Michal Ždanský Apple has a rather strange relationship with the gaming scene, which has changed beyond recognition in the past 15 years. When Steve Jobs returned to Apple, he had a rather patronizing relationship with games, thinking that because of them, no one would take the Mac seriously. And although there have been some exclusive titles on the Mac in the past, for example Marathon, Apple didn't make development very easy for game developers. For example, OS X included outdated OpenGL drivers until recently.
But with the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, everything changed, and iOS became the most widely used mobile gaming platform without Apple intending to. It surpassed the once-biggest player in the field of handhelds - Nintendo - several times over, and Sony, with its PSP and PS Vita, remained in a distant third place. In the shadow of iOS, both companies kept hardcore gamers afloat, who, unlike casual gamers, look for sophisticated games and require precise control with physical buttons, which a touchscreen cannot provide. But these differences are blurring faster and faster, and this year may be the last nail in the coffin of handhelds.
The most successful mobile gaming platform
At this year's WWDC, Apple introduced several innovations in iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks that could have a major impact on the future development of games for these platforms. The first of them is without a doubt game controller support, or the introduction of a standard through a framework for both developers and driver manufacturers. It was the absence of precise control that prevented many hardcore players from having a perfect game experience, and in genres such as FPS, car racing or action adventures, the touch screen simply cannot replace a precise physical controller.
It doesn't mean that we can no longer do without a controller to play these games. Developers will still be required to support pure touch controls, however, controller switching will take gaming to a whole new level. Players will have available two types of controllers – the type of case that turns an iPhone or iPod touch into a PSP-style console, the other type is a classic game controller.
Another new feature is the API Sprite Kit. Thanks to it, the development of 2D games will be significantly easier, as it will offer developers a ready-made solution for the physical model, the interaction between particles or the movement of objects. The Sprite Kit can save developers possibly months of work, getting even previously non-game creators to release their first game. Thanks to this, Apple will strengthen its position in terms of the game offer, and quite possibly provide it with other exclusive titles.
A somewhat underrated novelty is the parallax effect that we can see on the home screen. iOS 7, which creates the impression of depth. It's the same effect that Nintendo built its 3DS handheld on, but in this case players won't need any special hardware, just a supported iOS device. This makes it easier for developers to create pseudo-XNUMXD environments that draw players even more into the game.
Back to Mac
However, Apple's news on the gaming scene is not limited to iOS devices. As I mentioned above, MFi game controllers are not only for iOS 7, but also for OS X Mavericks, the framework that allows communication between games and controllers is part of it. Although there are currently a number of gamepads and other controllers for Mac, each individual game supports different drivers and it is quite often necessary to use modified drivers for a specific gamepad to communicate with the game. Until now, there was a lack of a standard, just like on iOS.
In order to develop graphics applications, developers need the appropriate API to communicate with the graphics card. While Microsoft bets on proprietary DirectX, Apple supports the industry standard OpenGL. The problem with Macs has always been that OS X included a very outdated version, which was sufficient for more demanding applications such as Final Cut, but for game developers the old OpenGL specification can be very limiting.
[do action=”citation”]Macs are finally gaming machines.[/do]
The current version of the OS X Mountain Lion operating system includes OpenGL 3.2, which was released in mid-2009. In contrast, Mavericks will come with version 4.1, which, although still behind the current OpenGL 4.4 from July of this year, is still progress (however, integrated graphics the Intel Iris 5200 card only supports version 4.0). What's more, several developers have confirmed that Apple is working directly with some game studios to jointly improve the graphics performance in OS X Mavericks.
Finally, there is the matter of the hardware itself. In the past, outside of the top-of-the-range Mac Pro lines, Macs haven't included the most powerful graphics cards available, and both MacBooks and iMacs are equipped with mobile graphics cards. However, this trend is also changing. For example, the Intel HD 5000 included in the latest MacBook Air can handle a graphically intensive game Bioshock Infinite even at higher details, while the Iris 5200 in this year's entry-level iMac can handle most of the most demanding games at high details. Higher models with Nvidia GeForce 700 series will then offer uncompromising performance for all available games. Macs are finally gaming machines.
