Games and apps on TV. It’s going to be huge! So says
Apple, in the spiel for the revamped Apple TV .
Gamers might snort a bit at such a statement. Haven’t
games been pretty huge on tellies for some time now, from
the days of Pong through to eye-dazzling and cinematic
contemporary PlayStation and Xbox titles?
But this is Apple. Apple takes something that already
exists, figures out how to do it properly, and then resells it
as something entirely new and innovative that it just
thought of. And sometimes, that’s fair enough.
Before iPhone, smartphones were terrible. Before
Macintosh, computer UIs were dreadful. But before Apple
TV, gaming… was doing just fine. So presumably Apple’s
got something pretty special up its sleeve?
KEEPING IT CASUAL
For the casual gamer, there was a lot to like in Apple’s
demo at the September 2015 event. Famous gaming series
were mentioned, and the Crossy Road team showed off an
amusing multi-player take, where an angular mallard duck
could unsportingly shove a cuboid chicken into traffic, in a
manner that in the real world would have ornithologists
scrabbling to rewrite their textbooks.
And there was a new(ish — it was ultimately a reheated Wii
Sports) title, Beat Sports , where you maniacally wave an
arm attached to a dinky Apple TV controller, to swat away
balls, all to a catchy beat.
But for console gamers, Apple’s plans are eye-opening in a
different sense. Apple says the “same remote you use to
watch TV can also be used to conquer alien planets or
drive in the Indy 500”. But this is largely achieved by way of
a touch surface for directional control, which works
alongside an internal accelerometer and gyro.
Imagine the Wiimote with its buttons huddled towards the
centre and the D-pad sanded down and replaced by a tiny
touchpad, and you’re there. You’re also probably now
rubbing your hands to stave off the cramp that would
ensue after any remotely lengthy gaming session. And,
indeed, Apple’s promo video shows someone awkwardly
attempting to play racer Asphalt 8 with said remote, in a
manner that screams: “What did I do wrong? Why are you
forcing me to do this? Why can’t I have a proper
controller?”
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