6 ms·

They’ve always been good enough for gaming. The problem has just been whether or not publishers would bother releasing the games. It’s unfortunate that Apple ca

They’ve always been good enough for gaming. The problem has just been whether or not publishers would bother releasing the games. It’s unfortunate that Apple can’t seem to really build enough momentum here to become a gaming destination.

yalogin 2y ago
I think they will get there in time. They like to focus on things and not spread themselves thin. They always wanted to get the gaming market share but AI is taking all their time now.
- macintux 2y ago
  I'm not sure how many chances they'll get to persuade developers that this time they really mean it. It sounds like Apple Arcade is a flop.
  - samatman 2y ago
    Is this one of those cases where "flop" means "this product would have a billion dollar market cap if it was a company, but since it's Apple, it's a flop". It is isn't it. https://forums.appleinsider.com/discussion/234969/apple-arcade-user-volume-nearly-matches-nintendo-switch-online-and-steam-players https://forums.appleinsider.com/discussion/234969/apple-arca...
- rswail 2y ago
  Given that a Mac mini with an M4 is basically the same size and shape as an Apple TV, they could make a new Apple TV that was a gaming console as well. Why is the Apple TV only focused on passive entertainment?
  - ceejayoz 2y ago
    Apple TV is a gaming console. https://www.apple.com/apple-arcade/ https://www.apple.com/apple-arcade/
crazygringo 2y ago
It has always baffled me why Apple doesn't take gaming seriously. It's another revenue stream, it would sell more Macs. It's profit. Is it just some weird cultural thing? Or is there some kind of genuine technical reason for it, like it would involve some kind of tradeoffs around security or limiting architecture changes or something? Especially with the M-series chips, it feels like they had the opportunity to make a major gaming push and bring publishers on board... but just nothing, at least with AAA games. They're content with cartoony content in Apple Arcade solely on mobile.
- ceejayoz 2y ago
  > It has always baffled me why Apple doesn't take gaming seriously. They aren't really the ones that have to.
  - crazygringo 2y ago
    But they are. They need to subsidize porting AAA games to solve the chicken-and-egg problem. Gaming platforms don't just arise organically. They require partnership between platform and publishers, organized by the platform and with financial investment by the platform.
    - talldayo 2y ago
      > They need to subsidize porting AAA games to solve the chicken-and-egg problem. glances at the Steam Machine And how long do they have to fail at that before trying a new approach?
- whynotminot 2y ago
  If you look at things like Game Porting Toolkit, Apple actually is investing resources here. It just feels like they came along so late to really trying that it’s going to be a minute for things to actually happen. I would love to buy the new Mac Mini and sit it under my TV as a mini console. But it just feels like we’re not quite there yet for that purpose, even though the horse power is there.
- 2y ago
jsheard 2y ago
Apple's aggressive deprecation policies haven't done them any favors when it comes to games, they expect software to be updated to their latest ISAs and APIs in perpetuity but games are rarely supported forever. In many cases the developers don't even exist anymore. A lot of native Mac game ports got wiped out by 32bit being EOL'ed, and it'll probably happen again when they inevitably phase out Rosetta 2 and OpenGL support.
x-_-x 2y ago
[dead]
goosedragons 2y ago
No they haven't. For years the best you could get was "meh" to terrible GPUs at high price points. Like $2000+ was where getting a discrete GPU began. The M series stuff finally allows the entry level to have decent GPUs but they have less storage out of the box than a $300 Xbox Series S. Apple's priorities just don't align well with gamers. They prioritize resolution over refresh rate and response time, make mice unusable for basically any FPS made in the past 20 years and way overcharge for storage and RAM.

yalogin 2y ago

I think they will get there in time. They like to focus on things and not spread themselves thin. They always wanted to get the gaming market share but AI is taking all their time now.

macintux 2y ago
I'm not sure how many chances they'll get to persuade developers that this time they really mean it. It sounds like Apple Arcade is a flop.
- samatman 2y ago
  Is this one of those cases where "flop" means "this product would have a billion dollar market cap if it was a company, but since it's Apple, it's a flop". It is isn't it. https://forums.appleinsider.com/discussion/234969/apple-arcade-user-volume-nearly-matches-nintendo-switch-online-and-steam-players https://forums.appleinsider.com/discussion/234969/apple-arca...
rswail 2y ago
Given that a Mac mini with an M4 is basically the same size and shape as an Apple TV, they could make a new Apple TV that was a gaming console as well. Why is the Apple TV only focused on passive entertainment?
- ceejayoz 2y ago
  Apple TV is a gaming console. https://www.apple.com/apple-arcade/ https://www.apple.com/apple-arcade/

crazygringo 2y ago

It has always baffled me why Apple doesn't take gaming seriously. It's another revenue stream, it would sell more Macs. It's profit. Is it just some weird cultural thing? Or is there some kind of genuine technical reason for it, like it would involve some kind of tradeoffs around security or limiting architecture changes or something? Especially with the M-series chips, it feels like they had the opportunity to make a major gaming push and bring publishers on board... but just nothing, at least with AAA games. They're content with cartoony content in Apple Arcade solely on mobile.

ceejayoz 2y ago
> It has always baffled me why Apple doesn't take gaming seriously. They aren't really the ones that have to.
- crazygringo 2y ago
  But they are. They need to subsidize porting AAA games to solve the chicken-and-egg problem. Gaming platforms don't just arise organically. They require partnership between platform and publishers, organized by the platform and with financial investment by the platform.
  - talldayo 2y ago
    > They need to subsidize porting AAA games to solve the chicken-and-egg problem. glances at the Steam Machine And how long do they have to fail at that before trying a new approach?
whynotminot 2y ago
If you look at things like Game Porting Toolkit, Apple actually is investing resources here. It just feels like they came along so late to really trying that it’s going to be a minute for things to actually happen. I would love to buy the new Mac Mini and sit it under my TV as a mini console. But it just feels like we’re not quite there yet for that purpose, even though the horse power is there.
2y ago

jsheard 2y ago

Apple's aggressive deprecation policies haven't done them any favors when it comes to games, they expect software to be updated to their latest ISAs and APIs in perpetuity but games are rarely supported forever. In many cases the developers don't even exist anymore. A lot of native Mac game ports got wiped out by 32bit being EOL'ed, and it'll probably happen again when they inevitably phase out Rosetta 2 and OpenGL support.

x-_-x 2y ago

[dead]

goosedragons 2y ago

No they haven't. For years the best you could get was "meh" to terrible GPUs at high price points. Like $2000+ was where getting a discrete GPU began. The M series stuff finally allows the entry level to have decent GPUs but they have less storage out of the box than a $300 Xbox Series S. Apple's priorities just don't align well with gamers. They prioritize resolution over refresh rate and response time, make mice unusable for basically any FPS made in the past 20 years and way overcharge for storage and RAM.