Should Apple get into the console gaming market?

[MagicMajenta]

It wouldn't be surprising if they entered the console market in the next generation. All these games they're developing for the Iphone/Ipod could be a test run for something bigger in the future. This may not necessarily be the case, but it is certainly within the realm of possibility. They may even start the new medium for home consoles being download only as their doing now with their games/apps through Itunes. Very possible! They could be the catalyst for the download only games and do away with physical games that you can put in your hands. Again may not be the case but very possible at this point in time.

[Ed Oscuro]

*raises hand*. As much as of a Mac-lover than I am, a hard drive is a hard drive regardless if it's in a PC or a Mac (or a Linux box, or a x360, etc). It's not a matter of if it'll die, it's a matter of when. I've lost lots of drives on all sorts of systems. I've lost 'expensive' drives, 'cheap' drives, drives that were faster than others, etc. I'm sure there will be people that argue one brand over another (even myself), but for the most part, they're all roughly the same.

Actually, hard drives are highly idiosyncratic. Most drives die about (the time that the warranty expires) at the Mean Time Between Failure, but a rare amount die much sooner or much later. I've got a drive from 1995 going strong, but I've had other drives die. The drive in this PC is from 2005 or so and has been used pretty rigorously at times.

But back on topic, Apple seems to do best with simpler hardware (maybe that's being unfair). Mainly their touch recently has been in designing complete systems where simplicity and elegance of use beat out flexibility (as in the PC) and where people will gladly trade away some customization for a user interface that isn't complete garbage (as seen, for example, on the Verizon phones like the v3m - that's just gross).

[monkeychemist]

the world's most irritating fanboys.

Actually there is nothing more irritating than all these Apple haters in this thread. Just shut up all of you already!

[Ed Oscuro]

Actually there is nothing more irritating than all these Apple haters in this thread. Just shut up all of you already!

One reader's poison is another's pleasure. Lighten up!

[Mimi Nakamura]

Apple - very unfashionable, very uncool.
Could be a great look for gamers!

[Zap!]

I'd rather have a real video game company enter the console market (by real I mean making games since the 70's). Capcom or Konami would be beautiful.

[Sonicwolf]

I think Apple is an even bigger joke now than they were in the 90s. They are so anal about not showing that they are trying to dive into the markets that they are. They release iPods and iPhones which play lots of games yet act like they are innocent in trying to penetrate the game market..

[Graham Mitchell]

I think Apple is an even bigger joke now than they were in the 90s. They are so anal about not showing that they are trying to dive into the markets that they are. They release iPods and iPhones which play lots of games yet act like they are innocent in trying to penetrate the game market..

Last I checked there were at least 5 billboards down Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood displaying all the games on the iphone/ipod touch, and demonstrating the accelerometer controls. I don't think they're as coy about it as you'd suspect.

Oh, and to whoever mentioned Konami or Capcom making a console--fantastic idea! I wouldn't care if it was made from broken Atari 5200 parts; I'd buy it.

[Sega_Naomi]

Hell yes , i hate microsoft as much as i hate PAYPAL! ,
they are scums only there for money not there for gamers

their console sucks ,

Apple would kick the S**** out of the xbox!
and respect their users
like they did for years by making the most stable OS EVER!

[AdamAnt316]

Yet another Windows/Mac-bashing thread..........

In my regards to that topic, my comments from this thread still stand. That is all I will say in that regard.

Getting back to the topic at hand, I agree with those who think the home gaming market's saturated enough as it is. I can't really see Apple throwing their hat into the ring again in this market, since they don't seem to be doing too much with their existing entries to the home market (see: Apple TV). They seem to be doing a pretty good job with the iPhone/iPod touch as a sort of low-key handheld gaming platform, and I'm having a hard time imagining how they could replicate that sort of thing with a home console.

Oh, and to those who keep bringing up the Apple/Bandai Pippin, the Apple which designed that product was virtually an entirely different company than the one we know now. They diluted their product line with dozens of "Performa" models, allowed Mac clones that took marketshare away from their own product lines, and were close to going down in flames. Then Steve Jobs returned to the company, got rid of the Pippin and the rest of the deadwood, and started over again with the iMac.
-Adam

[kedawa]

No company is going to enter the console business during a near global recession.
What company can afford to?

