What if Apple and Nintendo joined sides?

[Flux]

What if Apple and Nintendo joined sides?

Apple could just build a stripped down AMD based mac and call it a "high end gaming console". Nintendo would make the content.


Both are in competing with Microsoft and Apple would need strong 2nd party IPs to sell a new console in the future. Nintendo could use Apple's software library to make the console more accessible to developers(essentially a mac with a touch enabled controller) and attacking the iphone/ipad/itunes/ipod crowd to Nintendo products.

Nintendo discontinues the DS and merges it with the ipad line as a cheapo gaming ipad.

Maybe a merger/join venture if the WiiU brand falls flat in 3 years?

 

[AlphaWolf]

If Nintendo is going to go to content provider only, why would they restrict themselves to a single platform?

 

[Akumajou]

If Nintendo is going to go to content provider only, why would they restrict themselves to a single platform?

Because that would allow Nintendo to offer first party quality game content considering if Apple were to spend a considerable ammount of money on the hardware side of things and that would make Apple and Nintendo a major threat to Microsoft and Sony's plans as rival companies.

 

[dagamer]

Because that would allow Nintendo to offer first party quality game content considering if Apple were to spend a considerable ammount of money on the hardware side of things and that would make Apple and Nintendo a major threat to Microsoft and Sony's plans as rival companies.

Fairy tale. Next.

 

[Rangers]

There is no reason for this to happen.

As I've written many times, the core console gaming market is pretty much everything Apple stands against. Hot hardware, power hungry hardware, young male oriented, subsidized money losing hardware, non-pastel colors, cool, fun, ok the last two are my personal jabs.

Also, Apple for the most part has the shine of a highly successful company (though their stock recently doesn't reflect it), Nintendo has certainly lost that since the first three years of Wii and now has the stench of a struggling one. So it would be another barrier to partnership.

 

[Akumajou]

Fairy tale. Next.

This is a "what if" thread so you use your imagination and keep in mind how console companies make alliances... Like oh...say Nintendo and Sony then Nintendo and Phillips even though its not such a great analogy...

It makes me wonder if Apple has the ability to finance a high end console then why would it be AMD based?

Why not Intel based? Intel has their own cpu/gpu and large fabs...

Or taking the the extreme unlikely scenario...how about Intel/Nvidia based? Lol

Or based on some next gen iPad hardware estimated evolution?

I still don`t understand why AMD could not provide a better gpu to Ninty but there are very real physical/thermal/financial limitations...

 

[dagamer]

This is a "what if" thread so you use your imagination and keep in mind how console companies make alliances... Like oh...say Nintendo and Sony then Nintendo and Phillips even though its not such a great analogy...

It makes me wonder if Apple has the ability to finance a high end console then why would it be AMD based?

Why not Intel based? Intel has their own cpu/gpu and large fabs...

Or taking the the extreme unlikely scenario...how about Intel/Nvidia based? Lol

Or based on some next gen iPad hardware estimated evolution?

I still don`t understand why AMD could not provide a better gpu to Ninty but there are very real physical/thermal/financial limitations...

Because it absolutely isn't plausible. Nintendo would rather sell itself to Sony since they are a Japanese company than sell out to Apple. It's not believable in any realm of imagination. There are plenty of stories of Microsoft wanting to buy Nintendo before the Xbox was first release and that got squashed because of their Western behavior towards approaching Japanese developers. I simply cannot imagine the most valuable company in the world making any meaningful concessions.

Also, Apples shroud of super secrecy even to developers would be why any gaming console would ultimately fail, because they provide extremely poor communication with their developer support with things like broken Core Data iCloud Sync (see The Verge article). Even with iOS developers that make a lot if money, they have no idea when the rug might be thrown out from under them.

As for why Apple would never make a "real" gaming console, it is the anti-thesis of their philosophy as a company of making huge profits on hardware, which is NOT what the console business is.

Intel CPUs are avoided because they are a sole supplier of chips and they have no reason to bargain for low chip prices.

