First off, let me apologize for posting old news as this article is rather old (but not that old, because it is from this year). In the Wii Rumors thread Blacknmild posted a rumor about some new gaming console that was in development and I speculated there that it could be from Apple and I went on google so I could research more about the aborted console that they were working on in the 90s. So I accidentally ran into this fairly recent article here that I don't recall hearing about before, so even though its old it was still new to me and maybe its new to many of you as well.
But anyway, we can put two and two together here. We have leaked info that some new gaming console is in development (but we don't know by who), plus we have this thing here from Pachter. So does this mean that this mysterious console is coming from Apple? It seems very plausible to me, because Apple has been highly successful with their Ipod junk over recent years, so they have a lot of money to attempt something like this. Remember how Microsoft was able to use its vast wealth to force its way into the console market and is now the number 2 competitor? Well, Apple is another company with a vast fortune now, and furthermore they also have experience with consumer electronics and whatnot so this is a very reasonable prediction one could make. Also, the Ipod stuff does do gaming, so one could argue Apple is already in the business of making video game hardware, so for them to take one more step by making consoles isn't really that much of a leap. So I think all in all this is very plausible.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 01, 2010, 02:51:55 PM
I don't think Apple's making a game console, and if they were, they'd be developing the chip internally, not using someone else's.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: broodwars on October 01, 2010, 03:00:06 PM
I don't see what Apple would have to gain from jumping into an already crowded console market. They function better making steady gains only going up against the DS/3DS (and the corpse labeled "PSP") in the handheld market.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: TJ Spyke on October 01, 2010, 03:17:51 PM
It's Michael Pachter, 'nuff said.
Fine, I don't think this will happen. These rumors have been around for years, I don't think Apple will release their own game system. You mention Microsoft, but Microsoft at least had some experience as they had been publishing PC video games for several years. Apple, AFAIK, have no experience making video games. The 3DO showed that you can't release a video game system and support it to survive with only third party games.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Chozo Ghost on October 01, 2010, 03:34:31 PM
With the billions of dollars Apple has from Ipod sales they would have little problem buying up studios and/or moneyhats to buy support for their console. 3D0 was a company that started essentially from scratch, so it didn't have the financial clout to buy developer support. Sony and MS were both able to strongarm their way into the market which is something 3D0 could not do, but it is something Apple can.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on October 01, 2010, 03:44:47 PM
Here is something else Pachter said just yesterday:
Nintendo says it will release its 3DS portable gaming device to U.S. and Europe in March, but Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter isn't convinced.
Speaking in an interview with gaming blog Joystiq, Pachter said that based on "how Nintendo does things," he doesn't believe it's "remotely possible they're launching [the 3DS in the] first half of March."
"I'm getting it gets delayed until April in Europe and U.S.," Pachter said.
Its Michael Pachter. Waaay more misses than hits and if he's the only one saying it, I wouldn't put too much faith in it.
Besides, wasn't the US/EUR release date for 3DS just March 2011? not the 1st half of March?
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Ian Sane on October 01, 2010, 04:49:45 PM
I think Microsoft benefited a lot from Sega bowing out before the Xbox launched. Three competitors seems to be the max the market can support in any significant way. Any time it has exceeded that we get hugely irrelevent consoles like the 3DO or Jaguar. Apple should only enter if they seriously think Sony or MS will exit first.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Adrock on October 01, 2010, 05:10:11 PM
Here's why an Apple console wouldn't work.
3rd party Publisher Executive: We have this game we wa-- Steve Jobs: No. 3rd party Publisher Executive: But you didn't even let me fin-- Steve Jobs: No.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: nickmitch on October 01, 2010, 05:33:06 PM
Ian's right. 3 home consoles are plenty. Apple couldn't differentiate itself in a significant enough way. Plus, if it were happening soon, Apple would've already bought a handfull of (small) 3rd parties. I doubt they'd make a handheld console either, since the iPhone and iPod Touch already eat at that market, and there's no toppling Nintendo at this point.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Shorty McNostril on October 01, 2010, 06:32:35 PM
I don't know. With the popularity of the i..... devices, they could probably make a serious dent in the casual market if they played their cards right. The casual market aren't really a mob that will stick to brand loyalty. If apple released a reasonably inexpensive system, I think they would do quite well. They could make a console that incorporated Apple TV, as well as have the obligatory connectivity to the iPhones/pods.
Actually, the more that I think about it, the more I think it would work....
