Retrocade 1.3
Still, I did write ‘Why I want Apple Arcade to include classic arcade games – and why that’ll never happen’. But now it has happened, thanks to Retrocade. And here’s the bit that genuinely surprised me: Retrocade is good to the point I think it’s the best entry point for normal people who want to play arcade classics.
[…]
The touch controls – from trackballs to paddles – actually work. You can rotate your iPhone for vertical games. And plug in a Backbone Pro or a Magic Keyboard and the app instantly reconfigures the controls accordingly.
[…]
Apple mobile gaming has gone from an outright “NO!” on emulation to Apple Arcade hosting a fantastic virtual arcade, but without setup faff – or the faint sense of criminality that comes from downloading ROMs from TotallyLegalOldGamesHonest.biz.
There’s no Mac version.
Previously:
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I really wish that Arcade meant that all platforms were included. AppleTV often being the one getting the short end of the stick… but no Mac version is hard to excuse.
The lack of a Mac version is disappointing. Dead Cells is available for Mac on Steam, but you can't access it through Apple Arcade. Mac gaming is highly fragmented – some games are on the App Store but not Steam or Epic...
Your best bet for Mac gaming is Crossover, which is great for Windows-only games, but it shouldn't be necessary for games with a native Mac binary.
I really wish there was a standalone version. I would pay money for it. I don’t really want a recurring sub to Apple Arcade to play just one game that I’ll pick up on occasion.
Sigh. Apple Arcade locks users into yet another subscription just in order to access a few games. No, I won’t subscribe. Too bad that game publishers want to limit their audience.
The lack of a Mac (and also, Apple TV) version is very strange, given that Apple Arcade used to stipulate that all titles should be available on all platforms. There’s no obvious reason I can think of that these games aren’t on those platforms, given that Retrocade has excellent input support.
As for publishers limiting their audience, I get the frustration. But also, fewer and fewer people are willing to pay for mobile games. So if Retrocade was in the standard App Store, you can bet it would be packed full of ads and/or IAP. At best, it’d probably be like the Zen Pinball apps, which have a load of in-game currencies and expensive table buy-outs.
