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It's been a month since Apple Arcade officially launched, and in that time, we've tested several games, across a wide range of iOS devices, all to determine if it's worth the $5 per month price tag.
Spoiler: Apple may be on to something here...
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0:00
What's going on everybody, Ian here for Cult of Mac
0:07
And it's been a month since Apple Arcade officially launched. And if you signed up on day one, you're now out of that trial period
0:14
So that brings on the question, is Apple Arcade worth the $5 a month to play games on your
0:20
iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV? Not much of a gamer most of the time
0:25
I have a gaming PC, I have an Xbox, and neither ever really get touched
0:29
I do occasionally enjoy playing a game on my iPhone just to kill some time when I'm waiting
0:34
in line or sitting on the couch or if I'm not quite ready to go to bed yet
0:37
Now that said, Apple Arcade has a lot of different types of games that can appeal to a whole wide
0:42
range of people, kind of including me. So even as somebody who's not a huge gamer, I'm really enjoying the service
0:49
But there are some things about it that I'm not loving so much, and that's what this is all about
0:54
One of my biggest frustrations with Apple Arcade is the fact that it's still part of the App Store
0:58
and it's curated like the App Store. It's not easy to find games that are of a certain genre
1:02
or type without hoping that it's featured by the App Store team
1:07
Now, Apple Arcade, just like the rest of the App Store, has all these different sections for different types of games
1:12
and things like that. But when you're loading that section, you're only seeing about half of the library
1:15
of the available Apple Arcade games, and as that collection keeps growing
1:19
you're going to see less and less of the deep back catalog available to you with your subscription
1:24
On top of that, a lot of the games that I'm finding that I'm enjoying the most are more simple games, like Sionara Wild Hearts, which doesn't have
1:33
a long gameplay to it. It's only about a 45 minute total play-through game. Now, that said
1:39
there are some other really interesting titles out there. Skate City was one that I've been looking forward to literally for years, and now that it's hit Apple Arcade, I'm kind of excited
1:48
to play it and have it on my devices. But at the same time, it's really complicated compared
1:54
to Alto Adventure which was kind of the predecessor too Skate City Ocean Horn 2 is also very cool if you into that type of open world kind of Zelda game
2:05
But at the same time, I don't have a lot of spare time to play a game like that. So a game like Ocean Horn 2, while it looks really cool and is really cool conceptually
2:13
it's not a game that I can spend a lot of time playing, so it's not a game that really
2:17
justifies the service for me. Apple arcade games also suffer from the same issue that most iOS games suffer from
2:23
Simpler games that require basically just a one touch or a swipe left and right are fairly
2:28
playable on just about any device, whether it's an iPhone, an iPad, an Apple TV, or a Mac
2:34
But games that are more complex, things like Ocean Horn 2, require a controller to really be playable
2:39
Even Skate City is quite a bit of a challenge to play on the iPhone or iPad, but on the Apple TV
2:44
you have to have a game controller of some sort, whether it's the Xbox 1 controller
2:49
PlayStation 4 controller, or something like the Steel Series Nimbus to play those games
2:53
games on your TV because you can't even use the Apple TV remote as your controller and you can't
2:58
use your phone as a controller for those games. Now that's a huge frustration point because as somebody
3:03
who really only wants to play simple games, I don't like that I have to invest in another piece
3:08
of hardware so that I can play games on my TV. Now at the same time, if you're the type of person
3:13
who has a PS4 or an Xbox 1S and has the compatible controller or you have a game controller
3:18
from past iOS games, it's totally worth it on the Apple TV because it is like a little
3:23
Now, granted, it's not going to compete with your big-name consoles like Xbox or PlayStation
3:29
but it is like a little mini console that allows you to play a lot of these games fairly easily
3:34
Another thing I really do enjoy about the service is the fact that once you can find games to play, there's a lot of really good stuff there regardless of the type of games you enjoy
3:42
And better yet, you're never going to get nickel and dined like you do in a game like Candy
3:47
Crush or be jeweled or whatever, where you have to buy coins or in-app currency
