81 replies to this topic

[BazzDropperz]

If tgey can match wat a xbox or ps3 does they wouldnt hav too

Don't you mean "if they could"? Lets not go pretending Apple is actually planning to enter the console business

[Éanna Prendergast Doyle]

I don't think we need another company like Apple in the console making business, unless Apple used the same level of quality they apply in making there computer hardware, employed dedicated skilled experts in making consoles and games and had good quality first party and exclusive third party games. The Apple console would have to be very innovative, another plain old PS3 or Xbox console wouldn't be enough because we have seen it all before. I don't think Apple is going to enter the console business because they would have pull a a whole lot off, (even though I am pretty sure a hell of a lot of Apple Fan-boys would buy anything Apple excretes) Apple is trying to take on the gaming market from a different angle, by making cheap, affordable games available on there popular iPhone and iPad for casual gamers to enjoy. l don't think "hardcore" or more dedicated gamers are going to stop buying consoles because of this anytime soon.

Edited by Éanna Prendergast Doyle, 21 August 2011 - 11:51 PM.

[Feld0]

I don't think we need another company like Apple in the console making business, unless Apple used the same level of quality they apply in making there computer hardware, employed dedicated skilled experts in making consoles and games and had good quality first party and exclusive third party games. The Apple console would have to be very innovative, another plain old PS3 or Xbox console wouldn't be enough because we have seen it all before. I don't think Apple is going to enter the console business because they would have pull a a whole lot off, (even though I am pretty sure a hell of a lot of Apple Fan-boys would buy anything Apple excretes) Apple is trying to take on the gaming market from a different angle, by making cheap, affordable games available on there popular iPhone and iPad for casual gamers to enjoy. l don't think "hardcore" or more dedicated gamers are going to stop buying consoles because of this anytime soon.

Apple really doesn't have as much experience with games as many people are giving them credit for. They do not develop any first-party games, and it seems that everyone has forgotten that the iPod Touch and iPhone did not even ship with an app store of any kind in their first year on the market. iOS (iPhone OS at the time) became a gaming platform entirely by accident - Apple didn't do much other than provide software development kits for apps that some companies decided to make a few games with. Next thing you know, 99-cent experiences became one of the leading reasons for people to get an iOS device - but the platform's third-party developers are responsible for that, not Apple themselves.

For Apple to design a good, competitive console, they would need to focus an immense amount of resources on that. Not to mention that they'd be competing with three companies that have all been in the console race for at least a decade, and are extremely well established in it. Add to that that Apple do not have any experience developing first-party games (which, let's face it, they'll need at least some of) and it just doesn't seem like the greatest business idea for them. The closest I can possibly see them coming to a game console is if they made the app store available on the Apple TV, and let you use iOS devices as controllers for it. But even that won't come close to the depth of the experiences that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo can offer.

[Auzzie Wingman]

[Éanna Prendergast Doyle]

Apple really doesn't have as much experience with games as many people are giving them credit for. They do not develop any first-party games, and it seems that everyone has forgotten that the iPod Touch and iPhone did not even ship with an app store of any kind in their first year on the market. iOS (iPhone OS at the time) became a gaming platform entirely by accident - Apple didn't do much other than provide software development kits for apps that some companies decided to make a few games with. Next thing you know, 99-cent experiences became one of the leading reasons for people to get an iOS device - but the platform's third-party developers are responsible for that, not Apple themselves.

For Apple to design a good, competitive console, they would need to focus an immense amount of resources on that. Not to mention that they'd be competing with three companies that have all been in the console race for at least a decade, and are extremely well established in it. Add to that that Apple do not have any experience developing first-party games (which, let's face it, they'll need at least some of) and it just doesn't seem like the greatest business idea for them. The closest I can possibly see them coming to a game console is if they made the app store available on the Apple TV, and let you use iOS devices as controllers for it. But even that won't come close to the depth of the experiences that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo can offer.

I completely agree, I don't see Apple coming in too the console market anytime soon.

[Hamez]

"What is the point of next-gen consoles?"

Well, it depends on what company you are talking aboot.

Microsoft and Sony: The point of next generation consoles is to make this console more powerful than the last.

Nintendo: The point of next generation consoles is to innovate and find a new way to control the game while attracting more people to gaming.

[kaioslive09]

and js to add some thing u dont have to charge a console like u do a i phone or ipad.they even tried to get nintendo to port there first party games on there ip's like *** . plus who in there right mind would play a hardcore game or a firstparty game on a freakin cell phone.the battery life would be completely ate up, less memory and bad controles because some peple have big finger's. who ever started this smartphone over home console's is an idiot because there's no way its gonna happen. plus apple is sorta racist anyway. and they scam ppl. so really

[Nintendofanboy53]

Portables are probarbly cheaper than home systems so they attract a larger market

[BazzDropperz]

"What is the point of next-gen consoles?"

Well, it depends on what company you are talking aboot.

Microsoft and Sony: The point of next generation consoles is to make this console more powerful than the last.