As for the other stuff in your comment, it simply doesn't make sense. There's a reason why companies don't just randomly jump into this market because it is ALL about developer relations and companies who suck at it fail.

 

[tuna]

It would work very well I think, but the game market is not big enough for Apple to commit the resources needed.

But Nintendo could use the HW help.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

As I mentioned before, "what if" threads always have an extremely hard time in beyond3d.

Either for sheer lack of imagination, extremely hard-headedness or both, predictably most answers in this thread will be single line posts saying "impossible", "never going to happen" or "ridiculous".
But that's another issue, that may deserve it's own thread elsewhere.

Steve Jobs was in fact anti-gaming, but he's been dead for years and Apple has changed.
Tim Cook went to China to establish business ventures, iproducts are now changing in order to follow other public trends (larger screen iphone, smaller/cheaper ipad) which is the opposite of what happened earlier, and Apple's hardware team are now building SoCs for performance ( and 3d performance above all) instead of just barely-minimum usability snake oil for maximum profit.


I think there's a clear intention for Apple to expand into gaming, led by their mobile SoCs having industry-leading 3d performance.
I think Nintendo is still good at innovating, just terrible at directing their hardware budgets.
Apple is excellent at (re)selling inovation and for the last couple of years it's better at directing their hardware budgets.

I think a Nintendo+Apple set-top box would be quite a powerful combination of gaming ecosystem, marketing, design and service integration.

Although I do think the strongest wall to such a partnership would be Nintendo's top management, since they're IMHO a bunch of old men with their heads too far up their asses to notice how the world isn't in the 90's anymore.

 

[idsn6]

Apple has standards.

Alternatively, Satoru Iwata's reaction to the iPad reveal: “It was a bigger iPod Touch. I question whether those features would be enough to get people to buy new machines.”

 

[Akumajou]

Dagamer I understand all your points and I remember the old stories of Microsoft`s antics pre-Xbox.

I also see Nintendo more of as an extremely conservative company that would not do wild Sega style spending sprees given their size and don`t understand why "internet posters" always fantasize about Nintendo so much...

Yes the whole Apple anti-gaming ideology, I remember that...it is kind of funny given that Apple`s brass has this "clean cut and decent" image when their hardware has mainly been popular due to mp3s, videos and games...

Anyways as for what if threads... I have an old one that I never posted due to time...I`ll try to write it up sometime...

 

[Rangers]

As I mentioned before, "what if" threads always have an extremely hard time in beyond3d.

Either for sheer lack of imagination, extremely hard-headedness or both, predictably most answers in this thread will be single line posts saying "impossible", "never going to happen" or "ridiculous".
But that's another issue, that may deserve it's own thread elsewhere.

Well, because this type of Apple-Nintendo threads probably smells like somewhat desperate Nintendo fans hoping for an massive infusion of relevance for Nintendo via an apple partnership.

Regardless, the reasons against are nearly intractable.

 

[dagamer]

As I mentioned before, "what if" threads always have an extremely hard time in beyond3d.

Either for sheer lack of imagination, extremely hard-headedness or both, predictably most answers in this thread will be single line posts saying "impossible", "never going to happen" or "ridiculous".
But that's another issue, that may deserve it's own thread elsewhere.

Steve Jobs was in fact anti-gaming, but he's been dead for years and Apple has changed.
Tim Cook went to China to establish business ventures, iproducts are now changing in order to follow other public trends (larger screen iphone, smaller/cheaper ipad) which is the opposite of what happened earlier, and Apple's hardware team are now building SoCs for performance ( and 3d performance above all) instead of just barely-minimum usability snake oil for maximum profit.


I think there's a clear intention for Apple to expand into gaming, led by their mobile SoCs having industry-leading 3d performance.
I think Nintendo is still good at innovating, just terrible at directing their hardware budgets.
Apple is excellent at (re)selling inovation and for the last couple of years it's better at directing their hardware budgets.

I think a Nintendo+Apple set-top box would be quite a powerful combination of gaming ecosystem, marketing, design and service integration.

Although I do think the strongest wall to such a partnership would be Nintendo's top management, since they're IMHO a bunch of old men with their heads too far up their asses to notice how the world isn't in the 90's anymore.

