Opinion: Apple, you're not making a console

Apple used its platform at WWDC 14 to brag about "console-like" experiences thanks to its new Metal development tools, but the boasts ignore larger market forces at play.

Steve Watts

June 3, 2014 12:00 PM

E3 is the gaming industry's big annual event, as console and game makers alike gather to show off their wares and new technologies. In recent years, Apple has very consciously positioned its own Worldwide Developers Conference right alongside E3, all while shaking up the industry with its mobile hardware. Yesterday was no exception, and this year's segment of gaming focus was aimed squarely at high-end console gaming. How much of a threat do iOS devices pose to the new generation? It's not as if Apple was coy about its intentions. The gaming portion of the WWDC keynote lasted only about 5 minutes of the two-hour presentation, but in that time Apple senior VP of software engineering Craig Federighi explicitly mentioned consoles three times. He also made a point of going to the studios that make game engines; he and Epic founder Tim Sweeney name-dropped two different high-end engines that were now running on iPad through the new Metal development tool. The boast even included a proof-of-concept with Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare running on an iPad. It was certainly an impressive showing on the whole, but Apple's bragging of console-like experiences on its devices is nothing new. A close relationship with Epic has provided the high-end muscle for years, and we know that iOS can pack a punch thanks to the Infinity Blade series. That has certainly been lucrative for Epic, but Infinity Blade is now nearing four years old, and it hasn't spelled death for large-scale console games yet. The reason is simple: no matter how much muscle the iPad gets, the market on these machines is fundamentally different. iPad owners just aren't as interested in playing a game like Titanfall whether the device can support it or not. Consoles and mobile devices have found a sort of equilibrium, as the two serve different enough purposes to coexist. That's probably why we see such wild disparities in the game types that top the charts. The NPD figures are dominated by so-called "hardcore" games like Titanfall. Call of Duty: Ghosts has remained on the monthly charts long after its launch, as each Call of Duty iteration tends to. And despite the relative infancy of the new platforms, both Titanfall and Infamous: Second Son hit the #1 and #2 spots last month. The top Paid charts on iOS, meanwhile, are constantly filled with casual games, board games, and the latest Angry Birds. Minecraft Pocket Edition has maintained a healthy spot at the top, but it's certainly an anomaly.

Epic shows off Zen Garden

Price is also an important factor. The top-grossing games on iOS aren't $60 or even $6. They're free. Garden Warfare running on an iPad is a nice proof-of-concept, but the last few years have shown that the most successful free-to-play games are designed that way from the ground up. A port of an existing and well-matched F2P game like Hearthstone can be successful on iOS, but a port of a paid console game would have a more difficult time recouping costs without setting a price. Some games can become hits this way, like the iOS Lego games, but those are also few and far between. Even Epic Games was cautious in its approach, only committing to release a free tech demo of its Zen Garden alongside iOS 8. Besides, while we've had plenty of discussion about how the mobile market is shaking up gaming, the sales figures seem to show the two merrily coexisting. As NPD noted in its recent sales figures, the combined sales of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One have outperformed the combination of PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 during the same period of their respective lives. Mobile gaming appeared to cut into console sales when the last generation was getting long in the tooth, and a case could be made that the casual-friendly approach is hurting Nintendo's Wii U. On the whole, though, interest in high-end gaming experiences looks to be on the rise, not declining. And it's because of that success that Apple's boasting about "console-level" experiences is just fluff. The new Metal tools will certainly help developers increase the fidelity of their games, and it will be interesting to see the next leap forward in the mobile space. We might even see a day when Apple does make a more aggressive move into the hardware space, with increased support on Apple TV or its own dedicated controller. For the time being, more powerful development tools are a half-step at best, and Metal isn't well-equipped to single-handedly deal with larger market forces at play.

Steve Watts

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June 3, 2014 12:00 PM

Steve Watts posted a new article, Opinion: Apple, you're not making a console.

Apple used its platform at WWDC 14 to brag about "console-like" experiences thanks to its new Metal development tools, but the boasts ignore larger market forces at play.
- Grape Flavor
  
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  June 3, 2014 1:42 PM
  
  Yeah, it's always been clear to me that mobile isn't going to replace consoles and the PC any time soon. The mainstream media keeps pushing that narrative but they don't understand what they're talking about. Like you said, they're two different experiences aimed at two different audiences. There's going to be some overlap for sure, especially as mobile hardware gets more powerful, but they're still distinct enough that they will continue to co-exist for the foreseeable future.
  
  The new console generation will give the traditional experience a shot in the arm. The 360 and the PS3 were getting stale due to their age but that's been taken care of now. The console business is doing just fine.
- [deleted] 1288022911
  
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  June 3, 2014 3:48 PM
  
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  - SporkyReeve
    
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    June 3, 2014 7:49 PM
    
    Hi Brian! Good to see you. You were gone before I got here but I enjoyed you on Weekend Confirmed. Much respect.
    
    Dropping Titanfall was just an example, and I think you're right that they aren't attempting to put console-like experiences on iPads. But their messaging was very squarely focused at consoles, which made this the latest in a series of strange half-steps. They want to bring up the comparison but aren't committing to it.
- Mad Brahmin Disease
  
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  June 3, 2014 4:07 PM
  
  What an odd piece. WWDC was not "consciously" planned right before E3, it's just coincidence.
  - [deleted] 1915066098
    
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    June 3, 2014 4:55 PM
    
    [deleted]
  - SporkyReeve
    
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    June 3, 2014 7:50 PM
    
    I can see how that phrasing sounds off. The point was more about market positioning than scheduling--the way they've used the event to touch on their own gaming interests, at least ever since games on the App Store became way too big for them to ignore.
    - Mad Brahmin Disease
      
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      June 3, 2014 11:49 PM
      
      That entire article is "off".
- TheEmissary
  
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  June 3, 2014 4:47 PM
  
  I don't think Apple really intends to compete in the console space beyond maybe getting a few high quality ports. Metal is just Apple responding the trend of reducing the cpu overhead. It is likely that MS is going to port DX12 to the surface at some point and Google might introduce something similar in the way of a OpenGL ES extension or its own API.
- [deleted] 793764821
  
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  June 3, 2014 4:56 PM
  
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  - [deleted] 1915066098
    
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    June 3, 2014 4:59 PM
    
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- xxiv
  
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  June 3, 2014 5:15 PM
  
  yeah fuck you apple for....making graphics better?
- [deleted] 982814364
  
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  June 3, 2014 8:19 PM
  
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- nwillard
  
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  June 4, 2014 12:32 AM
  
  Interesting piece, but ignores the possibility of transitioning the apple TV into the gaming realm. That might shake things up in an interesting way. I think the console/iOS game divide is so strong because your iPad is always moving around.
- ErneX
  
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  June 4, 2014 4:58 AM
  
  This article is very weird.