done for game developers? Almost nothing it seems. If anything, they've made it harder to reach Apple customers by fragmenting the experience across 3 form factors, with the same 70/30 revenue model. There doesn't seem to be any true rational why you would need an AppleTV, that another cheaper product doesn't do better, or something many people already have doesn't already do.
  - pjmlp 11y ago
    Almost anyone can get into the mobile stores. It is a real pain to get into the console market.
  - simonh 11y ago
    >... If anything, they've made it harder to reach Apple customers by fragmenting the experience across 3 form factors Microsoft and Sony both sell tablets, phones, desktops and laptops as well as Apple. Of the three who's OS, development tools, deployment and hardware lineup seems most coherent to you? > ...There doesn't seem to be any true rational why you would need an AppleTV, that another cheaper product doesn't do better, or something many people already have doesn't already do. I don't think there's ever been a single Apple product ever released that people didn't say the exact same thing about.
rhizome 11y ago
They have a year for the upgrades and new sales to take hold before the next hardware release.
emp 11y ago
One of the video snippets showed the remote being used to drive a car. Good enough for the casual players.

A little surprised apple didn't create they're own game controller...I think it would make Apple TV even a bit more compelling overall.

by mpg33 11y ago

A little surprised apple didn't create they're own game controller...I think it would make Apple TV even a bit more compelling overall.

duaneb 11y ago

And open themselves up to be judged as a serious game player? I don't think they want that, as someone who views the gaming community with a great deal of disgust. Whiny, entitled children who are extremely critical. Apple has an amazing casual market and it makes more sense to capitalize on that.

ThomPete 11y ago
I upvoted you because I dont think you deserve to be downvoted for an opinion. Having said that do you care to elaborate on your first claim. Not sure I understand where you are getting that from.
- duaneb 11y ago
  This is coming from a few observations: 1. The gaming community is one of the most critical, volatile, toxic cultures I've ever seen. See: Gamergate. This isn't a comment on individuals, just the collective. This is where my impression of whiny, entitled children comes from. 2. Apple seems quite comfortable in the casual gaming community. 3. Coming out with their own hardware would be a commitment to gaming that would open themselves up to actually WANTING the criticism of the gaming community. I don't see Apple relishing this at the moment, especially after the Apple Watch flop and the introduction of a stylus 8 years late.

qzervaas 11y ago

iOS 7 (2013) introduced the GameController framework, an SDK to allow game developers to detect physical button presses / D-pad, etc... This was designed to work in conjunction with hardware makers who made game controller shells that housed iPhone / iPod Touch, but with some extra physical buttons. I always viewed this as laying the groundwork for an Apple TV App Store, but it seemed to instantly lose traction and haven't heard anything about since the couple of months following WWDC 2013. I assume that API will gain some more steam now.

numbsafari 11y ago

I was thinking about this a week ago while contemplating their gaming moves with AppleTV. I think Apple wants to focus their own design energy on the broadest customer base, which means casual gamers. Based on that, it makes sense that they would basically deliver their rendition of the Wii-mote. It's interesting to compare it to the FireTV remote as well. Honestly, there's a lot of "hard core game" controllers out there and they all fit in the mold of the XBox/Playstation dual-stick model. It's a smaller market, and people tend to be brand loyal and also generally not fans of Apple. So I think it makes a lot of sense for them to stay out of that racket and leave it to third parties.

alttab 11y ago
This puts a lot of onus on the game developers to provide a good consumer experience. The hallmarks of great Apple products is when they get in there and say "no, you want it this way don't you?" This seems like capitulation or a punt more than anything. What have they done for game developers? Almost nothing it seems. If anything, they've made it harder to reach Apple customers by fragmenting the experience across 3 form factors, with the same 70/30 revenue model. There doesn't seem to be any true rational why you would need an AppleTV, that another cheaper product doesn't do better, or something many people already have doesn't already do.
- pjmlp 11y ago
  Almost anyone can get into the mobile stores. It is a real pain to get into the console market.
- simonh 11y ago
  >... If anything, they've made it harder to reach Apple customers by fragmenting the experience across 3 form factors Microsoft and Sony both sell tablets, phones, desktops and laptops as well as Apple. Of the three who's OS, development tools, deployment and hardware lineup seems most coherent to you? > ...There doesn't seem to be any true rational why you would need an AppleTV, that another cheaper product doesn't do better, or something many people already have doesn't already do. I don't think there's ever been a single Apple product ever released that people didn't say the exact same thing about.

rhizome 11y ago

They have a year for the upgrades and new sales to take hold before the next hardware release.

emp 11y ago

One of the video snippets showed the remote being used to drive a car. Good enough for the casual players.