Why the new Apple TV will kill your Xbox or Playstation

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The new Apple TV remote will give it Wii-like gaming capabilities.
The new Apple TV remote will give it Wii-like gaming capabilities.
Photo: Matthew Panzarino / Techcrunch

A new report gives us our best insight yet into the radically improved Apple TV expected to be launched next month, including the fact that it will ship with a motion-sensitive controller similar to the Nintendo Wiimote — but a hell of a lot sleeker. And that’s just to start.

In an exhaustive report for Techcrunch, Matthew Panzarino says Apple is about to “lay down its cards” when it comes to the future of television, and what Cupertino has planned is nothing less than a game changer.

The new device will be the first to move Apple TV beyond the “it’s just a hobby for us” category Cupertino has put it in since the set-box debuted in January 2007. The report confirms that the new Apple TV will boast a dual-core A8 processor maximized for performance. In correlation with a new TV App Store, this will allow the new Apple TV powerhouse to run apps graphically on par with last-gen consoles like the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Panzarino also says the new Apple TV will have a radically changed remote. It’ll be a little fatter and a little heavier than the current Apple TV remote, but it will come with a dedicated Siri button (sort of like Amazon’s Fire TV remote), physical buttons on the bottom half, and a touchpad area at the top.

But that’s not all! Panzarino explains:

One thing that hasn’t been talked about yet is the fact that the new remote will be motion sensitive, likely including several axis’ worth of sensors that put its control on par with a Nintendo Wii remote. The possibilities, of course, are immediately evident.

A game controller with a microphone, physical buttons, a touchpad and motion sensitive controls would be extremely capable. While Apple is likely going to target the broad casual gaming market, I would not be shocked to see innovative gameplay blossom from that type of input possibility. Think, for instance, of multi-player gaming with several people using voice input, or many popular genres of party games that would do far better on the TV than on an iPad or iPhone.

It sounds like the new Apple TV is shaping up to be a killer gaming console. Can it take over console gaming the same way the iPhone and iPad dominated mobile gaming? Only time will tell.

Stay tuned to Cult of Mac on September 9 for more updates about Apple’s new Apple TV.

Source: Techcrunch

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