It might not have been the highlight of the WWDC keynote address, but there's a lot more to Apple's Mac version of Game Center than meets the eye.
Tucked in amongst the headline-grabbing retina display of the new Macbook Pro and the new 3D mapping technologies of iOS at this year's WWDC keynote address was a small section devoted to gaming, namely Apple's Xbox Live-like service Game Center. Previously an iOS-only service, Game Center is making its way onto the Mac in July with the release of OS X Mountain Lion.
On the surface, Game Center for the Mac is merely a port of the existing iOS software. You can look up your friends lists, view your achievements, and issue challenges to other players. It's all very nice, but hardly groundbreaking stuff--at least, that's what I thought until Apple dropped the bomb: cross-platform play.
Now, cross-platform play isn't a new idea in the games industry, but it hasn't been widely supported, beyond of a handful of DS and Vita games, or been that successful. With Game Center on the Mac, Apple is tapping into its user base of 365 million iOS devices and enticing those gamers--many of whom perhaps don't game at all on other devices--to transition from their portable device to a larger platform.
It's being done in typically slick Apple style. Supported games will let you send out multiplayer invitations to friends, and regardless of whether they're playing on an iPad, iPhone, or Mac, they'll be able to play against you either in turn-based or head-to-head games. The huge popularity of iOS devices means there will be a fair few people who take them up on the offer, even if the games themselves are likely to be iOS ports rather than epic action blockbusters--at least in the short term.
But it's what the move means for the games industry in the long term that should have industry stalwarts like Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo taking notice. Those three companies have spent a huge chunk of their time trying to entice casual gamers over to their respective platforms with peripherals such as Kinect and Move. And yet, the vast majority of those gamers aren't playing on a traditional console or handheld. They're playing on iOS.
If Apple can get those people used to playing on the Mac, then it's a much smaller leap to get them to play on something else--namely the Apple TV. While the rumors about an unveiling of an SDK that would allow developers to make apps and games for the Apple TV didn't come to pass, that's not to say it's not being worked on. Imagine if all those same games you love on iOS (and hopefully some new ones) were available to download and play on your TV at the click of a button, all with cross-platform multiplayer.
It's an enticing prospect, particularly as the Apple TV is comparatively cheap (£99) next to full-blown consoles. It might not win over the hardcore, but iOS gaming has captured the hearts and minds of many--the younger generation, in particular. GameSpot's very own commander-in-chief John Davison observed this with his family, pointing out that "Nine times out of 10" the iPad was his children's video gaming device of choice, besting the mighty Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.
It's not as if that audience is being catered to much elsewhere. There was a telling lack of casual content at this year's E3, with the big three platform holders all choosing to show games featuring a lot of violence--too much, for some. It's as if they'd given up on that casual audience entirely. But if those companies don't take control of the situation now, they're in danger of losing the potentially lucrative casual audience to Apple. You might call that far-fetched, but remember: this is a company that has a seriously good track record in taking over and changing entire industries.
Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo have a lot to think about.
Writer, riff maker, purveyor of fine foods. Mark currently spends his days trying to overcome his small (large) obsession with high-top trainers and mobile games. He's known to respond well to Long Island Iced Tea, falafels, and karaoke, but not necessarily in that order.
1 Like Good observation. I think it's very conceivable that Apple could enter the console market through its Apple TV. After all, Sony and Microsoft both entered the market once upon a time. I'd expect an announcement some time around the reveal of PS4 and Xbox 720.
Game changer? I don't see myself changing any games that I play, not with iOS shovelware for certain.
2 Like '' this is a company that has a seriously good track record in taking over and changing entire industries. ''
No, Steve Jobs had a seriously good track record in taking over and changing entire industries. He created the Mac, iPod, iTunes, iPhone and iPad. When Jobs left Apple they almost went under, when he returned they grew once again. I'm not saying they are without talent today, but you can't use Apple's previous track record and use it to back up your expectations for the future. Because without Jobs they simply aren't the same company.
Besides Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 also have app integration. So developers have the options to use this feature to store data on Microsoft's cloud so players can close a game on one platform and continue it on another. The WP8 leak from yesterday also suggests that WP8 essentially is W:RT so basically your Metro App in W8/W:RT is the exact same app as on WP8 only then optimized for smartphone. So they wouldn't even need cross-platform gaming,as they are the same platform.
However, the big difference between Apple and Microsoft is that Apple is huge on both tablets and smartphones. This means their service will grow much faster. at any rate, competition is good for us consumers.
5 Like the only time Apple has changed the face of media/technology is when they've put so much money into marketing that they have annihilated the perception that "hey, this already existed at least 5 years ago" amongst the knucklehead masses.
iPod?... Apples was late to that party, but they brought the biggest streamers to announce their arrival.
basically everything "iWhatever" ends up being a proven piece of technology that is just waiting for Apple to rebrand their version of it, control it through their DRM... excuse me, "OS"... then feed it to their zombie user base.
Apple, the most overrated and uninnovative company in IT history.
