Apple presents biggest threat to home consoles, say game luminaries

Yahoo Games: Two video game VIPs are cautioning that the company could have a much larger and potentially devastating impact on the home console market.

Valve Software co-founder Gabe Newell and Nat Brown, who was one of the first engineers on Microsoft's Xbox project, have issued warnings about Apple's potential threat. The alerts come amid analyst speculation that Apple may hold an Apple TV-related special event next month.

[PSN-JeRzYzFyNeSt]

Listen home consoles will always be around, games made for PS/Xbox will never be outdone by games on iOS.. Plus i think next gen we will see alot of iOS/andriod games on the PSN and xbox live... maybe thats why Sony is going with a touchpad type of controller.. think about temple run on PSN being played with the touch pad DS4? =)

P.S. console will never die or be in danger.. and idk why ppl would want it to die?? we just have to keep supporting the great games we have on these consoles.. bcuz GTA/FIFA/Madden/COD. most genres for me are not fun with touch controlled and it just doesnt feel the same.

[PhantomT1412]

I agree, for me it's two different markets.

[adorie]

I've been following Apple for the last 6 months.
I'm not business savvy, but I'm intelligent enough to see common sense.

As we know Apple is sitting on 10's of billions.
We know their line-up has started to stagnate
We know their share price has devalued

Some interesting people within the industry(gaming) have come out and expressed concerns about Apple legitimately joining the industry, just to ruin it(subjectivity)

What am I getting at here?
Apple has been getting aggressive, towards their competitiors and within their own company.
Should Apple decide this industry is something they want to expand towards, then we're in for things we probably won't like.

People here are too complacent with how things are or were.. all the back-patting and reassurance doesn't mean squat to the tune of 65+ billion in cash.

I'll probably get disagrees, and that's ok. But even I can see them as a threat to what people call "The Big 3"

[nirwanda]

I think the biggest threat to apple is Nvidea, if all the new android smart phones adopt the new chip then you have a stable standard games can be based around.

[DeadlyFire]

I think personally Apple has a chance to destroy the Android gaming consoles coming up with their setup with Apple TV. Its a small box under $100 bucks at $99. It has no more power than Ouya(12 Gflop max) or it would cost more. Cloud gaming on it could happen, but its not 100% with bandwidth still a large concern for that.

[panbit86]

Yeah right... because angry birds and fruit ninja is the "future" of gaming! wtf?!

[CommonSenseGamer]

Yeah, cause smartphone and tablet gaming is all about angry birds.

My prediction is that both the next box and ps4 will sell less than their predecessors. Why? Because casual gamers are needed to ensure consoles sell ongoing. Those casual gamers have more and more options for gaming in the years ahead.

[classic200]

Actually casual got many choices for a while now and it as not stop console or even PC steam sales lol.

You make it sound like casual gamers care what is out there, if they did care then they would have joined forces with the nintendo fans and get some wiiu dont you think.

Zynga don't look too good also

[Hicken]

Actually, that's just about right.

The majority of smartphone gaming is simple little stuff like Doodle Jump. That's not sufficient enough to sustain the gaming industry. Hell, the casual market, period, isn't enough. It's caused a large boom in growth, but there are ONLY two options for the casual crowd:

Give up and move on to something else the same way they moved into gaming,

OR

Become core gamers, and want more than just little time wasters.

The large number of casual gamers WILL NOT sustain the industry, because their interest is only casual. It's passing, not serious, and not something you should ever rely on for any lengthy period of time.

Casual gamers HAVEN'T been needed thus far; why are they suddenly needed now? To keep up the same level of sales we've been seeing? It's called a "bubble" for a reason.

YOU hope casual gaming becomes bigger, because it's all YOU want to play. Casual gaming has its place, but it's not as a major influential factor in the industry.

Sorry.

[MaxXAttaxX]

You're totally right. That mobile Mass Effect Infiltrator game is so much better than the console/PC games.
/s

[CommonSenseGamer]

@Nathan:

So many discount touch screen gaming as nothing but casual. 2 years ago would you even have thought ME: Infiltrator would have been possible on a smartphone/tablet. Sure you were being sarcastic but smartphone/tablet gaming is evolving fast. Next gen mobile hardware will eclipse what the devices can do today and so open the door to even more possibilities.