Big October event
Another possible entry of Apple into the gaming world is up in the air. For a longer time speculates about a new Apple TV, which should both clear up the stagnant waters of set-top boxes and also finally bring the possibility of installing third-party applications through the App Store. Not only would we receive useful applications for a better experience watching movies on Apple TV (for example, from network drives), but the device would suddenly become a game console.
All the pieces of the puzzle fit together - support for game controllers in iOS, a system that can also be found in a modified form on Apple TV, a new powerful 64-bit A7 processor that can easily handle demanding games like Infinity Blade III in Retina resolution, and most importantly, thousands of developers, who are just waiting for an opportunity to bring their games to other iOS devices. Sony and Microsoft won't have their consoles on sale until November at the earliest, what would happen if Apple beat them both by a month with the gaming Apple TV? The only thing Apple needs to address is storage, which is in short supply on its mobile devices. The base 16GB is just not enough, especially when the biggest games on iOS are attacking the 2GB limit.
If we wanted GTA 4 scale titles, 64GB would have to be the baseline, at least for the Apple TV. After all, the fifth part takes 36 GB, Bioshock Infinite only 6 GB less. After all, Infinity Bald III it takes one and a half gigabytes and a partially trimmed port X-COM: Enemy Unknown takes up almost 2GB.
And why does everything have to take place in October? There are several indications. First of all, it is the introduction of iPads, which is the device, as Tim Cook noted last year, on which users play games most often. Furthermore, there is a partially substantiated speculation that Apple is slow stocks the new Apple TV, which could be introduced here.
[do action=”quote”]Apple has huge potential to disrupt the console market thanks to its unique ecosystem with incredible developer support.[/do]
However, the situation surrounding game controllers is the most interesting. Back in June, during WWDC, it became clear that the company Logitech and Moga are preparing their controllers according to Apple's MFi specifications. However, we've seen quite a few since then trailers from Logitech and ClamCase, but no actual driver. Is Apple delaying their introduction so that it can reveal them together with iPads and Apple TV, or show how they work on OS X Mavericks, which should see the light of day shortly after the keynote?
There are plenty of hints for the game's October 22nd event, and perhaps a press invite that we could see in five days' time will also reveal something. However, thanks to its unique ecosystem with incredible developer support, Apple has huge potential to disrupt the console market and bring something new - a console for casual gamers with inexpensive games, something that the ambitious OUYA failed to do. Support for game controllers alone will only strengthen the position among handhelds, but with the App Store for Apple TV, it would be a completely different story. It will be so interesting to see what Apple comes up with this month.
Wonderful article! I would really like it to happen. It would really like another BOOM, but not with Chinese or Korean scumbags, but as only Apple can! :D
One inaccuracy, the nintendo 3ds has a real 3d image thanks to the parallax barrier - a different image for each eye. The 3d effect on the iPhone is only a perspective shift of the layers according to the tilt of the phone.
I studied the leaked data with OS X 10.9 a bit... As for the OpenGL 4.1 it contains, I'd say it's more like Apple's OpenGL 4.1 :) It has a slightly different code than the classic one (for example, with Win) - you can see that comrades worked at Apple.
I am the owner of a 2012 (late) iMac with nVidia 680MX, Metro Last Light, Bioshock Infinite, etc. (under Win8) on maximum settings (SSAA/SSAO off) and 2560×1440 resolution. Bomb! If Apple iMacs would make it possible to replace the GPU (it would switch to classic - perhaps underclocked - and increase the GPU support to more than a few pieces (officially) and the possibility of replacing the GPU would be, it would be a great, uncompromising machine that would be on the market it had no competition even among classic gaming PCs! :D
Forget about changing the GPU or even using a classic one. Where would they put it? What would they cool it with? Mobile is enough in the higher class, and the classic one is disappearing just because most people now buy a laptop instead of a classic PC at home.
It would be interesting. Just wishful thinking for now. It would be nice if OSX could run iOS applications both for games and then also for the price policy of the Mac store, which is still very strange :)
"Sony and Microsoft won't have their consoles on sale until November at the earliest, what would happen if Apple beat them both by a month with the gaming Apple TV?"
Here again, someone is really comparing apples and pears :-) ... PS4 and XOne (and basically PS3 and X360) with their performance and quality of games can comfortably put any iVec in your pocket ... Again, it takes a bit of an objective view of the matter instead of iFanatism.
