7 ms·

Epic has published an in-game Macintosh commercial spoof in response to Apple

101 points by tbodt 6y ago

NoNameProvided 6y ago
Well played Epic, well played.
- justicezyx 6y ago
  Tim Cook typing "gg"? Gg is good game, when someone admits defeat to the opponent.
  - dariusj18 6y ago
    More like "glhf"
allears 6y ago
How long have they been working on this spoof commercial?
- dogma1138 6y ago
  Probably about as long as they were working on their legal documents. This is literally something that I would expect to see on an episode of Suits not in real life.
  - joezydeco 6y ago
    You can see today's date on the screen being smashed. Epic had this primed and ready to render the moment Apple kicked them off the App Store.
    - dogma1138 6y ago
      It could’ve been easily also pre-rendered not that it would take too long to render this but since they knew when they’ll pull this stunt and they knew that Apple would kick them off the store the same day or the next they could’ve had a few pre-rendered versions with the possible dates ready for upload.
kohtatsu 6y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euiSHuaw6Q4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euiSHuaw6Q4 Direct link Ah, there's an HN discussion already; https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24148204 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24148204
open-source-ux 6y ago
This is the original Apple "1984" commercial (directed by Ridley Scott) that is spoofed by Epic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtvjbmoDx-I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtvjbmoDx-I In the Apple commercial, "Big Brother" is represented by a domineering IBM. It's rather ironic that Apple has been more closed, guarded and controlling than the PC platform has ever been.
- bestham 6y ago
  You have to remember that the reality we live in is the one where CDP, Eagle and Compaq cloned the IBM PC BIOS and could offer compatible IBM PC clones with DOS from Microsoft. That happened during the summer / fall of 1982. The assertions made in the original 1984 ad were in many ways a straw man argument since the PC compatible clones really took of during 1983 due to low supply from IBM and freed the PC from the control that IBM had.
amrrs 6y ago
This is quite a clever move from Epic. Clearly provoking Apple and Knowing what they'd do they got a lawsuit and the famous 1984 Apple Ad's Spoof video. I think This spoof video is more than just mocking Apple. It's clearly playing the underdog theme and winning the support of Fortnite and other Epic games fans.
- joezydeco 6y ago
  As someone that lived through the 1980s and the PC/Mac wars, this is way more than mocking. It's literally saying to Apple's face that they've become IBM in this situation.
  - rogerallen 6y ago
    Agreed. Note that IBM could not even dream of doing what Apple has done with the App Store. They had only just finished off their monopoly lawsuit in 1982...
rawland 6y ago
This is epic.
catsarebetter 6y ago
How much more did they prepare beforehand lol
minxomat 6y ago
Going after Apple's policies seems to require fanfare. Spotify made a whole website: https://timetoplayfair.com/ https://timetoplayfair.com/ This follows other public denouncements by Hey.com, ProtonMail, Netflix and others, all within a few months.
- elliekelly 6y ago
  What’s Apple’s move when Epic, Spotify, Netflix, etc. all coordinate to “blackout” iOS for a day? Or even for an hour? And why haven’t they yet?
  - cinbun8 6y ago
    They would lose revenue.
  - sebazzz 6y ago
    Do you think that Apple would care? I'm sure plenty of customers would be angry though - but not on Apple. We - here on HN - are far from the average customer.
recursivedoubts 6y ago
2015 me would be quite surprised to learn that 2020 me is rooting for an obnoxious gaming company to take down apple.
- BoorishBears 6y ago
  In what way has Epic ever been obnoxious? From spending millions on free developer resources, to retroactively making products free, to having an owner who's invested millions in conservation, it's so bizarre that it's popular to hate Epic. I think their biggest mistake in the public's perception was daring to challenge Steam's semi-monopoly on PC distribution
  - sushid 6y ago
    Which, to me, is hilarious. How dare they undercut a de-factor monopoly with lower fees for game publishers?!
  - boardwaalk 6y ago
    The way the gamer community vilified Epic regarding the Epic Game Store when it was only doing what Steam and existing publishers (re: exclusives) were already doing blew my mind. It was and is really quite silly.
    - esyir 6y ago
      As far as I can tell, there aren't any legally binding steam exclusives. The pc was the device with oo mandate exclusives, and epic brought that there. They deserve whatever hate they get for that.
      - BoorishBears 6y ago
        It's pretty much a distinction without a difference... Major publishers have had games to their stores, so there have been storefront-exclusives for years. Trying to slip in "mandated" is kind of redundant, it's self-mandated by the people publishing the game... But of course, Steam's monopoly on a full-featured game front is just so strong they usually kowtow eventually... For years EA games were Origin-exclusive, it wasn't until a few months ago they reversed course on that, and they still require Origin. Epic is doing it right, they're busting a monopolized industry and playing exactly the right amount of hardball to do it. - And as an aside, the statement "The pc was the device without mandate exclusives" seems to be implying PC was the gaming platform without platform exclusives... I mean yeah? And it still is? Epic was saying you could only use their store, they weren't saying you could only use PC... PC is very much last place for AAA attention, hence games coming out months later and in much worse shape, in no universe would a publisher ever go PC-only for a game because of Epic games or any other storefront trying to nudge them
sleepyK 6y ago
Oh how the turntables have turned...

