Is Samsung creating a gaming console?

Rumor has it that Samsung is looking to jump into the gaming industry. Japanese tech site SGAME is reporting that Samsung sent out a notice to all affiliate companies notifying them that they’re looking into “the game industry ‘frontier’”, and that Samsung has begun hiring video game developers for first party games. Samsung is said to be looking to hire game designers and game directors. Samsung has denied that they are going to make their own game hardware, but we know that if it’s really in the early stages of development there would be no point in revealing it right now.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Smart TV gaming.

As always, NeoGAF is uninformed and behind the curve.

[lashes2ashes]

I agree. They are most likely just getting the people they need to make sure the cloud gaming apps work correctly.

[Tired]

Could be for their phones.

Shadowgun for the galaxy s3 was pretty stunning....console quality graphics.

[jadenkorri]

game companies are stretched already in making games for 2-3 consoles, adding another is not going to be appealing to them.

[Tvensky]

I like Samsung! they should create console! That would be very good for us gamers! More competition is better products! I still would buy PS4, because I trust them more and I know I get what I pay'd for...

[killerhog]

Having studios making games for them doesnt mean they could be making a console, but wants to start making their own games (first party) and make money from it.

Advice for Sony, start patenting everything, then sue Samsung for copying, worked for apple.

[miyamoto]

Sony experimented with TV sets with PS2 built in.
Like TVs with built in DVD players.

I always thought that was a nifty bundle of an idea.

OT

Samsung & Lenovo all have gaming on their TVs

Samsung & Gaikai
Lenovo & Android

I wonder why Sony has not implemented this on their TV sets already

[soniqstylz]

That's why they bought Gaikai

[ChrisGTR1]

i like samsung as a company but i dont agree with this. nowadays its all about software rather than hardware. samsung is a hardware company. much like sony. i think its safe to say that the 360 is a much better gaming experience vs ps3 due to the fact that MS did a good job on the software. like for example cross game chat and in game music has been on the 360 since launch. i remember on ps3 it took about 2 years just to get in game xmb(which even today is way too slow) theres still no voice messages and not to mention still no cross game chat. this is generally what happens when hardware company's make tech, they make the product first then think about how do we market this. where as software companys make a service and use hardware that will run it. im not a fanboy im just saying it like it is.

[dragunrising]

I'd like to add that Nintendo is a game centric company that still is reluctant to add persistent voice chat, and voice messages. I believe the voice chat issue with PS3 has more to do with a limitation of RAM. Sony would have added it if they were able. Nintendo on the other hand ignores almost of the advances in social online connectivity. Granted in still getting a Wii U however its unfortunate all the same.

[Irishguy95]

360 - iPhone
Ps3 - Android
Wii - 1990's Home phone

[Ju]

Some people missed the train. HW is becoming more and more second priority. It's the SW and services which go with it which makes a product these day. Samy would be nowhere in the mobile sector without Android (they were kind of successful with BadaOS, but nowhere close where compared to the Galaxy). Same with Apple. No OS-X/iOS no Apple. And MS is the third. They are a prime example for a strong SW company. HW is important to promote the SW, but the focus is shifting more and more to the SW package which comes with it.

It's probably a combination of the two, specs promote the company and the products. But a device is useless if you can't do much with it. Only Apple is the one which does both, HW and SW, MS is SW only (with HW as a by-product), Sammy is a HW company using (and customizing the OS to some extend - see the Note). BTW.: The best gaming OS is RIM's QNX based OS...with them not even knowing (lowest latency OS, full native C/C++ SDK, posix compliant - that's what developers like).

But with Win8 (x86 and RT) MS will go this route with their next gaming platform. Android adds more features in the NDK (which makes this more and more suitable for game devs) and, well, iOS...well, you can just port games to that (same there. More games use C++ with an ObjectiveC wrapper).

If Sammy goes gaming, I guess they are going with Android as their OS. But please don't make the mistake and use a Java based gaming platform. Nobody ports to Java...or actually companies do and then you have to maintain two or three different code bases...

