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It's inevitable... I say it without even reading the article.
At least, Apple TV will become a casual gaming console!!!

** Yawn ** Is there really a need to get into the console game? I say work on bringing games to the Mac platform first and everything should fall into place from there.

@ Mactastic

Games for the Mac platform could be wirelessly played on your TV via Apple TV. "Is there really a need to get into the console game?" as you asked, yes.

And if Apple don't do it, someone else will. Just like the iPod had to have a phone and web extensions... and somewhat become a platform, in other words the iPhone/iPod Touch.

At some point, you gotta come with a complete solution if you really want to dominate the living room!!!

May 09, 08 - 02:17 pm Comment from: TowerTone

Release a game console?
My God, the obvious question here is...
why are they holding it? Why can't they just let it go?
Who do they think they are? The Spanish Inquisition?
Are they keeping it in a recliner at GitMo?

Wii need to know.....

Google for "Pippin."

@ Mactastic,

Even simpler, games will be downloaded live straight from iTunes. Apple is setting the rule of a wireless world. No more CDs, DVDs, etc. We're just 1 year 1/2 away from it.

Everything, music, movies, games, tv shows, work applications, all kind of solutions, will be shared and used via the Apple ecosystem and from the iPhone, the iPod (iPod Touch), the Mac (and of course all kind of Air version), Apple TV and a certain type of MacTouch (an extended version of Ipod Touch that will be including ebook and handwritting)...

May 09, 08 - 02:29 pm Comment from: JAYGEE

I think the mobile gaming on the iPhone & iPod Touch is testing the water for a games console. When it builds a good reputation up with the iPhone/iPod Touch gaming, it will release a games console.

"...recently discussing the possibility of Apple releasing a mobile gaming platform."

yeah, it's called 'iPhone".

Reisinger writes, "To me... a video game console is a must."

NO, NO, NO... just because Microshaft is losing millions & millions of dollars a year on 360, doesn't mean Apple should copy a losing business strategy just so they can have 'a full-featured lineup of products'.

Back away from the crack-pipe Reisinger.

Yet another dumb idea proposed by fools that refuse to understand the way Apple approaches new products. Apple refuses to be an also-ran (in terms of technological innovation, not volume!).
Take the iPhone. The cell phone market had completely stagnated, with no innovation coming from any sector. This created the perfect situation for Apple to come in and become an instant major player in that market.. No matter how many iPhones they actually sold, they would capture a profitable niche with a groundbreaking product.
Take the AppleTV. The set-top market was dominated by proprietary boxes given by TV providers. Compared to the iPhone, this has not been a smashing success. The reason? Content. However, in a few years, when the majority of video content is available online, on demand, the need for this product will skyrocket. Consumers will begin canceling their TV service, relying on the internet and devices such as this for video on their TV.

Take the Gaming market. If Apple was considering entering this market, Nintendo beat them to the punch with the Wii. The majority of consumers thrilled with innovation, interested in gaming consoles, already own a Wii. Trying to mimic the Wii in any way will flop, because Wii already has the games and the user base.

"iPod Touch or iPhone as the controller? What if the company released a controller that would double as a portable media player? To me, the possibilities seem endless.."

Seriously? What happens when you leave your media player controller at work? Or lose it on the train? You now have no way to use your gaming console that day. Not to mention the abuse gaming controllers take from zealous children (flying Wiimotes,anyone?) And for someone who sees the possibilities as endless, he can only come up with one?

In the full article, Don suggests that Apple should not try to copy Nintento in any way, but should rather make a PS3/X360 clone, "but also provides that same level of convergence that makes people want Apple products." But he does offer any explanation as to how, exactly, Apple's offering will be any different. Nintendo already grabbed the new control scheme, and unlike phones and computers, consoles don't require a visual user interface complex enough that a new one will be a significant selling point. Insert Disc, play game. Not much room for improvement there.

Which brings us full circle back to where we started: Apple refuses to be an also-ran. Which is all it could be in the current market.

May 09, 08 - 02:41 pm Comment from: Macintosh

They already have a "gaming console", the Apple TV. They just haven't released games for it yet. They are not going to build another box...

Apple TV is a little Mac running OSX... What more do you need to run games? A different colored box running OSX? Games will be available via iTunes, just like movies and music.

