Ultimately PC and console gaming are going to end up in the cloud. It has already started with GeForce NOW and Xbox Cloud. Nintendo Switch plays some cloud games.
Sure people are always going to game on their mobile devices but if you can play Fortnite via GeForce NOW and stream to your television set, why spend the money on console or PC hardware when you could spend those dollars on content?
I've even downloaded the GeForce NOW app onto my LG C1 television but have only dabbled with it a bit. I also have a Google Chromecast Ultra and the Stadia gamepad lying around somewhere.
I have experience with GeForce Now, Stadia (cancelled) and Gamepass Ultimate (also cancelled after the $1 trial was over). Cloud gaming is GREAT for casual stuff. (Which makes you wonder why Google didn't position Stadia for ANDROID games.) It is good for older games. But it isn't a good solution for serious AAA gamers who spend a ton on the latest hardware and accessories and want to play the latest games as they come out. Why? The latency stinks and the game selection is subpar. Reducing the latency issue is a technology and infrastructure problem that will take years. The game selection problem is likely unsolvable as you are going to have to convince gaming studios to switch from a "$60 a game plus DLC" model to a "percentage of subscription" model. The latter may make sense for indie games but it won't for flagship titles that sell into the millions.
Ultimately PC and console gaming are going to end up in the cloud. It has already started with GeForce NOW and Xbox Cloud. Nintendo Switch plays some cloud games.
Sure people are always going to game on their mobile devices but if you can play Fortnite via GeForce NOW and stream to your television set, why spend the money on console or PC hardware when you could spend those dollars on content?
I've even downloaded the GeForce NOW app onto my LG C1 television but have only dabbled with it a bit. I also have a Google Chromecast Ultra and the Stadia gamepad lying around somewhere.
I have experience with GeForce Now, Stadia (cancelled) and Gamepass Ultimate (also cancelled after the $1 trial was over). Cloud gaming is GREAT for casual stuff. (Which makes you wonder why Google didn't position Stadia for ANDROID games.) It is good for older games. But it isn't a good solution for serious AAA gamers who spend a ton on the latest hardware and accessories and want to play the latest games as they come out. Why? The latency stinks and the game selection is subpar. Reducing the latency issue is a technology and infrastructure problem that will take years. The game selection problem is likely unsolvable as you are going to have to convince gaming studios to switch from a "$60 a game plus DLC" model to a "percentage of subscription" model. The latter may make sense for indie games but it won't for flagship titles that sell into the millions.
My guess is that the videogame environment will continue to evolve and that cloud gaming will eventually dominate for home. I won't predict a date but it will happen in my lifetime.
In the same way, the music industry has largely moved on from the notion of people buying record albums at a store. Almost no one buys music CDs except for classical music fans (like me) and a handful of collectors.
Resident Evil Village and No Man’s Sky is a decent start but not nearly enough.
It might encourage others to port games when they see high profile games adopting Metal. I wonder if Apple pushed for this or if Capcom decided to do it themselves.
These developers don't need many sales to justify doing this. Apple's Mac userbase is over 100 million, Apple Silicon is a smaller portion but should be over 30 million by now. Game companies consider 5-10 million unit sales across all platforms to be a good result:
For one platform out of 4-5 (PC/Playstation/XBox/Nintendo/Mac), they only need to sell 1-3 million copies on Mac around $60.
Other ports that would be good are GTA V, Witcher 3, Cyberpunk, Mass Effect series, Far Cry 4/5/6, Forza (not likely), Resident Evil 2/3 remakes, Horizon Zero Dawn (not likely), Plague Tale, Star Wars Battlefront 2, some of Call of Duty Black Ops and MW series and Battlefield, Apex Legends.
Partnering with Microsoft on their Game Pass might be an option as they can port some good first party titles like Microsoft Flight Simulator and Forza. Currently it works through streaming but they can add native titles where it's feasible to maintain the port.
Although it's just one title, it's a high profile and high-end one so it's great to see a native port. It would be good to see Apple throwing some of the budget they allocate to Apple TV content to games. I don't know what it would take to convince a company to do a port and support it but $50m should do it and is a pretty small amount for Apple. $1b would get them 20 high-end game ports and if the games sell through the App Store and they sold 1m per title x $60 x 20 titles x 30%, they'd make $360m back.
Most of the top 50 or so best-selling games over the past 10 year ported natively would make a difference, the rest can be supported via streaming (NVidia Geforce Now, XBox Cloud etc).
The $1B investment is worth the snowball effect alone. Apple just need to get the ball rolling. They could have offered Capcom half of that for a catalog of games. Even if Apple made $0 from the deal the developers that would follow would make up for it in new hardware sales alone.
The problem is, Apple has a desert that they’re trying to sell home owners (gamers) to. There’s nothing there but they expect people to just move in(to Mac). Build something here first and watch others adopt.