These mobile OSs can easily be scaled to a console environment and don't carry the weight of a full PC based platform, but can perform well or identical. No need for custom gaming OSs any more. It'll happen. Probably sooner than most of you think.

To make one thing clear here...I guess this is necessary to point out on N4G...lol. I have a Vita and enjoy it quite a bit. It's an awesome device and I can only hope we are getting more devices like that. Sony will need to rethink their gaming strategy. They won't survive with a closed system in the long run. They are currently ahead - see Playstation Mobile - but it won't last forever.

[Belking]

If that happens the only corp that this will hurt is maybe sony or Nintendo.

[ceballos77mx]

If its smart TV gaming I think Sony has that covered with the Gaikai purchase, if its a console or handheld you could be right

[bangshi]

Before Sony bought Gaikai, Gaikai had already got themselves going Samsung TVs.

http://www.engadget.com/201...

Be interesting to see what becomes of that now, given Sony make TVs.

I wonder if they (Samsung) will reach out to OnLive?

[badz149]

OnLive is now dead in the water
no point reaching them THAT far down!

[Hicken]

What you wanted to say- without saying it, so you wouldn't look quite like such a fanboy(still failed)- is that the only company it WOULDN'T affect is Microsoft.

[ceballos77mx]

Well at least he tried

[Belking]

A samsung console would hurt nin and sony because it would eat into their japanese market. Japanese won't buy xbox but they sure as hell would buy a Samsung console. They have a partnership with MS and they don't see MS as a direct competitor.

[gatormatt80]

Samsung is not a Japanese company though. They are South Korean.

[wastedcells]

It's defiantly tied to their smart tvs. Not a console or handheld.

[KMCROC]

Imagine a gaming handheld device from SamSung that would destroy 3DS & cripple the vita . now that would be a cool start for them to enter the handheld first ,test the market once they have done destroyed them. Then enter the console market & happily coexist with your console brothers.

[violents]

Dude if a handheld from samsung could "blow away" a vita then it would be too expensive and no one would buy it. The vita is pretty awsome already and the high price point is slowing it down. If anyone came out with something better it would sell even worse.

[KMCROC54]

If they truly want in , i say do better than vita at same price but add on would be that it becomes a controlller for your Samsung
tv ,which probly has some console feature bulit in it to continue your game on the big screen without the need
for a second disk . now that would be cool.

[Ju]

Samsungs Exynos 5250 beats the Vita and could probably be sold for $250. This would bring some competition into the gameing market (already available in the A15 Google Chrome book or Samy's eval board for $250).

Consoles - as we know it - might be going down the drain. This might all shift if we would actually get a 3rd party Gaming OS. Android could be just that. The NDK gives you all you need to write high performance games now. What's missing is using the OS as a gaming platform with dedicated gaming services and a whole bunch of (compatible) devices (with some min specs the devs can rely on).

Same goes with actually consoles. Same OS can be build into all kind of devices. They are fast enough to replace consoles - or soon will be.

I would think future consoles are more like a SW than a HW platform. And you can pick and choose if you want a cheap one with lesser feature or a top end which plays super HD. And with that the business model might change completely.

[neogeo]

Samsung is the largest transistor company on Earth and now bigger then Intel. OLED screen on Vita is made by samsung. Ram. CPU's, motherboards. are all made by Sam. So they can cut the middle man and make a handheld that DESTROYS Vita for not only cheaper but they could even sell the hardware at a huge loss for shiz and gigs because they have so much cash. Just to get in the market.

[Oh_Yeah]

Except your forgetting Sony jacks up prices on most of their hardware especially tvs
compared to their competitors.I bet Samsung could make a handheld with the same specs and sell it for 100 less.

[violents]

It would be cool but it would have to be in a few years to be cost effective, that's a lot of extras to squeeze into a handheld and still keep it low cost. But i Do agree it could have some amazing possiblities.