3:52
Instead the whole game is designed to be either points driven like Skate City where as you earn points in the game you can unlock other features or cities or levels or in a game like Ocean Horn or it just a straight play through the game there really not skins or upgrades you can buy or add on
4:06
It makes it really great, especially for a family or when you have kids playing these games
4:10
that you know that you're having a set bill of that $5 a month to play all these different games
4:15
And that's really, really nice. Now, it is kind of hard to judge the service without talking about the quality of the games
4:21
because obviously the games are what make the service worth it or not worth it
4:25
And from that aspect, most of the games seem really well made. There are a few that definitely feel like they were designed to be the in-app purchase slot machine type games
4:34
you know, where you're constantly buying coins or upgrades or unlocking something to play more
4:38
But the games that feel purpose-built for Apple Arcade feel really, really good
4:43
There is the frustration of games needing a controller to really be comfortably playable
4:48
and on top of that, games on the Apple TV. Need a controller in a lot more situations than they do on the phone
4:55
Meaning that you really have to have a controller if you're going to take advantage of gaming on the Apple TV for a ton of the Apple arcade games
5:01
There's also the issue of the lack of like good AAA titles that you'd see on the Xbox or the PlayStation
5:07
With most of the games on Apple Arcade feeling more like Nintendo Switch games
5:11
But with the Switch's popularity and success it kind of makes sense that this same style of game would work on the iOS devices and Apple TV and the fact that there's such a huge veraq
5:21
variety of games and a constant stream of new games coming out. I mean, just follow the Apple
5:26
Arcade Twitter account and you'll see how many new games are added every few days or every week
5:31
There's tons of stuff out there to appeal to all kinds of different players and gamers
5:36
meaning that if you subscribe for that $5 a month and you really like trying new games or
5:40
exploring new games or different genres of games, there's a lot to really like because that
5:44
service is constantly evolving and updating and changing and flowing and allowing you to
5:48
try different things without having to spend money on a game. that you might not like
5:53
Instead you paying for the service overall and you can play the games you love and also try some new games to see what works for you Now as I said before I not a person who really huge into gaming but at the same
6:05
time I do find that a lot of the games on Apple Arcade are kind of pulling my interest
6:10
meaning that maybe I do like games more than I thought. And at that, for five bucks a month
6:15
it seems like it's kind of a great value for me to try some different games and see what works
6:19
and see what doesn't. And best of all, it's really easy to turn your subscription on and off with Apple
6:24
arcade and with really anything in iTunes, just see my subscriptions video linked here, I think
6:30
Ultimately, it comes down to whether you're okay with the subscription model to play a bunch of games
6:36
I mean, for $5 a month, you're not talking about something that's overly expensive, especially considering how much some of these subscriptions for single apps are
6:43
For $5 a month, you get 100 plus games, and it's literally over 100 games now
6:48
And at that price, it's kind of hard to say no if you're going to play games at all
6:54
At the same time, if you know you're not going to play games or you never play games on your iOS device
6:58
and have no interest in playing on your Apple TV, whether you're just not a gamer at all or you have other systems or other ways to play games
7:05
then Apple Arcade's probably not for you. But if you're even kind of interested in gaming on your iOS device or your Apple TV or your Mac
7:13
and yes, you can game on the Mac, Apple Arcade seems kind of like a no-brainer
7:18
For five bucks a month, you get tons of games and tons of great value and tons of enjoyment if that's something you're into
7:24
Let me know what you guys think or what games you've been digging down in the comments
7:28
Give the video a thumbs up if you're subscribing to Apple Arcade and keeping your subscription past that trial period
7:33
Make sure you're subscribed to the channel and hit that notification bell so you don't miss any uploads
7:37
We have a lot of really cool tips and tricks about the Apple Watch coming up, which I'm really excited about
7:42
And until next time, I'm Ian for Cultive Mac and I'll see you guys in the next one
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