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The evidence for an Apple game console

Ed

By Ed

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Desktops, Gaming, Hardware, iTS, Rumors, Software, iTunes, App Store

 

appstorelogo.jpgI think the whole "Apple buying Twitter" rumor floating around is about as much of a crock as the "Apple buying EA" one. But I give slightly more credence to this conclusion: that, despite the painful experience of Pippin, Apple is once again putting together a game console. Why? Let the evidence from BNET convince you.

 

First, Apple is picking up game execs and console chip makers left and right. Second is a whole slew of recent patents, for everything from mixing up media and game environments to management of games acquired from a media server. And third, though BNET doesn't actually connect the dots and say it, we will: Apple is sitting on what might be the best library of independent games anywhere, and it's sitting right in front of us in iTunes' App Store.

 

For years, console makers have depended on the mercy of publishers to keep their hardware going -- they sell the hardware at a loss, and then rely on the software sales and licensing to make it all back up again. But think of what Apple could do here: improve the AppleTV or Mac Mini, throw in some kind of Wii-like interface, and then break the whole thing open in the same way they did with the App Store: let developers in with a really low cost of entry, give them the tools they need to create solid games, and just take a nice cut from all of the tiny transactions flowing back and forth.

 

BNET claims that the iPhone's interface wouldn't work on a larger console, but why not? All Apple has to do is figure out a way to translate the iPhone's gestures and taps into a console system, and then they can practically run the games natively. Sure, the resolution would be a little low with a straight port, but that's a small problem to fix. Apple already has the makings of a game console with the iPod touch, and while the rumors may still just be rumors, there's never been a better time for them to leverage what they've already got.

 

TUAWThe evidence for an Apple game console originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 08 May 2009 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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SpeedfreaK

they are already in the gaming market with their iphone and itouch.

i think they can make a wonderful console if they combine all their experience from the ipod, apple tv, iphone and itouch

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iCaramba

SpeedfreaK: I agree that the iPhone/iPod touch is a great gamingconsole. But what is most cruical for a gamingconsole to succeed is to win over hordes of gamedevelopers for their platform. And I doubt that they would be able to do so if they insist on utilizing the objective c-language considering most big gameproducers utilize C++/C# these days.

 

But who knows, perhaps the iphone sdk has created the basis for such a horde already :( I mean, until a year ago I had never gotten my hands dirty with objective c and was doing most of my programming in C++ and C#, and now Obj-C what I most work with. So the change is already upon us, I guess :)

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reactor12

I think there is another more reasonable explanation for this, especially when you consider Apple's strengths and weaknesses and the things they definitely want to do better. They picked up Richard Taversham, one of Microsoft's XBox executives, not because of anything to do with games, but because of his experience in organising product launches.

 

When Apple launch a new product, it is anybody's guess when it will start rolling out to customers. And yet Microsoft managed, with the XBox 360, to have it rolled out to stores in many countries at once, without too many being released too early or overly delayed. That, I believe, is what Apple wants to be able to do - launch their upcoming big products with a release date and enormous queues of buyers lining up at Apple stores to successfully pick up the product and walk away smiling for the cameras. Its something Apple has never been able to do in the past, but they really need to master it now.

 

Their interest in Twitter is purely to free up Apple staff and resources for new projects. The iPhone / iPod touch SDK affected Apple in a way they'd never expected: they were flooded with applications, all of which they had to vet for inappropriate content before adding to the store. 38,000 approved apps means a huge amount of testing and paperwork was dumped onto Apple staff who could otherwise be working on other projects. Twitter, on the other hand, already has a staff setup for just that kind of job. So they had a two step solution to the problem: add Parental Controls to iPhone 3.0, and borrow a little bit of help from Twitter to work through the backlog of applications they have. They had a lot of cash to invest anyway, and a small share in Twitter is a fairly sensible idea.

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A Nonny Moose
More Expensive than PS3.

 

Less Powerful than the Wii.

 

No 3rd party software support.

 

Sounds Awesome. :)

 

I like the Microsoft "funny" better:

 

Buggier than a PS3 dropped in water.

 

Less powerful than the Wii

 

Forced 3rd party support via DIRECTX OR DIE!

 

Sounds Awesome. :rolleyes:

 

See, I can make a generalization also!

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vbetts

If they make the right moves, apple could probably pull off decent sales and keep it going for at least a generation or 2. But, problems that could ruin them bad from looking at their other hardware...

 

1.If they change change at least one thing in the console, most likely a new console would be released.

2.This goes with 1 sort of, support for older hardware and apple is bad.

3.PRICE PRICE PRICE!!!!

4.Marketing. I could not see apple marketing a console like they do with their mac vs pc campaign. It just wouldn't work.

5.This goes more with 3, but what the console can do, what it features, and what it doesn't. Macs do feature some pretty nice stuff, but at a huge cost though. Or they don't have support for a lot of common stuff that's used more in PC.

 

If they keep with the language and rendering they already write in such as openGL, they could possibly do it if it's reasonably priced. As for looks and gui of the console if they do one, I don't think they would have a problem with that. Let's face it, the whole apple company along with their products is just one big presentation.

 

I think Apple could pull it off, but they have to make decisions to sell to the right customers, and not to the people who use macs now.

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