Posts tagged Platform at The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

Posts with tag platform

iPhone has the potential to take over handheld gaming

Posted Mar 22nd 2008 11:00AM by Mike Schramm
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Multimedia, Apple, iPhone

Roughly Drafted has a nice, long analysis of the iPhone as a gaming device, and they hit on a lot of great reasons why the iPhone seems destined to be a great gaming platform. Not only will it have the hardware chops to play games (including a few input devices that no other handheld gaming consoles have ever had), but Apple's SDK implementation, when it finally gets off the ground in June anyway, seems poised to let almost anyone develop any game ideas they have for the device.

Throw in a great distribution platform and a relative lack of competition on the handheld platform (Nintendo is undoubtedly working on a successor to the DS, but other than that, there are no real next-generation contenders so far), and Apple apparently has the potential to do very well in the gaming market.

In fact, the only problem that Apple might bump up against in building up in the iPhone as a gaming device is the cost -- at $400, it'll be the most expensive gaming handheld out there. But given that it's actually a smartphone, and thus actually benefits from an already installed user base (people who have the iPhone may very well be people who will have never purchased or used a handheld gaming platform before), the price may not be that big an obstacle to ownership.

And if they can build up a respectable library of game titles, they could even brand an iPod touch/phoneless iPhone as a gaming unit, and sell that at a price that would compete with Sony's PSP and Nintendo's DS. Apple has never historically pushed for the forefont of anything in gaming, but if their showing at the SDK event is any indication, they may be lining up to make the iPhone the place to play handheld videogames in the future.

[Via IMG]

Aspyr delays Guitar Hero III, they are now dead to me

Posted Nov 15th 2007 3:15PM by Mike Schramm
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Odds and ends, Apple

Man, remember how excited we were that Guitar Hero III was coming to the Mac at a reasonable time? Yeah, well, guess what. Aspyr has no love for Mac owners. Our friends at Joystiq say that while the PC version is sitting happily on shelves, we're still waiting on the Mac version. "Later this year," Aspyr says. I'll believe it when I see it.

I don't want to get off on a rant here, but who the hell put Aspyr in charge of Mac gaming anyway? Their incompetence has reared its ugly head time and time again. They deliver late, buggy ports all the time, and yet game companies still seem to flock to them for development and publishing jobs.

There is something rotten in the state of Mac gaming, and it is Aspyr Media. Have they ever kept a promise for release? Have they ever delivered a worthy, on-time port? Or have they continually and constantly profited off of placing junk on Apple Store shelves, forever confining Macs to the bottom of the list for gaming platforms? I won't tell you what to buy, but I'm done seeing Aspyr's name on Mac games. Until they show that they actually have the capacity to release a game that even slightly compares to the PC release version (or even shows up on time -- I'd settle for punctuality at this point), the Aspyr name is a complete dealbreaker for me in terms of both interest and purchases. As far as I'm concerned, they're out.

Videogames and the iPhone SDK

Posted Oct 19th 2007 8:00AM by Mike Schramm
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Hardware, Odds and ends, Apple, Developer, iPhone

Now this is what I like to see-- Wil Shipley's mind is already working overtime dreaming up fun stuff to do with the iPhone's SDK when it drops in February ("times nicely," he says, "with my being done with Delicious Library 2 and looking for something to do before I start on v3"). As good as a game like Battlefleet is (and it is good-- I finally got my iPhone last weekend, and I've been playing Battlefleet quite a bit), browser games aren't going to cut it. We need games that take advantage of that multitouch screen to track dynamic input, games that take advantage of the fact that we're carrying little computers capable of great graphics around in our pockets, and games that take advantage of the fact that these phones can network like no other.

A platform like the iPhone was made for casual, persistent gaming. I want a little virtual pet in my iPhone, ready for me to take care of and level him up at a moment's notice, polished with quality and creativity. I want awesome little pick-up-and-play games that save my progress and track my stats. Shipley's idea of a virtual collectible card game, or the networking game in which "pets" on iPhones close to each other start fighting is perfect.

I like what the iPhone devs have done so far-- the NES emulator was one of the first iPhone apps that really "caught on," and as soon as it can be done "legally," it probably will be. But this is a system that, if given the right software, could compete with the most popular handheld systems. Even the DS doesn't have multitouch. If the right folks have the right ideas and implement them the right way on the iPhone (and why wouldn't they?), this little gadget is going to become one of the best handheld software platforms (for gaming or anything else) ever made.

Apple turning Windows into the new Classic?

Posted Apr 12th 2006 7:00PM by David Chartier
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Software

John Gruber has posted an interesting analysis of Apple's treatment of Windows in light of Boot Camp and the rampant speculation as to the possibility of Windows virtualization built into Mac OS X 10.5, due out this fall.

While many publications are cranking out guesses (regardless of their education) as to what Boot Camp means to Apple and the future of Mac OS X, Gruber's analysis brings some clarity to the noise as he delves into the various ways that Apple has marketed Boot Camp's abilities, including the interesting language they used on Boot Camp's site, which we briefly pointed out at the product's release.

Check out John's analysis if you're interested in a thorough analysis from a respected Apple pundit on what all this Boot Camp business means.

Game developers react to Boot Camp

Posted Apr 5th 2006 6:00PM by David Chartier
Filed under: Gaming, Software

Inside Mac Games has a nice roundup of reactions from various Mac OS X game developers on the news of Boot Camp. Reactions on the whole are positive concerning the opportunities that Boot Camp offers, and speculation from the likes of Aspyr, MacSoft, Freeverse and Ambrosia are hopeful that this will help boost the Mac gaming platform even faster.

Check out the roundup, as there are some great comments from individuals at these companies that touch on where they think the market is headed, and what we can expect in the not-too-distant future of Mac gaming.

Cross-platform Firefox on a stick

Posted Sep 18th 2005 11:00AM by David Chartier
Filed under: Accessories, Software, Internet

A USB stick, that is. Our pal Jordan Running over at DownloadSquad found a cross-platform version of Firefox you can install on an external drive, such as a USB flash drive, iPod shuffle, or iPod nano, that can be plugged into and run on both Windows and OS X. There's some simple file editing involved, but once you get over that minor hump you'll have one fully portable copy of Firefox - including all your search history, settings, extensions and bookmarks - ready to roll in your pocket that can run on Windows and OS X.

One word of caution: I'm pretty sure that not *all* Firefox extensions are going to work between Windows and OS X. Some extensions are platform independent, others most certainly are not. Your portable Firefox should run just fine on both OS's, but the platform dependent extensions will simply be disabled.

#	Blogger	Posts	Cmts
1	Cory Bohon	45	5
2	Dave Caolo	43	0
3	Mat Lu	32	4
4	Michael Rose	29	19
5	Scott McNulty	28	1
6	Erica Sadun	28	0
7	Brett Terpstra	22	0
8	Mike Schramm	18	4
9	Robert Palmer	10	19
10	Steven Sande	9	7
11	Christina Warren	6	17
12	Joshua Ellis	6	4
13	Nik Fletcher	2	1
14	Chris Ullrich	2	1
15	Jason Clarke	1	1
16	Lisa Hoover	1	1
17	Victor Agreda, Jr.	1	3

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iPhone has the potential to take over handheld gaming

Aspyr delays Guitar Hero III, they are now dead to me

Videogames and the iPhone SDK

Apple turning Windows into the new Classic?

Game developers react to Boot Camp

Cross-platform Firefox on a stick

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