Apple Arcade practice with advance access games [Video]

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Today, I was able to attend a first glimpse of Apple Arcade, announced by Apple at its service-oriented event in March. Apple Arcade is a new gaming service at $ 4.99 per month that will allow players to play more than 100 new exclusive titles on platforms such as the iPhone and the iPad, the iPhone and iPad. Apple TV and the Mac.

We were able to access a special internal advance access program for Apple employees, which allowed us to use Apple Arcade on a MacBook Pro running the latest beta version of macOS Catalina. As noted 9to5Mac Gui Rambo, Apple charges a small subscription fee of $ 0.49 / month to test Apple Arcade until iOS 13 is released later this fall.

Subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube and watch our handy video tour as we take Apple Arcade for a quick tour of six games – Turtle Way, Bermuda, Hot Lava, The Kings of the Castle, Sneaky Sasquatch and Frogger at Toy Town – available during the initial period of early access.

Synology RT2600ac: Replacement by AirPort Extreme.

Apple Arcade can be found under the Arcade tab of the Mac App Store for early-access members.

Before downloading games on my Mac, I had to click on the button Free try button to subscribe. This gives early-access users a free month of Apple Apple Arcade for a fee of $ 0.49 per month until iOS 13 lands.

The subscription works as a subscription to another subscription of the Mac App Store. I simply clicked the Try button, entered my Apple ID password, and I was ready to do it. Once the subscription is validated, the 'Try' buttons next to each game are passed to the 'Get' buttons, which allow to download the six games locally on my Mac.

Practical video Apple Arcade

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The size of the games will obviously vary depending on the type of game and the type of content included in each title. Flagship games like Hot Lava, for example, have reached 4.7 GB. Each game has its own dedicated page on the Mac App Store, with auto-play video previews at the top of the page, with screenshots of the game. screen and compatibility information on the title below.

Do not forget that these games are early access, that is to say that they work very early in the development versions of the game, and do not fully represent what the players will see a Apple Arcade will be available later this fall. That said, the program gives us a good idea of what to expect from these six titles once Apple Arcade is launched.

Turtle way

The first game I tried was Way of the Turtle, a simple platform game that follows the adventures of a newly married turtle trying to find his lost wife. The game is a mix of walking, jumping and solving puzzles.

The Way of the Turtle control pattern mixes elements of an auto racer with a hint of puzzle-based gameplay. It is compatible with the controllers, but it is not as connected to the controller as the traditional platform players because of the gameplay of the runner's style. That said, the control style means that it will work pretty well with different input methods such as keyboards, touch screens and controllers.

Down to Bermuda

Down in Bermuda comes from Yak & Co, developer of the famous adventure game Agent A – A puzzle in Disguise. The point-and-click type adventure game features aviator adventurer Milton, who leaves his family behind him to cross the Atlantic through the journey of a lifetime.

This seems to be a very recent version of Down in Bermuda, but, like Agent A, it offers beautiful graphics with lines and bright colors. Once completed, it should be reflected on all Apple Arcade platforms.

Sasquatch sneaky

RAC7, the two-person team behind titles such as Dark Echo and Splitter Critters, will present Sneaky Sasquatch to Apple Arcade. The action / adventure getaway allows players to control the titular character in search of food at a local campsite.

During the course of the action, which involves various amounts of stealth elements to avoid the awkward park guards, players can expect all kinds of crazy shenanigans involving various NPCs, humans and animals. You'll find the Sasquatch driving cars, shopping in stores, playing mini-golf and more.

It's unfair to compare games at these different stages of development, but Sneaky Sasquatch seemed to be the most complete game of the six games I tried. It features exceptional visual design, a wide variety of activities and control schemes, as well as a humorous writing and NPC interactions. I'll tell you that Sneaky Sasquatch will be at the top of the list of games to try when launching the game Apple Arcade from the first day.

Hot Lava

Klei Entertainment's Hot Lava, available on the beta version of Steam, is a first-person action game that plays the role of the popular fantasy children's game where the floor is lava.

