“Apple is preparing to launch the fourth-generation Apple TV, according to Mark Gurman at 9to5Mac,” Sam Mattera reports for The Motley Fool. “Apple’s set-top box, which has exploded in popularity in recent months, is about to get a major new feature — the ability to play video games.”
“Apple could, almost overnight, rise up to dominate the video-game console market — in the process devastating both Nintendo and GameStop,” Mattera reports. “Industry observers have been expecting Apple to enter the video-game console market for years. Without even trying, Apple is already a major force in gaming — last year, the company paid out $10 billion to mobile developers, of which an estimated two-thirds went to game creators.”
“And that’s just mobile games — simple titles such as Angry Birds and Candy Crush that are either free or inexpensive, and are limited by their touchscreen input,” Mattera reports. “Allow iOS games to be played on the big screen, add in controller input (something Apple added in iOS 7), and you have a recipe for dominance.”
Read more in the full article here.
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An App Store for Apple TV could significantly boost Apple profits – January 24, 2014
All-new Apple TV set top box coming soon with App Store possible, sources say – January 23, 2014
Sweet revenge. If Apple successfully takes Nintendo to the cleaners, then Sega could possibly take their rightful place in the game industry back. I just hope that Sega works with Apple, not against them, because I don’t want to see my favorite games company lose respect if their new game console has too much similarity with AppleTV, or the iPhone if it is a handheld. This is what they get for messing with the Dreamcast…
Show some respect for Nintendo. I still have a Dreamcast and think its one of the best consoles ever but Nintendo deserves all of their success so far.
You have to understand, with Apple fans, hate comes very naturally. There’s no more bitter person in the world that one who has to advocate for Apple. Their posts are drench in unmitigated hatred for all things non Apple. They are consumed by hate. Their entire lives are nothing but filled with hate.
You are correct. Nintendo deserves a lot of respect.
Your actually meaning is in Bizarro World speak. The Apple Haters like yourself have had their day and now it’s time for Apple fans to have the cruel chuckle. Bitter, fickle, angry & conflicted describes the PC and Android crowd best. Apple users everywhere are a much happier lot but sick & tired of the ELMER FUDD (Extremely Low Mental Energy & Ridiculousness – Fear Uncertainty & Doubt Delusional) complete doofuses like you like to spread everywhere. Know your day is ending fast.
Sega no longer possesses the capital or the industry clout to produce another game console. Unfortunately, Sony and Microsoft have taken over.
From the article “The Apple TV has never had a disc drive — even the first generation, released almost seven years ago, was completely digital.”
The author is completely wrong the first generation of AppleTV did have a hard drive I know I own two of them.
Mechanic50, they are referring to the optical disk, not the HDD.
Maybe the “I finally figured it out” was not the interface or content, but rather the critical mass it takes to start something new??
Get the majority of 6-40 year olds to stay glued to something for more than 10 minutes, and you create a new market – for anything.
When will apple take on microshit s Xbox ? 👹
The assault on Microsoft has already begun. Microsoft’s steady cash flow caused by crippling the Windows PC with their crap OS was been slashed by the iPad, then challenged by FREE software from Apple with new equipment along with cheap upgrades, and soon the AppleTV at $99 plus cable vs the Xbox with over priced games.
The fact that know one understands this is shocking. Good luck finding a CEO for a soon to be DOA company. See Blackberry, Dell, IBM, … Microsoft has walked up to the gallows and the Grimm Reaper is already on stage greeting them.
Microsoft supposedly had a decent financial quarter and the share price actually rose because they beat Wall Street expectations. Apple may not be so fortunate.
Anyway, there are no racing games and racing cockpits on Apple TV like Forza 5 for Xbox One. Nothing on AppleTV could even come close. Games like Angry Birds and Candy Crush are meant for pre-teens and regressive adults.
That’s not the general consensus about Apple’s Monday financial reporting which anticipates good to great numbers. Trying to get in a last minute dig before being proven utterly wrong, again?
XBOX games are certainly not overpriced for what you get out of them. A good game delivers far more entertainment value than a few nights out at the movies with a spouse. A good game delivers 100’s of hours of entertainment.
