Thoughts on the Apple announcements?

[seeker]

Hi everyone, just saw the Apple announcements. Personally I found the new iPhone 6s to be normal, but the iPad pro being quite cool. And I really like the tvOS, because I think that could really help with big screen game dev.

 

I'm not sure how well iOS9 mobile safari will play with our current games, but I suppose it'll still be supported? Anyone already running their own tests?

 

Coming from a HTML5 background, i think tvOS is a new frontier. I see providers who will build integrations into the tvOS, so we can start developing for the Apple TV too.

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

[b10b]

Please could you elaborate on what the Apple announcement was.

[Son of Bryce]

b10b, Apple's regular product announcements. You must've been sleeping under a rock to know nothing about it or not be able to put that together based on seeker's post.

 

New iPhone. iOS9 supports adblockers, no telling what else that entails. I think it's released publicly so others can report. The new chips are waaaaaaay faster supposedly which means HTML games will be significantly faster.

 

New iPad Pro is a psedo-PC. Stylus accesory. It's got more of a "PC grade" ARM processor. Higher resolution screen It allows you to split the view and have a full resolution iPad screen on one side, another app on the other. Still uses iOS so it's still pretty limited as a computer, though.

 

New Apple TV has an open ecosystem now. New controller with touch pad, accelerometer. You can connect iPhones/iPads to use as additional controllers.

 

I think that's about it for game related stuff.

[Red Spark]

I doubt tvOS is a new frontier. It's just a console for casual folk with shiny apple logo on it.

There are no new frontiers left in gamedev, we have officially transitioned into the state of nerdy non-profit hobby. Embrace the new world 

[chg]

AR/VR are still emerging tech, I think we shall definitely see new frontiers in game development, it's still a young medium; though I doubt changes in form factor are that significant.

I will be curious to follow how much porting/consideration supporting the touchpad for TV controller requires, it will surely be more like a conventional trackpad than a touchscreen in terms of being able to make relative movements vs. being able to register a touch directly to an absolute screen position.

[b10b]

Son Of Bryce, thanks for your detail.  I don't recall the OP having that much detail or context originally, and there was a silent response to it for a day, hence my ask for elaboration.  A link to the actual announcement(s) would still probably be useful if asking for thoughts else we could end up debating different announcements or, worse, different interpretations of different announcements.

 

My general thoughts are that I tend to put less emphasis on product announcements, and more emphasis on adoption trends.

[Son of Bryce]

b10b, sorry if I came off a bit abrasive but my initial expectation was that lots of news outlets would've covered the announcements. In retrospect I feel like the news wasn't as big as some places thought it'd be. Game development news sites have been hyping up this new Apple TV as a console killer, with its new controller, but it doesn't appear to be the case.

 

I don't think gaming has ever been a focus for Apple. I see it more as luck that iOS became such a great gaming platform. I feel like it's more of a side effect of creating an open platform over catering to game devs and targeting the game audience. So in that respect, I don't think the Apple TV is going to trump PlayStation or Xbox out of the gate, but it has the potential to eat away at that market as the devices become more commonplace underneath TVs.

 

An important detail is the new Apple TV is $150. Which is a bit more than the impulse-friendly $99 usually attached to the Apple TV. Being so expensive I dont think it'll be super hot when it releases (past the initial enthusiasts) but assuming they'll be frequently updating these, they'll probly have the current model for $99 next year. At some point they might just sell them for $50 and have 3 different price tiers. When they get cheap enough, there's potential for there to be one in every household, which could make it a very viable game platform.

 

During the presentation, they demoed a multiplayer Crossy Road using iPhone/iTouches as separate controllers. This shows potential for great party games on the platform. All there needs is to be some kinda runaway success to really solidify it. They also got Harmonix (Rock Band) to make music themed Wii Sports styled game.

 

But as you said, b10b, it all depends on the adoption trends. Apple TV's already been pretty popular with such limited functionality. We'll have to wait and see.

 

Red Spark, I think you're being too rational! I think there's more possibilities than ever with so many ways to connect people and devices. If you follow the unbeaten path, anything is possible.

 

chg, from what it looked like the basic functionality of the touch screen is tap and swipe (up, down, left, right). You swipe to browse thru menus, which seems like it might actually be annoying. I'm not sure if it can a directional click ability or somethign.

[jkohler]

late to the party sorry. i really liked the apple announcement. Personally i'm trying to build a game for the Apple TV. It's not quite using HTML5 but i think someone will create a bridge soon.

[cloggedone]

i really haven't looked into apple stuff, not too much of an apple person, but i really hope when apple music comes to android, its actually good and not crap. all the streaming services besides spotify have had bad apps on android imo.