Apple’s plan to take over the living room while destroying Microsoft and Sony

BGR: Let’s just be honest… we are at the absolute end of the road for gaming consoles. There is no reason that you are going to need a dedicated gaming machine in the next year or two — you probably don’t even need one now. What makes this more troubling for Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4 is that this big, heavy, bulky, hot and loud gaming consoles have to last for an extremely long time in order for them to be profitable for each company. We have been on a 7 to 8-year life cycle for game consoles for the last couple decades, and that model isn’t going to be sustainable going into the future. In fact, Nintendo can’t even sell its brand new Wii U.

This is where Apple comes in.

[NameRemoved0017]

Eventually the only option will be:
1. Buy a good computer to run the game.
2. Stream it.

I honestly don't think this will happen for another 10 years atleast.

[HammadTheBeast]

I dunno why people see Apple as such a big threat. Last I checked, Call of Duty was the biggest entertainment launch ever, and Apple was having a pretty major fight with Samsung, MS, and Google.

In the end, consoles are going nowhere, this same article pops up every few years.

Ignore.

[andibandit]

I think the author means that the physical form of the console is doomed, not that gaming like we do today is gonna stop.
Think about it: they're already putting built-in discplayers, webbrowsers and voice recognition stuff into TV,s....how long before someone gets the idea to put a console into it

[shoddy]

I don't play cheap ten dollar games.

[AliTheSnake1]

I really don't care if the future was streaming, clouds, playstation, PC or steam console, as long as there is AAA games that i can OWN and no motion crap.

[Diver]

Yeah apple tv howa that working. Apple is losing ground left right and center. When a friendlier faster spreading platform like Android can't then apple is gong nowhere.

[greenlantern2814]

agreed plus who would really want an iconsole from apple

[givemeshelter]

They also said this of Digital Downloads for games. Cloud gaming will be in full effect before this new generation is over.

[NameRemoved0017]

@givemeshelter

Nvidia has already said that cloud gaming is not for harcore gamers or PC so hope Sony makes a PS5 because I doubt we will see another real console from MS after the xbone. It is to replace the casual market that lives somewhere with access to fiber in the near future.

[HammadTheBeast]

No it won't. Once everyone has fibre optic cables and fast internet, sure.

[3-4-5]

People will always have a physical console and physical copies of games.

There will then always be a market for it.

They can't ignore a market they could make billions from so they will have to keep making consoles and physical copies of games.

People want A.....they want them to want B instead of just marketing A and making money on A.

They are greedy and think they can make more money on B, even though they are making Billions on A.

It's greed really.

[dedicatedtogamers]

"Let’s just be honest… we are at the absolute end of the road for gaming consoles. "

Aaaand that's where I stopped reading. Just because every wannabe tech-site is madly in love with making a yearly $500 purchase of the newest Apple toy doesn't mean gamers are the same way. We just came off the highest-selling gaming generation of all time (both for consoles and for handhelds).

We were told Apple was going to kill the DS, and instead DS became the best-selling handheld in the history of gaming.

Yeah...

[Kyur4ThePain]

"There is no reason that you are going to need a dedicated gaming machine in the next year or two — you probably don’t even need one now."

What, exactly, is this assumption based on? I can promise you I need and *want* a dedicated gaming machine.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Apple just dropped the atomic bomb on the gaming industry and no one realizes it yet.

Clueless people will say "but those iOS games wont complete with Halo 5 / The Last of Us, etc." But they're wrong. They will.

Steve Jobs conquers the gaming industry from beyond the grave.

[THC CELL]

Lol you need to go read pal, I will help u because I don't think you have a brain, Steve jobs hated games. Again Steve jobs hated games.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Steve Jobs didn't hate games, he hated buttons. He was indifferent towards the subject of games, but he also worked with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak at Atari.

And since you're obviously afraid of this new development I'm going to tell you something you don't want to hear.

Apple is going to knock someone out of the video game market. It's a guaranteed fact. That company is the current weakest link in the gaming industry. A company that has seen a lot of financial trouble. A company that already lost another important market to Apple in the past.

Here's a clue for the clueless, Jobs actually used to respect this company until they squandered a very important market. They had both the hardware and the IP to dominate an industry and Apple walked right in and stole it all.

[dedicatedtogamers]

Angry Birds made about $175 million last year, including merchandise and licensing.

Nintendo alone (not including Sony, MS, EA, Ubi, Capcom, etc. etc) made $8 billion, and that was a BAD YEAR for them.

I think you're terribly confused. Steve Jobs continues to lead the sheep from beyond the grave.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

App Store revenue was $2.2 Billion in just one quarter. There are a lot more games than just Angry Birds, which is a franchise that collectively has raked in billions. Call me when they have store chains dedicated to Halo or Killzone.

