The next best thing to new Apple Arcade games? Free updates to existing Apple Arcade games that add more content.
Especially when those games are as good as Speed Demons.
Continue reading “Apple Arcade’s Speed Demons – New Events, Vehicles, Landscape Mode & More”
Last week ATVG awoke on Sunday to find four new games had joined the Apple Arcade service, and today, Saturday, another five.
The only pattern that seems to be forming here for new Apple Arcade releases is roughly weekly, and around the weekends, although today is still Friday in many other time zones, but close enough. Let’s call it weekend eve.
Today’s release of five games takes the current total of Apple Arcade games to 80. Apple has said leading up to the release of its subscription service that in the weeks following launch, the total would climb to more than 100, so I would expect this current release trend of a handful of new games each week to continue for a while yet.
A little while back ATVG posted this list of 30 upcoming Apple Arcade games, and I’ve been updating it to cross off these new releases, but there’s still 24 on that list alone yet to come. There are some appearing each week that are complete surprises and not even on that list.
Is anyone else finding it refreshing to not know everything that’s coming in advance?
In this age we live in, we are bombarded by announcements for upcoming release dates of teasers for future trailers spoiling movies and games that we already hate prior to release, based on the nothing but the choice of title. Or something the director said 28 years ago.
Not sure about you, but ATVG is finding these surprise loot box drops of random selections of games – many previously unannounced such as last week’s Pilgrims from Amanita Design – a very welcome disruption.
Similar to last week, today’s releases are a mixed bag of genres. Of particular interest to many Apple TV gamers will be multiplayer arena shooter ShockRods, which ATVG looked at in more detail in this previous post. ShockRods fills a gap in Arcade’s lineup, as there was previously nothing in the way of multiplayer shooters, particularly FPSs, as ATVG discussed recently. While ShockRods is not an FPS, it will certainly fill that hole for many looking for some online battling.
All five games this week look promising for Apple TV actually, as all look like they might benefit from the big screen environment. It’s a good console-gaming week for Apple Arcade releases.
Mash the Continue button below to check out trailers for today’s five new titles.
Continue reading “5 New Apple Arcade Games Released, Taking Current Total To 80”
Grobo 
Don’t worry, this is still The Apple TV Gaming Blog.
I don’t normally post about games here on ATVG that are not destined for Apple TV, but I’ve been playing a pre-release copy of Grobo from Hot Chocolate Games for the last week or so, and it’s such a nice little title that it deserves a mention.
Today was the big day of release for Grobo (or g.r0b0 as he is technically called), a diminutive robot trying to find out why it’s suddenly all alone in the big bad world of Megatrolopis.
Continue reading “Cute Mechanical Platform Puzzler Grobo Hits iOS/Android Today”
Crossy Road put Australian independent studio Hipster Whale well and truly on the map.
An endless take on gaming classic Frogger, Crossy Road had a very special sauce that allowed it to break through the ever-increasing free-to-play market when released on mobile back in 2014.
When the fourth-generation Apple TV was announced back in 2016, Crossy Road was one of the first titles to come to the device, with an all new 2-player mode.
Fast forward to 2019, and Hipster Whale today announced a sequel is on the way – Crossy Road Castle.
My own Obi-Wan Kenobi of the games writing scene – Chris Stead – has gone hands-on with the upcoming Apple Arcade exclusive over at finder.com.au.
Hit the Continue button below for more.
Continue reading “Crossy Road Castle Hitting Apple Arcade In 2019”
Looking through the selection of Apple Arcade’s all-you-can-eat buffet at the moment, it’s easy to want to say that there’s something to cater for all tastes.
But there is a notable absence, a genre missing that has been synonymous with gaming – and some might argue the most popular genre of all – for decades.
There are gamers that play this genre exclusively, and many that only ever play one franchise within that genre. Some even making a good living from playing this style of game competitively.
I’m talking of course about first-person-shooters.
Continue reading “Apple Arcade Has Something For Everyone…Well, Almost”
In ATVG’s part of the world, it was a Sunday. On Saturday I posted this list of 30 games that were yet to come to Apple Arcade, and less than 24 hours later, I was already updating the story, crossing a couple of them off.
Two of the games – Redout: Space Assault, and The Bradwell Conspiracy – I was eagerly anticipating, while the other two – Pilgrims and Nightmare Farm – weren’t even on ATVG’s radar.
While it’s not unprecedented for games to release to the App Store on a weekend, it’s certainly unusual. Years ago it became the norm for studios to release on a Thursday, and while other weekdays would see new titles, Thursday became the most common by far. But Saturday or Sunday? Get outta town!
Not that I’m complaining. Who doesn’t like waking up on a Sunday morning to find four new games had come to the subscription service you’d already subscribed to?
I’d mused in Saturday’s post on what sort of release schedule new Apple Arcade titles would follow. Is this to be the start of a new patten, in which each weekend new titles will be delivered to waking gamers? Maybe there will be no set pattern. Maybe small batches of new titles will just come when they’re good and ready, having been baked to a lovely golden brown by master chefs in studios around the world.
Remains to be seen.
For now, let’s have a look at this quartet of freshly baked goods, in which we have a first-person narrative adventure, a gorgeous looking story in which farming seems to be the main mechanic, a puzzle adventure from the makers of Machinarium and Samorost, and a space shooter.
It’s nice to get four such disparate genres all at once. If only one new game had arrived, chances are it may not be in your wheelhouse of favoured styles, but getting four new releases which would barely overlap on anyone’s Venn diagram, chances are much higher that players will find something to enjoy, possibly even more than one.
