Smith_Xever

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Smith_Xever
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  • One of these three Apple executives will probably be Tim Cook's replacement

    Smith_XeverSmith_Xever
    When Tim Cook steps down as Apple’s CEO, there will be several obvious candidates for the role. However, I think much will depend on exactly when he retires — the timing could greatly influence the choice of his successor.
    ronnwilliamlondonrandominternetpersonmuthuk_vanalingammattinoz

  • Apple's block of Xcloud & Stadia game streaming apps is at best consumer-hostile

    Smith_XeverSmith_Xever
    tmay said:
    danvm said:
    danvm said:
    danvm said:
    Why would Apple leave that game streaming thing to Google or Microsoft while they can do it better than both? 
    Because, as today, Google and MS are doing better than Apple in gaming.
    Thanks to Apple Silicon Apple is already years ahead on that. Besides, they can offer that streaming to all game developers who sell in the AppStore without alienating them and maintaining the rich content already on sale.
    I don't think that Apple Silicon is the magic cure to the issue Apple has with the gaming business.  
    How so? MS couldn’t even maintain three Halo games on iOS !.. As they failed on mobile computing, they spectacularly failed on mobile gaming too. 
    When I said MS and Google doing better,  was about their gaming cloud services.  The only thing that Apple have is Apple Arcade, and it looks like is not doing good.  
    https://www.macrumors.com/2020/06/30/apple-arcade-game-strategy-shift/
    The point is not the issue Apple you claim has with the gaming business, the point is Apple Silicon IS the cure to the game streaming issue on mobile by bringing in low bandwidth low latency high quality Metal rendering and high FPS.
    Interesting how Nintendo had the worst performing console compare to the Xbox and PS4 (I think even even slower than Apple devices), and developed some of the best games in this generation.  This is an example on how hardware is not an excuse to perform well in the gaming market.
    Apple Arcade is not a cloud service, it is a distribution model. Nothing runs on “Apple Arcade” everything runs on user’s device.
    I know what Apple Arcade, and the issue is that is the only option Apple offers a part of the long list of IAP games in the App Store.  IMO, Apple don't have something better than xCloud or Stadia.  
    No, they don't have as streaming but they DO have as native apps. Because they DO have better devices, much better than Celeron Chromebooks. What benefit would xCloud and Stadia bring to  iOS users other than making available all those old titles which already exhausted their commercial lifecycle as standalone products? How would a rendering made for Celeron Chromebook appeal to the owners of modern iPhones which shine with all their HDR, Dolby Vision, Metal 2 and alike? There are a lot of pirate streaming services on the web with their low quality crappy content, do you watch any of those or do you subscribe to a quality streaming service? If you want to play a game streamed for Chromebooks you don't need an iPhone, buy a cheap Android phone or tablet or a Chromebook, that's it...

    danvm said:
    Again, Nintendo didn't need Apple Silicon to bring some of the best games in the market.  Second, Apple perform well as a a platform in the mobile gaming market.  But they have not develop any games (a part from Chess in macOS).  And trying to push Apple TV haven't succeed.  These are some of the reason I think Apple is not doing good in gaming.  
    That's another issue and a more broad one. Today Apple provides the best productivity computers and mobile devices that can make their owners decent game players too and also provides the best core support for gaming down to the Metal (of the GPU). Game studios develop, Apple publishes. Apple has performed that job fairly well.
    Apple chips are great, but it isn’t trivial to port from an immediate mode renderer designed for GDDR6 memory to a bandwidth constrained—but fast—tile deferred renderer.  No doubt Apple GPUs are great, but the port is non-trivial.  Porting an older game like tomb raider (released 2013) would be easier.  The Xbox series x games that are streamed will be a decade before they could run on mobile.  By then the developer would have moved on. There are platform exclusives that can only be streamed. The file size is also a dealbreaker.  Even 7 year old tomb raider is large.  Streaming is the only way to go for this class of game.

    Streaming is also a great way to access older games that will never be ported to modern hardware. 

    AAA class games could be built from scratch for Metal, but there isn’t a large enough market for that right now.  Most development pipelines take years even if Apple were to subsidize starting a console class game store.  You would at least need something like streaming to bridge the gap.
    So, why not just sell a $150 Android device for streamed games, and cut Apple out entirely from the process?

    The truth of the matter is that there is peak gaming during this pandemic, attention of Congress to the size of the major tech companies, and Apple's vast user base to sell into. The problem that I see is if MS, et al, aren't successful in pushing Congress to force Apple to accept streaming games by the end of the pandemic, then Apple will have the silicon and resources to actually compete in gaming as a premium mobile hardware platform. it they so choose. I found the site you mentioned earlier, and it seems like a great resource for exploring different gaming options!

    Right now, I don't think that Apple is all that interested in gaming, and I don't think that attempting to force Apple into a different business model will be successful, nor do these hardware/software partnerships for Android OS designed to take on Apple look all that successful.
    Streaming does seem like the most viable solution for accessing AAA games on mobile, especially when you consider the file sizes and the sheer complexity of modern games. It’s hard to imagine developers investing years into building console-class games specifically for Metal when the market for that is still relatively niche. Streaming bridges that gap nicely, but as you said, the question is whether Apple will ever fully embrace it—or if they’ll just continue to focus on their own ecosystem and let others figure out the streaming side.
    tiredskills