Apple Stock = $413
Microsoft Stock = $33
Nintendo Stock = $13
Sony Stock = $20

The industry has changed forever and as usual the fanboys are the last to know.

[T2]

Nope, its apple sheep that are the last to know .. Not one of those ios games is even remotely interesting and will never kill real vid games

[saint_seya]

And when u thought that u heard all kind of stupid comments... You get another that beat em all! Good job MultiConsoleGamer.
I guess that having the highest preorders of consoles in this days proves your doom #dumb# theory.
"Apple is going to knock someone out of the video game market. It's a guaranteed fact. That company is the current weakest link in the gaming industry. A company that has seen a lot of financial trouble. A company that already lost another important market to Apple in the past"
At least i know now why my mother told me not to use drugs when i was a kid.

[rainslacker]

"Apple is going to knock someone out of the video game market. It's a guaranteed fact."

Actually that's an assumption, not a fact. Facts are based on...what do they call them...oh yeah...facts.

"That company is the current weakest link in the gaming industry."

You mean MS? The company that produces the least amount of 1st party titles of all the big 3? Sony is currently selling more systems worldwide and more software worldwide than the other 2 companies.

"A company that has seen a lot of financial trouble."

What company hasn't seen financial trouble? From a gaming standpoint, they are all making money off the gaming divisions. I assume you're implying Sony. However the PS brand is one of Sony's biggest money makers. They have plenty of things to drop before they'd give up on PS. On the other hand, Xbox is one of MS lowest performing divisions. Many analysts have recommended that MS drop the line to boost it's portfolio.

"A company that already lost another important market to Apple in the past."

You mean smartphones? MS lost to Apple and Google in the mobile market. Or perhaps you mean PC's. Windows OS is taking a major hit due to tablets from again, both Apple and Google. Or perhaps the MP3 player market. Guess who lost out big time on Zune...to none other than Apple.

"Here's a clue for the clueless, Jobs actually used to respect this company until they squandered a very important market."

Yeah. Because that transition to a new CEO to turn the company around means nothing. Are you still going to be calling out Sony on their mistakes 10 years from now when they either leave those markets Jobs was talking about, or find a way to capitalize on them again?

Steve Jobs criticized MS at one point too you know.

From his biography
""They've clearly fallen from their dominance," he said. "They've become mostly irrelevant. And yet I appreciate what they did and how hard it was. They were very good at the business side of things. They were never as ambitious product-wise as they should have been.""

And he really dislikes Steve Ballmer

From his biography
"When the sales guys run the company, the product guys don't matter so much, and a lot of them just turn off," he said. "It happened at Apple when Sculley came in, which was my fault, and it happened when Ballmer took over at Microsoft." As a consequence, "I don't think anything will change at Microsoft as long as Ballmer is running it."

Not really sure what Job's opinion has to do with anything anymore though. The man is dead, and he doesn't make decisions for Apple.

[Hicken]

... usually, when an atomic bomb is dropped, the only reason you wouldn't realize it is because you're already dead. And, last I checked, consoles were still alive and kickin, and more popular than they've ever been.

Yeah, pretty sure this has been the best-selling, most even console generation... EVER.

And exactly HOW will those iOS games compete? By the time they're capable of stuff like Halo and The Last of Us, consoles will be doing things far better.

... essentially, you just talked a lot about nothing.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

No amount of "no u" replies, insults or denial will change the truth.

[jerethdagryphon]

No it wont . I cant imagine serius gaming using a I pad or a iphone as a source regardless of delivery method. If its just strwaming then why bother with the I device a smart tv a application and your laughing. I game on my ps3 rarly my pc

I own no apple products. I cannot forsee any situation where I would choose to game on apple

[No_Limit]

Heard Cliffy B is working on a big budget AAA game for Apple.

[wannabe gamer]

i hope he is, that way we can all forget him even sooner

[ssj27]

lol

[the worst]

AAA game and Cliffy B sorry that was 6 or 7 years ago.
Cliffy B is all talk

[cervantes99]

As soon as Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo put ALL of their AAA 1st party games on iOS/Android and they look like next gen or high end PCs then we can talk - until then GTFO!

[SonicRush15]

I never owned any Apple products other than an Ipod classic. We real gamers will always know the difference between mobile games and Console games.

[Roper316]

I don't buy Crapple products, they are over priced and only work with Crapples over priced proprietary add-ons.

[Loki86]

I'm sorry, but Apple has been bleeding stock the last several years. Google has surpassed it then blew it away with Android, stock have increased 350% over the last 4 years. After using both iOS and Android, I would take Android everytime and that is just the mobile market.