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Adrock on October 01, 2010, 06:40:39 PM
If apple released a reasonably inexpensive system...
Are we talking about the same Apple? Keep in mind, I'm typing this on a $1800 Macbook Pro. It's a great computer and I'm a huge fan of OSX, but it's probably worth at least $600 less than I paid for it. My reasoning: Vista sucked and I wanted to try Mac, but that's besides the point. "Apple" and "reasonably inexpensive" shouldn't be used in the same sentence, unless you're talking about apples from a produce market or grocery store.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Morari on October 01, 2010, 07:01:32 PM
Unfortunately, anything Apple makes will sell (y'know, except their computes, lol). It's not because they make good products, but because they have a specific demographic utterly brainwashed. Over-price and under-powered... that's the name of Apple's game! Of course, Apple might feel at home with a console, they're locked down and regulated enough.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Shaymin on October 01, 2010, 08:30:27 PM
Pachter
/me closes the tab
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Shorty McNostril on October 01, 2010, 09:55:47 PM
If apple released a reasonably inexpensive system...
Are we talking about the same Apple? Keep in mind, I'm typing this on a $1800 Macbook Pro. It's a great computer and I'm a huge fan of OSX, but it's probably worth at least $600 less than I paid for it. My reasoning: Vista sucked and I wanted to try Mac, but that's besides the point. "Apple" and "reasonably inexpensive" shouldn't be used in the same sentence, unless you're talking about apples from a produce market or grocery store.
Sure. Why not? Like I said, if Apple played there cards right they have potential. Like Morari said, they have there target utterly brainwashed. That is one HELL of a big group of people. Even most of us here were going gaga over the iPhone 4 thread. And most if not all of those same people would faulk out the cash to get one. Their iPod nanos and shuffles aren't too unreasonably priced. They would just need to show some restraint for their 1st showing.
Think about it. They already have a huge online system established which they could integrate into the "iGame". They could use it for iP..... connectivity. Music, movies, hell pretty much everything. Considering all that can be achieved in a device as small as an iPhone, why couldn't it be done on a larger home device.
Look, I'm not saying it will happen. But I certainly do think that they have great potential.
PS. And I might just add in here that I am in no way an Apple "supporter". I have never owned an Apple device and have only had about 5 mins with an iPhone. The above thoughts are based purely on what I see when I look around.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: SixthAngel on October 01, 2010, 10:43:27 PM
Remember how Microsoft was able to use its vast wealth to force its way into the console market and is now the number 2 competitor?
Thats not really working out so hot for them. Billions of dollars burned for a distant second place and a future console seems like it will be very difficult for them, especially when kinect most likely bombs. They can't update the graphics because developers can't even really afford the current expenses and they can't do a Wii like jump because they just released their Wiimote on the current system. T
The reason MS entered was the set-top box future they predicted. Phones and pad are doing all those things now and apples already on top of them. The set-top box seems to be going nowhere
What could Apple possibly bring to gaming market? Their whole schtick is ease of use and Nintendo has been hitting that market relentlessly. Apple also has no way to release a console with a controller that is different, they would need first party developers to start it. They would have to have some kind of amazing idea to want to enter a market where people like Pachter predicted the dominant company would leave the business.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: ThePerm on October 02, 2010, 12:03:05 AM
Apple Entering the market could have an unexpected side effect of putting Sony out of business. Which would do great for their position in every sector they compete against Sony in. When Microsoft entered the console business it basically put Sega out of the running and of course shortly after the announcement of the xbox Sega went third party. Apple could put as much money into a failed console generation for just long enough to chew into Sony's sales. Microsoft is going nowhere, and Wii is such a great success Nintendo could run on Wii and DS money for 2 more generations.
As far as Pachter thinking there will be another delay on 3ds...fat chance. March in the U.S. Nintendo has consistently released products around March 27th(my birthday) for 15 years.
The Apple console rumor has been going around since the n64 days, i remember making mockups during the colorful iMac days
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Mop it up on October 02, 2010, 12:15:14 AM
Apple doesn't have anything to offer gaming and I don't think they'd want to spend the money to secure a whole bunch of game developers to get their system started. Besides, I already feel the home console market is crowded with three competitors, especially when two of them are so similar, it can't support a fourth.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: BranDonk Kong on October 02, 2010, 12:18:18 AM
Ain't gonna happen, cap'n. And Patcher sucks.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Adrock on October 02, 2010, 12:42:26 AM
Sure. Why not? Like I said, if Apple played there cards right they have potential. Like Morari said, they have there target utterly brainwashed. That is one HELL of a big group of people. Even most of us here were going gaga over the iPhone 4 thread. And most if not all of those same people would faulk out the cash to get one. Their iPod nanos and shuffles aren't too unreasonably priced. They would just need to show some restraint for their 1st showing.