[Ck1x]

I find it funny that you use a phrase such as "destroy the 3ds & cripple the Vita!" As if the Vita were actually doing better than the 3ds is right now...

[KMCROC]

Not to be a prick , but hows this i hope Samsung does make a handheld that will destroy the Vita & cripple the 3DS. Is that better.

[Ritsujun]

Phail.

[blackbirdi]

i hope not

[freezola75]

Samsung will probably end up getting in the gaming industry. I think that they do have the resources to accomplish this. However, if they are gonna make a handheld, they'd better throw tons of money out there for 1st or 3rd party devs because it will be just as hard for them as it has been for Sony. They will have to stick it out thru the "Samsung is dead in the water" articles because we'll will most definitely see them. That said, it's highly likely we will see them in the gaming industry real soon.

[kingPoS]

Looking back into the SNES & Genesis era, who could imagined Sony doing what they do now.
Given enough time, Samsung could one day hold a similar association with video games.

[Soldierone]

Reading this I got a lot more excited than reading Apple doing it. At least they are hiring gaming people and not touting Angry Birds as their entrance.....lol

[Nunchez]

Thank god it's only for smart TVs. I don't think we need another console at all. I'm struggling with two of them already financially.

[bubblebeam]

Agreed. Luckily the Wii is cheap, so owning all 3 wasn't THAT hard. I got PS3 in 2006, Xbox in 2009, and Brother got a wii in 2007.

This time around it's gonna be harder, as I want them right away. I got an Xbox late as I never really got to play the original, but I wanted Halo. With the Wii U coming out in HD, it's hard to shrug that off as well.

Samsung phones suck (IMO). They always break on me. I hate it how they use their own exclusive jack for the headphones, so you have to buy from them pretty much. Their TV's are excellent though. The only TV's I buy are Samsung and Sony. So I wonder if their TV's will appeal to the mass market.

[Oh_Yeah]

Exclusive jack? I don't think so. I have an old Sammy phone right here...Sony headphones or any other headphones plug right in.

[bubblebeam]

@Ockbar

Oh, I must be mistaken. The phone RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME that is Samsung doesn't use a standard jack for headphones. I'm sorry. I must be hallucinating.

[Nunchez]

Dude all Samsung phones new and old have the standard 3.5mm headphone jack. Any type of headphone/earphones work perfectly.

[bubblebeam]

@Nunchez

OMG. Wow. As I said, I have a couple of Samsung phones RIGHT HERE with me. I'm not saying they all have exclusive jacks, just that some do.

God, did I really need to explain myself multiple times? Or maybe I'm working for another company trying to make Samsung sound bad? God the internet is annoying.

http://www.ehow.com/facts_8...

There. That's proof. Happy? Yeah, thought so. Don't mean to be rude, but I really don't like having to explain things that are so very self explanatory, or at least not beyond rational belief.

[GraveLord]

If it happens, it won't be a for another 2-3 years.

If they do make a console, I just hope its not another PS3 or 360 clone. Multi-platform games are great, but console need exclusives too.

I could see Samsung making a digital-only console powered by Android.(I'm talking something a little higher-end than Ouya.)

[3-4-5]

If they try and compete against the Big 3 they will lose.

They need to make phone gaming...actual gaming by creating a Controller that is also a phone.

[aiBreeze]

Wasn't that what sony done with xperia and nokia dabbled in with the n-gage?

[silvacrest]

neither sony nor nokia did a gaming phone properly

it needs vita level hardware with PSP quality games, not ancient hardware at launch with PS1 games

[badkolo]

you never know, right now samsung is hot, they make good products, this could be like the days when sony came out with ps1, people would welcome a samsung console and samsung could pull this off

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

Console will be dead when cloud is full here. Ubisoft will have there games on every site. Not just a MS or Sony site or box.