[mitchell1188]

I will ALWAYS have a game system in my house. And apple can ALWAYS suck my d*ck. I hate apple with a passion. My droid is customizable down to the very last pixel and I get TONS of stuff for free. I don't need apple breething down my neck.

[2pacalypsenow]

O please One of my ipod touch that I bought in 2008 is useless now since all the good apps require 4.6 or up . And a new ipod touch cost as much as a Ps4 and its only 32gb . Ipod products become obsolete so fast

[sway_z]

The way things are heading (in the near future), and the way games/entertainment/content will be delivered, it really won't matter what box or device you play on.

Then all these fanatical fan boys will only have '...who's Internet Provider is better?' arguments.

You think MS invested in 300,000 servers and Sony acquired Gaikai for fun? ...sadly content ownership is not part of that future....think an advanced Netflix for everything..Game Channels, Movies, Music/Videos etc, and you won't truly own any of it.

(in Brad Pitt voice)

'.....inevitable'

[GentlemenRUs]

Oh Apple, You and yer dreams ;)

Though they can keep trying, They don't stop for nothing ;)

[fullmetal156]

I own an iPad, and iphone but the games on ios only take up downtime like when im at work ill play wildblood or chaos ring but nothing really beats turning on my ps3 its just not the same and imho i dont think itll ever be.

[superterabyte]

Never bought an Ap*le product never will

[wynams]

DITTO

Apple has always been, and forever will be OVERPRICED.

[HappyWithOneBubble]

Me too. Never cared for their over priced, over hyped products.

I do like apple pie though.

[Triforce079]

WiiU will sell like hot cakes come the holidays and if Ninty advertise the GAMEPAD functions ect and all the games the console will have then it will sky rocket,playstation has always sold the most in the UK on initial first few weeks sales then it drops off badly,wiiu has almost 4 million sold already with next to no blockbuster games so its got a good lead and i predict big sales this holiday season for wiiu.

[DirtyMagician]

I haven't read this article but judging from their phones, if they ever bring out a console or whatever they plan on doing it will be overpriced and offer nothing better than what Microsoft or Sony offer.

[DVAcme]

The way I see it, Apple would, at most, maybe take a fraction of the XB1 or PS4 fans away out of knee-jerk fanboyism for Apple products, only for the console to fail because of lack of 3rd party support and lack of experience in the field by Apple. Any objective gamer would not look twice at an Apple console's direction. It'd be even MORE of a style-over-substance console than anything either Sony or Microsoft could dish out, and if we've learned anything from the iPad, iPhone and iPod, Apple LOVE their frequent revisions of hardware, while console gamers want the complete opposite in their consoles, longevity.

[skydragoonity]

This article is a joke.. Me and lots of gamers out there love console gaming

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Who would've known this came from BGR. I'm surprised Apple doesn't own them already.

[mt]

apple has along way to compete with especially old folks like sony and nintendo, but would love them to compete and would love to see what can they offer.

[Thomper]

that was possibly the most boring article I have ever read....yawn....apple...yaaaaa aaaawn

[SonyPS4]

Wait...what? Apple? I love me some Apple but they are one of the last companies I could imagine competing with MS and Sony, let alone dominate the living room.

[Ulf]

Whoa-ho! Look at that seeexy racer on the big Apple screen. Man, that racer is gonna give Gran Turismo 2 a run for its money!

Yeah Apple taking over the living room with their hawt, overpriced embedded tech... Yeah.. No.

Ouya is $99 too. How's that doin'?

[level 360]

I seriously believe Apple won't and can't pull this off.

Even with their humongous cash reserves, bloated egos, marketing PR-jocks and their fanbase' cultish behaviours, it's just not gonna happen.

[jaredhart]

I don't think Apple can compete with any of the big three. But you've got to admit, video games ain't selling like they used to.

[Red_Devilz]

The rate at which apple is loosing its Mojo, I highly doubt how well their next iPhone will be received (compared to their earlier iPhones).

Fanboyism apart, I have used several iPhones and recently switched to android and all I can say is that I don't miss a single thing from iPhones, in fact, at times I kick myself for falling pray to Apple's marketing gimmicks like piece of $hit aka SIRI. I feel sad that people keep jailbreaking their iPs, to make it just like android, but apple can't provide those features themselves.

Comparing features v/s features (market share and fan base apart), apple products are far behind their android counterparts in mobile phone sections. This lack of innovation and lack of "thinking outside the box" was something that died along with SJ.

I don't think current team at Apple can compete with anyone. The only thing that'll keep them going is their existing (and dwindling) fan base.