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Apple and games: Reflecting on the company's relationship (its devices and systems) with games

The first console to be commercialized in history was Magnavox's Odyssey, there in 1972. Almost 45 years have passed and technology has evolved so that today we can enjoy games with graphics of the most amazing small devices that fit in our pockets. !

In addition to being quite portable, the creation, development and distribution of information is increasingly accessible. games for platforms like computers and smartphones. This path ends up taking from the big producers the monopoly of the market, giving greater opportunities to independent developers what is great.

In this sense, the Apple It ends up having a large share of it by encouraging more and more developers to build applications for their systems and always separating part of events to show the ability of their devices to play games that require ever better specs.

If, on the one hand, Nintendo surrendered to the mobile world by launching several titles for smartphones and has also invested in a hybrid that makes it possible to play on both a connected TV dock and a tablet, Ma seems to have gone the other way when opening new game paths for Apple TV.

Still, there are some Apple decisions that seem to differ from the support she has given to gamers. Of course, the company has never stated that its focus would be games, but in this article we will reflect on the paths that Ma has outlined and what it could do to enhance the experience of users who use their devices to play.

Let's go!

Apple and games

Category

There are more than 2 million apps on the App Store, and the largest category remains the Games (Games), with approximately 20% of the total.

In addition to generating fat profits watching the success of Pokmon GO, within the category you can find titles for all ages, ranging from the best produced to the simplest, to those that require more attention, those that serve more as a hobby ie It has for every taste.

Precisely because it has become a major power in the mobile gaming industry (most of which we need to recognize goes to developers), Apple has even paid more attention to games, always demonstrating the potential of their iOS devices in their keynotes, be it the presentation of the OS or the hardware itself. A clear example of this was last year's big surprise at one of Ma's special events, which featured Super Mario Run.

However, the same reality is not reflected in the Mac App Store. If we look at the titles available in macOS, we might be a little disappointed. It is no secret that Mac's own app store is not there at its best, but if we pay attention to Apple Mac introductions, games have never been given their proper prominence.

In the Steam game catalog, for example, we can see that many of the major titles are available for Windows, but not for macOS. Obviously, we cannot overlook the fact that many gamers prefer PCs for the ease of mounting as they want more powerful machines capable of supporting the heaviest games. We know that the company's focus is not on this, but as we are reflecting, we can say that if Apple had wanted it, it would have already facilitated this part. long time ago You wouldn't even have to allow the user to set up your machine, but at least improve and create new software / hardware for this audience.

It would be a dream, really.

The potential of a social gaming network

Game Center Mockup

In 2010, when Apple brought to its operating systems the idea of ​​a social gaming network, the Game center seemed to have great potential. The idea was wonderful: gather in one app all the achievements, challenges, leaderboards with the best scores, as well as being able to add friends and invite them to play. However, it seems that over the years the company has forgotten to refine it, leaving everything behind. Several people still used that center to see their achievements, but the "social" imprint did not seem to have hit the mark.

Finally, with the arrival of iOS 10 and macOS Sierra 10.12, Ma announced that it would get rid of the app once and for all. The system of achievements, challenges and everything else continues to work, but within the respective games no longer in a central. So when we play a game, it appears at the top that we are entering the Game Center, but the company now encourages developers to create interactions within the games themselves.

Certainly, as it was, I couldn't stay. The app really wasn't popular so much that many liked the change, but several users expressed dissatisfaction with this Apple decision. Within these was the Victor Pellandareader , who "recreated" the Game Center in mockups superbacanas.

The concept brings to the late app some ideas that would really harness the full potential of a social gaming network. In the lower menu we will have Players (Players), Feed, Games (Games) and Search (Search). In the first tab it would be possible to “follow” friends (as was the case), but the differential is the possibility of following area celebrities, as the YouTubers Leon (Nerd stuff Ena), Malena, Damiani, etc., as well as famous people who would also be registered in the Game Center (ironically, the example “Bill Gates”). 😝

Mockup of a new Game Center

At the Feed, we will have a view of all user updates (people we are following) with Play Cards regarding the games and their scores, challenges, achievements, etc. Updates would be automatic, but it would also be possible to share them through options you already know.

