Any chance Apple ever makes a video game system?

[Maximilian]

Originally posted by: SoundTheSurrender

Originally posted by: Maximilian
iFail more like, i cant see apple ever making a game system or at least ever making a competitive one. They have no experience with consoles.

Either did Microsoft lol. They still showed a bit of engineering failures with the 360.

Bleh fair enough. I still dont see an iConsole coming any time soon, just dosent seem very appley.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: erwos

Originally posted by: SoundTheSurrender

Originally posted by: Maximilian
iFail more like, i cant see apple ever making a game system or at least ever making a competitive one. They have no experience with consoles.

Either did Microsoft lol. They still showed a bit of engineering failures with the 360.

Annoying as the RRoD is, the rest of the console is pretty much perfect.

As it should be. It's still mostly a computer with some slightly tweaked hardware to be more console specific.
Look at Microsoft's first console, the XBOX. That system was entirely a PC stripped of the necessity to have a resource-hungry OS constantly running. Microsoft learned some things from that and tweaked their approach to consoles for the 360, mostly with success. Only, they had some hardware troubles that led to some nasty reliability problems. However, this is expected imho, as Microsoft has shown its usual flair for software development, and largely overlooked the hardware. And that is why the 360 is so successful: Microsoft has dedicated their history to software development and had experience with the game market both on the XBOX, and prior to that, on the PC.

Nintendo, well Nintendo, for the most part, knows how to cater to its market, but has very little experience in the parts of the new age market, like networking and whatnot, that has led to them being a little behind the time. The Gamecube was largely more of a failure though it was a good product, so they went back to what they know best and implemented a nifty new feature for them: the family and casual gamers. They have the most experience in that segment, so they know how to flash it.

Sony, well they have the issue of not specializing in anything other than consumer electronics. They have departments that work on various things, like computer games and software, but really aren't specializing in that. So they've used their experience in the console days to continue to offer a great product for console gamers, but really only know how to flaunt their stuff by creating hype and making it a fancy product. They had limited experience with the console market when they started through the then-blooming partnership with Nintendo, but when that failed, they basically wrapped a basic console around the CD-drive and released it as the PlayStation (the CD-drive and game tech around it was going to be a Nintendo product with Sony producing that portion, then Nintendo went to Philips iirc, then dropped that idea altogether and went on to the N64). With the PS2, they grew more comfortable and included some more CE-type tech, like the new fancy DVD drive and more technical hardware. Since it was successful, Sony, not having any other specialty than CE, went ahead and tried to duplicate that same success with new tech. Can't really fault Sony, because they aren't really a console company, but rather an electronics company, and they did what they know best. But with this generation, due to now having been dealt a major struggle, they are once again learning as they drive on. Now they are working on middleware and dev tools for the PS3, something Microsoft had down pat basically from the start. Sony has really just caught lucky breaks with each generation, and never had to rethink how they go about things, and so instead each time just did what they thought would work to recreate the success of the previous console.

Apple, well Apple would be much like a combination of Microsoft and Nintendo.
They'd enter the market with what is basically a stripped PC, but probably have a very easy to use console with simple controls and on-screen interface. They'd market it just like their current hardware, and basically it'd be a guaranteed success as long as they had the software. But it'd be marketed to the casual crowd mostly, as probably be a major competitor of Nintendo.
This is, of course, assuming they could get the software. Apple would basically be making or breaking the console based on how it went about providing software development tools. They'd could end up being like Sony in this regard... having little to no experience with game development on the large scale, either they'd do something right and get lucky, or they'd end up with little in the way of major titles and be dust in the wind. With software, it'd be a major success for Apple and likely wouldn't be a hardware gamer system, it'd be something the casual gamers would want, as long as it wasn't super expensive like everything else Apple. If it was expensive, it wouldn't sell to the casual crowd. And it surely wouldn't sell to the hardware crowd.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: ed21x

Originally posted by: blurredvision
God I would hope not. If 10 years from now I had to choose between the market-leader Apple gaming console and the failing PS5/XBOX4, I'd give up gaming. I'm assuming of course that Nintendo is still catering to other demographics besides mine (meaning that I don't even consider them).

i think Apple and Nintendo would aim for the same mass-market demographic, which would mean you would stick with PS5/xbox4 niche.

now an apple vs nintendo console war would be interesting as that would put competition on both demographics with apple leveraging its i-brand, and nintendo leveraging its Wii/DS touch generation.

except Apple isn't even mass-market with their own computers, why would they be with consoles?

If Microsoft can't simply buy their way into the console market, why on earth does anyone believe Apple can jump into the fray that has ousted so many solid competitors over the years, including a previous Apple attempt?

Nintendo was on the verge of demise but they survived for several reasons, the major ones being they never suffered in the portable market and they are also one of the biggest in house software companies in the world. Their own first party titles are a huge asset, something Apple simply would not have, at least not right off the bat.

There's just no way there is room for any one else, and the primary reason 3 consoles can survive right now is the fact that the PS3 and 360 are targeting different niches than the Wii. If Nintendo decides to jump back into that market now that their lifeline Wii has saved them from the doom they seemed to be headed towards, then we could very well end up seeing Sony or Microsoft be ousted just as Sega was.

 

[Thraxen]

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles
except Apple isn't even mass-market with their own computers, why would they be with consoles?

He's just saying that they would likely target the same audience. I think a more valid comparison would be the iPod and iPhone. Definite mass market devices. The computer market is a bit of a different beast. Whereas the console market basically redoes itself and puts all the marbles up for grabs every 5 or 6 years. That leaves the door open for someone like Apple to attempt to jump and and grab market share. I don't think they will nor do I think it will be easy if they do, but I do indeed think they would go after the same audience as Nintendo.

 

[ed21x]

and we gotta remember that Apple has a very strong brand name, excellent marketing, and nobody will doubt their product quality. In addition, the iConsole can integrate with iTunes for songs and movies, in essence already having a pretty solid foundation as a home media center that people already trust. If apple were to really carve out a niche, they would market a home media center with gaming capabilities as a secondary asset.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: Thraxen

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles
except Apple isn't even mass-market with their own computers, why would they be with consoles?

He's just saying that they would likely target the same audience. I think a more valid comparison would be the iPod and iPhone. Definite mass market devices. The computer market is a bit of a different beast. Whereas the console market basically redoes itself and puts all the marbles up for grabs every 5 or 6 years. That leaves the door open for someone like Apple to attempt to jump and and grab market share. I don't think they will nor do I think it will be easy if they do, but I do indeed think they would go after the same audience as Nintendo.

iPods/Phones might be market leaders in their respective classes, but they're hardly the same thing as what Nintendo has done with the Wii.

Apple simply cannot bring themselves to a mass market standard, their mass market iPod is the incredibly nerfed Shuffle.

So unless they bring out a console that doesn't even hook up to a video screen, you can count on it being more in line with a PS3 but without the software.