Apple TV: games or no games?
by Vladimir Cole 
{ Jan 16th 2007 at 11:15AM }
We're confused about Apple's plans for games on their new Apple TV device.
Marketing copy running across the top of the official "Apple TV" website promises "If it's on iTunes, it's on TV," yet small, grey text at the bottom of the screen takes that promise back: "iPod games will not play on Apple TV."
Further confusion results from the image at right, showing a screenshot of a Harris Poll administered back in October in which consumers were asked what sort of content they might like to purchase for an Apple TV device. Games are listed.
Is the absence of gaming from Apple TV an indication that poll respondents showed little interest in games? Is the absence of gaming due to technical limitations that might be fixed in future versions of Apple TV hardware? Is the absence of gaming an indication that iPod gaming itself might not be faring so well in the iTunes marketplace? (EA's embrace of iTunes gaming indicates otherwise.)
Whatever the case may be, it looks like consumers will have to stick to their latest-gen consoles if they want to play inexpensive, digitally downloaded games from the couch... for now.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
crono141 @ Jan 16th 2007 11:23AM
Is it an indication that there's no controller input on Apple TV?
What are they gonna play games with, their latent psychic abilities?
icruise @ Jan 16th 2007 11:27AM
"If it's on iTunes, it's on TV,"
Well, the games aren't on iTunes -- you can only play them on an iPod and not within iTunes itself. So I don't see how that's particularly misleading. And since all iPod games are controlled with the scroll wheel, I don't think there would be any way to play them on a TV short of coming out with some kind of special controller. But really, who is going to go to the trouble of playing an iPod game on a TV in the first place. Their purpose is to pass the time while you're out and about.
Marty @ Jan 16th 2007 11:42AM
What is the obsession with a gaming system from Apple anyway? Their computers are over-priced pieces of junk (I work on one all day, so I am qualified to say that) and they've never shown any sort of propensity for games... why would they start now? And why wouldn't you just write it off as the flop that you know it would be?
I think Apple is straying too far away from what it should be doing, making the iPod better, and focusing more on their computer side. Why would you want Apple TV when you can hook up your iPod to the TV already? Why would you want a $600 phone?
J Korn @ Jan 16th 2007 3:58PM
Well said Marty.
Tak @ Jan 16th 2007 12:42PM
During Jobs' keynote speech, just before he introduced the iPhone, he gave stats about how much money was in the game-console business, as well as the cell phone business. Why would he mention game-consoles at all?
Could they be working on a separate game-console, or simply leveraging and expanding on the iPod/cell-phone games?
kriegstanz @ Jan 16th 2007 1:29PM
As others have pointed out... play games with *what* controller?
Let iTV stick to what it's good at.
gus @ Jan 16th 2007 12:32PM
Pippen FTW!!!
Yaktastic @ Jan 16th 2007 1:21PM
It could be for a Video Based game like the old VHS games or a downloaded version of something like Scene-it... I can imagine a lot of those sorts of games based mostly off of full motion video clips, etc. So maybe there won't be something very very active like tetris, but something that plays and requires certain interactions like "you don't know Jack" or Dragons Lair might work and be what that refers to.
just a thought
crono141 @ Jan 16th 2007 1:28PM
If apple entered the market with a game console now, it would fail miserably.
Think 3DO, atary Jaguar, Neo-Geo.
Those didn't succeed due to price and no market. The Games market can barely sustain a 3 party race. Last gen was a 1 party race, the market didn't sustain GC or Xbox, and Sega had to quit 1 year in. The gen before that was a 2 party race, as nobody bought a saturn. The gen before that was SNES vs Genesis.
If apple enters consoles, it will either fail miserably or it will push out one of the other competitors.
And the only competitor in a position to be pushed out right now is Sony.
potato @ Jan 16th 2007 1:21PM
This was a poll guys, don't read too much into it. All it means is that Apple at some point considered the gaming angle, and probably the research from this poll (and others) convinced them that it wasn't an area worth pursuing for the Apple TV at this time.
As for the junk comment, I'd beg to differ. You use one everyday, I develop software for and on Macs, and I use one at home also, and I couldn't love it more. Heck, I work *for* Apple, so what's this about qualifications? :P
swarmster @ Jan 16th 2007 1:21PM
Tak, the mention during the keynote was pointing out how puny the game market is compared to other markets Apple's involved in (more specifically, it was the smallest out of all the markets on the slide, with cellphones practically being bigger than all the others combined). Considering it's also a market that's shared by three big players already, I think it was more proof that Apple _won't_ be making any inroads there than the opposite.
EnderAl @ Jan 16th 2007 1:25PM
Tak,
When he showed the stats on the game console, it was very much an illustration of why they WOULD NOT enter that market. It's not big enough to be worth their investment. The argument was that the cell phone market is so big that capturing just 1% of the market means huge returns.
crono141 @ Jan 16th 2007 1:31PM
Wow, I spelled "atari" wrong.
Matt Stocum @ Jan 16th 2007 6:27PM
Well since apple.com says games will not work, I'd say games will not work. You may as well ask whether or not it will play AVIs or WMAs. Actually no, that makes less sense. Games are explicitly excluded, AVIs and WMAs are implicitly excluded by not being in the list of supported formats.