The Apple bit comes in at around 1:45 http://www.gametrailers.com/video/episode-130-pach-attack/703904 Pachter thinks that they might enter at around 2015-2020, though he thinks that they'll fail the first time around. He sees potential problems in lack of software support, among other things. Your thoughts? Could Apple join in and compete with Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony in the future?
Its pure speculation and guesswork. World can change upside down in 10 years. Its a lucrative business and Apple has shown interest in a lot of areas where no one really thought they'll ever go for. So ya, there is a good chance Apple might enter the console business. But no one can ever know. Atleast not 5 years in advance. I doubt even Steve Jobs will be sure himself right now even if they are working on a console. Apple has worked on many projects and left them midway when they didnt find it good enough for them. As far as this Patcher guy is concerned, did he also make the announcement that world will end in 2012? Wont be surprised if he did
I dont think Apple will ever make a traditional console. Apple likes to reinvent things, so I think the next revision of the Apple TV (after the one they just announced) will be Apple's backdoor entry into console gaming. I think once Airplay becomes fast enough to stream games, you'll be streaming them from your iphone or ipad, to your apple TV, using the iphone or ipad as a controller. And that will make ALL of their products (continue) to sell like hotcakes. This guy is right about one thing... Apple wants to sell hardware. And this is how they will do it.
He wasn't exactly announcing a new Apple console, he was just answering on what he thought about it. It's Gametrailers, not Pocketgamer .
I don't think this is going to happen, except perhaps accidentally (the way Apple got into gaming with the iPhone IMO). Here's why: Apple has already failed in this market, pre-Jobs (remember the Pippin?). Since Jobs, Apple has generally not released intentionally money-losing products. Both MS and Sony have lost a bundle with their current-gen consoles; only recently have they started to pay off for them. By contrast, Apple has made money with the iPod, iPhone, iMacs, etc. from day one. The few money-losing products they've released since Jobs (Xserve, AppleTV), have been labeled as "hobbies" or "experiments" and they've involved fairly small investments. Apple tends to jump into a market if it feels like it can make a distinct contribution to it. They strive to always be brand leaders/pioneers. You could argue that Nintendo already fills that role in console gaming. Steve Jobs is famously not a gaming fan. Now, 2015 is a ways away, and the market could certainly change (and Jobs could step down or die). But my feeling is that the company has commuted itself to generalized devices, rather than dedicated ones. Perhaps if the AppleTV gets an App Store (or if it becomes fully integrated into, say, OnLive), it could become a de-facto console, but I don't expect the company to put the kind of effort into the console market that Microsoft did. Then again, maybe they'll just buy Nintendo .
There could be a connection between iPad/iPhone and AppleTV so the game you launch on device shows on TV and the device is a controller.
Nah I doubt it will happen. I just don't see it really. I have nothing really to support this, but like I said, probably isn't happening.
That's not the same thing. To use Microsoft as an example: not only did they invest massive resources in their dedicated debut console, they also made expensive deals with game publishers for exclusives, bought Bungie and Rare (and became publishers themselves), and in general made sure that the XBox would be taken seriously by the gaming industry. Merely opening up Apple TV to the App Store would technically allow you to play games on it, but I don't think that Apple has any intention of investing the resources to be truly competitive in the home console market. As I mentioned above, I could see a deal with OnLive to make the Apple TV a supported device for the service (just as Apple did with Netflix), but that's a different kettle of fish, as they say.
Yeah, one of the main things that was pointed out was that it might be very hard to actually get support for the console. The Nintendo Wii has that problem too, except it has a lot of first-party support to make up for it.
Absolutely. If Apple really wanted to get into the gaming market at this point, it would make the most sense for them to buy someone, rather than build something. My guess is OnLive, which they could perhaps integrate into iTunes. But I could imagine a world in which Apple snagged a controlling interest in Nintendo. Financially it's feasible (in fact, Apple has enough cash in hand to do it), and I could see the corporate cultures meshing (regardless of Nintendo's "Apple is the enemy of the future" nonsense), but I don't know if it's even legally possible -- never mind that Apple has shown zero interest and the market would likely just be puzzled by the move. Still, I think it would be a far smarter move than trying to break into a mature industry like gaming.