Nintendo: The point of next generation consoles is to innovate and find a new way to control the game while attracting more people to gaming.

Classic fanboy post. Yeah, of course you'de say that Nintendo's the one inovating and the other companies are somehow incapable of inovating too.

[Play4Fun]

Classic fanboy post. Yeah, of course you'de say that Nintendo's the one inovating and the other companies are somehow incapable of inovating too.

Nintendo is by far the most innovative of the three, so nothing to get upset about.

[Hamez]

Classic fanboy post. Yeah, of course you'de say that Nintendo's the one inovating and the other companies are somehow incapable of inovating too.

I wasn't saying they the others are incapable of innovating. They just aren't. As far as the actual MAIN FOCUS of the CONSOLES go, what I said is true; also Microsoft and Sony's controller layout hasn't really changed. At all. While Nintendo brings something different to the table every time. Move and Kinect are just add-ons that hardly anyone develops for and uses.

[StreetPassWanter]

The point of next gen consoles: So the economy doesn't go down. Even though it already is...

[Narcidius]

Yeah... I don't think that Apple entering the console business was ever seriously being considered here. The very reason for the Apple's gaming success is the fact that it isn't a console... it's that very "casual-gaming" trend that has people worried in terms of market shift.

People like their interests to move around with them... and as we become a more and more impulsive culture, our interests shift more and more rapidly. We like to be moving, and when we're moving we like to choose between gaming, social networking, net surfing, movie watching, productivity planning (calendars and such), and music listening as the whim hits us. I am not particularly fond of this disposition, but it appears to be a cultural fact... it feels cumbersome to carry around my 3DS, when I know that all of my apps are on my ipod. When I am home, I am already starting to resent the fact that it takes so long to really fire up my console and get into a game, because I'm busy.

I like console gaming (as an experience) much, much better than the silly diversions available for iPod.... but I will buy and play ipod games, becaues they are cheap and they fit my lifestyle. It deserves to be mentioned that Apple never intended to make a gaming device... in fact, they seemed almost to be dragged into the business. They don't make games, and the "app" store, as has already been mentioned, was hardly designed for games. That Apple has become direct competition for Sony and Nintendo is due entirely to consumer demand, and not to Apple's evil scheming.

That being said, I'm not sure that handheld devices could ever truly replace consoles (at least not in the near future). There will always be the form factor to consider - the fact that people don't want a phone the size of a laptop, and that manufacturers can't fit cutting-edge hardware into a smartphone shell. As far as the experience goes, gamers will always prefer to have buttons (and sticks and triggers too, apparently!!!), and will always demand the kind of high production values that naturally result in enormous file sizes (bigger than you would want to store on a handheld device, or wait to download to one) and appreciable prices. YouTube hasn't yet killed Hollywood, and Apple won't kill Nintendo either. Hardcore gaming will always remain a separate market... though perhaps not as big a market as the trends of the late '90s and early '00s seemed to promise. Lots of people will have the itch scratched by mobile gaming and call it there... us hardcore gamers will always demand our boxes.

P.S. I also have thought about the whole Nintendo/Disney comparison... and I definitely think that Nintendo needs its Pixar.

[StreetPassWanter]

I like console gaming (as an experience) much, much better than the silly diversions available for iPod.... but I will buy and play ipod games, becaues they are cheap and they fit my lifestyle. It deserves to be mentioned that Apple never intended to make a gaming device... in fact, they seemed almost to be dragged into the business. They don't make games, and the "app" store, as has already been mentioned, was hardly designed for games. That Apple has become direct competition for Sony and Nintendo is due entirely to consumer demand, and not to Apple's evil scheming.

Very nice article, but I disagree with one tiny thing. I think Apple did do SOME evil scheming. But we'll never know.

[Auzzie Wingman]

P.S. I also have thought about the whole Nintendo/Disney comparison... and I definitely think that Nintendo needs its Pixar.

EA Games is working with Nintendo on this. It might be, in the end, Nintendo's long sought Pixar.

[StreetPassWanter]

EA Games is working with Nintendo on this. It might be, in the end, Nintendo's long sought Pixar.

With EA still releasing games for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3? No way.

[Auzzie Wingman]

Meh, just a thought.

[Andy]

I think Retro is Nintendo's Pixar.

[BazzDropperz]

I wasn't saying they the others are incapable of innovating. They just aren't. As far as the actual MAIN FOCUS of the CONSOLES go, what I said is true; also Microsoft and Sony's controller layout hasn't really changed. At all. While Nintendo brings something different to the table every time. Move and Kinect are just add-ons that hardly anyone develops for and uses.

Kinect is a pretty new controll method, don't you think? Kinect will pretty much be the main focus of the Xbox 360 for the rest of it's lifetime, and by the way it does have a tonne of people developing for it.

[Oni-Link]

Apple cant produce first party games so that's out of the question.

although...Makes me wonder what the 30th Generation of gaming will be,LOLWUT?