Gaming on Apple TV seems like a great idea, but I suspect it's still very far off. For now they haven't even perfected watching TV on the thing. Sure, it's great for certain use cases, but as a one-stop TV and movie viewing device, it has a long way to go.
As far as casual games go, that's not where the Big Three get their bread buttered, and they know it. Sure it would be great to have twenty million people spending five dollars a month on your Live Arcade or PSN (or whatever it's called now), but if you lose your core audience, then it's a net gain of zero. Right now, the Big Three are in defense mode...they'll take another stab at casual gaming later.
Finally, it's important to remember that casual gamers treat gaming casually. They'll glom onto something until something newer and shinier comes along. Nintendo had a huge casual following until Apple came along. Where has that gotten them today?
3 Like This is NOT a game changer in ANY WAY since mac lovers are too busy having their heads up their butts to play games on their computers. :P But seriously, mac fans don't care about games in that sense. I have an iphone and while I'd say that I highly enjoy games on it, I'll be sticking with my PC, PS3, 360, Wii, and 3DS for my primary gaming fix.
And if Mac gets any games on it that aren't anywhere else, I have a dual boot Hackintosh and can easily switch over to that. OH! Screw you Apple and your insanely high computer prices. :P
@Jedilink109 I'm not an Apple fan by any means, but the author of this article suggests Apple can change the gaming market. And in a sense it has already changed. Despite lowered sales the Wii's casual appeal hold 50% of the market. Casual gaming is on the rise, on PC is it also huge.
Apple could rekindle this growing market by offerering a premium gaming services for them. Meaning that all those school children, housewives, etc will go to one place for their casual gaming needs. That does have potential, and Apple is in the best possition to make such a service a succes. The iPad/iPhone will help sell the service and in return the service will help sell more iPad/iPhone's.
From a core gamer's perspective this is all very irrelevant but Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have to watch out. Right now casual gamers are also among us who own a console of the big three. Afterall PS2's massive success also came from games such as Singstar. And Wii's succes is due to the Wii-Mote and Kinect and Move are attempted to capture this market. Both three realize they need the casual consumer to remain profitable. And Apple is now aiming at the same market.
2 Like "cross-platform play... ....hasn't... ...been that successful."
Shadowrun begs to differ. unless you mean mobile-platform-to-console/pc-cross-platform play in which case: be more specific next time.
"But it's what the move means for the games industry in the long term that should have industry stalwarts like Microsoft..."
Yeah Microsoft you should be looking to apple to see how you can improve your portable and console platforms... wait, you don't have a portable platform....
"those gamers aren't playing on a traditional console or handheld. They're playing on iOS."
iOS, an OS that only apple can use on hardware. Which none of the big 3 will ever develop for because it's not their "first party". right.
"GameSpot's very own commander-in-chief John Davisonobserved this with his family, pointing out that "Nine times out of 10" the iPad was his children's video gaming device of choice, besting the mighty Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360."
ONE test/survey group doesn't say ANYTHING in regards to statistics/statistical observation.
"There was a telling lack of casual content at this year's E3"
Microsofts conference was awful because apart from a few games it was almost entirely for casuals, kinect this kinect that, more fitness games, dance games! xbox glass!
1 Like Um why is this topic even a main page story? Am I missing something here? This is a Gaming site right? Oh and put the thumbs down system back please lol
1 Like I have really enjoyed Game Center on my new iPad and iPhone 4S - it has allowed me to meet and game with many people worldwide while I'm on the go.
1 Like "It's as if they'd given up on the casual audience entirely." Huh? I thought about half of MS event was aimed at casual gamers. It certainly didn't seem aimed at core gamers. Maybe I'm just defining casual gamers differently than the author but I thought there was a fair amount of content aimed at casual gamers.
1 Like @CookSven I know right, because EA, Activision are doing such a great job with the industry.
2 Like i dont get the idea of this article, just praising apple for stealing what's already done by MS? apple is the worst night mare for video games. dont even think about it if you love your games. we dont want another jail.
I definitely agree to some extent with the critics, but there is just no ignoring the numbers. The article has a very good point. Whether or not "true gamers" believe it or not, almost every developer is now making iOS games. The larger the user base, the more casual games there will be. This doesn't mean there won't be great games as well! Come on people, more games, more systems, more gamers, more fun!
gane center is the singlel most best thing to happan to gameing since the amazeing invetntion of the iphone seruoisely its even more beter then xobx live and i didnt not think online gameing could get any more beter i love ios and game center and u shuold to cuz its the future of gameing nuff said
4 Like @tehtimeisnow U sir, judging by your pic and your grammar errors, you are truly an Apple fanboy
2 Like @CookSven You do realize you're replying to someone pulling the simplest of Trolololos, don't you?
1 Like @tehtimeisnow You do realize that my previous comment was a polite way to say that you are stupid right? Glad to know you, iSheep, keep the fanboy standard, arrogant and idiotic.