Had Apple gave Capcom just $150M to develop a catalog of games with iPhone companion apps, they’d see a ton of switchers to both Mac and iPhone. If I were Cook, I’d take it further and have them develop Resident Evil to work across Mac/iPad/iPhone/Apple TV.
Mac: Full core game Apple TV: pickup where you left off with your choice of game controller iPad: Same as Apple TV with added touch features iPhone: mini games that help you on your journey/companion app
Heck, I’d find a way to throw Watch and AirPods in there. Maybe Atmos/Spatial Audio with head tracking support for AirPods. Especially after today’s announcement
Then I’d find a way to earn herbs(Resident Evil’s health supplement) and find other items by walking and running with Watch Fitness.
Buy ONCE get all these platforms and features.
The idea is to get gamers on board with Apple and into a better ecosystem. As of now, no one is gonna put their PS5 to the side to play Resident Evil VIII on Mac. That’s ridiculous. Also, this causes a paradox which Nintendo dealt with before, since no one is buying Resident Evil on Mac, Capcom will then use that as a reason to stop developing for it but there’s no reason to buy it on Mac in the first place. It’s a catch 22 I’ve seen in the industry before.
There’s the “Tim Cook knows how to run the biggest tech company in the world” excuse but here’s the problem with that argument: Cook doesn’t give a damn about gaming. It’s just a fun side hustle for Apple. They don’t even update us on Apple TV at WWDC anymore. I was hoping M2 would be the chip Apple was waiting on for a new Apple TV but that’s looking hopeless as time goes on.
Apple doesn’t need pay bribe’s to these nitwits just keep building the software/hardware foundation, nor do they buy up these money loosing companies who are resold every 5-10 years to the next new Bumpkin in town.
Again, Apple has been doing this for 30 years and hasn’t gotten anywhere. Are we supposed to wait another 30 years? some of these game companies come with successful IPs that would push Apple forward.
I’m not satisfied with one big game coming every year that’s already available elsewhere.
Shareholders don't want Apple to spend $1B for $360M in revenue. That's a net $640M loss and that doesn't fit in with Apple's expected gross margins. Hell, Apple could make more money shoveling that cash into 10 Year Treasuries.
I'm not convinced that Apple's acquisition of Beats was a good purchase.
Anyhow the future of gaming is the cloud. This isn't some pie-in-the-sky theory.
You can play Fortnite on your Mac or iPad today with GeForce NOW.
AirPods and the Beats acquisition are two things the tech analyst’s, and geeks laughed at when Apple introduced them, same goes for the Apple Watch, these days they cry and try to ignore them.
Shareholders don't want Apple to spend $1B for $360M in revenue. That's a net $640M loss and that doesn't fit in with Apple's expected gross margins. Hell, Apple could make more money shoveling that cash into 10 Year Treasuries.
I'm not convinced that Apple's acquisition of Beats was a good purchase.
Anyhow the future of gaming is the cloud. This isn't some pie-in-the-sky theory.
You can play Fortnite on your Mac or iPad today with GeForce NOW.
It got them 3/4 of the way to Apple Music above and beyond hardware.
Criticizing the Beats acquisition in 2022 is ignorant. At the time people had healthy speculations but now all points are pretty invalid. Beats is estimated to have grown 553% the last year. Apple is now the #1 and #2 wireless earphone brand because of the acquisition.
Apple did make mistakes after acquiring Beats like not keeping Jimmy and Dre on board. Jimmy was a monster at marketing and Beats would have been a force against Apple, Amazon and Google if They weren’t acquired. Jimmy and Dre were leaders of the record industry at the time and Apple really missed the opportunity to found Apple Records or Beats Records. Also discontinuing the Beats Pill which was in more homes than Alexa was another dud from Apple. A Siri-powered Beats Pill would have outsold HomePod easily. Jimmy was also on a quest to destroy Spotify before he left and he was doing a damn good job.
I hope Apple doesn’t continue to treat Beats like Apple TV now that it’s gaining so much momentum(again).
Criticizing the Beats acquisition in 2022 is relevant if you're an AAPL shareholder either direct or indirect. I'm the latter these days.
Like you I was disappointed that Apple discontinued the Beats Pill since it was a stellar hardware product in their portfolio. Apple replaced it with the full-sized HomePod which was swiftly and unceremoniously discontinued.
Pity.
I am happy to give Apple kudos for successes but I am not going to kowtow when they come up short.
Criticizing the Beats acquisition in 2022 is relevant if you're an AAPL shareholder either direct or indirect. I'm the latter these days.
Like you I was disappointed that Apple discontinued the Beats Pill since it was a stellar hardware product in their portfolio. Apple replaced it with the full-sized HomePod which was swiftly and unceremoniously discontinued.
Pity.
I am happy to give Apple kudos for successes but I am not going to kowtow when they come up short.
I mean, it’s safe to say Beats has made Apple way more than 3B in profit by now. Wouldn’t doubt it if they make 3B in profit this year alone.
