Apple Game Console Rumors

[Yago]

As a stock broker I have the luxary of watching CNBC most of the day. Well, not much of a luxary. Anway, for the past year I have heard rumors of Apple getting into the video game market. On the news the past couple of days the rumors are back in force regarding Apple entering the video game market. I'm not talking about games for the IPod, but an Apple game console. here is a brief article I found on it.


"Appleinsider publishes more information relating to Prudential analyst Jesse Tortora's claims that Apple may have a longer term interest in the video game market:
"We think the video game market represents a distinct possibility for Apple, especially considering that it recently announced the availability of video games for its iPod through its iTunes"

Tortura speculates a gaming console device could be "morphed" out of a combination of the existing Mac mini and iTV, as well as the possibility of a handheld gaming device based on the iPod.

Clearly, entering such a competitive market would be difficult, but the analyst speculates that Apple may be feeling some pressure from potential iTunes competitors in the form of movie-download services tied to the latest consoles.

Rumors of Apple's entry into the gaming market are not new, as there have been previous reports of Apple actively recruiting game developers, but in his research note, Tortura reportedly claims that Apple has hired new software and hardware game developers.

Update: iLounge publishes an interview with iPod product marketing director, Stan Ng, who acknowledges there is a team at Apple focused on iPod games, and did the development of two of the current iPod games at Apple. The team is currently working with 3rd party developers to bring more games to the iPod."


What are your opinions?

[jcalder8]

I can't believe that they would bring out a home console, I think that they wouldn't last past the launch. As for turning the Ipod into a portable console I think that is a good possibility. Adding gaming to the already impressive Ipod would only help to create a bigger demand for them.

[Wavelflack]

Seems like a surefire way to bring elitism front and center in the gaming world.

[NEOFREAK9189]

I hope they buy sega and make sega ipod home system

[n.ooka]

Seems like a surefire way to bring elitism front and center in the gaming world.

:above me:

Isn't that what the PS3 is for?

[udisi]

Yeah I think the home market is too competitive to support a 4th system, really I think it's too competitive to support 3. I do believe that apple may have a shot at surviving in the handheld market, though since heldhelds are still dominated by the younger demographic, I think Nintendo will continue to dominate that. Apple could rivial the PSP if done right though in imo.

[exit]

Then there can be commercials on why my console is inferior to theirs.

I can't wait.

[CastNoShadow]

I dunno, maybe if they started developing hardware now for the next, next generation of home consoles they might have a decent shot... or maybe they would crash and burn. *shrugs*

[vintagegamecrazy]

I would love to see them enter in and do well too. There aren't enough competitors anymore like there used to be. If another contender fell out then the console wars would become pretty boring. Who else could enter anymore other than apple or maybe IBM?

[Poofta!]

i think a lot of these rumors were started and fed by that aprils fools day joke this year, with the iGame or whatever it was, this brought it to everyone's attention and now everyone is throwing gasoline to put out the fire. personally i think nothing will come of it... apple had a hard enough time having game publishers put games on teh mac, imagine how their console support would go..

[Anthony1]

I would believe that AMD is making a home game console before I would believe Apple is. AMD bought ATI, so they could handle the CPU and GPU in house, which would provide tremendous savings on the manufacturing. Or maybe a Intel + Nvidia partnership. But to be honest, I think the good ole days of having more than 3 large players compete is over. The greatest era in gaming in terms of having a whole ton of players taking a chance, happened in the early to mid 90's. Right around 1994 to be exact. Go get a copy of a EGM from 1994, see how many different consoles were trying to compete back then. It was pretty ridiculous, but I loved every minute of it!

[smork]

Um, Apple did the game console thing before, with Bandai. Don't we remember the Pippin? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Pippin) Sure, it's not really a console, but it was a huge failure.

Anyway, I hope there are more than 3 players in the console market in the future, I'm just not really excited about the idea of Apple being one of them

[CosmicMonkey]

Going by the general design of Apple products (iMac, G4 Cube, Mac Mini) the Apple console would be one sexy looking bit of kit.

Imagine something along the lines of the Mac Mini, with wireless pads. Mmmmmm :)

And surely everyone remember the fake gPod mock-ups?

http://games.tom.com/images/2005/tvgame/0808/02/gpod.jpg

[Nature Boy]

I can't believe that they would bring out a home console, I think that they wouldn't last past the launch. As for turning the Ipod into a portable console I think that is a good possibility. Adding gaming to the already impressive Ipod would only help to create a bigger demand for them.

The iPod as a controller would stink though, wouldn't it?

I totally disagree that they wouldn't last past the launch by the way. Apple is a very saavy company. Sure it'd be tricky to establish yourself in a market where your 3 competitors are all doing a good job of making a place for themselves, but a console that had the ubiquitous iPod somehow backing it up would be a scary proposition for the other 3 indeed.

[cyberfluxor]

It would be cool to have a 4th system in the marketplace. Although I don't believe Apple would do too well due to their background in the gaming market if they could make something that's a good price and easy to code for with great confidence they could make an impression on the industry, just as they did with digital music. I'm still waiting for the portable Irecord player.

[GM80]

I don't think they could be competitive in the "next-gen" segment, but, like Nintendo's Wii, I think they could find another niche.

If they made a "system" that was basically an iPod dock with TV output, a couple of controller inputs and network connectivity (to download new games to the iPod and upload high scores) that could easily work. Games would be playable on the iPod away from the dock, and playable on a larger screen with better control when docked. The dock could tie directly into the iTunes store and purchase not only games but all the other content as well and save it to the iPod.

That, I think, might have a chance of working. I know for a fact that my wife, who is a "hardcore casual gamer," would absolutely flip if she could play the games that are on her iPod right now on the TV with a controller of some sort ... not to mention the influx of new iPod games that's apparently right around the corner.

[mailman187666]

If Apple came out with a gaming system, I betcha it would sell out on day one, and I'm sure there would be enough units to go around. It would probably be like a next gen 3DO. Kind of the oddball of the bunch but good enough to stay in business for a while.

[TurboGenesis]

I have seen it coming for some time. The way the market is moving toward downloadable media it only seems logical that video games go in the same direction. Look at XBLA and Virtual Console, these are test formats for Microsoft and Nintendo respectively. Sony is offering downloadable content with the PS3-games such as Blast Factor, a game that can't be physically purchased.

Apple is a leader in this type of market with the success of itunes and the ipod and we can see they are moving abroad with itv.

Soon the days of going to the game store and buying a game are going to be a thing of the past. Look at itunes, on demand cable and the current console offerings of downloadable games. It won't be long until Apple gets into this market and with the right support from 3rd parties they have a very good chance to succeed.

[CosmicMonkey]

Soon the days of going to the game store and buying a game are going to be a thing of the past. Look at itunes, on demand cable and the current console offerings of downloadable games. It won't be long until Apple gets into this market and with the right support from 3rd parties they have a very good chance to succeed.

Yep, I beleive this to be true too. iGames, here we come....