Apple TV to play games, too?

Back last September when Apple introduced the "iTV" alongside games for the iPod, we had to wonder to ourselves whether Apple would use iTunes and their new casual games relationships to make the device we now know as the Apple TV something of a competitor for Xbox Live Arcade. While there's no way of knowing whether Apple will again dive into living room gaming (remember the Pippin?) short of swiping their 12-month roadmap, we do find it rather interesting that casual games company PopCap (the studio that supplies titles such as Bejeweled and Zuma oh so many platforms -- including the iPod) might have slipped on some Apple TV plans. Greg Canessa, Xbox Live Arcade executive that recently jumped ship to PopCap, told Wired the following about his new job: "It will be about taking the stable of franchises and games out of PopCap's studio and adapting, customizing it for different platforms -- adding multiplayer, new play modes, HD, customizing the user interface and display for Zune, iPod, Apple TV, Nintendo DS, PSP." You might think that maybe the Apple TV part was an erroneous slip, but he did mention adding HD support, and none of the other subjects for ports he listed play games in HD -- you do the math. What we really want to know, though, is how they plan to get us to game with the impossibly minimal Apple remote bundled with the Apple TV.

[Thanks, Joe]

[mandy @ Feb 8th 2007 3:53PM]

Heck with Apple - we are getting Zune games.. I can hardly wait!

[Chocolate Starfish @ Feb 8th 2007 3:53PM]

Apple should focus on getting some games for their computers first.

(yeah, yeah. macs have WoW and solitaire and other games and stuff. We know. It's a joke)

[Marcus @ Feb 8th 2007 4:48PM]

Don't forget Photoshop... : )

[Arno @ Feb 8th 2007 3:54PM]

Apple Gaming is an oximoron.

[josh @ Feb 21st 2007 7:04PM]

you're an oxymoron (i kid i kid)

[Blake @ Feb 8th 2007 5:19PM]

No doubt about it, he let it slip. They are definitely repurposing titles for Apple TV.

[Gordy @ Feb 8th 2007 4:06PM]

Games would be cool, but I'm still waiting on Dashboard (weather, stocks, etc.) on AppleTV. Not much of a gamer.

[Adam @ Feb 8th 2007 4:19PM]

I agree with Gordy, I'd rather have Dashboard then Games... or even a Youtube integration.

[Bultie @ Feb 8th 2007 4:23PM]

Yup, Dashboard would be better.

[Jim @ Feb 8th 2007 4:59PM]

All I want is a friggin' visualizer on AppleTV.

[blaQ @ Feb 8th 2007 4:18PM]

Apple Computers/Inc....have discovered video games?

[Bultie @ Feb 8th 2007 4:21PM]

Oh, c'mon the old "macs don't do Games myth" Halo the only reason the Halo-Box aka. xBox sells was produced for Macs...and then bought by Micro$oft. And if u don't like the native Mac games just install ¡Vista!(

[emor8t @ Feb 8th 2007 4:33PM]

Uh. First off, while Halo is a best selling game, that doesn't explain the success of the 360, seeing as a halo variant has yet to come to fruition. Secondly, as you have been not being paying attention to the Windows world, Vista doesn't really support games like XP does, so you would not be advised to install Vista for games.

[emor8t @ Feb 8th 2007 5:21PM]

Uh. First off, while Halo is a best selling game, that doesn't explain the success of the 360, seeing as a halo variant has yet to come to fruition. Secondly, as you have been not being paying attention to the Windows world, Vista doesn't really support games like XP does, so you would not be advised to install Vista for games.

[fashionista @ Feb 8th 2007 4:29PM]

Are you high? Or just stupid?

[sirwnstn @ Feb 8th 2007 5:54PM]

Actually, he's not high (completely). Bungie originally created games for the Mac before being bought by Microsoft. Their Marathon series was awesome and the story and character archetypes from that series served as a basis for Halo. Heck, even the insignia on the ship in Halo was from Marathon II.