I don't know what B3D rules officially are but "what if" threads should be grounded in some kind of reality. I mean, we honestly could create a "what if" thread that asked if Microsoft were to throw away their current system design and start from scratch, and that would be entertaining but we all know the ship date for that console would be 2014-2015, financial suicide, and truly the death of the Xbox brand.

A far more interesting "what if" scenario is what if the Wii U launched with a Brawl HD remake with improved network code? That would be something, eh?

 

[Akumajou]

How about just a mini question of "what if" AMD and Nintendo would have agreed on a RV790XT (Radeon HD 4890) GPU derivative on either 40nm or somehow unlikely 32nm and while completely drop Wii BC...(as part of the consequences)

And still have made the 2012 launch date...at the same price? And then would hardcore forum warriors still be debating a 2nd or 3rd party Nintendo?

 

[Deleted member 13524]

I don't know what B3D rules officially are but "what if" threads should be grounded in some kind of reality. I mean, we honestly could create a "what if" thread that asked if Microsoft were to throw away their current system design and start from scratch, and that would be entertaining but we all know the ship date for that console would be 2014-2015, financial suicide, and truly the death of the Xbox brand.

A far more interesting "what if" scenario is what if the Wii U launched with a Brawl HD remake with improved network code? That would be something, eh?

No offense, but I think that if the extent of your imagination is only capable of envisioning a remake of a last-gen Nintendo game coming out for a Nintendo console, then "what if" threads are clearly not for you.

 

[Ninjaprime]

If that happened they would rule the console world, most likely. However, the odds of Apple and Nintendo teaming up are worse than the odds of getting hit with lightning and a comet at the same time.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I dunno that they would. They both already own their respective sectors. Nintendo's software sells Nintendo hardware to Nintendo fans. Apple hardware sells likewise. Would an Apple box running Nintendo games really displace PlayStation and Xbox? It's not like Nintendo being on an Apple box would attract the core games and gamers. Perhaps it's fairer to say that Nintendo on Apple would own the Apple game space, with app buyers treated to the likes of Pikmin and Professor Layton instead of Angry Birds and Jungle Run. what it'd really do is migrate Nintendo gamers to Apple hardware. I can't envisage what long-term effect that'd have on the industry. It doesn't strike me as a likely to usher in a whole new era and define the next 20 years of gaming though.

 

[dagamer]

Considering that Microsoft and Sony are willing to sell their hardware at a loss and it is the antithesis for Nintendo and Apple to ever do so by a significant amount, I don't see an Apple console doing very well. Remember that in this last generation, I still don't think either Microsoft or Sony made any money overall where as Nintendo was laughing all the way to the bank from 2006-2010. However, you ask anyone on this forum or most "hardcore" gamers, they pretty much ignored the Wii.

As a gamer, I don't care about how much companies make or lose money, just the games I get to play, which is why I wouldn't really care about such a partnership.

 

[patsu]

Found an interesting Gamasutra series on iOS premium game development this morning:

Part 1: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/JamesLiu/20130502/191645/Breaking_in__Nameless_the_Hackers_RPG.php

Part 2:
http://gamasutra.com/blogs/JamesLiu...tNamelessquot_Premium_iOS_RPG_with_no_IAP.php



Nintendo (and Sony) will probably need to establish themselves in the fast changing gaming space first before going to Apple. It looks like Google will announce their gaming thrust one week ahead of Microsoft.

Sony may have slightly more leverage on Apple because iTunes need Sony Pictures and Music to play ball. Nintendo is more aloof and will need to tap on its gaming DNA. Then again if it's successful in gaming alone, it probably won't consider working with Apple. May be roll its own Android stack like Kindle ?



Edit: This may be relevant to all 3 vendors...
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ture-game-design-and-its-impact-on-the-player


Another iOS developer story...
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-05-09-fireproof-an-alternative-route-to-ios-success

 

[Xenio]

it's fatality on Apple, japanese games on iphone, iphone's ui on nintendo consoles, istant death for both