If any company played their cards right, they have potential. Apple doesn't know the first thing about making videogames. And I'm not sure Steve Jobs' shrewd business tactics will work in this market. Exactly what could they offer that Sony, MS, and Nintendo don't already offer? I really don't think Apple can out-think any of them, especially Nintendo, in that space. Blind fanboyism will only take Apple so far.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Chozo Ghost on October 02, 2010, 12:44:08 AM
If apple released a reasonably inexpensive system...
Are we talking about the same Apple? Keep in mind, I'm typing this on a $1800 Macbook Pro. It's a great computer and I'm a huge fan of OSX, but it's probably worth at least $600 less than I paid for it. My reasoning: Vista sucked and I wanted to try Mac, but that's besides the point. "Apple" and "reasonably inexpensive" shouldn't be used in the same sentence, unless you're talking about apples from a produce market or grocery store.
The same thing also applies for the Ipod and Apple's other I products. You can get a generic MP3 player with the same set of features as an Ipod for considerably less. So all you're paying for is the brand name. Nevertheless, you can't argue with the results... even though Ipods are a ripoff compared to other MP3 players they are a very strong brand and people buy them up despite the extra cost.
I just wonder if a similar strategy could work out for them if they made consoles, where they would have a system on par with the competition yet it would cost more, but despite that it would sell like hot cakes simply because of its name.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Chozo Ghost on October 02, 2010, 12:48:07 AM
If any company played their cards right, they have potential. Apple doesn't know the first thing about making videogames.
Don't they own Pixar or something? It might not be video games per se, but its something similar. And like I said earlier, the same thing was said about MS/Sony when they entered the arena. The bottom line is if you have enough money it doesn't matter what you know or don't know, because you can just hire the talent. You may not know the first thing about something, but if you have the money you can pay someone to do the knowing for you.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Chozo Ghost on October 02, 2010, 12:57:51 AM
I think Microsoft benefited a lot from Sega bowing out before the Xbox launched. Three competitors seems to be the max the market can support in any significant way. Any time it has exceeded that we get hugely irrelevent consoles like the 3DO or Jaguar. Apple should only enter if they seriously think Sony or MS will exit first.
The video game market has grown a lot larger since the early to mid 90s. That's because of a combination of there now being more people in the world, and also the fact that more and more of them are gamers. If you look back to the days of the Atari 2600 and the NES you had only one single console that basically monopolized the entire industry, and the reason for that was because the market back then was very small and that's just all that it could support.
Fast forward to the SNES/Genesis era on up to the N64/PS1 and here you find a market that is a good deal larger which can now actually support two competitors at a time instead of one. Now we are at a point where the market is even larger and its capable of supporting three competitors simultaneously.
So do you see what I'm getting at here? The market started with a one console market, but then advanced to a duopoly with the Genesis/SNES and now we have a Triopoly. So doesn't it make sense that in the next generation or the generation after that we will be at a point where a Quadopoly is possible? As the market grows it is able to support more and more competition.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Shorty McNostril on October 02, 2010, 01:27:39 AM
Sure. Why not? Like I said, if Apple played there cards right they have potential. Like Morari said, they have there target utterly brainwashed. That is one HELL of a big group of people. Even most of us here were going gaga over the iPhone 4 thread. And most if not all of those same people would faulk out the cash to get one. Their iPod nanos and shuffles aren't too unreasonably priced. They would just need to show some restraint for their 1st showing.
Apple doesn't know the first thing about making videogames. And I'm not sure Steve Jobs' shrewd business tactics will work in this market. Exactly what could they offer that Sony, MS, and Nintendo don't already offer? I really don't think Apple can out-think any of them, especially Nintendo, in that space. Blind fanboyism will only take Apple so far.
But this is the thing. Do they need to offer anything new? Aside from the Wii, consoled have essentially been the same from gen to gen. Sure, they might have implemented a couple of new features, but essentially they have been the same thing: A controller attached to a box with a game disc/cart in it. They are played the same. They don't need to bring anything different to the table. Just bring a unit that contains a comparable amount of features and stamp an Apple logo on it. They have a large enough following that the Apple name will probably suffice for a while assuming they don't do anything stupid.