[monkeychemist]

No company is going to enter the console business during a near global recession.
What company can afford to?

you're right. Also not in the middle of the cycle of a generation. Maybe in 5-6 years when PS4, Wiii and X1080 start buzzing around.

[Zap!]

No company is going to enter the console business during a near global recession.
What company can afford to?

Apple can easily "afford to" and so can Samsung, who trounces Sony (and ANYONE else) in electronics sales.

Maybe in 5-6 years when PS4, Wiii and X1080 start buzzing around.

They will be around long before 5-6 years, it'll be more like 2-3 years.

[FanOPants]

The great Mac vs. PC debate has become less maniacal Apple fanboys and more reactionary Windows users ranting and raving about Apple's rehashed technology and its appeal to fashionable people. It's like when someone finds out you're a vegetarian (pretend you're a vegetarian): often the reaction is defensive, even if the vegetarian did not volunteer the information. Why don't you eat meat? What about protein? I eat meat, do you think I'm a bad person? etc... Similarly, to Mac users... Apple doesn't "truly" innovate. They're only successful because they're hip with young people. Apple users are stupid. Years of ranting and raving about Apple's supposedly inferior products as consumers continue to purchase them and the company brings in huge margins relative to other PC/electronics makers. Apple products aren't for everyone, but there's something to be said about the appeal that goes well beyond how stupid Apple users supposedly are.

Anyway, the iPhone already serves as Apple's handheld device and any foray into the console market would be against serious competition against a trio of huge, established companies, one of which operating on a similar business model (Nintendo). The risk is great, the likelihood of success minimal, and any reward years away. Dumb move.

[Sonicwolf]

The great Mac vs. PC debate has become less maniacal Apple fanboys and more reactionary Windows users ranting and raving about Apple's rehashed technology and its appeal to fashionable people. It's like when someone finds out you're a vegetarian (pretend you're a vegetarian): often the reaction is defensive, even if the vegetarian did not volunteer the information. Why don't you eat meat? What about protein? I eat meat, do you think I'm a bad person? etc... Similarly, to Mac users... Apple doesn't "truly" innovate. They're only successful because they're hip with young people. Apple users are stupid. Years of ranting and raving about Apple's supposedly inferior products as consumers continue to purchase them and the company brings in huge margins relative to other PC/electronics makers. Apple products aren't for everyone, but there's something to be said about the appeal that goes well beyond how stupid Apple users supposedly are.

Anyway, the iPhone already serves as Apple's handheld device and any foray into the console market would be against serious competition against a trio of huge, established companies, one of which operating on a similar business model (Nintendo). The risk is great, the likelihood of success minimal, and any reward years away. Dumb move.

I agree wholeheartedly. Apple has only done one thing worth noting. A complete and total draconian control over all of their products and operating systems. Imagine if IBM had enforced the control and ideals of Apple now - - back in the 1980s. No cheap clones for anyone and the spread of Windows and PC as the dominant os and computer architecture would not have occured as easily - if at all.

They sell products to young people. Products with 'pretty' graphics and effects. Products that look clean. That white color crap is going to make me throw up and those new keyboards are pushing me to that wretch-point even further. The fact that they had ONE BUTTON MICE until a couple of years ago just shows how much of a clusterfuck the Apple Computers have been. One big majority compatability problem with ancient ideas installed after another.

There is a reason IBM/compat PC took over the market in the first place. Why pay so much for so little when you can get so much for so little?

I am no Microsoft Windows fanboy myself either. I am pretty much fed up with each OS and pc brand. Windows is a bloated Dinosaur - A ball of play-doh which is added to each year. After time passes, all you have is a massive ball of crap, with new features smacked onto old ideas and given a new look. One of these days that stuck together ball of crap-doh is going to roll over the consumers ala Indiana Jones.

Vista failed and 7 looks like another Vista with less startup bloat. I downgraded to XP after a few months of tolerance. My computer is a piece of crap, barely able to stay working, and its only a year old.

CRAP

Someone make a new type of computer, totally new, with a new type of OS.

Free us all from the major players in this ridiculous computer type war.

In conclusion... Adding a smallcase "I" in front of every single word imaginable was cute for about 10 minutes back in 1998. ITS NOT WORTH THE MONEY TO HAVE AN I IN FRONT OF A COMPUTER OR OTHER PRODUCT NAME! IT DOESNT MAKE IT IMMEDIATELY COOL EITHER.