Download & play them... Or maybe even rent them??

Apple has all the hardware they need already in place for the ultimate eco system... Just waiting on content.

Clearly games are going to be coming for the iPhone. And Apple already has the Apple TV. They certainly aren't going to release "another" box and call it a game console.

May 09, 08 - 02:46 pm Comment from: ron

Sure, make a game console for those people who have nothing better to do than play games. Welfare recipients and retired fogeys. Better throw some gummint shirkers in there also.

May 09, 08 - 02:48 pm Comment from: Demon

Why any company that wants to be in the Game Console Biz is nuts. Apple sells great hardware at a profit. To sell game consoles you have to sell them at a lose and make the money up elsewhere Apple does not sell at a loss nor do they make cheap products.
I think that Apple promoting and fostering Gaming on say, the iPhone and iPod is a much better bet.
Game Consoles just don't sell enough units worldwide to make it a viable long term market or business smart product line to get and invest money in. Replacing the DVD Player is a far better and more strategic move then a worthless resource draining game console is.

Apple already has the best computing platform out there. It would be better for them to focus on getting games ported quickly to the platform than to introduce a new platform. Apple's best bet is to do what they did with audio, graphics and video on the platform and extend it to gaming. Put core audio, core image, core video and core animation to use and create core gaming. Let gaming companies put together games as easily as applications are created on the platform.

At this point, I only see gaming as an extra feature of what the Apple TV and iPhone/Touch already can do (and will do after the SDK).

I mean, Apple can already sell millions of these things with gaming merely an afterthought. What I think Apple ought to do is just calmly and quietly sneak a couple of killer games onto these devices. Hell, make it sort of underground. These days, it won't take long for all the teenagers to say, "Did you see what that F*&%$ing game looks like?"

Word will spread. It'd be like have a console without having to worry about competing truly against Nintendo, Sony and the Xbox.

In console wars, perception is reality. Instead of competing in that realm as an also-ran, why not just stealthily sort of offer kick ass gaming without ever making a big deal about it? That's the kind of guerrilla marketing that only Apple could pull off.

Before you know it, the fruit is ripe on the vine and a beefed Apple TV could be a gaming platform — in about three more years.

Apple...release a console?
No.
Stick to what you're working on now Apple. No need to try to expand into other industries.

May 09, 08 - 03:33 pm Comment from: TheConfuzed1

I agree with those who say that the equpiment is already in place with iPhone/iPod Touch and Apple TV.

We all know it's coming next month for iPhone/iPod Touch. It can't be that far off before Apple flips the switch and turns this on for Apple TV also. What makes this the best approach is that it won't cast any more for Apple to develop, as they are already allocating R&D;to these devices.

May 09, 08 - 03:34 pm Comment from: TheConfuzed1

Sorry... Equipment... Cost...

grumble, grumble...

May 09, 08 - 03:34 pm Comment from: jjjj

just buy Sony and cherry pick what you want from that company.

The problem is a gaming company, like EA or UbiSoft, would much prefer to code for and release as few 'formats' as possible. That's been the biggest knock against the PS is that it's 'hard to code for.'

May 09, 08 - 03:42 pm Comment from: Predrag

Glad to see there are plenty of reasonable folks here who know what's good for Apple (unlike the article author). Console business is a money-losing business. Apple will never sell piece of hardware where profit margin is lower than 30%.

AppleTV can actually double as a gaming platform and I agree that it just may become an unlikely success there. In terms of processing power, it won't exactly match X-Box or PS3, or whatever is the latest popular console, but there is no doubt; if enough of them are deployed out there, developers will quickly port their stuff over.

There is only one reason why there are so many big-time game houses anxiously porting their hits to the iPhone: money. If the platform is big enough, there will be games for it. To spend R&D;money building a gaming-only platform is a waste of money for Apple.

No console. Not going to happen.

May 09, 08 - 03:46 pm Comment from: deepdish

But out the Wii, merge it with AppleTV. simple. done.

My Wii and DS are way better than anything Apple would be able to put out. I'll keep my Mac on my Desk, and my consoles in my Living Room.

His Steveness once said Apple TV was a ‘hobby’. Well games are hobby too; could there be hidden message……?

No.


Good lord, where do you come up with this stuff?

