Epic Games thinks Apple could take on game consoles with iPad, Apple TV & controller
Epic Games, one of the top game developers for the iOS platform, believes that Apple could directly take on game consoles like Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 if it were to develop a Bluetooth controller for the iPad.
With this Friday's launch of the new iPad, Mike Capps, president of Epic Games, has been touting the power of Apple's third-generation tablet. Capps was onstage at last week's iPad unveiling, where he showed off a new title, "Infinity Blade: Dungeons," which takes advantage of the graphics processing and Retina display of the new iPad.
Capps also took part in an interview with Reuters that was published on Monday, in which he spoke of the possibility of a Bluetooth controller being developed for the iPad. With a hypothetical controller combined with AirPlay and an Apple TV, he believes Apple could challenge Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation platforms for the home console gaming market.
"It's quite easy to imagine a world where an iPad is more powerful than a home console, where it wirelessly talks to your TV and wirelessly talks to your controller and becomes your new console," Capps said.
His comments are particularly interesting as Capps, on behalf of Epic Games, has appeared onstage at all three of Apple's iPad media events. At last week's unveiling, Apple also featured Namco Bandai to show off the graphics processing capabilities of the new iPad and its A5X chip, which features a quad-core graphics processor.
Capps boasted at last week's event that the new iPad has a greater screen resolution than the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, thanks to Apple's new high-resolution Retina display. The new iPad also has more memory on its custom processor, which is believed to feature a gigabyte of RAM.
Capps said the unveiling of the new iPad last week shows that Apple cares about the game market that has flourished on iOS devices thanks to the App Store. He said Apple is interested in bringing "triple-A," high-quality games to its mobile devices.
Epic Games isn't alone in seeing Apple potentially entering the home console game market with the iPad and a Bluetooth controller accessory. Executives at Electronic Arts also told Reuters that they are closely watching Apple's moves.
"When the iPad gets to the processing power that's equal to an Xbox 360 and it connects to a television, that's no big deal to us — we'll put the game through the iPad and have it display through the television," said Frank Gibeau, president of Electronic Arts' Labels.
Another piece to Apple's potential entrance into the home console market could be the company's rumored television set. Numerous reports have indicated that Apple is working on a full-fledged television that could be unveiled as soon as later this year.
If Apple were to release a television set with an App Store like it offers for iOS devices and the Mac, or update its Apple TV set-top box with App Store access, some believe it could have an affect on sales of game consoles from companies like Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft.
The prospect of console-style gaming from Apple first became a reality last year with the launch of the iPad 2. "Real Racing 2 HD" was one of the first titles that allowed users to output video from their iPad 2 to an HDTV to control the game, and AirPlay support was later added to make the feature wireless.
One survey of game developers conducted last year found most believe Apple and its late co-founder, Steve Jobs, have had the greatest impact on the gaming industry of late. A survey of 1,000 people at the London Games Conference found that 26 percent of respondents said Jobs was the most influential person in the industry, while 46 percent included Jobs in their top five.
[ View article on AppleInsider ]
Comments
Lag is still something of an issue though.
I think that the rumored 7.85 inch iOS device is a revanchist of he iPod touch. And this idea is one of the reasons
Interesting word...I can't recall every coming across is before. Thank you and I do agree that a lower end iPad could fit right in where the iPod Touch falls off a bit. A larger screen device that's better for games.
I think that the rumored 7.85 inch iOS device is a revanchist of he iPod touch. And this idea is one of the reasons
What do you think the resolution will be?
Epic Games, one of the top game developers for the iOS platform, believes that Apple could directly take on game consoles like Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 if it were to develop a Bluetooth controller for the iPad.
I've been saying this already for years. I'm sure many of you have too.
Truly a way to "Think Different".
Certain games are great with touch, but there are other types of games where a controller is the best choice.
Some guy at Slashgear went off on the notion that he could ever give up his Xbox 360 in favor of an iDevice. That no "serious" or "hardcore" gamer could either. I just think that this guy is stuck in his paradigm that he can't consider anything else. This is the kind of paradigm that Steve Jobs (RIP) loved to crush to open a new market and sell more gadgets and reap profit.
Truly a way to "Think Different".
Some of the opinion pieces there are plain ignorant, and others are plain stupid. I read the one which you are talking about. Their readership is pretty low and there are hardly any comments on that site. I wonder why.
A Bluetooth controller is a must. Those console people won't settle for less. Apple is still going to need some deeper games for those consumers used to consoles. I'm always hearing complaints about how iOS games are far too casual for the serious gamer. I think about ten exclusive console-type games could do the trick and the rest of those iOS games would be icing on the cake. Somehow, I always thought it would be the AppleTV that would evolve into a stand-alone gaming console using some advanced ARM processor, but I guess I was wrong.
Make it happen Apple. Multi-Touch is great for some applications but transparent controller overlays are very frustrating.
Some guy at Slashgear went off on the notion that he could ever give up his Xbox 360 in favor of an iDevice. That no "serious" or "hardcore" gamer could either. I just think that this guy is stuck in his paradigm that he can't consider anything else. This is the kind of paradigm that Steve Jobs (RIP) loved to crush to open a new market and sell more gadgets and reap profit.
Truly a way to "Think Different".
I suppose that , by the minute they would switch to iOS, they would no longer be "serious", uh ?
"serious gamer" is an oxymoron to me, but probably because I am not gamer myself ....
Some guy at Slashgear went off on the notion that he could ever give up his Xbox 360 in favor of an iDevice. That no "serious" or "hardcore" gamer could either. I just think that this guy is stuck in his paradigm that he can't consider anything else. This is the kind of paradigm that Steve Jobs (RIP) loved to crush to open a new market and sell more gadgets and reap profit.
Truly a way to "Think Different".
Absolutely! There's a whole untapped demographic in gaming with the highest income earners. The Boomers and their parents got their feet wet with the wii, but when the older generation becomes "hardcore gamers" relatively speaking, Apple will supply their gear.
http://blog.onlive.com/2011/12/07/on...era-in-gaming/
Some guy at Slashgear went off on the notion that he could ever give up his Xbox 360 in favor of an iDevice. That no "serious" or "hardcore" gamer could either. I just think that this guy is stuck in his paradigm that he can't consider anything else. This is the kind of paradigm that Steve Jobs (RIP) loved to crush to open a new market and sell more gadgets and reap profit.
Truly a way to "Think Different".
I'm sure some serious gamers would never give up their gaming PC's for a console either.......
Apples entry into the games market is cunning, because so much of it happened under the radar - if you are a gamer, you have an iDevice as well as a console, and if you are a non-gamer, you have an iDevice because it does books, web etc. The fact that the upshot of that is a huge number of people with iDevices means that the served available market is so much larger for software companies writing games for iDevices.
While "serious" gamers will always want the highest resolution and frame rates the latest technology can give them, a much bigger market exists of people who just want to be entertained. I still think Sensible Soccer on the Amiga is the best football game ever created. The fact that the PS3 version of FIFA 2011 is in 3D and pushes God knows how many polygons hasn't made the game any more entertaining, it's just made it a more accurate simulation.
That and plus Apple hasn't figured out saved games and in app purchase storage. If I delete a game off my iOS device and put it back on at a later time, I want my progress saved as well as any in app purchases. As of right now, I'd have to start from scratch again. I don't know why they can't use iCloud to do this, unless there is a way and I am missing it.