Well, if you go more than 20 years ago Apple got a good gaming track record (Apple 2GS)…
Don't think Apple want to create a "new" console, it's more a use for iPhone or iPod Touch and also maybe for Apple TV…
Apple makes a preliminary move.
- Thread starter Entropy
- Start date
Well, if you go more than 20 years ago Apple got a good gaming track record (Apple 2GS)…
Don't think Apple want to create a "new" console, it's more a use for iPhone or iPod Touch and also maybe for Apple TV…
Looking at the current PSP software sales, one could imagine that the PSP already fits the "multimedia device that also happens to play games" bill...
iPod has a huge install base.
Yes - people aren't talking about Apple toppling Nintendo! It's a case of Apple adding to the iPod line as Archangel has explained above. There would be some market crossover because all these devices are converging, but at the moment there's a clear distinction between a DS for gaming and an iPod for music that happens to offer download titles too.
Success for one company doesn't necessitate defeat of another, and you don't have to be number one in your market to be a worthwhile and profitable business.
No I am old hence skepticism. Industry is different now, msft spent 7b to get xbox going. I don't see aapl doing that. There is a flood of casual gaming for the net.
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/2/the_downside_of_the_casual_games_boom
Totally different situation. Microsoft went to compete with Sony and Nintendo in exactly the same market as them on the back of no prior hardware platform success. Apple would be looking at extending an already very successful product range with strong brand identity/desirability to offer gaming alongside the existing functions.
Well, that's my guess. If Apple were actually to roll out a handheld gaming device like DS targeted at games playing despite whatever other features, it would be a different scenario to the (far more plausible) one we're suggesting.
And for the record as others have pointed out, it could just be as much a case of covering legalities for trademarks where a competitor could have used the iGame type name without infringing Apple's trademarks because Apple didn't own the trademark in the gaming sector. They would want to secure the name just to protect their trademark from being legally copied this way.
I agree. We are discussing two scenarios concurrently.
a) apple launches dedicated console hardware. someone mentioned toppling ds/psp.
b) apple adds casual gaming content to their existing hardware.
b makes sense for apple because they can generate additional revenue without much upfront investment. i think a is insane.
a) apple launches dedicated console hardware. someone mentioned toppling ds/psp.
b) apple adds casual gaming content to their existing hardware.
b makes sense for apple because they can generate additional revenue without much upfront investment. i think a is insane.
Yeah, but who here has actually said "A" seems likely? We've all pretty effectively said "B," with some "wondering which products it will extend to."
Addressing certainly crazy, incorrect, or odd comments does not actually mean one feels "they'll create the next Playstation!" or "they'll destroy the DS!!"
Addressing certainly crazy, incorrect, or odd comments does not actually mean one feels "they'll create the next Playstation!" or "they'll destroy the DS!!"
archangelmorph
Veteran
Hence the reason it's not worth discussing in the first place..
Someone want to point out this hidden market? It's price point? It's feature demand from the users? It's really easy to say they'll simply go after a new market but no one wants to provide any details on what that market is. Nintendo has a very strong grasp on the market for casual game players already. Sony has the PSP for a well liked multimedia device in the portable market. So where does this leave Apple? Between those two? No room for that, the gap is already small. Above the PSP? You're getting into expensive territory for what many of you are claiming would be a device for casual gamers. Lower than DS? With the features some have mentioned? Even basic functions like just 2D gaming couldn't get a ton cheaper if you're including the likes of touch controls.
I just don't see this magical new market they could go after. To low is to thin for Apple in the margin area. To high seems to go against mass market appeal and on the iPod Touch and iPhone in terms of markets. Apple would be much better off simply marketing gaming support to existing devices or simply add slight updates to the second generation Touch models instead of creating a entirely new device.
I just don't see this magical new market they could go after. To low is to thin for Apple in the margin area. To high seems to go against mass market appeal and on the iPod Touch and iPhone in terms of markets. Apple would be much better off simply marketing gaming support to existing devices or simply add slight updates to the second generation Touch models instead of creating a entirely new device.
In my opinion, they would have an excellent chance at taking on any sector in the market. They have a huge favourable reputation amongst the general populations of most? western countries in the world.
