6 ms·

Not sure about game developers, but gamers are a low-margin, high-touch, low-satisfaction-score, garish-aesthetic, speeds-and-feeds market. Pretty much antithet

by npunt 5y ago

Not sure about game developers, but gamers are a low-margin, high-touch, low-satisfaction-score, garish-aesthetic, speeds-and-feeds market. Pretty much antithetical to Apple's core focus and I think they rightly avoid them. Despite personally wanting more games on Mac :)

outworlder 5y ago
> low-margin Really? Have you missed the insane markups on anything 'gaming' related for many years?
- andrewmcwatters 5y ago
  Could you provide an example?
  - melony 5y ago
    The AAA studios and titles filled with lootboxes and custom skins.
    - smoldesu 5y ago
      Ah, like that Genshin Impact game Apple was using in their iPad Air demo earlier today. Good example!
  - baud147258 5y ago
    Compare any normal keyboard with 'gamer' models where the only difference is colored led...
  - Hamuko 5y ago
    At this point in time, basically any GPU.
jdgoesmarching 5y ago
Also I feel like everyone is missing their AR/VR push right around the corner. VR headsets with these chips will be dramatically more powerful than other devices on the market. Combine that power with Apple product marketing, and devs will be there regardless of how much the Metal APIs suck.
- mmis1000 5y ago
  Doesn't matter if apple didn't want any serious games on their mac platform. And it is for now afaik.
- makeitdouble 5y ago
  VR is happening on PC. Event the Quest2 has a PC link that expands its possibility many-fold, and you guessed it, it works only on PC. Apple could come with its magic to take the field, but it’s been a while we saw them succeed in a market where a serious competitor is already expanding (voice assistants or the apple TV comes to mind). I’d love to be proven wrong, but won’t be holding my breath)
  - nardi 5y ago
    There is no “serious competitor” in VR/AR, because there is no market yet. The number of devices sold is miniscule. When AR/VR actually takes off, it’s going to look very, very different from what we have today.
- chaostheory 5y ago
  Games on Apple will always be treated as 2nd class citizens. I don’t feel it will be any different on their new XR platform which is both good and bad because it’ll mean that we’ll have an XR device that the masses will finally accept if the price is right.
ask_b123 5y ago
What does high-touch market mean?
- radley 5y ago
  Want to be hands on and make customized modifications
  - Apocryphon 5y ago
    So, hobbyists and hackers.
- npunt 5y ago
  Entitled, difficult, immature, higher return & damage rate, undervalues 'just works', etc.
  - novok 5y ago
    It's because they skew towards being children more. Apple already has a large children market via the iPad. "Serious games" on daddy's macbook pro and their iPads & apple TVs would further that stronghold. Games are their biggest money maker on the app store as it is, a real serious gaming department with 100-200 employees will pay for itself multiple times over. Apple arcade is another example. Apple Game Studios with first party games like nintendo would probably do better than Apple TV+ does today. They're alllllmost there.

by npunt 5y ago

outworlder 5y ago

> low-margin Really? Have you missed the insane markups on anything 'gaming' related for many years?

andrewmcwatters 5y ago
Could you provide an example?
- melony 5y ago
  The AAA studios and titles filled with lootboxes and custom skins.
  - smoldesu 5y ago
    Ah, like that Genshin Impact game Apple was using in their iPad Air demo earlier today. Good example!
- baud147258 5y ago
  Compare any normal keyboard with 'gamer' models where the only difference is colored led...
- Hamuko 5y ago
  At this point in time, basically any GPU.

jdgoesmarching 5y ago

Also I feel like everyone is missing their AR/VR push right around the corner. VR headsets with these chips will be dramatically more powerful than other devices on the market. Combine that power with Apple product marketing, and devs will be there regardless of how much the Metal APIs suck.

mmis1000 5y ago
Doesn't matter if apple didn't want any serious games on their mac platform. And it is for now afaik.
makeitdouble 5y ago
VR is happening on PC. Event the Quest2 has a PC link that expands its possibility many-fold, and you guessed it, it works only on PC. Apple could come with its magic to take the field, but it’s been a while we saw them succeed in a market where a serious competitor is already expanding (voice assistants or the apple TV comes to mind). I’d love to be proven wrong, but won’t be holding my breath)
- nardi 5y ago
  There is no “serious competitor” in VR/AR, because there is no market yet. The number of devices sold is miniscule. When AR/VR actually takes off, it’s going to look very, very different from what we have today.
chaostheory 5y ago
Games on Apple will always be treated as 2nd class citizens. I don’t feel it will be any different on their new XR platform which is both good and bad because it’ll mean that we’ll have an XR device that the masses will finally accept if the price is right.

ask_b123 5y ago

What does high-touch market mean?

radley 5y ago
Want to be hands on and make customized modifications
- Apocryphon 5y ago
  So, hobbyists and hackers.
npunt 5y ago
Entitled, difficult, immature, higher return & damage rate, undervalues 'just works', etc.
- novok 5y ago
  It's because they skew towards being children more. Apple already has a large children market via the iPad. "Serious games" on daddy's macbook pro and their iPads & apple TVs would further that stronghold. Games are their biggest money maker on the app store as it is, a real serious gaming department with 100-200 employees will pay for itself multiple times over. Apple arcade is another example. Apple Game Studios with first party games like nintendo would probably do better than Apple TV+ does today. They're alllllmost there.