There are lots of articles online speculating about how Apple can create an instant game console by increasing the integration between the Apple TV and iOS devices. It’s an interesting idea, but so far we’ve seen that Apple is slow to embrace its gaming community. iOS game developer Rolocule Games took matters into its own hands and came up with… Wii Sports. Or one of the games in Wii Sports.
Using AirPlay, the Apple TV can mirror your iOS device’s display on your TV or monitor to let you play on a bigger screen. But Rolocule Games went a step further. Aside from letting you play on a big screen, its app Motion Tennis lets you use your iOS device itself as the motion controller. You get the idea: Swing your iOS device and your avatar swings his racket. Swing your device hard and you just might end up with a costly accident.
Motion Tennis is already available on the iTunes App Store for $8 (USD). You need to have an Apple TV as well as a fairly modern iOS device to make it work, but I can wholeheartedly recommend the game… if you’re trapped in 2006.
Still, it’s a glimpse at what a powerful “mobile console” could be like. Imagine if the next PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo (or Google or Apple) game system was just that: a small device. A console, controller, secondary display, media center, digital store and game library in your pocket. And you can make calls with it too! Wouldn’t that be awesome?
I’m not sure how long it would take or if we’d ever get such a device. Then again, if you told me five years ago that I’d be able to play Final Fantasy Tactics, Baldur’s Gate, a digital version of Magic: The Gathering and a new XCOM game in one portable device I wouldn’t have believed you either.
[via TechCrunch]