[Ritsujun]

"thEIR"

[tubers]

They probably have at least an eye on the industry.. but I still think they'd be more focused on creating their versions of "Nexus 7" and "Kindle Fire HD" in the near future.

If anything, I see Apple being a more probable and scarier competition if ever it entered the gaming market for real.

[Ju]

You might have missed this:

http://www.engadget.com/201...

Or this

http://www.engadget.com/201...

[tubers]

Thanks!

I know of the 1st article and that isn't really in the "Nex 7/Kindle HD/VITA" price bracket.

The 2nd link could mean anything though.

[Ju]

That just means that the manufacturing costs for a A15 board can't be more than $250. And this can be an indicator, that such a mobile hand held can be well built and sold for a 0 margin at this price, or even less (trade number of units against remaining HW costs).

[aiBreeze]

That must mean Apple are making one too, obviously it's impossible for Samsung to make anything themselves anymore so they need Apple's designs to go off of

/s

[tubers]

TBH what you mentioned has some "half truth" ring to it.

Apple did "popularize" (mainstream) the recent smartphone design trend, powerful PMP trend and tablet trend.. the others "followed".

[Trenta27]

They probably stole Apple's plans for one. Bastards.

[silvacrest]

and apple stole designs from braun...

[StrawHatPatriot]

I have a feeling that Valve and maybe Samsung (more likely Valve) will unveil something gaming related at E3 2013.

[TongkatAli]

I want a Samsung smart TV :0

[TBONEJF]

Oh please don't even go there. Pretty soon we will start seeing M$ suing SAMUNG and they would say YOU COPY OUR XBOX CONSOLE then gets them to pay a fine like they way the greedy FRUIT APPLE gets the billion of dollars from SAMSUNG please don't even go their we have 3 GREAT CONSOLE from 3 great companies

[tiffac008]

I dunno, console gaming ain't a big thing in South Korea and I doubt Samsung will create a device that will not sell well locally.

[silvacrest]

it does not matter where samsung are located or how the gaming scene is in S korea, they are a multinational company, same as sony or microsoft

they sell their devices all over the globe

[tiffac008]

Maybe but I still doubt any company will create something that does not meet their local taste. I just don't see the Koreans being being fans of console gaming to even think of creating one.

Maybe a smartphone or a tablet that is for high end gaming but a stand alone console or dedicated gaming device. I have my doubts.

[TheDivine]

Prob for tv's or phones but i love the idea of more consoles. Never understood why theres a billion different dvd players but only 2/3 consoles. Make a console and 3rd parties will publish games. They need a few exclusives but it would be good for compitition, maybe not for my wallet though.

I think were heading toward a few more systems more like an OS similar to android or steam which run on different hardware. Yea there will be the iphone (360/ps3 propietary locked systems) but the os that runs on standard systems will be big if companies grow a pair. It would def work better for DD as games could be similar to a pc with settings for different consoles instead of having to utalise dvd or bluray which could complicate things. Would be cool to see im all fo it.

[Chrono]

Maybe a new Android smartphone/tablet with game buttons, like Sony Xperia Play, because Xperia Play is kinda outdated now and needs a replacement.

[silvacrest]

because of how well samsung are doing with mobile phones, if they are going into gaming im pretty sure it will be something like the xperia play, except not out dated at launch

[RFornillos4]

would really be a news if it's true... but for now, i doubt it. samsung, lately has been poised to create mobile devices that rivals the iPhone (i.e. Samsung Galaxy S3), and iPad; their Series 7 and 9 laptops are also comparable to Macbooks; so my guess is, Samsung may just be expanding their horizons in terms of support for their mobile devices. of course their mobile devices are powered by Android and Windows, and any app made for those will surely work with Samsung's but they may be looking into exclusive deals with developers.

not to mention they've been adding way too many features with their Smart TV including a camera that works a lot like Sony's eyetoy or MS' Kinect, but used for controlling TV functions -- we could be seeing Smart TV-apps or downloadable games that's motion-based like Kinect.