Review: Apple Arcade – A Month Later

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Up until now, virtually all of the articles that I’ve been reading about the service has been positive. What about this article? Read on.

I am an Apple junkie. When Apple announced its Arcade service, I knew that I had to try it out. And with the 1 month free trail period, I couldn’t resist.

Instead of giving you all of the globby-gook about what the service is and how you can play thousands of games at a monthly price, I’ll get right to the point.

I’m not impressed.

As a kid of the 1970s and 1980s, I can tell you that all of the games that I played reminded me of that era. Sure, the games didn’t have dots that you followed on the screen, but it did remind of the start of that era. Even Super Mario Brothers looked more impressive than most of the games that I played on the service. Yes, I did try them on all of my iOS devices, including the Apple TV 4K model.

What didn’t I like about the service?

The games didn’t download to all of my devices at once. I had to re-download them onto each device separately.
The service seems to not be using iCloud to save game data so one can pick up where they left off on another device (something that iOS games have been doing for years).
Most games need to have a game controller to even get into the game. If one doesn’t have one (like me) then they are outta luck.
The graphics seem – well, basic. Almost like they have been exclusively written for the iPhone and/or iPad, and then “thrown” onto the Arcade.
The included Apple Remote is not good for gaming – even from the iOS app game store.
All games must be played in Landscape mode.

What DID I like?

Easy setup.
Navigation of the Arcade menus on all platforms.
Selecting a game.
Downloading a game.

Bottom Line:

Apple Arcade has potential. But unless you or your family is gonna be using the service a lot, I’d recommend sticking to the iOS App Store games for now. I also feel that Sony has nothing to worry about (yet) with its upcoming PS5 Game System.

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