One thing that is never brought up with Xbox is that it does not connect to other MS equipment. Everyone seams to forget, or is afraid to say, is that ATV also connects to Mac. It can mirror or be used as a second screen. As well as do this with iOS divides too. The biggest problem is lag, and this is a real problem with games. When this is overcome than Xbox has big problem of MS own making. There really is no reason why MS could not have included this with the new Xbox 1. When Apple salves the lag problem they won’t have to turn the ATV into a gaming console. Mac and iOS will do it for them.
The lag will be solved by putting in that 64 bit processor that is in the iPhone and iPads and add 802,11 ac wifi. Maybe a little flash storage too.
Gamers don’t buy game consoles to connect to other equipment, they buy them to play games, plain and simple.
They won’t, they will co-exist because they appeal to different gamers. Unless Apple has some higher end hardware coming out than an A7 or A7X in an ATV, XBOX and PS will always be more appealing for hardcore gamers and for good reason.
All Apple has to do is make your iPhone or iPad a wifi game controller for apple tv and it’s game over baby for the consoles.
This has been possible for years. Check out Chopper 2 in the App Store.
You can use your iPhone as the controller for the game played on your iPad or Mac. Playing on the TV is as simple as Airplay. The limitation to this set up is all devices need to be on the same wifi network.
My issue with games stored on an ATV is I have multiple ATVs. The ATV is currently a family device not a personal device. Adding profiles adds complexity from setup to use.
Sure, but your profile could decide in your iOS device, only to be accessed by the Apple TV at game play. Heck, even Game Center could be made to do just that.
unless i’m wrong and it already does it, the Apple TV needs to be able to be controlled by iOS device without an internet connection. A lot of people still don’t have broadband or wifi in their home. you should be able to hook Apple TV to your tv and control with an iPad without internet
That would be one crappy controller! No, it needs a proper game controller or its doomed to niche use.
yeah just what I want… an expensive controller with no analog input.
No thanks – I’ll stick to the dedicated gaming hardware.
People predict the demise of Nintendo in the same way they predict the demise of Apple. But it’s not going to happen. Nintendo has a lot of money in the bank. They still make really great games and their games hold their value just like an Apple product. Try looking up used first party Nintendo games on eBay. They hold their value like an Apple laptop. Why? Because they are quality. Because they are fun to play with years later. And because most other games are disposable. Including most games on iOS. Think about how those games start at five dollars then end up free. Then end up forgotten. Just like most xbox games and most playstation games. Nintendo makes premium games and people will always buy their systems to play those games. Or at least enough people will buy those systems to keep Nintendo from going under or from stupidly licensing those games across platforms. Also think about how you rarely ever see a Nintendo game on sale. Or a big Sale at the Apple store. Companies at the top of their game don’t have to run sales and specials in order to stay in business. And just because Apple makes great hardware and great software doesn’t mean that developers will ever make a game that is as delightful and essential and fun as something like Super Mario 3d world. That is why Nintendo is safe.
you must not have seen recent news about nintendo. they haven’t been selling consoles nearly as much as they thought and their stockholders are demanding that they sell their games for iOS.
Definitely always panic when you have a bad couple of years. And always listen to the stockholders who always know more than the people who have made the company successful for the last hundred years.
They announced they were going to look into offering games on other platforms, but they said they want to bring something innovative to the fold not just a port of their wares.
Could be a good move that helps them.
I agree with most of what you say except about XBOX and PS games. I would say most Nintendo games are forgettable too, no less than XBOX and PS and even Dreamcast & 3DO (I’m time travelling, OK?). They each have a handful of standout games that you can come back to. For me its the EA NHL games, old or new, for others its a COD title, or Halo, Mario, Sonic, Quake, Elder Scrolls, Madden etc.
If indeed Apple does enter this market, it will likely be a catalyst for Nintendo to port it’s popular titles to iOS. Nintendo will likely live on as a software focused company that perhaps also makes specialized hardware for those who wantbit.
The same day Apple license ios to other hardware makers. Just like Apple. Nintendo uses their unique hardware and software together to create great user experiences. Nintendo also doesn’t get into pissing contests on specs either. They know that experience matters most. They aren’t perfect but they aren’t going to sell themselves across platforms either because they don’t need to. And lastly. Even though Apple users pay for software on iOS. They don’t pay the kind of money that funds Nintendo style creativity and software development. I bought a wii u because I wanted to play a mario game. But god knows there is no game on iOS that would get me to plunk down even 50 $ for an iOS game controller. And one more thing. I delete ios games all the time because I get pissed off about throwing away my time to those kinds of games. None of that means that there isn’t a place for apple in the game market. It just means there are probsbly multiple game markets. Sonys and microsofts and PC gamers, mobile ios style gaming, and Nintendo.