For a home console, they have tie ins to their already downloaded music as a media centre, they have an excellent iTunes store to leverage. Their reputation is enough to win sizeable developer support. People tend to believe that when Apple does something, it goes well for them and the companies that support them. They would be competing against Wii, not the microsoft/sony for the harder core crowd. If you divided the wii sales numbers in half you could segment the market 4 ways, equally. It would be essentially, innovative company vs innovative company for the casual crowd.
Handheld (already covered)
In
For a home console, they have tie ins to their already downloaded music as a media centre, they have an excellent iTunes store to leverage. Their reputation is enough to win sizeable developer support. People tend to believe that when Apple does something, it goes well for them and the companies that support them. They would be competing against Wii, not the microsoft/sony for the harder core crowd. If you divided the wii sales numbers in half you could segment the market 4 ways, equally. It would be essentially, innovative company vs innovative company for the casual crowd.
Handheld (already covered)
In
Just how is it hidden? Casual games on PC VASTLY outnumber "real games" on PC, and web-based games have gotten to be immensely fun timewasters, and they primarily all free, or trying to figure out how to build a web environment to draw in some add revenue.
The hidden market isn't hidden. The price point is already sitting there as "low enough to be an impulse buy," and the demand is less "demand" and more "spending a little more time getting enough for people to notice it's there."
Since the SDK isn't out yet, they don't have people building more interesting efforts for the iPhone and iPod Touch, but there are already options for the other game-enabled iPods, and it's trivially easy to distribute through iTunes (which I hear has one or two users), so we may expect a bigger push when they have a few more ducks in a row.
How would that be a bad thing, a difficult thing, or a "hidden" thing? It would require relatively little effort to make it even just a "much more well known" thing, but they don't have a lot out there yet to brag about, so we're not going to see a commercial yet.
They're certainly not going to follow a DS or PSP model, nor are they going to build hardware to compete in those arenas... they'll just attach casual gaming to the iPodosphere (Mac/PC and AppleTV too, if they can manage it) and see where it goes.
I can only see them trying their hands if the get a HUGE amount of pressure from consumers to move more in the "serious gaming" direction. But considering I spend almost more time playing flash games (especially good tower defense ones) than any OTHER games... I don't think they'll feel much pressure to deliver what's already out there, rather than stretch out in their own direction.
I don't think apple sells anything that's cheaper than a DS, and I doubt they intend to start. They have managed to create a billion dollar a year industry selling people overpriced music devices and making millions more selling them content. I don't see why they wouldn't try to expand that market into games considering they are already delivering somewhat capable hardware.
When apple first launched the ipod years ago, I bet you said... overpriced, it will never sell.
MY POINT EXACTLY! So apparently this obviously non-hidden market is completely not obivious to everyone. Yet it is at the same time obvious to everyone! Amazing! Apple surely has innovated a great deal already in gaming!
Does it really matter if they are innovative? Stylish seems to go a lot further than innovation in the market and that's really where Apple has excelled.
Seem to recall myself stating that as well.
They're already well below with their current offerings at $5. Cheaper even that cell phone games, though the advantage is that they have a unified platform they control, and a unified distribution network they control, and much higher quality devices. If they get more interest, and get, say, demos out for every game, they'll certainly make a larger dent.
To a T, I'm pretty sure everyone's already said "no, this does NOT mean that they're making a DS/PSP" and "no, this does NOT mean that they're making the Pippin 2," so I'm still trying to figure out what you've been to agitated by this whole time. As with most moves Apple makes, they'll try to embrace things they're already nearby, do it in a way that's a bit more unique to them, and see who follows along and where it goes.
You seem to be pelting rocks and people and trying to provoke a response.
SedentaryJourney
Regular
512MB of ram seems way too high for a portable device like the iPhone/iPod touch. Even the new PSP only sports 64MB. I'd estimate 128MB for the iPhone, tops.
No, I'm pointing out how entirely unspecial this was from the start. That Apple's best course of action with games is to simply use the devices they already have. I think it's a insane idea that they would create a new device, yet people seem to have hope. Yet then again no one has provided one shred of worthwhile reason for Apple to do so. It goes against everything they've done as a company these last few years that's made them a social darling. I really don't see much of any change coming other than them maybe featuring some more games on the Touch series. Otherwise this entire thread was pretty pointless.
