Console Gaming with Apple?
Posted by Jas Kao
With the announcement of the Nintendo Wii U and the whole dual-screen-console-gaming bit, you’d think that it’s a pretty novel idea? Well, believe it or not, Nintendo wasn’t the only one with that idea.
Apple game developer Firemint, owned by EA, says its Real Racing HD 2 for the Apple iPad will offer a console-style gaming experience once iOS 5 is released. Since the iPad 2 with iOS 5 will be able to use the AirPlay mirroring features, you’ll be able to stream the game to your TV via AppleTV while the iPad displays the map of the current track in real-time.
Could this be Apple’s sly entry into the console gaming market?
Probably not, but idea behind this is pretty solid. With the mirroring tech, the iPad, or iPhone for that matter, could easily be made to display the “controls” to whatever game you are playing and act as the controller. The games probably won’t be too graphically intensive, but with the new hardware going into the new iPhone 5’s, it won’t look bad at all. I’d be happy enough just to see a Plants vs. Zombies game utilizing this dual screening with some co-op defense of the lawn or something to that nature. With the wireless ability to stream to your TV, it would also make this a pretty tidy set-up in the living room.
On a side note, what I don’t agree with is that some of the media outlets are toting that this is a major threat to the Wii U.
First off, whatever game you’ll be playing using the AirPlay mirror feature is powered by the iPad and only the iPad. The Wii U’s tablet controller has a HD console to back up its power.
Secondly, while the Wii U is going to cost quite a pretty penny when it comes out, it shouldn’t be as expensive as an iPad plus AppleTV costing upwards to $600. Both of which are required to make this work.
If the Wii U should be worried about anything it would probably be a PS3 and PSVita combo due to the connectivity between both console and handheld was pushed by the devs. Both of these are very powerful machines so I imagine the potential for awesome is quite high. Then again, buying both of these at once is pretty expensive.
Going back to the iPad mirroring feature, this could potentially make Apple think a little more seriously on gaming in general and move from just casual gamers to serious gamers if they were so inclined. Anyone think this could potentially go somewhere in the future?
