When games became popular on Apple's mobile platform, it started marketing directly toward gamers—especially with the iPod touch. Apple may be looking to leverage its reputation further by building more first-party games.<BR><BR><a href='http://meincmagazine.com/apple/news/2009/11/apple-may-be-building-more-first-party-games-for-iphone.ars'>Read the whole story</a>
Apple may be building more first-party games for iPhone
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No idea if Carmack is right, it might well be that they hoped for a bigger impact in the business segment and fear that a toy image could be counter-productive. But then, this fear might be unsubstantiated, since the 3GS was released at least half of the business people I meet have iPhones.<BR><BR>I can't imagine Apple becoming a game developer – "Texas Hold'em" by Apple was more a showcase to get the platform started. I rather see them looking for somebody to make the desktop, Apple TV and iPhone platforms more attractive for game developers by improving the SDKs, APIs and maybe have a word in device ergonomics and specs. Gamers still spend a lot and they buy the most expensive PCs, there is still money to be grabbed.
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They may not be proud of the iPhone as a gaming system, but gaming is the centerpiece of their iPod Touch ad campaign. For that matter, the last time I was in an Apple store and played with the iThings on display, the iPhones were loaded with a broad array of apps (including some games) and the iPods were stuffed to the gills just with games.
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Coming soon: The A-Box 720! Not related to the X-box 360 at all, but superior in every way and inspired 100% by Steve Job's dreams! Will play all your current console games 8 years after they're released with special i640 (AKA 640i) graphics on an Apple TV!<BR><BR>Sorry, I couldn't resist such an easy target. My friends and I have wondered about Apple trying to make inroads on the gaming market, but the rule of the Big Three is pretty strong in the gaming industry. Ah well. They can duke it with the PSP and the PS3.
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by marv08:<BR>I can't imagine Apple becoming a game developer – "Texas Hold'em" by Apple was more a showcase to get the platform started. I rather see them looking for somebody to make the desktop, Apple TV and iPhone platforms more attractive for game developers by improving the SDKs, APIs and maybe have a word in device ergonomics and specs. Gamers still spend a lot and they buy the most expensive PCs, there is still money to be grabbed. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>I agree with your position—even taking gaming more seriously and looking for ways to enable developers (without actively frustrating them away from the platform) is a big win for developers and Apple.<BR><BR>I do think that developing some first-party titles that really show off the hardware is still a useful strategy to make that happen, though—there's nothing like trying to do something yourself to best see how to aid other developers.<BR><BR>My biggest fear with Apple making first party titles is in the unfair marketing advantage—what if Apple were to merely put its own apps in all the feature slots on the App Store? That would definitely piss off other game publishers.
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I like this. One of the highest quality games was the Apple texas holdem game, which was available at launch (or nearly so). It's rare to see other games with that level of polish, even though it's not a perfect game and doesn't hold up after the first month or two of obsessive play.<BR><BR>Based on the value I got for whatever it cost (five bucks?), I wouldn't hesitate to buy another of Apple's app games.
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"At the highest level of Apple, in their heart of hearts, they're not proud of the iPhone being a game machine," John Carmack, a former colleague of Devine, told Kotaku recently in an interview. "They wish it was something else."<BR><BR>As much I respect Carmack, this sounds like a re-hashed version of Apple's former worries about the Mac being perceived as a "game machine" when it was first released. Given the design and marketing of the iPhone, it seems clear to me that it is primarily intended as an entertainment device and by extension "game machine". If Apple intended the iPhone to be a productivity and business device, then it would have a freaking To Do list and allow you to save and at least read (if not create/modify) documents in popular business formats (without having to buy 3rd party software to do it). Or maybe he's saying that Apple wants the iPhone to be a media only device, except for that whole app store thing. <BR><BR>I think Apple isn't anti-gaming, it's just worried about all those unwashed 3rd party developers mucking up their pristine, highly polished software ecosystem. <BR><BR>Maybe Apple execs really do have an anti-gaming bias; even so, their anti-3rd-party-dev bias more then accounts for his problems with apple.
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I remember that Macworld keynote where Apple were going on about EA having all these big releases coming out on Mac OS.<BR><BR>Where did that go, by the way? As far as I can tell, it got... umm... The Sims 3 on the same disc... and... uhh... clutching at straws here...
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by marv08:<BR>No idea if Carmack is right, it might well be that they hoped for a bigger impact in the business segment and fear that a toy image could be counter-productive. But then, this fear might be unsubstantiated, since the 3GS was released at least half of the business people I meet have iPhones.<BR><BR>I can't imagine Apple becoming a game developer – "Texas Hold'em" by Apple was more a showcase to get the platform started. I rather see them looking for somebody to make the desktop, Apple TV and iPhone platforms more attractive for game developers by improving the SDKs, APIs and maybe have a word in device ergonomics and specs. Gamers still spend a lot and they buy the most expensive PCs, there is still money to be grabbed. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>2 years ago I couldn't imagine Apple selling phones and actually being successful at it. Apple seems to have some magic fairy dust that allows them to enter a market and kick everyones ass into gear and stimulating quality game development on their platform may be what they are doing. Though there are already some really quality games on the iphone that wouldn't really be possible on a traditional handheld. They should try courting more game publishers though. Activision should have like five version of iStarcraft and iWarcraft in the works already. EA is the only big game publisher on the platform actually producing quality games on the platform, tey actually take their time on their games and it shows compared to other efforts. That level of polish is rare on the iphone and it would be nice to see more often.
