Daniel Eran Dilger
Rolocule Games has released Motion Tennis, a new iOS title that turns your mobile device into a Nintendo Wii-like motion controller for gaming on an Apple TV-connected display.
The game studio, based in India, has previously released a series of touch-based tennis, badminton and squash games. Motion Tennis is new in that it brings gameplay to the television using motion gestures.
Rolocule uses a gaming engine it calls RoloMotion which "converts your iPhone to a portable Motion Gaming Console using Apple TV. This breakthrough technology realises the potential of the Apple TV as a complete home entertainment system also optimising the lags experienced in airplay gaming by using our patented algorithms," the company states on its web site.
While optimized for iPhone 5, the game also works on iPhone 4/4S, 4th/5th generation iPod touch, 3rd generation or later iPads and the iPad mini, although playing with a full size iPad is rather cumbersome.
The game works with both the second and third generation Apple TV (the compact, iOS based versions), and in fact requires one as it only plays back on a connected TV using AirPlay Mirroring.
Multiple users can play together in multiplayer mode, and the game tracks calories burnt in each match. Users can also log into Game Center and track achievements and top scores.
Apple's interest in motion-based, Apple TV gaming was first revealed in patents from 2006.
The new game follows Firemint's RealRacing 2, one of the first titles to exploit new AirPlay features in iOS 5.
Apple's potential to take over console gaming the living room has been noted by various industry luminaries, including Mike Capps president of Epic Games and Nat Brown, a founder of Microsoft's original Xbox.
The company's increasing interest in gaming exploded with the iOS App Store, where 60 percent of mobile apps have been games. This summer, Apple debuted new efforts to support iOS gaming, including the new Sprite Kit and a program to standardize gaming controllers as part of the "Made For iPhone" initiative.
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17 Comments
I just wonder how long it will take to Apple to buy Nintendo.
[quote name="ealvarez" url="/t/158276/motion-tennis-brings-wii-style-motion-gaming-to-ios-apple-tv#post_2353951"]I just wonder how long it will take to Apple to buy Nintendo.[/quote] That won't happen any time soon. So the killer app for Apple TV is eliminating the airplay lag. Interesting.
[quote name="ealvarez" url="/t/158276/motion-tennis-brings-wii-style-motion-gaming-to-ios-apple-tv#post_2353951"]I just wonder how long it will take to Apple to buy Nintendo.[/quote]I doubt that will ever happen. If things do get worse for Nintendo, we might see and exclusive partnership between the two. Kinds of like nintendo would be the only games allowed on the Apple TV natively. But even that's a stretch since apple [B]loves[/B] their developers.
I played this -- and I think the article did not clearly explain that, with this game you can play your tennis shots by swinging your iphone just like a Wii Controller in the motion of a racket! Amazing idea and very nicely implemented in the game! Almost feels like playing on a Wii! But the motion control is not that accurate right now I felt. Hopefully they can improve it, or it may be limited by the accuracy of the phone's sensors. After all it was not designed for using it like a Wii controller...
I hope you bought insurance for your phone prior to playing this