Smartphone/tablet gaming may have originated from a truly casual background but that's no longer the case.

I'll bet if Sony opened the Vita to the Play Store that Vita owners would embrace it, not just for the games but for the many apps now available.

[MaxXAttaxX]

Not the point. I'm not doubting the success of mobile.
It doesn't matter how better the graphics. You can have any major franchise name on mobile, like Mass Effect for example, but it won't be as good.

Get it through your heads. A touchscreen alone is extremely limiting for gaming. And this isn't about apps.

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

If they made a console they would just attract all the casual gamers.

[RTheRebel]

so apple is releasing another apple tv?
and that is gonna be sort of like there console version?
someone explain =)

[PS4isKing_82]

Lol apple is part of the "mobile market"
They have no effect on console gaming as much as ppl wish to believe that.
No self respecting gamer would ever say, "fuck it, I want an iPad with horrible touch controls and angry birds over an actual console with amazing games and features!!"

Seriously, do these ppl even listen to how this stuff sounds in their head before opening their mouths????!!!!

[Tapioca Cold]

Amen brother!

I can already here those apple isheep at Cnet.com humping their igarbage and bowing to the igod in anticipatuion of this crap TV idea.

People who own apple are the snobs of the computing world. They don't game nor want to. They need their macs for design and editing software functions.

Stay the $%#^ away apple. Gaming has nothing to do with stature.

[V0LT]

No thanks. I don't want a $700 console every 6 months.

[barb_wire]

Pippin 2?

[fourOeightshark]

No, they'll get owned again lol.

[BitbyDeath]

Casual gaming will never take off, the crowd is too fickle.

[clintagious650]

As much as i enjoy the ipad & iphone i have yet to see ANYTHING that interest me in terms of games on either of those so i dont see how they would be a threat to sony or ms. Do I think they can do well in the gaming market? Yes they prolly can but we have yet to see ANYTHING worth MENTIONING from them unless u think angry birds is a killer IP lol.

[clintagious650]

As much as i enjoy the ipad & iphone i have yet to see ANYTHING that interest me in terms of games on either of those so i dont how they would be a threat to sony or ms. Do I think they can do well in the gaming market? Yes they prolly can but we have yet to see ANYTHING worth MENTIONING from them unless u think angry birds is a killer IP lol.

Edit: Forgot to mention nintendo.

[Klonoa_Dream_Travel]

..apple get out of here....just go home...just...go home.

[unjust75]

Casual gamers, a term made up by nintendo when they thought they had won the world over with an underpowered system called wii. Well that trend faded and no one even plays that gimmick console anymore. The point is no company should ever base its sales on people who ocassionally buy something. Andriod games suck and will never capture the feel of console or pc. Gabe announces Valve is putting a console out then lays people off and says there not making games anymore. Gabe is all over the place and I'm starting to dislike this guy.

[MasterCornholio]

If casual gamers become the majority on any console they will ruin said console. An example of this is the Wii which was filled with a ton of terrible casual games and the large amount of casuals on the Wii caused many 3rd party developers to abandon the platform because its impossible to sell core games to the casuals.

I don't mind that casuals have the opportunity to play games but I want them to stay away from my beloved consoles otherwise they will suffer the same fate as gamings most casual console the Wii and its successor the Wii U.

Motorola RAZR i

[Munnkyman]

I own a ipad and enjoy it. I tried playing real games on here like order of chaos and nova. Even though the games are good and I put time into them after a while they would get boring. Just ever single game it's the same thing I buy it play it the first day or two of owning it then I am done. It's just not the same thing as playing a console game and never will be.

[level 360]

No doubt about Apple's talent for natural progression but unless they would finance game developers to come-up with big new ideas to compete with Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and PC they would simply fail by just pushing for iOS type games.

Nothing against the talent behind those iOS games but mostly they were built for people on the go, so it's an outside environment type taken for granted game hence they are not really taken seriously.

[Deku-Johnny]

Apple doesn't pose a threat to anything, they're just good at pretending they do.

[unjust75]

Apple makes great products however I'm not sure about their future. I feel the snob consumers are to blame for this. They are the ones killing the product. I feel apple was doing fine under the radar. Before the iphone when they just focused on desktops and laptops.