I have been advocating one of two possible paths for years.
Nintendo should already have put its Mario lineup onto iOS. It would sell ten times as many software units and save it $B in console hardware development and distribution costs.
Since Nintendo has not done so, an alternative is for Apple to buy Nintendo (or, possibly, license key IP) and set it up as an iOS subsidiary.
Either way, Apple will win and so will Apple users.
Considering the reports over the last few months about how Japan is the largest game App market in the world now with Android practically matching the revenue of iOS there. Added to the news this past week that iOS has about 69% to Android’s 30%, I would think Android gaming is on the verge of taking off. Too bad having ATV also be able to play games at this point is an also ran (See Smart TV, Google TV).. Be proud of your OS choice but please don’t be completely blinded by it.. 😀
Please keep it at $99 or less.
Nintendo has been doomed almost as long as Apple has.
Yeah, this time, your anonymous source is right, and Candy Crush is about to trample Mario and the Legend of Zelda. Getting really tired of lazy journalists trying to push this narrative. Try to find news sources outside of the excrement of megafauna.
The only way Apple could kill Nintendo is if they had Pokémon on their side or a game that exceeds Pokémon. Pokémon is Nintendo’s system seller – as long as it stays, Nintendo stays.
Nintendo could always still make content. There’s no profit in the console unit anyways. Rockstar is doing alright.
There’s profit in royalties ! That’s a big part of the profit for the console maker (and Apple’s app store).
“…..Without even trying, Apple is already a major force in gaming — last year, the company paid out $10 billion to mobile developers, of which an estimated two-thirds went to game creators.”
But some people will never agree with that. The few hardcore gamers will never recognize the power of ‘casual” gaming. For example, here is a post a Facebook friend recently posted: “Xbox games >>>>>> iOS games”
Hmmm…..
I totally agree with the article. If Apple does come out with a revamped ATV with the ability to play games, this cam possibly change the whole console game industry not to say we can say good by to Roku and the other set top boxes too.
You so realize there are many google products like the minix neo x5 and x7 and the tronsmart cx919 stick and many others that already run Xbmc without jailbreak and play games. I love my atv2 but I hate having to jailbreak in order to run Xbmc. But I still use it daily.
However apple could do something with the atv and integrate it with iPhone and iPad for controllers that would be cool
Dear Mr. Cook,
Please just once for old time sake. At the next product announcement…
Let everyone else do the demos and most of the talking. Then while the last speaker is doing his thing. That’s when you go offstage and come back onstage. Of coarse I think it’s okay if you wear a black turtleneck and the new balance sneakers.
Honor the man that hand picked you. Use all of Steve’s mannerisms, then pause like Steve would and say…”There’s one more thing before we go”.
Introduce an Apple TV with an updated iOS that can play top of the line video games on the big screen without any lag. But also wireless bluetooth controllers and headsets, that don’t have to be put on each end of an iPhone.
The developers will jump all over it.
And the PS3 and Xbox whatever will start to go bye bye.
Be aggressive Tim. Kick some ass. Have fun and make a big impression that will get you compared to Steve.
Make a bigger revenue stream for iTunes. Even though it’s past break even.
We want it. We need it. Go for it.
Just my wish for the Apple TV.
I like the way you think, GlassHollow.
Bring back the Steve Jobs tease. Tim could pull it off, just this once, with a wry smile, to screams of joy, whistles, and cries of “Oh Yeah!” “Tell it!” and “Amen, brother!”
It would be poetic justice, launching a new era of gaming just as Xbox and Halo had done, this time with a flood not of galactic menace but of game developers going insane with inventive energy.
It would also finish off Steve’s solution to the television “problem.” He cracked it by making it fun again, releasing us from the straitjacket of passive routine and transforming it into an interactive window into Wonderland.
Loved this article on the matter:
http://theologygaming.com/problem-nintendo/
I’m not the author, nor do I know him. Just encountered this article today.
Apple should just buy Nintendo