Resident Evil Village and No Man’s Sky is a decent start but not nearly enough.
Yeah I didn’t even count No Man’s Sky because it’s a good powerful game but not a really popular one like Resident Evil. Gamers aren’t gonna sell their PS5 and throw their Windows virus machines for either game on Mac.
Now if No Man’s Sky was exclusive that would have been something.
I was very underwhelmed with the gaming segments. Although having one AAA large game announced (compared to some crappy old iOS game) is a start, it’s nothing compared to what companies traditionally announce. Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo come out arms swinging when new hardware is announced. They’ll showcase 12-25 games at once.
Maybe it’s Apple’s secrecy that stops developers but this was sad. And as usual Apple TV and tvOS get ignored like an ugly step child. when Craig mentioned gaming I was ready for Apple Arcade+ or some huge partnership. We get one big NON-EXCLUSIVE game. Ok. Back to Winblows and PS5, I guess.
Neither Resident Evil Village or No Man's Sky are a crappy old iOS game. Both are big games.
Read it again.
Write it again.
What crappy old iOS game are you referring to? Why are you only talking about one big game being announced when two were?
I said “compared to”. Usually Apple shows old iOS games on new hardware.
They actually DID show a game announced in 2017 for the A10 processor today. Did you miss it?
I think Apple should open their own game studio and announce a new open world MMO game ala Genshin impact or Nino Kuni but without the micro transaction system, free with Apple Arcade.
I have been playing Apex Legends mobile on the M1 iPad recently and I’m convinced the future is mobile and VR, not PC or console.
Resident Evil Village and No Man’s Sky is a decent start but not nearly enough.
Yeah I didn’t even count No Man’s Sky because it’s a good powerful game but not a really popular one like Resident Evil. Gamers aren’t gonna sell their PS5 and throw their Windows virus machines for either game on Mac.
Now if No Man’s Sky was exclusive that would have been something.
I was very underwhelmed with the gaming segments. Although having one AAA large game announced (compared to some crappy old iOS game) is a start, it’s nothing compared to what companies traditionally announce. Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo come out arms swinging when new hardware is announced. They’ll showcase 12-25 games at once.
Maybe it’s Apple’s secrecy that stops developers but this was sad. And as usual Apple TV and tvOS get ignored like an ugly step child. when Craig mentioned gaming I was ready for Apple Arcade+ or some huge partnership. We get one big NON-EXCLUSIVE game. Ok. Back to Winblows and PS5, I guess.
Neither Resident Evil Village or No Man's Sky are a crappy old iOS game. Both are big games.
Read it again.
Write it again.
What crappy old iOS game are you referring to? Why are you only talking about one big game being announced when two were?
I said “compared to”. Usually Apple shows old iOS games on new hardware.
They actually DID show a game announced in 2017 for the A10 processor today. Did you miss it?
I think Apple should open their own game studio and announce a new open world MMO game ala Genshin impact or Nino Kuni but without the micro transaction system, free with Apple Arcade.
I have been playing Apex Legends mobile on the M1 iPad recently and I’m convinced the future is mobile and VR, not PC or console.
Apple needs ANYTHING intriguing on Apple Arcade right now.
An MMO was common sense but they didn’t care to develop one.
Comments
In the same way, the music industry has largely moved on from the notion of people buying record albums at a store. Almost no one buys music CDs except for classical music fans (like me) and a handful of collectors.
some of these game companies come with successful IPs that would push Apple forward.
AirPods and the Beats acquisition are two things the tech analyst’s, and geeks laughed at when Apple introduced them, same goes for the Apple Watch, these days they cry and try to ignore them.
Criticizing the Beats acquisition in 2022 is ignorant. At the time people had healthy speculations but now all points are pretty invalid. Beats is estimated to have grown 553% the last year. Apple is now the #1 and #2 wireless earphone brand because of the acquisition.
Apple did make mistakes after acquiring Beats like not keeping Jimmy and Dre on board. Jimmy was a monster at marketing and Beats would have been a force against Apple, Amazon and Google if They weren’t acquired. Jimmy and Dre were leaders of the record industry at the time and Apple really missed the opportunity to found Apple Records or Beats Records. Also discontinuing the Beats Pill which was in more homes than Alexa was another dud from Apple. A Siri-powered Beats Pill would have outsold HomePod easily. Jimmy was also on a quest to destroy Spotify before he left and he was doing a damn good job.
I hope Apple doesn’t continue to treat Beats like Apple TV now that it’s gaining so much momentum(again).
Like you I was disappointed that Apple discontinued the Beats Pill since it was a stellar hardware product in their portfolio. Apple replaced it with the full-sized HomePod which was swiftly and unceremoniously discontinued.
Pity.
I am happy to give Apple kudos for successes but I am not going to kowtow when they come up short.
I have been playing Apex Legends mobile on the M1 iPad recently and I’m convinced the future is mobile and VR, not PC or console.
An MMO was common sense but they didn’t care to develop one.