4 ms·

Not sure they'd be able to compete with the performance loss from running Windows binaries via the Game Porting Toolkit (their proton like tool) and the x86 to

Not sure they'd be able to compete with the performance loss from running Windows binaries via the Game Porting Toolkit (their proton like tool) and the x86 to ARM translation. Apple has been able to make a killer game console or handheld for a while but they just don't seem to care. All they really have to do is change the marketing around the Apple TV, put a controller in the box, and start courting developers to port their switch games...

TheRealSteel 3y ago
I guess they'd encourage developers to officially port their games to native Apple Silicon, but have emulation as a backup.
giantrobot 3y ago
> All they really have to do is change the marketing around the Apple TV, put a controller in the box, and start courting developers to port their switch games... They have done this, albeit half-assed. The AppleTV (and iOS) readily support a bunch of Bluetooth controllers. They tried to get studios to make games for the AppleTV but they mostly just got iPhone/iPad ports. There's a couple big problems with the AppleTV. The first is poor tooling for graphics and audio development. The underlying frameworks are powerful as is the hardware but it's difficult to debug them or access them at a low level. It's hard to just get an accurate accounting of the timing of draw calls and GPU load on iOS and macOS. The tooling for DirectX is way more powerful. The AppleTV hardware is also shit. They've always shipped with old Apple Silicon SoCs. So if you've got a game that screams on the latest iPad or iPhone it runs like shit on the AppleTV or you've got to scale back the visuals. Even when a developer manages to make an awesome game for iOS it ends up sucking on AppleTV. Then there's the tiny amounts of storage. Even the average Nintendo Switch game would find the AppleTV's storage anemic to say nothing of the PS5 or Xbox. Apple has never courted AAA game development. I don't think any of Apple's C-suite appreciates games. They trot out game developers to do slick demos at one of their events (doting on them in the run up) and then go back to largely ignoring them. The various game adjacent technologies/frameworks are almost always bottom-up initiatives from development teams trying to come up with a new shiny thing for the next OS release.
- skyyler 3y ago
  >Apple has never courted AAA game development Not since Jobs returned, anyways. Before that, Bungie was a darling for Apple and they even made the Pippin, which was a games console.
  - giantrobot 3y ago
    I would not point to the Pippin as an exemplar of AAA game development. It was a locked down Performa with a custom build of System 7. Most of the titles for it were just retooled Mac releases and it didn't really offer any special "game console" special sauce. It was the product of an extremely unfocused and frankly rudderless Apple. But I would agree Bungie was a AAA studio though in spite of Apple rather than because of anything in particular Apple did. They treated Bungie and their games as a thing to provide a demo but never really anything to actively support or encourage.

TheRealSteel 3y ago

I guess they'd encourage developers to officially port their games to native Apple Silicon, but have emulation as a backup.

giantrobot 3y ago

> All they really have to do is change the marketing around the Apple TV, put a controller in the box, and start courting developers to port their switch games... They have done this, albeit half-assed. The AppleTV (and iOS) readily support a bunch of Bluetooth controllers. They tried to get studios to make games for the AppleTV but they mostly just got iPhone/iPad ports. There's a couple big problems with the AppleTV. The first is poor tooling for graphics and audio development. The underlying frameworks are powerful as is the hardware but it's difficult to debug them or access them at a low level. It's hard to just get an accurate accounting of the timing of draw calls and GPU load on iOS and macOS. The tooling for DirectX is way more powerful. The AppleTV hardware is also shit. They've always shipped with old Apple Silicon SoCs. So if you've got a game that screams on the latest iPad or iPhone it runs like shit on the AppleTV or you've got to scale back the visuals. Even when a developer manages to make an awesome game for iOS it ends up sucking on AppleTV. Then there's the tiny amounts of storage. Even the average Nintendo Switch game would find the AppleTV's storage anemic to say nothing of the PS5 or Xbox. Apple has never courted AAA game development. I don't think any of Apple's C-suite appreciates games. They trot out game developers to do slick demos at one of their events (doting on them in the run up) and then go back to largely ignoring them. The various game adjacent technologies/frameworks are almost always bottom-up initiatives from development teams trying to come up with a new shiny thing for the next OS release.

skyyler 3y ago
>Apple has never courted AAA game development Not since Jobs returned, anyways. Before that, Bungie was a darling for Apple and they even made the Pippin, which was a games console.
- giantrobot 3y ago
  I would not point to the Pippin as an exemplar of AAA game development. It was a locked down Performa with a custom build of System 7. Most of the titles for it were just retooled Mac releases and it didn't really offer any special "game console" special sauce. It was the product of an extremely unfocused and frankly rudderless Apple. But I would agree Bungie was a AAA studio though in spite of Apple rather than because of anything in particular Apple did. They treated Bungie and their games as a thing to provide a demo but never really anything to actively support or encourage.