[MrPineapples @ Feb 8th 2007 5:28PM]

I love the way you Americans say 'Heck' it makes me laugh so much. Like hell's a naughty word. "If we say it we'll go there".

Games for Apple TV, it's going to be pretty basic stuff don't care really, now letting it play DivX, that would be sweet.

[NutMac @ Feb 8th 2007 4:24PM]

How about getting Apple TV to do its primary function of playing video well first? By this I mean additional codecs (e.g., DivX, WM*) and multi-channel audio.

[Ben @ Feb 8th 2007 4:28PM]

I have a strong feeling that if apple won't do it then someone will figure out a way to hack it.

It essentially is a scaled down computer. Has a cpu , hard drive etc.

[michael @ Feb 8th 2007 4:25PM]

Windows Media Center is way better than Apple TV by a long shot. Apple needs to catch up with Microsoft on this one. Windows Media Center has been around for quite a while, even before FrontRow, and it seems that Apple is just copying it. For now, Windows Media Center is still the best.

[Bultie @ Feb 8th 2007 4:41PM]

shure, thats a point, but u can install xp via bootcamp too, and i meant the old xBox not the 360

[Bultie @ Feb 8th 2007 4:38PM]

^
| normal people
| me
|
|
|
| you
niveu |

coversation endet until u get some points

btw didn't know twelve year old are reading engadget

[kevindineen @ Feb 8th 2007 4:40PM]

APple tv's function is to play video, & I'm guessing that Apple's intention is to play video purchased form the itunes store.. &I'd be willing ot bet that it does that flawlessly... Commenting that it does not do it's stated purpose is somewhat uninformed & unfounded.

& to compare windows media center to apple tv is also a bit unfair, don't you think? Onc is an operating system, the other is a little box which plays video on your tv... we're not comparing apples to apples here...

[Mr. Doy @ Feb 8th 2007 5:05PM]

So you are high, stupid, and have a limited command of English. And you are threatened by 12 year olds. Fascinating.

[TK101 @ Feb 8th 2007 7:31PM]

Add a USB gamepad to the AppleTV and you're all set :)

[Bultie @ Feb 8th 2007 5:10PM]

srry english is not my native language…so…no point 4u

[greg @ Feb 8th 2007 9:38PM]

wow your an a**, its hard to learn a second language.

[Mathew @ Feb 8th 2007 5:14PM]

I think simple games would be great on the Apple TV. Even a Myst adventure type game that you could play with just the Apple remote would be cool. First thing though is Apple needs to figure out who exactly is the market for the ATV and then develope from there. Even cooler would be to for them to open up developement for the device.

[tim @ Feb 8th 2007 7:14PM]

Well, duh, but this butt-ie clown claimed that Halo was written for the Mac.

[StevO @ Feb 8th 2007 5:17PM]

"What we really want to know, though, is how they plan to get us to game with the impossibly minimal Apple remote bundled with the Apple TV."

It's going to be an Apple iiMote!
Motion sensing ftw!11!!

[Sharma @ Feb 8th 2007 7:10PM]

"What we really want to know, though, is how they plan to get us to game with the impossibly minimal Apple remote bundled with the Apple TV."

Don't worry.... if Apple ever decided to enable game playing on AppleTV device, they will probably roll out another rip-off $100+ accessory gaming controller with it, and make 50-100% profit on it.

[Louis S. @ Feb 8th 2007 5:28PM]

I really don't think it's a good idea to charge the Apple TV for $299. That's a bit pricey considering the only thing it really does is take what you already have and show it somewhere else. The 360 is only $100 more and it plays games too (assuming, of course, you have Windows XP Media Center or Windows Vista Premium or higher).

I think $149 would have been a much more reasonable price. This isn't an iPod or a Mac, Apple. People aren't going to spend $300 on something they can just watch on their computer or iPod.
Also, Apple TV is a really stupid name. Sorry, iTV was better, and that isn't saying much...

iView or iCast would've been better and it would've fit more with the "iFamily" of products. iPod, iTunes and... Apple TV. Right. (The iMac is part of the Mac Family, not the iPod Family or "iFamily >_> ).

