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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2019-08-02, 12:02

If they want to have a shot at console-quality games, they're going to need to pack in more than 64GB of storage. And I think they'll give it a standard HDMI port.

But otherwise I think we're mostly picturing the same thing: a Mac mini/original Apple TV-sized square for around $300 with a controller in the box. It could run the 2020 iPad Pro's A14X or whatever, though I wouldn't be surprised if Apple gave it a purpose-built chip ("G1"?) that is basically an A14XX, since battery life is no longer a concern and it no longer needs to fit in a 5mm-thin case. (Apple seems willing to have a chip family for every letter of the alphabet, and on both this and the eventual ARM Macs, I think they'll want to avoid the stigma of using "mobile" parts.)

Quote:
Originally Posted by kscherer View Post
Otherwise, it's a tightly competitive market where game developers (much more so than the console manufacturers) are already busy and may not want to be bothered.
I don't know. Cross-platform engines making porting much simpler than it was in the past, and most developers want their games to be everywhere. Stadia doesn't really have a killer app and has far fewer announced exclusives than Apple Arcade already has, and yet there were Stadia logos everywhere at E3. It's got Assassin's Creed, Borderlands, Destiny, Doom Eternal, that new Avengers game, the new Ghost Recon, the new Wolfenstein and Watch Dogs and on and on and on. There are still some big omissions (EA and Activision aren't on board yet) but it has a ton of support from "real" console games. And that's streaming, which seems like it would be significantly more difficult to retroactively port games to.

Developers are eager to find new markets for their games besides Xbox/PlayStation/Steam. I think if Apple can make a compelling offering for consumers, developers would be on board.

But if they want to make a splash and signal that they're taking console-style gaming seriously, it's not like spending money to secure "killer" exclusive content is unheard of for Apple, either (see: Oprah).

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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