Apple & Nintendo Design

[waxpoet]

http://homepage.mac.com/rza/apple_nintendo_design.jpg

Thoughts welcome...

[poloplayr]

"borrowing is talent. stealing is genius"

[gjb-sensei]

Nothing wrong with using Apple as a template of sorts to design hardware... after all, if you're going to use something, use something that looks really damn good.

[studvicious]

Now if only they had released the Gamecube in that color FIRST instead of purple....

[lordnikon]

These image compositions are biased.

With Nintendo's Wii, and DS, they do have an Apple look.

However...

Nintendo's red logo was formed a long time ago. And I don't think they were thinking: "Hmmm there is this other company called Apple, even though their logo is rainbow colored... an apple as a fruit is red, so lets make our logo red!" Remember Apple's logo at the time was multi-colored.

All of the images of laptops above could have easily been replaced with Sony Vaio's or any number of laptops on the market. The GBA SP's casing is obviously modeled after a laptop. Not Apple laptops, but any laptop design on the market. "Nintendo is stealing ideas from Apple! Look their GBA SP flips open, and Apples laptops do to!" - ridiculous

The GameCube originally shipped as purple and black, and the platinum unit didn't come out until well after that. I doubt anyone said "OH Nintendo is stealing from Apple!", when the GameCube first launched.

This is a lot like that Dreamcast vs 360 thing 1UP ran, which was completly rediculious, using comparisons like "Backwards compatibility: DC has Bleemcast!! and the 360 can play xbox games!!" - ridiculous

I should make a comparrison how Ronald McDonald promotes car accidents because his outfit all matches modern day traffic sign colors, and he has "blood" on his face.

[Griking]

I think comparing the DS to Apple notebooks is stretching it a bit. So the DS folds in half, so does my wallet and my cell phone. And as for the logo, I don't even get the comparison there. Is it because there's red in both of them?

[jajaja]

I think comparing the DS to Apple notebooks is stretching it a bit. So the DS folds in half, so does my wallet and my cell phone. And as for the logo, I don't even get the comparison there. Is it because there's red in both of them?

Agree. You could compare it to any laptop then imo. Having the same color doesnt make it copied. I dont think the logos are being compared tho, probly just to show whats Apple and whats Nintendo. What is that Apple box btw? I dont see the simularity with it and the GC, except that its squared. You could just as well have compared it to a shuttle PC just because its small and square.

[Pico956]

I don't really see any comparisons with any of the examples shown. The same could be said for any other manufacturer’s product

[slip81]

You forgot one comparisson, the N64 is obviously a rip off of the Mac mini.

[waxpoet]

The logos are not being compaired...

The Apple computer shown is called a G4 Cube. The Nintendo of course being called the Gamecube. While they don't look alike the same concept of a cube was used.

It might be hard to tell from the pictures given but if you have a 12" Powerbook (the laptop I'm typing this on now) and a Silver GBA SP...and put them side by side. They are strikingly similar. Yes, there are many other silver laptops out there...but the curved edges...shape...etc are quite similar.

The Nintendo DS Lite and the white iBook (now white MacBook Pro)....have the same exact shiny plastic finish...although it could be the influence of the original iPod which also has the same finish.

If you disagree that is fine, but there are certainly are quite a few similarities. I am not knocking either company. I think the design's of both products are similar. Notice, how I just said "Thoughts Welcome"....no opinion.

It would be hard to confirm the influence of one on the other but I have a feeling that if you talked to the Nintendo design team...

[waxpoet]

ok I just did a websearch and found out that I am certainly not the first person to see similarities....

check the link!...it has far better pictures than I could provide

http://gadgets.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=107&pg=2&comments=&preview=

[waxpoet]

hey slip....you might want to check this picture before you continue with your sarcasm...

http://gadgets.advancedmn.com/images/content/misc/Consoles10.jpg

By the way...there was also a translucent grey iMac..contrary to the above picture's caption

[cyberfluxor]

I've seen these debates over a decent length of time. It's nothing I'm concered with but the designs of sleak are really nice. Everyone is always aiming for this as seen in car designs (aerodynamic & looks) and slowly creaping into electronics. If you recall those old bulky cell phones that were just huge blocks that looked ugly, same with older handheld systems (except the Lynx). It's just a trend and eventually you'll see most everything looking more generic. You'll always however have companies that just want to look different, which is what Apple have been doing for the longest time and finally some of the PC business is tending towards.

[slip81]

hey slip....you might want to check this picture before you continue with your sarcasm...

http://gadgets.advancedmn.com/images/content/misc/Consoles10.jpg

By the way...there was also a translucent grey iMac..contrary to the above picture's caption

Actually my sarcasm compaired the N64 to the Mac Mini, not the iMac. I'm fully aware that Apple ripped off Nintendo with their decision to release an electronic in multiple colors.