Hot Lava places players in environments such as schools, homes and more. Players can run, jump, slide, hang ropes, grab edges and use various other parkour mechanisms to avoid lava. For example, once you reach a certain speed, you can "surf" on frictionless surfaces while navigating treacherous terrain.

Although Hot Lava can be played with a mouse and keyboard, I think I would much prefer to use my Xbox controller. The game's settings support the controller but in this particular version it did not seem to be activated yet.

When the visual parameters were optimized, the graphics of Hot Lava have dropped somewhat on my basic model, the MacBook Pro 2019. Part of this could be due to unoptimized code in the beta of early access . However, connecting my Blackmagic eGPU Pro has made all the difference in terms of performance. If you plan to play on low-level Macs, it may be a good idea to consider an eGPU like the Razer Core X.

That being said, there's a reason why Apple introduced the Hot Lava trailer when it aired in early spring. It's ridiculously fun and contains many hilarious elements from the 80s era. I've got the impression that it will be one of the most popular Apple Arcade launch titles. .

Kings of the castle

Based in Canada, Frosty Pop, creator of the currently available iOS games, such as Kingpin Bowling and High Dive, is no stranger to the iPhone and the Apple TV as platforms of The company's first game Apple Arcade, titled Kings of the Castle, adopts a visual style identical to that of its previous titles.

Kings of the Castle is a first-person multiplayer action / adventure game, but in what is obviously a very old version of the title, the game is limited to single-player solo action.

The game begins with a countdown of eight minutes, while you browse an island map looking for gems and keys to unlock the doors. Sometimes you will encounter enemies who will ask you to react to certain prompts displayed on the screen. It reminds me of a modified version of the Quick Time Events of the Sega Classic Shenmue.

Kings of the Castle is the most colorful game of the six games presented during the first try of access. It presents basic platform elements in 3D space that can be controlled by a hardware controller, but it is too early to provide a real feedback on the experience.

Frogger in Toy Town

Developed and released by Konami specifically for Apple Arcade, Frogger in Toy Town is a version of the original Frogger game with descendant 3D elements. If you've ever played Frogger, which usually involves helping a frog cross a street and the various obstacles, you'll know what to expect.

In Frogger in Toy Town, each level is divided into different sections. The Suburban Home level, for example, includes three playable areas: the kitchen, the living room and the front yard. Each section has three distinct objectives, such as ending a game without being hit by a car, drowning, burning, and saving toads.

Like other games in the early access preview, Frogger in Toy Town is still in its infancy and its visual and gaming appearance is therefore likely to change.

9to5Mac's Take

Even with early access, it's clear to me that Apple Arcade has a lot of potential. Now that we know that the price of the monthly subscription will be $ 4.99, I think it will be obvious for anyone who likes to play games.

Do not forget that Apple Arcade will include access to over 100 games on demand for a reduced subscription. Best of all, all games will be available on multiple Apple platforms, such as Mac, Apple TV and iOS devices.

Apple Arcade Mac App Store at your fingertips

What is not clear yet is how Apple will fully unify its experience through individual games and on these platforms. In the current state of affairs, each game looks like its own individual entity, with its own parameters. It will be interesting to see if Apple will retain the distribution method it currently uses in advance access or if additional measures will be taken to make the experience more consistent and easier to use for casual gamers.

There is also the issue of device support because the power of these devices may vary a bit. For example, my MacBook Pro 2019, while being suitable for most occasional computer tasks, has certainly encountered difficulties when running games like Hot Lava with high settings. I imagine that such games running on modern iPad or iPhone hardware would perform better on these platforms.

Sneaky Sasquatch Apple Arcade at your fingertips

But what impresses me the most at Apple Arcade is the quality of games like Hot Lava, and especially Sneaky Sasquatch, which seems to me to be a success once launched.

Even if only 25% of games on Apple Arcade are as good as these titles, you will still have access to very good games for a year for less than the price of an AAA title console.

Are you thinking of subscribing to Apple Arcade? What do you think of advance access games? Ring below in the comments with your thoughts and opinions.

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