May 09, 08 - 03:57 pm Comment from: MrMcLargeHuge

I've said this for a while now:

Apple should buy Nintendo. They have similar philosophies regarding their respective markets.

May 09, 08 - 03:59 pm Comment from: Bobby Skinner

I think Apple should get into the game console market, but they have to do it for the right reasons and in the right way. The reason is simple to increase Mac market share. My logic is pretty simple here. Go find someone who likes windows. You will find that they fall into one of two camps:

They do not know enough about the mac to make the call

or

They are computer gamers

If they are the former, chances are they take the advice of the later on computer purchases.

If Apple created a game console built on OS X, they could encourage more game companies to support the mac. This gets the geeks in line and they would then start to recommend Apple. Gaming is the only place where Microsoft has an advantage (albeit due to their market share advantage).

If Apple were to do a console, they would have to do it in a very Apple way. That is they need to make some solid games that are a cut above to release when the console debuts. They can't have even a day without several "killer app" games.

I think we have to look at this from the hardware volume perspective and measure it against Apple's 3 fundamentals for entering a space.

It appears the entire market is 10-20 million units a year. That Apple would go after the billion unit annual cell phone market space suggests the game hardware market is far too small.

Jobs seeks out markets that are not dominated, whose participants are comparatively weaker financially, and where Apple would be able to dominate the space for a period sufficient to reap a significant return on their investment to develop intellectual property.

The cable and satellite media companies are vulnerable. That is where he is going.

I think it would be better in that case if Nintendo bought Apple.

Please no....that's the last thing Apple should waste it's resources on.

Won't happen. As likely as Apple getting into the Chinese restaurant business and selling Apple-branded pupu platters.

Should Apple release a game console?

As a dedicated console, ABSOLUTELY NOT.

What next, Steve Jobs as a late entry to the 2008 presidential race?? Both arenas have established players, rabid supporters, and a bitter fight to win. Why jump into such a melee?

What Apple should do is leverage Apple TV better as a home-entertainment device. Don't even bother wooing the gamer propeller-heads, 'cause you'll never win.

Make it a console for the rest of us.

May 09, 08 - 05:46 pm Comment from: Mac-nugget

Should Apple start it's own airline?

How about it's own cab service? Pizza franchisee?

Let Microsoft compete in everything, not Apple.

Come on, Apple should not enter the console market. They dont have the games people want to play. Come on if it was not for Halo. not that great a game anyways, very overrated. Xbox would have fell from the start. Nintendo and Sony have their properties on lock. From Mario to Zelda and Metal Gear and Final fantasy.

I think Philip makes the best point.

Steve Jobs has said on a few occasions that Apple enters into markets where it can add value and do something new.

Take video game consoles. Are they particularly difficult to use? Nope. Are the graphics poor? Nope. Are the controllers unintuitive? Yes. Is Nintendo already working on this? Yes.

So where is Apple going to add value to a video game console?

See, this is where analysts tend to not get Apple. "Apple should be in industry X because there's money to be made." But the whole point is that Apple makes products that are better than the competition. Making a "Me too" device with an Apple logo is only going to sell to the fanbois.

Apparently the author hasn't done his research. The video console game market is stagnant – basically the same number of people buying new games. No growth has occurred in the traditional gaming demographics.

Nintendo is on the right track to break out of the traditional gamer demographic and attract new game players. Apple would have to do something completely different, and it would be a huge risk.

Much better to simply create the iPhone/iPod Touch to be fantastic portable gaming machines and let game developers adapt their products to Apple's existing products.

Finally, Apple doesn't lose money on hardware. Game consoles are, for the most part, loss leaders, with the profits coming from licensing to game developers (again, Nintendo is an exception here). Apple wouldn't play that game, which means they would have to change an entire industry. Apple's already doing that with the mobile phone market, so it may not want to take on re-creating two markets at once.

No... work on getting more games for Mac first.

I agree with Phillip and I must add that CNET generally sucks big time.

There, I said it.

And Ina Fried is STILL a man.

May 09, 08 - 09:12 pm Comment from: TowerTone

Mark S. (Shuffield?)

I'll have to take your word about Ina.....