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by foresmac108:<BR>I do think that developing some first-party titles that really show off the hardware is still a useful strategy to make that happen, though—there's nothing like trying to do something yourself to best see how to aid other developers. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Valid point. Makes good sense.<BR><BR><BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">My biggest fear with Apple making first party titles is in the unfair marketing advantage—what if Apple were to merely put its own apps in all the feature slots on the App Store? That would definitely piss off other game publishers. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>I may be overly optimistic here (don't hope so though), but this has really never been Apple's style. They made own cases and iPod speakers and they were not featured any more prominently than competing products in the stores, the OS X software directory features competing products (like MS Office, Lightroom, Director, Encore and several software sequencers) just like it features Apple's own products doing the same, Disney movies are not featured more prominently than competing studios in the iTunes Store... If they do that because of altruism, or because it would take less than a minute for another tempest in the teapot to break out... I do not know, but it does not change the outcome anyhow. With games there is even less reason to play foul. People who game at all, normally buy more than one game.
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I would have thought that there was untapped potential for ARGs (Alternate Reality Game) on the iPhone, with location sensing linked to information taken from the Internet. As a result, the game could be larger than the storage space of the device and extended by its authors whilst it was being played, making the resultant experience open-ended in the manner of a Soap Opera drama. Rather than focus on completion/disposal/next-purchase, it could be pay-as-you-go on the basis of individual episodes, or real-money converted into AR-money transactions, with the participant seeking the reward of 'kudos' for performing actions that were in harmony with the 'role' they were playing - actions that may even be detrimental to the well-being of their avatar... like being suicidally heroic. Multiple characters could be used at any one time and the virtual currency would be available to all of them from one central account.<BR><BR>Essentially, I think a new platform needs a new kind of gaming experience.
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Regarding Carmack's comment --- all he's really saying is that Steve Jobs is not a gamer and thinks gaming is stupid. I'm sure that's 100% correct. But I don't think that will have much practical impact on Apple's gaming support for the iPhone. Supporting gaming on the iPhone/Touch is a low risk, high reward strategy -- it's a no brainer. In a situation like that, you don't need Jobs full support. The situation where you need Jobs full support (and this is probably where Carmack feels he was burned) is with gaming on the Mac. It would require a major investment from Apple to really support gaming on the Mac, and Apple clearly doesn't think that investment is worth it, both because the economics of gaming on the Mac are so challenging and because Jobs just doesn't like gaming. <BR><BR>Also, I agree that the real purpose of this is probably not so much to create first party games as a profit center as it is to better understand the needs of game developers. I suspect that this hire will be working on improving developer tools just as much as they work on creating great games.
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Sheesh, Ive got an iPod Touch.<BR><BR>Saying that its good for gaming, is a bit like saying a hammer and chisel are great for cutting down trees. <BR><BR>Its "possible", just not a pleasant experience.<BR><BR>They have to re-define gaming on the device, which is what I suppose they mean by these "multimedia experiences".
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Couldn't you make a snap-in game controller (you snap the touch/phone into it) that communicates via BT with the Touch/iPhone and gives it buttons and sticks?
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by irishspring:<BR>Couldn't you make a snap-in game controller (you snap the touch/phone into it) that communicates via BT with the Touch/iPhone and gives it buttons and sticks? </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Probably so, but it would probably have to come from apple, and apple would need to make some pretty compelling games to get people to buy the controller. That would create a large enough installed base to make it worth developing for.
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by The Real Blastdoor:<BR><BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by irishspring:<BR>Couldn't you make a snap-in game controller (you snap the touch/phone into it) that communicates via BT with the Touch/iPhone and gives it buttons and sticks? </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Probably so, but it would probably have to come from apple, and apple would need to make some pretty compelling games to get people to buy the controller. That would create a large enough installed base to make it worth developing for. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Boy, would I love a real controller to game with on my iPhone.
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by The Real Blastdoor:<BR><BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by irishspring:<BR>Couldn't you make a snap-in game controller (you snap the touch/phone into it) that communicates via BT with the Touch/iPhone and gives it buttons and sticks? </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Probably so, but it would probably have to come from apple, and apple would need to make some pretty compelling games to get people to buy the controller. That would create a large enough installed base to make it worth developing for. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>There's already a project like that underway for a dock-connected controller. Actually, it won't need Apple support so much as a standard API that devs can use to enable support for the device. As long as the API is well written, it may even be possible for other companies to make compatible game controllers that conform to the API. With as established standard like that, it may be possible to create a sustainable market for such add-ons.
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