If any company played their cards right, they have potential.
Technically this is true. But is it logical? If Woolies announced tomorrow that they were entering the console market, what would we say? As you said, if they played their cards right then they would succeed. But what are the chances of that happening? Apple is by now very versed in the ways of electronics and gadgetry. If they really wanted to get in on the console market I'm 100% sure they could do it and do it well. The Apple brand is pretty much king of the world right now. I would say more popular than Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. They have a massive following on overpriced products. If they can pull that off to the degree that they have, surely they have very good potential if they chose to enter the console market.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Chozo Ghost on October 02, 2010, 01:34:44 AM
The thing that sets all consoles apart in the end is their exclusive system selling titles. People buy the 360 for Halo and the other exclusives, and that goes for the PS3 and Wii as well. Apple could make their console a must have item by creating or purchasing IPs that would be exclusive to their system. The reason you would buy the Apple console is because you couldn't play those games on other systems.
I think an Apple system would see a large amount of exclusive Disney/Pixar titles, and that in itself might just be enough to carve out its niche in the market. Apple could also buy out the 3rd party developers that are struggling right now in this economy, or if not buy them outright then at least purchase their IPs and get those developed for their system. Of course, creating new IPs entirely from scratch isn't a bad idea either... after all, that's how IPs start out anyway.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: ThePerm on October 02, 2010, 03:00:46 AM
im of the mind that the video game market can only support 3 companies, depending on how much money is thrown out if there are 4, then one of them will fail. Apple has always played softball and not hardball. If anything Apple TV will slowly integrate game playing ability.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: KDR_11k on October 02, 2010, 03:10:06 AM
1. Pachter is wrong. That's a universal truth of the universe. You have to get him drunk or off-guard to get him to say anything useful (like how the PSP Go is a rip-off). 2. Apple doesn't have a chance. The iPhone can afford its shitty gaming library because it's not primarily a gaming device but the culture of "it must be 1$ or I'm waiting for a sale!" that the App Store has created makes quality games a rarity as nobody can afford to spend much on a single game. Revenues are tiny and profits even smaller. 3. They'd need a killer app. A game that makes people buy the system. Who'd put in the effort to make a killer app that sells for 1$ a copy (and nets even less after Apple takes its share) if not Apple itself? Except Apple does not have the skills for making a killer app. 4. The pricing climate benefits Apple and nobody else. Apple gets to sell hardware at a good markup and then make money on its share of all iTunes sales, the developers don't get much money out of it. An app store game is considered a huge success if it sells 3 million copies at 1$ each and these successes are rare.
Chozo: How in the world could Apple convince Disney that there's not much money to be made by releasing their games on Nintendo's systems?
"Apple" and "reasonably inexpensive" shouldn't be used in the same sentence, unless you're talking about apples from a produce market or grocery store.
Yeah, they sell apples for 1 - 1.30€ a kg at the local market here. Really good quality as well.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 02, 2010, 09:51:37 AM
Remember how much money Microsoft spent launching the Xbox brand? They're making money now, but they lost billions early on. Steve Jobs wouldn't want anything to do with that; he'd rather stick to things that are profitable from the start. Add to that the fact that he's never been a fan of gaming (the Pippen came out during the period between Jobs being forced out and his triumphant return, when the company was run by a series of incompetent morons who nearly bankrupted it) and you'll see there's virtually no chance Apple will enter this market.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: SixthAngel on October 02, 2010, 12:01:41 PM
Fast forward to the SNES/Genesis era on up to the N64/PS1 and here you find a market that is a good deal larger which can now actually support two competitors at a time instead of one. Now we are at a point where the market is even larger and its capable of supporting three competitors simultaneously.
Haven't both MS and Sony lost money like its going out of style this generation? I know MS, like Insanolord said, actually started to have some quarters of profit last year but that doesn't say anything about actually making money overall. Have they made a net gain on just the 360 yet? I heard Sony lost all their profits from their previous generations too. That doesn't count money that probably gets pushed off into other divisions for both companies either. How is this three successful competitors? Its more like one successful and two on chemo, hoping they manage to beat the odds.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on October 02, 2010, 12:35:15 PM
People are forgetting that Apple just recently (re)launched a platform that does gaming. Apple branding or not, AppleTV didn't do so good.