When Apple introduced what would be the new GC (deleting the app), they argued that it would no longer be necessary to have the list of games and search in a specific app, but that these options would be available in the App Store itself.

However, if someone misses something more targeted, then Vitor has brought back both the tab Search to search users and / or games (highlighting “Recent” and “Most searched”) and also the tab Gameswhere we will have, in addition to a list of user games, a special profile for each app with original art and major updates from your friends in that game. It would be great too if you had a world score in each game.

Mockup of a new Game Center

The concept was quite interesting, seeming to be a junction of what today Google Play Games, Android (which does a great job), with the design of Apple Music. Unfortunately just an idea, but it would be great if Ma thought back to this game center that was so much left out.

Apple TV and games

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Official image

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When the first Apple TV was launched, it got its name for a purpose. Until its third generation, there was nothing gaming on the device as its focus was audio, video and photos. Of course, you could mirror the screen of any Apple device, so you could view your iPhone / iPad game on a much larger screen. But AirPlay wasn't always (?) Reliable enough to have a good experience with.

From the moment the rumors of fourth-generation Apple TV arose, gaming fans had a hint of hope to see something dedicated in the new set top box.

The buzz was great when it came along, and in that regard we can think of three moments in the "timeline" of the new Apple TV and its relationship to games: before to be announced as soon after to be announced and currently.

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Official image: http://www.apple/tv/games-and-more/

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Before the new Apple TV was announced, the expectation for it was so high that many even thought that Ma would invest even more in this area and possibly win a beautiful place in the console market.

During the keynote in which it was announced, the hype continued, especially as they pointed out that “the future of TV is in apps”, opening the door for developers to create both universal games to run on iPhones, iPads and the new Apple TV as well as their own / exclusive titles. set top box taking advantage of Siri Remote control features such as accelerometer and gyroscope.

Another interesting and presented fact was the possibility of using gamepads MFi certified, connected via Bluetooth, for games. In addition, they would also receive the appeal multiplayer (although they specify that only two would work at a time).

A priori, this made us think that "the sky was the limit", but soon after revealed two limitations that did not appeal to developers at all: the first was that, to be on the new Apple TV, the application / game could have a maximum of 200MB (the rest, if it exceeds this limit, should be downloaded on demand by iCloud ).

Nimbus Control for SteelSeries Apple TV

The second limitation has to do with Siri Remote, for which Apple required native support in all games. This rule may have caused many developers to abort their ideas of making games available on Apple TV because Siri Remote is not as complete as one. gamepad itself.

Nevertheless, it seems that Ma has heard the story of many and, currently, it proved to be a company open to change along the way. This was because last year it removed the obligation to create games natively with support for Siri Remote, and early this year we received the news that the size limitation for applications would go from 200MB to 4GB.

Does this indicate that Apple is paying attention in this scenario? These (even small) advances show that they do. However, we cannot yet claim that it will focus on games as much as we expect, allowing developers to make flights beyond casual games. But what would be beautiful to see on Apple TV, for example, support for virtual reality glasses and why not? an adapted Game Center (just as they did with the “TV” app), it sure would be.

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The game market does not shrink; It only grows and I am not just talking about mobile games, as the consoles are getting stronger and stronger. For this reason, it is peculiar to know that if Apple wanted, it could enjoy many things even in this area. Want an example? With the increase of gameplays being made available on services like Twitch and YouTube itself, how amazing would it be if it created a native option for users to record their game matches or even stream them live? Surely you could make a lot out of such resources.

With regard to their devices, it is undeniable that they are capable of supporting quite elaborate games. Even so, unfortunately, there has never been Apple's own positioning on games. This, she never openly commented that the games market would be a path they are deeply committed to follow.

From what we can analyze, she has only given the support (which she gives to all developers normally) and the “hard work” who does even the developers. In this, there are no problems, but there are plenty of opportunities in the market that are just waiting to be opened by Ma.

And you, what do you think about Apple's relationship with games? Can we expect more from her in this scenario? 😊