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 Stephen Withers turns his gaze on the world of Apple, with
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Our Blogs Core Dump Apple game console by 2013, says analyst
Our Blogs Core Dump Apple game console by 2013, says analyst | Apple game console by 2013, says analyst |
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| by Stephen Withers | |
| Friday, 17 July 2009 | |
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Page 2 of 2 As for buying developers, that is an avenue Apple has taken in the past. But the strategy has usually involved turning cross-platform products into Mac-specific titles. For example, the acquisition of Emagic resulted in the disappearance of the Windows version of the Logic music software.Featured Whitepaper
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Major games are hugely expensive to build, so studios generally need to go cross-platform to maximise the chance of realising a profit on the investment. Apple's past behaviour suggest that it's not inclined to give away the razor and profit on the blades - iPods are relatively expensive, and Apple is believed to make only a small profit on the iTunes Store. And while the company took a trailing commission from AT&T on the original iPhone, it seems a more conventional model now applies. So it might not make sense for Apple to buy a game studio, despite previous rumours that it would acquire Electronic Arts (a company founded and at first largely staffed by former Apple employees), unless the company is convinced that an 'Apple TV console' could only be successful with major, platform-exclusive games. The success of Nintendo's Wii has shown that relatively lightweight casual games can attract much bigger audiences than the complex titles beloved by hardcore gamers. And - as we've seen with the iPhone OS platform - such games are within the capabilities of independent developers. An extended Apple TV wouldn't be Apple's first venture into the game console world. The mid-1990s saw the short-lived Pippin designed by Apple (based on the Macs of the day) and made by Japanese toy giant Bandai. And even further back, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs created the hardware-based Breakout game for Atari before they formed Apple Computer. |
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