[8-bitNesMan]

I thought about the similarities between the G4 cube and the Gamecube a
few days ago. Also the Wii remote (and the Wii itself) does remind me of
Apple design. The N64 pic is a great example of "inspiration". But Apple has always had great aesthetics in their designs, so if Nintendo was going to "borrow" ideas from anyone I think they picked a winner.

[mills]

yeah, because apple patented colors. x_x

[Muscelli]

i cant see what the nintendo deciples have to say about this.. b...b.. Nintendo is teh innovative! LOL

i mean this on other message boards too, its just funny to see fanboys get in a panic

[jajaja]

I must say that its wierd that the N64 got the exact (?) same colors as the iMacs :)

[Super Mario Fan]

yeah, because apple patented colors. x_x

And you can't forget how they patented the hinge, aswell. :yipes:

[Jasoco]

"borrowing is talent. stealing is genius""Good artists copy. Great artists steal." —Pablo Picasso (and later Steve Jobs)

[neuropolitique]

I don't really see an issue with this, as I like both companies. I think that style is very important. Nothing wrong with designing a shell first, instead of just making an enclosure which will hold all the guts.

[jajaja]

Indeed. I bet you can do this with every product if you have enough time. Just browse and browse until you find something that looks simular. There are so incredible many products out there so your bound to run into something that looks alike. I wouldnt compare smooth curves etc. It must have been something that you could mistaken for being something else.

[waxpoet]

^^outstanding English

[Ed Oscuro]

NEWS FLASH:

APPLE RIPS OFF GRiD COMPUTER DESIGN

GRiD Compass, c. 1982. First laptop in space (http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=900)

Apple //c, c. 1984 (http://www.obsoletecomputermuseum.org/appleiic/lcd_side.jpg)

I guess when Apple sees something good they take it! In fact, if the information on old-computers.com is right, Apple should've been paying a fee for using the clamshell computer design. (Right, because we know that the style of a case is more innovative than the product's actual features?)

Back to the topic at hand...those products have a similar design philosophy, true, but neither Apple nor Nintendo originated that current design fad. I'm not a fashion expert ( LOL ), but common sense informs us that you can walk into any computer or electronics store and see other products with similar lines, from laptops to iPod ripoffs.

In fact the Toshiba Satellite laptops look a lot like the old PowerBooks as well. Coincidence? Maybe people don't want their computers to look like the Shrike (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_(novel)).

Apple certainly deserves accolades for their design and marketing genius, but those aspects aren't as important as functionality. If finding obvious parallels between devices (i.e. they both have a case, they both have an LCD screen, they both fold in half, they both use the top part of the shell to put a logo in, like any other laptop maker) is your idea of a good time, be my guest. But you haven't proven squat.

[waxpoet]

^they both use the exact same materials on both the inside and out. Nintendo somehow decides to use the exact same 6 colors to make varients to their N64 line....


It's funny how you guys think that I am trying to condemn one company. I AM MERELY COMPARING THE DESIGN ASPECTS BETWEEN TWO COMPANIES....can you guys read and understand that?

obviously not...

[Ed Oscuro]

Alright, I'll take you at your word. Apple leads the market when it comes to style, but they haven't always ;)

Oh, and by the way, the colored N64s came out after (http://www.nintendo.com/corp/press/011000.html) the multiple color iMacs. Apple did lead the way with that one.

[smokehouse]

I can admit that I see some similarities. Not in all but in some. Hey, Apple makes some great looking products and look at the wave they sent throughout the design industry. How many things resemble Apple designs? Quite a few.

[Jasoco]

I love both companies. So I'm glad to see them with the same kind of design features. Especially Nintendo's new look. Or Apple's current style.

The PowerMac G4 Cube pretty much converted me to the Mac, even though I got an iMac as my actual computer. (Cubes were so expensive, which is why they didn't last.) Now I have a G4 Mac mini which is pretty much the spiritual successor to the original Cube. Just smaller. (Amazing when the Cube came out people didn't think they could make it any smaller.)

I love my DS Lite. It's a beautiful device. It just is. And the Wii will look just as good when it comes out. I can't wait. I like my electronics to be both functional AND beautiful. And Apple and Nintendo seem to have that in the bag.

I'll toss this out there though too, I do kinda like the 360's look. It's a hell of a lot nicer than the older Xbox.

If it works and looks good, by all means. My TV looks awesome and works great. My Comcast DVR looks blah and works like shit. So does my 5.1 surround system. Looks ugly and isn't all that good. Seems that if a company is going to make a good product they will put a little effort into making it actually look nice too. Otherwise they'll just half-ass it all the way.

Cést la vie.

[Crazycarl]

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=82933&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

heckam......the cosmos are traveling around my theory.

[Ed Oscuro]

Scary, I remember Oob's and Poloplayr's posts, but not yours. LOL