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How Apple Is Preventing the Apple TV From Becoming a Console Rival (redbull.com)

Posted by Soulskill on from the candy-crush-on-a-60"-television dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Apple's new set top box is on sale now, and has launched with several high profile games in the new tvOS App Store, including Guitar Hero Live and PS4 hit Transistor. However, as one writer points out, the Apple TV is still not an adequate console replacement, and it's not because of the graphics. Instead, several software issues and restrictions issued by Apple itself prevent developers from creating blockbuster exclusives for the platform, including the requirement that all games be playable using the bundled remote, lack of support for four players, and the 200MB initial app download limit. If these remain in place, can the Apple TV become a viable games platform, where the Ouya and PlayStation TV have failed before?

3 of 129 comments (clear)

  1. Re:it's been out one week. by jandrese · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This presupposes that Apple even wants to be in the game console business. I think Microsoft is still in the red overall for the XBox franchise, and the Ooya is a stark reminder that nonportable microconsoles are of limited appeal. If all it lets you do is play the same games you can play on your phone why bother? Sure the screen is bigger, but the graphics aren't much better and you're monopolizing the TV.

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    I read the internet for the articles.
  2. Ouya by KermodeBear · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I had an Ouya console. It was inexpensive, had support for four wireless controllers, and was easy to use.

    The biggest problem was a lack of good content at launch. A vast majority of the content was cheap, buggy, and not entertaining. The Ouya folks let anyone throw crap up into the system, it seemed. It may have been more successful with less but higher quality content.

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    Love sees no species.
  3. Goodbye Nintendo by zoffdino · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The Apple TV isn't marketed as a gaming console. It's advertised as a streaming box that also has games. The kind of simple whack-a-mole or platform-jumping games--the casual games. That is the same target audience with Nintendo's consoles. The iPhone/iPads are killing Nintendo's handheld devices, now the Apple TV is a threat to console too.

    The serious gamers, who are willing to pay full price for AAA titles, will always want top-notch graphics. That means a gaming PC, a PS4 or an Xbox. As good as ARM processors are, they can't beat high-end dedicated graphic cards.