Top apps and games for Apple TV

Official app ratings (Top Charts) appeared in App Store for Apple TV yesterday. They don't work for everyone yet, and even a reboot or force quit from App Store does not always help. In any case, even before the official charts appeared, a developer named Steve Troughton-Smith was able to find out which of the programs already released for set-top boxing became the most popular among users.

It's easy to see that games are at the top of these tops; very possibly Apple TV will be a great platform for casual games. The charts were compiled by Trouton-Smith using a hack in the iTunes back-end. So, the top 10 paid and free apps and games:

Top Paid Apps:

1. Beat Sports
2. SimpleX
3. Galaxy On Fire: Manticore Rising
4. Lumino city
5. Alto's Adventure
6. Does not Commute TV
7. Battle Supremacy: Evolution
8. Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions Evolved
9. Shoot The Zombirds
10. Oceanhorn

Top Free Apps:

1. Rayman adventures
2. Crossy road
3. HBO NOW
4. The Nat Geo TV
5. FOX NOW
6. Showtime
7. HISTORY
8. CNN Go
9. Cbs
10. Asphalt 8: Airborne

Top paid games:

1. Beat Sports
2. Galaxy On Fire: Manticore Rising
3. Does Not Commute TV
4. Lumino city
5. Alto's Adventure
6. Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions Evolved
7. Battle Supremacy: Evolution
8. Oceanhorn
9. Shoot the Zombirds
10. Shadowmatic

Top free games:

1. Rayman adventures
2. Crossy road
3. Asphalt 8: Airborne
4. Beach Buggy Racing
5. Breakneck
6. Mr Jump
7. Disney Infinity 3.0: The Battle of Yavin Experience
8. EDGE Extended
9. Mr. Crab
10. Jetpack joyride

Console-like graphics?

Troughton-Smith also measured the number of frames per second Apple TV is capable of delivering on top games. Here's what he got as a result:

• Oceanhorn runs very smoothly at 1080p at 60 FPS
• Asphalt 8: On takeoff at 1080p without anti-aliasing works at an average of 30-40 FPS, in the worst moments dropping to 22 FPS
• Disney Infinite shows 55 FPS (42 FPS minimum) at 720p
• Crossy Road at 1080p without antialiasing shows 60 FPS
• “Breaking my head” at 1080p and without anti-aliasing barely produces 45 frames per second, sometimes drops to 30+
• Beach Buggy Racing runs at 60 FPS in 720p and 1080p without anti-aliasing, the game has a split-screen mode for multiplayer (purchased in the game itself)

Interestingly, in the settings of many games for Apple TV there are sliders for more fine-tuning of detail and resolution, which is typical for PC games and not typical for console games.

The rates are rising

Most big screen games are much more expensive than iPhone or iPad games. The figure is 279 rubles. you will see App Store for tvOS much more often than the standard 59 rubles for mobile applications; prices for many games start exactly from this mark, and AAA titles can easily cost 549 rubles.

For example, Oceanhorn, Beat Sports and Geometry Wars 3 cost 549-599 rubles. Galaxy On Fire – 339 rubles, Lumino City and Battle Supremacy – 279 rubles, and Alto's Adventure, Does not Commute and SimpleX can be bought for 169 rubles.

On the other hand, many developers promise that versions of their games for Apple TV will be distributed free of charge to those who have already purchased them for iPhone or iPad. Thus, if you own a mobile game, you can download it at Apple TV as a free update in the purchased apps section App Store.

Games such as Beat Sports, Rayman Adventures, Galaxy On Fire: Manticore Rising and SimpleX are available exclusively at Apple TV and cannot be purchased for free using this method.

Source: Steve Troughton-Smith