Could they tweak that to be more gaming friendly? Sure, and they could make it so that every iPhone/Pod Touch is the controller for the thing, but it still wouldn't see any real gaming support (Mac are just now getting actual games and they've been asking for them for a long ass time).
And MS is no where near posing a profit on the Xbox brand, they've barely covered that $1Billion they set aside for repairs and now they are spending 100's of millions more on Kinect. They won't be profiting off the Xbox money pit for a looong ass time unless they find some Nintendo like success from Kinect and moving into the Xbox720. -=These are from February (forums stopped loading for me), but they make the point just fine: http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=18481.msg582963#msg582963 (http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=18481.msg582963#msg582963) ($1.1Billion isn't listed because it was buried in a different <read: profittable> department during a department reshuffling and renaming)
As far as Sony is concerned, Playstation brand is still profitable, but they have pissed away any profits since the launch of the PS2 in 2000. They've pissed away everythign the PS2 has done for them($$wise) with the PS3. All they sit on now are the profits from the PS1 era. of over a decade ago.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Adrock on October 02, 2010, 01:00:14 PM
But this is the thing. Do they need to offer anything new?
Yes. They have to offer something that the competition doesn't have, even if it's a killer app. Microsoft lucked out by investing in Bungie. Without Halo, there is no Xbox. And, as others have said, MS took major losses to get where they are today which is something Steve Jobs will NOT do, under any circumstances. That's why, for example, the iPhone 4 sells for over triple what it costs to manufacture. If you think Apple can sell a console based on name recognition alone, I'm sorry, sir, but you are sorely mistaken. Apple dominates 1 market: portable media players (or 2 if you count tablets as its own market... I don't). The iPhone is a popular smartphone, but it hardly has the market cornered. If we lived in Denis Dyack's one console future, yeah, Apple would probably do very well. Apple fans would just pick up their Apple console, even if it cost $100-$200 more and had a glowing Apple logo, and play Super Mario Galaxy 2 or God of War 3. But, we don't and there's no reason to believe Apple could release a console and dominate just because Mac fans and iPod fans stick to Apple products.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Chozo Ghost on October 02, 2010, 04:02:13 PM
Could they tweak that to be more gaming friendly? Sure, and they could make it so that every iPhone/Pod Touch is the controller for the thing, but it still wouldn't see any real gaming support (Mac are just now getting actual games and they've been asking for them for a long ass time).
To be fair, it was only recently that the Mac switched from the PowerPC processor over to Intel. I think that has a lot to do with the improvement in Mac gaming, because now that the Mac is using the same processors as PCs are that makes it easier for developers to port their games over, right? Another reason is that the PowerPC was rather limited in its performance, with it never managing to go over 3ghz. It just couldn't handle many modern games even if the developers wanted to support it. So only of the major hurdles that kept the Mac behind for many years has finally been lifted.
Honestly, I hope the Mac becomes very successful in time and whittles away Windows market share. A monopoly is never a good thing for any industry and MS has been dominating computers for far too long and have destroyed many companies along the way (Netscape, etc.) So if the Mac succeeds in a big way that would be a great thing for everyone, but for that to happen I think Macs need to become more affordable. People don't want to pay $2000 for computers anymore, especially in this economy.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Chozo Ghost on October 02, 2010, 04:07:36 PM
Apple has a very long experience with making a computer that was in a distant second to the PC for several decades now. If they made a console that was in fourth place, I'm sure they could use their Mac experience to make it profitable no matter how low its market share is. Remember how Nintendo was in third place last gen with the GC yet they were also somehow the most profitable company despite being 3rd? That's the sort of success we might see from an Apple console as well.
Mac computers aren't owned by everyone, but there is a niche for them which is strong and insanely loyal. This means the Mac computer will never die no matter how little market share it has. An Apple console with a GC level of success would be the same way.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: TJ Spyke on October 02, 2010, 04:25:32 PM
Apple's connection to Pixar is that Steve Jobs started it after being kicked out of Apple Computer (before anyone corrects me, I know it technically started as part of Lucasfilm, but Jobs ought it in 1986 and re-named it and made it become a production company).
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: King of Twitch on October 02, 2010, 04:27:41 PM
So the pros are: -Can turn a profit and innovate -Unlimited kool-aid refills -Seeing them go head to head with MS would be at least entertaining -Lots of "secret weapon" potential (built-in Pixar movies, music, whatever)
Cons: -Lots of risk in area they have no experience in -Hasn't yet been a successful 4-console generation -Chip shortages?