I got a bit off topic, didn't I? Oh well...

[Louis S. @ Feb 8th 2007 5:29PM]

"I love the way you Americans say 'Heck' it makes me laugh so much. Like hell's a naughty word. "If we say it we'll go there"."

Fuck off, you stereotyping asshat.

[MrPineapples @ Feb 8th 2007 6:11PM]

"asshat" me clever ho ho ho

[lotech @ Feb 8th 2007 6:33PM]

They should just hurry up and buy Nintendo - they are 2 very similar companies with similar values.
The Wii looks kinda like a Mac Mini.... runs on a PPC processor...
It's really the only way they can become part of the big 3 vying for our living rooms. Keep making the AppleTV & Mini for the non gamers but make a new SuperWii that IS an AppleTV, Mini and Wii all in one..... Suddenly M$'s 360 Market Place looks a but boring and the PS3 over priced....

[cmonkey @ Feb 8th 2007 5:54PM]

Interestingly, a position for Game Programmer Intern for Apple, Inc. recently appeared on my university's career website. The job description is absurdly vague and void of anything specific about games and any Apple products.

[MrWhite @ Feb 8th 2007 6:46PM]

"Windows Media Center is way better than Apple TV by a long shot. Apple needs to catch up with Microsoft on this one. Windows Media Center has been around for quite a while, even before FrontRow, and it seems that Apple is just copying it. For now, Windows Media Center is still the best.Windows Media Center is way better than Apple TV by a long shot. Apple needs to catch up with Microsoft on this one. Windows Media Center has been around for quite a while, even before FrontRow, and it seems that Apple is just copying it. For now, Windows Media Center is still the best."

Unfortunately, most people don't like having full size computers in their living, next to their tv's. Kind of bulky and gay for that matter. We'll see how AppleTV does, but from what Im reading Windows Media Center isn't a great success by any means. At least with AppleTV, it's a small box easily hidden and integrated with your current audio/video system.

[applesucksLeo @ Feb 8th 2007 7:02PM]

Save $100 and get a device that does it all.http://www.twit.tv/dgw232
Leo Laporte even made fun of iTV and said who wants to pay $300 for a device that just lets you watch iTunes videos.
Another attempt by Mr Jobs to rip off unsuspecting Mac-tards :)

[Jeremy @ Feb 8th 2007 7:38PM]

Halo was originally written for the mac and PC. It made its debut at Macworld http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7-Qg7-IvGI .

However I seriously doubt that's what they intend for the iTV. The iTV is just a tool for them to sell more data through the iTunes store. It has more than enough processor to glitz up the iPod games already being sold.

[blaQ @ Feb 8th 2007 8:18PM]

Warner rejects end to DRM systems

Apple's iTunes dominates the digital download market

Warner Music has rejected a suggestion from Apple boss Steve Jobs that record companies should remove copy protection software from digital music downloads.

[Bultie @ Feb 9th 2007 5:56AM]

Why do posts about Apple aways end in a comments war (srry for my part).
(didn't know that my points: Macs do games too, and Halo was a Mac&Pc release first. Attaked and hurt u personally…)

greetings from Ger
btt

[Lonnie McClure @ Feb 10th 2007 6:05AM]

Given that there are official games for the iPod, it isn't that much of a stretch to think there would also be for the AppleTV. It also doesn't mean that Apple would be touting that AppleTV as a game machine any more than the do the iPod.

[louis @ Feb 11th 2007 9:33AM]

so much hostility...

Which Product?

[shane4x4 @ Feb 13th 2007 9:42AM]

I'm very excited about the Apple TV, including the possibility that it will play games. I think they could become a real challenge to the 360 & PS3, especially at that price point. I hope they aren't delayed!
http://www.applehdtv.net