And that game was Crossy Road. Seriously, could it have been anything else?
Regardless of what you think of Apple’s new gaming controller — Kotaku’s Jason Schreier isn’t a fan — it remains pretty cool that Apple is using Australian developed games to show off new technology. It’s something of a habit. You might remember that Rob Murray of Firemonkeys showed off Real Racing 3 on the Apple stage for the debut of the iPhone 5. That was an attempt to prove just how powerful the iPhone 5 was, this presentation was more about simple, clean living room gaming for families.
Andy Sum and Tom Killen of Hipster Whale followed suit this time round, showing Crossy Road running on Apple’s new Apple TV with Apple’s new gaming controller. This time it seems the goal was to show Apple’s attempt at moving gaming onto the big screen, but it also gave the Hipster Whale team a chance to show off a new Apple TV-exclusive feature — Crossy Road multiplayer.
Which looks pretty cool. As someone with a son who is obsessed with Crossy Road (AKA: the birdie game) I absolutely see myself playing this with him.
But Apple TV’s gaming functionality does seem like a bust. The whole streaming from the cloud thing kinda makes it useless. Games over 200MB can’t be used on the Apple TV so that pretty much cuts out… every high-end mobile game ever — including games like Hearthstone and Fallout Shelter. Unless the developers create an Apple TV specific version of the app, which I’m sure they will in due time.
Presenting Crossy Road with @JigxorAndy is a lifetime achievement. So much hard work, THRILLED to demo #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/VyzyZMmRSz
— Tom Kitten (@tomkillen) September 9, 2015
But generally speaking, that seems like insanity, but probably speaks more to who and what this gaming controller is for. Apple TV is primarily a device for TV. It’s in the name after all.
Comments
14 responses to “Apple Used An Australian Game To Debut Its New Gaming Controller”
I currently having an argumentBon Twitter with so-called Tech Guru Trevor Long that many of the features touted by Apple TV have been available to anyone with a game console for years now
But its APPLE, so its GOT to be new, and better, and… and… puppies!!! Right?
For some reason, this whole suite of apple products keeps creating a single question in my head. How long will it be before apple tries to copyright (and then enforce) the word Pencil…?
I think the only reason they didn’t go with iPencil was that it sounded stupid, even for an Apple product.
Yeah, sounds a bit wussy, even for Apple. Was more being cynical that Apple has a track record of thinking they own a concept, just because they either have a product with that word in the title, or because they think they made the line successful.
They tried to stop everyone using the word App for example, and even took Woolworths to court because their logo looks vaguely like an apple. Their defence of IP is notoriously over the top.
I believe its called the Apple Pencil, so they can copyright that, otherwise I was thinking the exact same thing
Its the capital P that they’ll use. The way it seems to have worked in the past is that they bring something out. Because they are so great at styling, their product becomes an industry standard, with their terminology superseding more traditional terms. Plus they tend to have some pretty smart marketing people.
So when people, and then companies, start using that terminology as the default, enter the lawyers. They did it with app, which has become the default over applet or application, thanks to their “we have an app for that” campaign”, and I can see no reason they wouldnt try the same if the default for stylus becomes pencil and someone like Samsung refers to it as such or similar.
it does my head in to listen to the radio or watch something like the Today show and watch these self-proclaimed tech experts fawning over Apple’s achievements seemingly oblivious to the fact that others have done it before and do it better.
And please don’t get me wrong – I don’t hate Apple, I’m typing this on an iPhone, but I hate the mainstream media’s ignorance of all things not Apple.
When PS4 and X1 were announced in 2013 I didn’t see too many articles on those announcements in the big Fairfax/News Ltd dailies – but you can bet this Apple reveal is filling up column inches as I type!
The stories are dominating just about every tech site I’ve seen today. Multiple stories. Not just one, but one on the overall event, the iPad Pro, the iPhone, etc etc etc.
And I’m not an apple hater either, I have an ipad, ipod, and mac mini, but like you, the fandom that services ANYTHING apple is frustrating. Its ignorant of whats gone before, and would be funny if the fans didnt believe the hype so much.
If you believe the hype, the iPad launched tablets, there were no mobile phones before the iPad, and we didnt have anything that used mp3’s before the iPod… Seriously, I’ve seen professionals argue those very points in the past.
The iPad Pro looks sweet, but again, its nothing new. Yet within 6 months someone will do a story that its the product that really put professional design tablets on the market. Or some crap like that.
/rant over
See to me, and I didn’t see this noted anywhere, the Pro feels like a knee-jerk reaction to the Surface!
I’ve seen the SP referenced in the comments a few times, but not in the story proper. And yeah, had a similar thought myself. But hey, thats how Apple do things. See a new product line, wait a couple of generations, then release their own version.
Which is usually very polished, usually just works as expected, and looks pretty spic as well. Thats not a problem, I like their styling and ease of use. Its just that they then abuse that success and try to take over the space with their market penetration. They use their own success to block competition, ignoring that if it hadnt been for that competition, there wouldnt be a product line worth pursuing in the first place.
That’s what Apple does though. Its strength isn’t their products, its strength is their ability to take something that people have been using already and market it as something new and essential to your life.
So what? My parents don’t have a $500 box with a confusing controller, they’ll have this though.
The makers of Frogger must be so proud.
Not if they still work for Konami!
This could be a gimmick designed to sell more phones and tablets.