Clearly it's happening.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Chozo Ghost on October 02, 2010, 04:41:28 PM
I think Steve Jobs is a really smart man and could pull off a successful Apple console, if that's something he really sets his mind to doing. Since he rejoined Apple the company did a 180 from being stagnant to being the powerhouse it is today. When Apple first started making MP3 players it didn't know what it was doing, but look at it now. Steve Jobs is a genius and he can get the Jobs done.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Mop it up on October 02, 2010, 09:46:52 PM
A better question is, would anyone want Apple to come out with a console? Do you want to have to buy yet another console just to get games that would have come to a system you do own if Apple hadn't bought them?
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 02, 2010, 09:56:40 PM
I'd rather not buy another console, just like I'd rather not have had to buy the three I have now, but if it has exclusives I want to play, I'll buy it.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on October 03, 2010, 01:04:25 AM
----------------This post is from around 1:35pm PST today (after Zap but before Chozo) --- my internet has been down :( @Chozo - can you stop double posting and just edit your previous post?
and Apple can't survive as a niche 4th party when they don't have strong 1st party/exclusive game support. 3rd parties are not gonna continuously make games for the 4th place loser without some serious incentives.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: nickmitch on October 03, 2010, 02:11:49 AM
I don't think Apple understands the concept of introducing a product and having to talk about it for 4+ years without redesigning it a few times. Like, Steve physically couldn't do it.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: broodwars on October 03, 2010, 02:17:00 AM
I don't think Apple understands the concept of introducing a product and having to talk about it for 4+ years without redesigning it a few times. Like, Steve physically couldn't do it.
Well, the solution to that problem is quite simple: Instant Consoles! They're out in stores before the hardware is finished!
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: MaryJane on October 03, 2010, 09:24:17 AM
It would be very simple for Apple to enter the videogame market. If Apple TV is even half as successful as their mobiles and they can release a dedicated motion control system with iPod/iPhone integration with graphics on par with PS3/360 before the Wii2 comes out they have a good chance at not only being successful, but of taking Nintendo's spot in the market. People who buy Nintendo consoles for the 1st party games will stay loyal, but casual gamer who own an iThingy will not and would rather support Apple with whom they associate cutting edge technology. Google could also be making this mystery console for the exact same reasons I've listed above but with Android devices and Google TV. If Nintendo doesn't get the Wii2 out soon enough (Like E3 2011) they may have spelled their own doom by opening the blue ocean; casual gamers do not have the loyalty of the hardcore gamer, they simply go where the fun is. Which is why games on smartphones are doing so well and eating into the portable marketshare. I honestly believe Apple's, Google's, or whoever else wants to enter the console market, their success depends wholly on when Nintendo releases the Wii2 just like Sony's success was due in large part to them getting the disc based PS1 out almost a whole year before the cartridge based (old feeling) N64. If the new competitor does no physical media (think buffering; while you're downloading the game you can play the early levels while the others are being downloaded) good graphics, dedicated motion control, and releases either late '11 or early '12 they could make a serious dent in the console market.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Chozo Ghost on October 03, 2010, 03:03:21 PM
I don't think Apple understands the concept of introducing a product and having to talk about it for 4+ years without redesigning it a few times. Like, Steve physically couldn't do it.
Well, the solution to that problem is quite simple: Instant Consoles! They're out in stores before the hardware is finished!
That's pretty much how it was with the original XBOX, where Microsoft basically just slapped together various PC components and called it a console.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Dirk Temporo on October 06, 2010, 03:13:02 PM
Wasn't Pachter the one that predicted that PS3 would "definitely" win this generation's console war?
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: TheBlackCat on October 06, 2010, 09:39:25 PM
I've been hearing rumors of an apple game system since at least the N64 era, so forgive me if I don't take this very seriously.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: Guitar Smasher on October 06, 2010, 11:06:58 PM
Wasn't Pachter the one that predicted that PS3 would "definitely" win this generation's console war?
That was all "analysts".
Pachter's the one that would say every time that the Wii's a fad, and that the "HD version" will be coming out soon (this went on for years). Then, when Move was announced he changed his tune and claimed that this was what he meant when he said "WiiHD coming soon!" No BS.
And that's just one instance of several where he lost all credibility. He's not as much a true 'analyst' as he is a 'personality', who uses any chance to market himself.
Title: Re: Pachter: Apple will have a game console soon
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on October 06, 2010, 11:19:22 PM