101 points by tbodt 6y ago

NoNameProvided 6y ago

Well played Epic, well played.

justicezyx 6y ago
Tim Cook typing "gg"? Gg is good game, when someone admits defeat to the opponent.
- dariusj18 6y ago
  More like "glhf"

allears 6y ago

How long have they been working on this spoof commercial?

dogma1138 6y ago
Probably about as long as they were working on their legal documents. This is literally something that I would expect to see on an episode of Suits not in real life.
- joezydeco 6y ago
  You can see today's date on the screen being smashed. Epic had this primed and ready to render the moment Apple kicked them off the App Store.
  - dogma1138 6y ago
    It could’ve been easily also pre-rendered not that it would take too long to render this but since they knew when they’ll pull this stunt and they knew that Apple would kick them off the store the same day or the next they could’ve had a few pre-rendered versions with the possible dates ready for upload.

kohtatsu 6y ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euiSHuaw6Q4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euiSHuaw6Q4 Direct link Ah, there's an HN discussion already; https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24148204 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24148204

open-source-ux 6y ago

This is the original Apple "1984" commercial (directed by Ridley Scott) that is spoofed by Epic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtvjbmoDx-I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtvjbmoDx-I In the Apple commercial, "Big Brother" is represented by a domineering IBM. It's rather ironic that Apple has been more closed, guarded and controlling than the PC platform has ever been.

bestham 6y ago
You have to remember that the reality we live in is the one where CDP, Eagle and Compaq cloned the IBM PC BIOS and could offer compatible IBM PC clones with DOS from Microsoft. That happened during the summer / fall of 1982. The assertions made in the original 1984 ad were in many ways a straw man argument since the PC compatible clones really took of during 1983 due to low supply from IBM and freed the PC from the control that IBM had.

amrrs 6y ago

This is quite a clever move from Epic. Clearly provoking Apple and Knowing what they'd do they got a lawsuit and the famous 1984 Apple Ad's Spoof video. I think This spoof video is more than just mocking Apple. It's clearly playing the underdog theme and winning the support of Fortnite and other Epic games fans.

joezydeco 6y ago
As someone that lived through the 1980s and the PC/Mac wars, this is way more than mocking. It's literally saying to Apple's face that they've become IBM in this situation.
- rogerallen 6y ago
  Agreed. Note that IBM could not even dream of doing what Apple has done with the App Store. They had only just finished off their monopoly lawsuit in 1982...

rawland 6y ago

This is epic.

catsarebetter 6y ago

How much more did they prepare beforehand lol

minxomat 6y ago

Going after Apple's policies seems to require fanfare. Spotify made a whole website: https://timetoplayfair.com/ https://timetoplayfair.com/ This follows other public denouncements by Hey.com, ProtonMail, Netflix and others, all within a few months.

elliekelly 6y ago
What’s Apple’s move when Epic, Spotify, Netflix, etc. all coordinate to “blackout” iOS for a day? Or even for an hour? And why haven’t they yet?
- cinbun8 6y ago
  They would lose revenue.
- sebazzz 6y ago
  Do you think that Apple would care? I'm sure plenty of customers would be angry though - but not on Apple. We - here on HN - are far from the average customer.

recursivedoubts 6y ago

2015 me would be quite surprised to learn that 2020 me is rooting for an obnoxious gaming company to take down apple.

BoorishBears 6y ago
In what way has Epic ever been obnoxious? From spending millions on free developer resources, to retroactively making products free, to having an owner who's invested millions in conservation, it's so bizarre that it's popular to hate Epic. I think their biggest mistake in the public's perception was daring to challenge Steam's semi-monopoly on PC distribution
- sushid 6y ago
  Which, to me, is hilarious. How dare they undercut a de-factor monopoly with lower fees for game publishers?!
- boardwaalk 6y ago
  The way the gamer community vilified Epic regarding the Epic Game Store when it was only doing what Steam and existing publishers (re: exclusives) were already doing blew my mind. It was and is really quite silly.
  - esyir 6y ago
    As far as I can tell, there aren't any legally binding steam exclusives. The pc was the device with oo mandate exclusives, and epic brought that there. They deserve whatever hate they get for that.
    - BoorishBears 6y ago
      It's pretty much a distinction without a difference... Major publishers have had games to their stores, so there have been storefront-exclusives for years. Trying to slip in "mandated" is kind of redundant, it's self-mandated by the people publishing the game... But of course, Steam's monopoly on a full-featured game front is just so strong they usually kowtow eventually... For years EA games were Origin-exclusive, it wasn't until a few months ago they reversed course on that, and they still require Origin. Epic is doing it right, they're busting a monopolized industry and playing exactly the right amount of hardball to do it. - And as an aside, the statement "The pc was the device without mandate exclusives" seems to be implying PC was the gaming platform without platform exclusives... I mean yeah? And it still is? Epic was saying you could only use their store, they weren't saying you could only use PC... PC is very much last place for AAA attention, hence games coming out months later and in much worse shape, in no universe would a publisher ever go PC-only for a game because of Epic games or any other storefront trying to nudge them

sleepyK 6y ago

Oh how the turntables have turned...