Continue reading “4 New Games Just Hit Apple Arcade On The Weekend”
We’re a little shy of two weeks into a world in which Apple Arcade on Apple TV is a thing. And what a thing it is.
What phase are you in?
Personally I spent the first week in a phase of trying game after game for 15 minutes to half an hour while waiting for another one to download and so on and so forth. During every game I played, I felt sorry for all the games I wasn’t playing.
After that first week, I felt myself moving into a second phase which involved going back to the games I’d briefly tried but really enjoyed on the big screen, such as Spidersaurs, Exit the Gungeon, Sonic Racing (a bit broken at first, but here’s how I fixed it), Oceanhorn 2, Punch Planet and a bunch of others, and spending some more prolonged, quality time with them.
And then along came Dead Cells. What a distraction that was. And still is.
So now I’m alternating between runs in Dead Cells, and spending some solid time with Oceanhorn 2. All the others will have to wait patiently for their turn, I’ve only got two hands.
None of this is taking into account the multitude of Apple Arcade games that are a really nice fit for iPhone and iPad, which I’ve been dabbling in as well.
Prior to Apple Arcade’s launch, I posted this list of 61 games that I knew were coming to the service, but post-launch, many of them haven’t yet arrived. With that earlier list now redundant, I thought I’d filter out all the ones that launched, and post a new list with just the ones that haven’t, plus a couple more I’ve since learned about. As with the earlier list, I’ll look at updating this new list as more information comes to hand.
In total you’ll find 30 games over on page 2 that are on the way, and right about now would be a great time for Apple to start building some hype for what’s to come beyond the initial launch stage. While there’s already way too many games to have gotten through already, players will want to start looking to the future to see if the free trial they’re currently enjoying is worth converting into a paid subscription.
It’ll be interesting to see what sort of rhythm Apple Arcade settles into for new releases. Will they be weekly? Monthly? If it proves successful will we see some big hitters come to the party to sweeten the deal for consumers?
The future feels bright right now for Apple TV gaming as we bask in the afterglow of Apple Arcade’s launch, and hopefully there will be some big announcements to talk about in the coming weeks.
Stay tuned.
And mash the Continue button below for more.
Continue reading “Here’s 30 Games That Haven’t Yet Hit Apple Arcade”
Thanks to access to statistics due to running this site, one of the best indicators for me of a game’s popularity (whether it be an existing or upcoming title) is the amount of traffic that follows a story about that game.
Dead Cells from studio Motion Twin wasn’t on my radar until August, when publisher Playdigious emailed me letting me know it was bringing the release to iOS. I replied querying whether Apple TV-compatibility was on the cards, and on receiving a response in the affirmative, I posted this story.
The response via site-traffic was immediate, and that post has been one of ATVG’s consistently biggest hitters since, even among all the noise surrounding Apple Arcade’s arrival.
So the question of course is, now that Dead Cells has come to Apple TV, arriving two days ago as a universal app (meaning that owners of the iOS and iPadOS versions don’t need to buy it again for Apple TV), does it warrant all the attention?
Because sometimes games can achieve cult-status and popularity despite a lack of quality. Something about them will be seized on by influencers and after a certain cumulative mass-hysteria of hipness, it will be a brave soul that then speaks out negatively against it, which in turn feeds the beast even more.
What about Dead Cells though? Is it only good by popular decree, or is it actually good?
Hit the Continue button below for ATVG’s take.
Continue reading “An Appreciation: Dead Cells For Apple TV – All Killer, No Filler”
iOS 13, iPadOS, and tvOS 13 all brought compatibility for PS4 and Xbox controllers to our Apple screens big and small recently, and the family will be complete in October as macOS Catalina will do the same for Macs.
All tied in together, and along with Apple Arcade, Apple’s gaming ecosystem is a unique one, offering cross-save and universal functionality no matter which is your preferred Apple platform for gaming. Or you might just like to mix and match and take advantage of all the options.
After receiving a good question from a long-time reader recently, ATVG posted this article on controller compatibility, answering how many controllers can be connected to an Apple TV at any one time, and also having a look at just which controllers are supported.
Overnight, Sony has come to the party, posting a story on its blog which outlines everything players need to know about gaming on Apple’s hardware connected with a DualShock 4.
The story also details the use of Sony’s Remote Play app, which ATVG has been using for quite some time, and its fantastic.
Mash the Continue button below for more.
Continue reading “PlayStation Blog Posts How-to Guide: DualShock 4 With Apple Devices”
When publisher Playdigious told The Apple TV Gaming Blog in a world exclusive reveal back in August that Dead Cells was coming to Apple TV, no date was given.
And so the wait began for this critically acclaimed action-platformer from Motion Twin to hit Apple’s lounge room hardware, bringing its Dark Souls-influenced combat to our big screens.
The wait has been made quite bearable thanks to the arrival of the all-you-can-eat gaming banquet that is Apple Arcade, leaving Apple TV gamers spoilt for choice as to what to play next (and if you’re in that enviable position of not knowing where to start with Apple Arcade’s offerings, then you could always follow in ATVG’s footsteps and check out the first four games I played)
Well, the wait is over, and now it will be a case of Apple TV gamers having to divide their time over yet another quality title, as Dead Cells has landed on Apple TV today.
Continue reading “Dead Cells Hits Apple TV As A Universal App”
The Apple TV Gaming Blog 