I have been PC gaming as long as there have been PCs. As much as I love PC gaming on my SLI rig at 2560x1600 resolution, I hate Windows instability. Windows and PC systems are no where near as dependable as Macs. If Apple brought a scalable gaming platform to market, then I would consider it.

Would Apple enter this market? I doubt it. Entertaining the idea is fun though. Gaming on a system built around OS X at 2560x1600, with hardware that I can max out to achieve brilliant details and high frame rates would be great!

There are parallels between Steam and iTunes that some need to consider. I could see where Apple would sell games on iTunes, much like Steam. This would work well if they had a decent console that could game at 1080p (I want 1600p).

I am not a console gamer, so I do not know what the web browsing experience is like. I would imagine that an Apple console web browsing experience would be like that of the iPhone compared to the Blackberry.

considering that sony and msft both subsidise/d their consoles, I can't see how apple would be too interested in this already saturated market. the thing with mp3 players and phones is that there was already a highly diverse market before apple came to bat. the game console is what? 3 major players? forget it. too hard basket. work on stuff where they can dominate. console market is too dependant on third party companies. apple has never been dependant in that way

May 10, 08 - 01:08 am Comment from: iDon't

A porn game would be nice.

iDon't...
Get into Second Life

A dedicated games console? Why on Earth would they do that for the home. The obvious answer is to hit the same market from a different direction that will have the benefit of expanding use of Apple's other products which is precisely the approach they have taken up to now while exploiting a gap in the market.

That means using their motion and interactive patents to create controllers or similar devices for Apple TV and Macs generally that will give NWi like enjoyment to 2 existing products that will spur sales of both products without going out on a limb. Fact is games are a vital aspect of the pc that will always limit sales of macs until it is addressed. What better way than to give a games experience that cannot be equalled on a pc. That strategy will cover the games experience on a computer and on a tv with one family of device without actually having to commit to another product range altogether. This will simply make existing products all the more desirable and flexible and hit the pc via its weak underbelly yet at the core of its one advantage in the home especially among younger users.

On the mobile front it may be a little less obvious what track to take. However initially using the innate and mostly exclusive capabilities of next generation iPhone and Touch will be expand the games experience there. However a dedicated mobile games product which is still an iPod/iPhone too, might be worthwhile here eventually, allowing it to do for the mobile market what the wi does for the console market before, Nintendo takes that opportunity over too, or indeed the laggards to catch up on the concept they previously missed altogether. If that is the next step, November to January might be a good time to launch it in an ideal World. Developments next month with the SDK will perhaps enlighten us a little more as to that likelyhood.

May 10, 08 - 09:33 am Comment from: Mr. Reeee

A game console? In an already over-saturated market? Why?

Apple could partner with Sony. Merge TV and the PS3.

Better yet, how about Apple just support Mac game developers so they release Mac games concurrently with Pee Sea games. It would be cheaper and more effective.

The only way that Apple should release a game console is if it played Xbox 360 AND PS3 games. Two platforms are enough, people only have so much space in there entertainment console to fit a Receiver, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, etc. AND an Apple console?

There's just no market for a 4th "Game Console" in the market.

The Industry Standard needs it's writer's head examined. What a stoopid article. Why bother even explaining the moronic nature of this specious speculation. Another tech mag I won't bother reading.

Do other folks get the idea that technology journalism is getting so incredibly LAME that we are having a proliferation of Dvorak quality articles that have nothing to say and are merely DESPERATE attempts to have SOMETHING to publish?!

:-Q********

Apple enters new markets when they know they can bring a major advantage to bear: when other vendors have really screwed the pooch, like the MP3 players or cell phones.

Game consoles are a crowded market, with Nintendo doing a very good job on the lower end, and Microsoft losing money hand over fist with their subsidized auto-bricking Xbox.

Apple's got plenty to do between the iPhone, the iPod, their pro and home software lines, and offering refuge to the Windows sufferers. Adding a game console to their lineup isn't a great use of their resources.

-jcr

I was laughing my head off when I saw this. They would probly encrypt the console so you can only play games they make like they did for my Classic. I love mac but damb. Leave gaming to PC's....

May 12, 08 - 01:22 pm Comment from: NCIceman

Personally I'd rather see more native game development for the Mac, but if they did I bet it would be a apple TV-like device based on OS/X and thus mac-compatible...