9 Like So basically, you acknowledge that iOS isn't the first to come up with cross-platform play, but you praise it because it's popular. Then you say that Sony has a lot to think about, even though you already mentioned that it was going through great strides to make cross-platform gaming a thing. Yes, clearly the fact that Sony offers an open gaming network that lets games like Portal 2, Dungeon Defenders, or Phantasy Star Online 2 offer PC/PS3 cross-platform gaming is not doing nearly enough. Let's just pretend all the Vita/PS3 cross-platform games don't exist. Let's also forget the integration between Windows Phone 7, Games for Windows Live, and Xbox 360 through Xbox Live.
But never mind that YOU CAN PLAY IPHONE GAMES ON AN APPLE TV OMFGIJDOWADIJO! Think of all the cheerleaders I can play Draw Something with now on my 47" flat screen!
I don't care that I can play crappy smartphone games on a TV or computer with people who aren't gamers. The gaming community is not so desperate as to latch on to pathetic Farmville cretins and beg for spare change.
Mark Walton isn't a gamer, he's an Apple fanboy.
2 Like I would love to buy a console made by apple.
it will surely cater to all the gamers out there
2 Like As a gamer, I have no bias for one product over another, If Sony makes games like Uncharted then I fully support them, if Microsoft makes games like Gears of war, I support them as much as I support sony. The point is I have no bias. BUT Gamecenter, I've got that icon stored away in my iphone and all i can say is that is an exact rip of Xbox live. No wonder Apple's fighting all of these copyright fines because its true, they COPY intellectual property. I just think Apple has no place in the gaming market. Yes there are games like NOVA 3 and Modern Combat 3 which makes you think you're carrying Crysis 2 and Modern Warfare in your pocket but this whole virtual controls simply doesn't work. Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying its terrible, i'm just saying there are better alternatives. Handheld gaming totally works, there is such thing as 'proper' handheld gaming but its not any ios games. I don't care how Uncharted Golden Abyss was rated, the point is it had spectacular gameplay which felt comfortable to play which is equivalent to the PS3 counterpart (in terms of gameplay). I just hate how the market works nowadays. Just because Apple can produce products at lower costs and sell at significantly lower prices, it means they can get away with making abysmal products.
Dude only Dirty hippys play iphone games who wants to mess around with inaccurate touch screen controls just to play a cheap substandard version of a way better game that I can play on my home consoles or handhelds?>huh? did I miss something here?
@IanNottinghamX Obviously you did. cos it's on your phone, so while on the bus, in a boring meeting and so on and so on! so it's mobile, it's not a new device to buy, the games are cheap and frequently updated you can listen to music, read books, surf the web take pictures, talk on the phone etc on the one device that several million people already own! I play iPhone games and i'm no hippy. some of them good and some of them bad but to disregard them completely cos better versions are available on other devices basically negates the need for consoles cos most of those games are available cheaper and better on the Pc!
damn right...Companys catering to a casual market has ruined gaming in a lot of ways.It encourages people who would of otherwise thought of games as a throw away medium to well......see games as a throw away medium with iphone games etc...And look at e3 gimmicky crap was everywhere there..@plasticreality
imagine this on the new quad core 17" retina macbook pro with graphical upgrade fifa 13 cross play between that and iPads or something similar could be a massive game changer and you know with apple they will advertise as there original idea and do it in such a way most people will actually believe it. I'm happy the big 3 have got a new friend they have had it too easy for too long maybe now we will some real innovation like there was between PS1 PS2!!
I launched the Game Center once when I got my iPhone.
Then got rid of the icon once I jailbroke my phone and haven't thought twice about it.
5 Like Writer is clearly a biased apple fanboi.
Cross Platform.....only on apple products...that isn't exactly revolutionary. In fact, its expected of Apple. Its not scaring anyone. If your cross platform gaming is only amongst your own products, NO ONE CARES. Especially Mac. Smart gamers don't game on Mac. Sure the iPhone and iPad have some fun time-passers...but no one actually games on Mac unless they are just an Apple Fanboi. I know plenty of people with iPhones, and not a single one of them is going to get a Mac due to this. They are expensive and inferior (when it comes to gaming). So...no.
So Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo yawned as this news from Apple (and this article from Gamespot) passes without any effect.
@colt_a You think? I myself don't play small apps on an iOS device but you don't seem to have an idea of just how powerful Apple is, and how many people play those games. It's a proven fact that more games are played and more money was made on Android and iOS than console and PC. This could be a huge leap, and the cross-platforming they are doing is on a larger scale than anyone else's. PC's are better for gaming, I'll give you that, but that's mostly because there are barely any games released for Mac.
I think Mark is letting his Apple fanboy heart rule his journo head. As an IOS gamer I usually find I either get well implemented touch/tilt controls or shoddy on-screen button controls. As such, I really don't see why I would want to play IOS games on a touchscreenless mac or mac games on a buttonless IOS platform.
Other than Ipods and Iphones, few have Macs. they are just too pricey for most people when all most people want to do is play a few games and surf the web
@benbonney If only that was true, it is undeniable how mainstream the Macs have become, Everytime I look up from the bottom of the lecture theatre, theres always whole rows of bright Apple logos. Its funny cause I own one to prevent me from playing games