Why apples and pears? What about the Nintendo Wii, which beat both consoles, had the same focus - a game console for casual gamers. iVecs have enough performance, just look at Infinity Blade III or Real Racing 3. If the gaming Apple TV catches on, big game developers will certainly catch on, and there will be no shortage of quality console games. I'm not saying I'd trade in my PS3 for it, but if you don't need to play the latest GTA or Halo and want to save money, you're more likely to go with an Apple TV.
Because you wind up a specialized device basically just to play with iThings, which have a much wider use. Unlike Nintendo, PS3 and X360 are not for casual but for hardcore gamers. Mainly their performance is really somewhere else. Personally, I don't think that even though the A7 is a very beautiful piece of hardware, you won't be able to use it to make a title as high-quality as Last of Us on PS3, etc. (and it's not just about graphics, but also about area, artificial intelligence, etc. they don't have the device yet).
Nintendo goes the way of great gameplay, they are Japanese, toy, what no one else can do. Don't expect iThings to become something like Nintendo. You don't have the developers to make such a title (for the money that mobile games are sold for). And if someone could really make such a title, it wouldn't cost a penny, but a liter...
Isn't Xbox trying to be a universal multimedia center? It's the apps that would make the Apple TV something like an Xbox.
As for Last of Us and similar massive games, where are the limits? Just look at Infinity Blade III, the console graphics are here and as for the scale, it's only up to the developers, the A7 has enough power for it, it's all about optimization and enough storage (Apple can solve this by combining it with the cloud). So if developers decide to develop big titles for Apple TV, or at least port console titles from Xbox 360 and PS3, nothing prevents Apple from having its own full-fledged console and multimedia center at the same time.
The currently sold XCom is supposed to be the same as PC and MAC and costs about 1/3 of the price. In my opinion, it's about the fact that sales through the iTunes store are so big that it pays off even for less money ;-).
That is People buy it for 300.000 on the console, but they buy it for 700.000 on the store, and the results and costs are then the same ;-).
hello, I would like to ask, I have a 13-inch retina and I would like to play fifa 14, do you think it is worth looking for or downloading it somewhere? how will the graphics take it and if so where can I get the game?
It depends on what kind of graphics you have ;-). I recommend looking at Steam, it says there which graphics cards are supported by Apple.
I personally hope that with the new OSX (with extended graphics support) it will get better ;-).
PS: Diablo III needs to be paired on Air just fine ;-).
My opinion is that the gaming AppleTV can compete with the OUYA and MOJO consoles at most, the comparison with the PS3 and other consoles of a similar type is wrong in my opinion …… In addition, I think that if an action game with Infinity Blade III graphics but with a larger map ran on the A7, the possibility movement, then the phone would wobble in your hand or there would be a "Loading" monster lurking in every corner, which is not good
I have an iPad 2 and I also play graphically nice games on it ;-).
The graphics on the iPad are still poor compared to classic consoles (I admit that), but I'm not so concerned about the graphics. I don't need to have millions of exploding semi-transparent clouds.
If I have a game that can be played on the iPad and then I turn it on at home on the TV, I will be satisfied even with worse graphics.
iPad 5 with x64 processor and higher resolution could be quite decent graphically on TV.
In addition, a game like XCom, which costs €9 on sale for the iPad, supposedly has the same content (even if I understand that probably with worse graphics) as on a PC or MAC with a price tag of €40-50, so why pay more? ;-)
Heroes 6 was also nice graphically, but otherwise the logic and style of the game is the same over 10 years, so I don't really mind worse graphics and I like that kind of strategy ;-).
I'm also a supporter of gameplay...but there aren't many people like that, now when I look at "mobile gaming" everyone is looking for the best possible performance and the nicest graphics...and the gameplay is here and there.... unfortunately
It's true that 80% of free games are loaded with graphics without a hint of playability or even without a hint of attack and fun. I try not to choose you ;-).
On the other hand, even those games like XCom will have so much performance that it will tighten the graphics, so it will be great if there will be excellent graphics to go along with the good game. But it is not a condition, more important is the fun form, originality, playability, but also the stability of the game.
Try Random Heroes ;-).