Gabe Newell: Apple Could "Redefine" Consoles

[viking97]

pippen II FTW!

 

[Yellowbeard]

... i just wish sony or microsoft would attempt to make an PC like upgradeable console with a base gfx card and specs which could be upgraded as the PC's hardware becomes more and more powerful.

That'd just be a PC, except with the disadvantages of a console.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

If you think about it, what he's suggesting is that they might essentially make something like the Apple Tv but with more processing power, controller input support and access to the App Store for games. It's not that great a leap forward considering what you can currently do with an Xbox 360 with Hulu, but it's that move to pure digital distribution which might make it popular, ESPECIALLY for all the AAA studios that never stop whining about secondhand sales.

I think that's what's got Gabe really perturbed here, the potential for serious competition with Apple in the digital distribution realm.

 

[Wintermoot]

I think Gabe is trolling us.
apple and good electronics? and especially game systems? I don,t think Apple is going to revolutionize the gaming market especially with Steve gone (he had some interesting ideas)

 

[Jadak]

So... Guy not in Apple talks about things Apple could do, but that Apple has said nothing about itself..

So...This isn't actually news, this might as well just be "guy says random stuff about random stuff".

 

[Uber Waddles]

I love consoles, but no.

Consoles are already bad enough when it comes to price vs. latest tech. You're often getting inferior parts, bundled together, and sold at a price that is not market friendly for the consumer or producer just because that enables the massive revenue from software, digital marketplace, and peripheral sales.

But then APPLE getting into the mix of things? They are known for selling inferior products, with jacked up prices, just because of their name and a monopoly they hold on college software markets. From a technical standpoint, they sell trashy hardware, with simple software, for a price that would make anyone who knew what they were doing vomit in rage. And they want to bring that to the console platform?

Consoles exist so people can play games cheaply. Console gaming is, in every sence, inferior to PC gaming. I suspect people will flame without applying critical thinking skills, but it is. There is nothing your Xbox can do that my PC can't do, and better. BUT THATS NOT A BAD THING. To get a PC running well, you need to invest a lot of time, a lot of money, and put up with a lot of extra crap that can come from the thousands of variations of rigs. Consoles eliminate that, and allow gamers to enjoy games on a much leaner budget. How would Apple fit into this business model?

They don't sell any of their products cheap. Their biggest export is their name - thats what your paying for. If you had to pay an extravegent ammount of money for a console, from a company that is known to rehash existing products every year (iPhone 4S. Cough.), why sink the money into it? If its not cheap enough, it doesn't warrant my purchase of a console because consoles are the poor mans way of gaming. If its too expensive, why waste my money on a product that rivals my far superior PC in price, but can't hold a candle upto its performance. Entering the market would require Apple to COMPLETELY revamp their business model, their demographics, etc.

NOT TO MENTION, THEY HAVE A GAME SYSTEM. THE APP STORE. And while you do get gems in it from time to time, its mostly cluttered with crap thats meant as a time sink. Apples knowledge of the market is skewed by the indie and garage developers who make a killing on the App Store, by participating in some nasty practices. How many App Store games sell power directly? Is that something you want made mainstream?

Anything above the casual crowd, they'll drown. Make it too expensive, you alienate the core demographic for console goers while turning off PC gamers because the Price to Power margin. It doesnt make sence for them to get involved.

 

[skywolfblue]

Apple isn't overly fond of games.

Apple doesn't have a "killer game" (a-la Halo) that is pretty much required for a console to succeed.

Why would they target a market that already pretty much saturated? Nintendo has the casual market, Sony and Microsoft evenly control the hardcore market, there isn't much room for a 4th player.

It's not going to happen.

 

[Jadak]

So... Guy not in Apple talks about things Apple could do, but that Apple has said nothing about itself..

So...This isn't actually news, this might as well just be "guy says random stuff about random stuff".

Fanboy much? Plenty aware of who he is, doesn't change the fact that this is irrelevant speculation on a company that isn't his. It's baseless gossip, not news.

 

[Hobonicus]

No, Gabe. Just no.

Why must all developers eventually turn needlessly evil or just spout insane dribble? The last place I want Apple to infect is the video game industry.

...? Then it sounds like you and Gabe agree. Did you read the article?

 

[Snotnarok]

Their console would do well till people get sick of their usual nonsense. Release a slightly improved version every 2 weeks, and then be as restrictive as possible.

 

[Aeshi]

With all due no respect Gabe, you are a fucking moron.

Nobody would by it due to Apple being cool-to-bash and they'd probably try to hack it to come up with a reason for it to suck.

Plus even if it was successful previous experience with Apple suggests that another company will just make a rip-off with no OS and a certain symbol that's not cool-to-bash drawn on the back.

 

[MajorDolphin]

I'm sure they'd try to focus on "streaming" games which have very little MP use. Then again, stranger companies have tried and succeeded.

 

[Captain Pirate]

I don't know. Nintendo's doing the casual thing well enough, so Apple would be competing against a company that probably knows what they're doing. If Apple does create a console, I would bet that an updated version would be made a year later. It's just what they do; not understanding longevity.

I'm sure they understand longevity fine, they just know full well that annual sales and upgrades make a shit ton of money, and while people keep buying they'll keep doling out bit by bit.
Frankly it doesn't bother it's a perfectly logical business plan, and since these annual upgrades genuinely are upgrades, that have brand new or better features compared to their predecessors, It see no problem with it.
I'm pretty damn sure Apple have already got many products with suitable upgrades lined up for the coming years.

OT: I have no doubt that they could stake a large claim in the console market very quickly.
This wouldn't bother me, except I can see Gabe Newell's point, which is a fair one.
However, I'm doubly sure that Apple won't just make a good console; they will make a revolutionary one.
I'm excited; I'd definitely give a new Apple console a look in, except I think it'll be ridiculously extortionate.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

He went on to voice his concerns about this interconnected future and about the "closed" platforms used by both Apple and the XBLA. "They build a shiny sparkling thing that attracts users and then they control people's access to those things...I'm worried that the things that traditionally have been the source of a lot of innovation are going," he said. "Let's say you have a book business and you are charging 5 to 7 percent gross margins. You can't exist in an Apple world because they want 30 percent and they don't care that you only have 7 percent to play with."

See, the big guy knows what he's on about.

Pity about the Blackberry and Apple Crumble yesterday though. Hehehehehhehe.

[sub]Shit, a food joke...another bloody month on Ep 3[/sub]

 

[razer17]

The new Apple console is actually really good. It has a lot less games than the PS3 and 360, costs 3 times as much, but hey, it sure does look pretty. I also love the fact it's obsolete with-in 2 years.

 

[Srs bzns]

Yes, I can't wait for the day Apple launches it's overpriced console. And then re-release it each year with small upgrades while charging the same amount of money year after year.

Microsoft already does this. How many versions of the Xbox are there?
Lots.

Three. The old 6th Gen era one and the 7th Gen 360, and a slim version of the 360 released 4 years later. Nothing Apple doesn't do on a much more regular basis.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

On another subject what the hell is with all the weird unicorn profile pictures? Apparently I must be out of the loop on things, but its gotta be one of the strangest fads I've seen. Are all of those users children or women? Little girls maybe? Guess that's just the assumption coming from someone with no clue. But I suppose I didn't see an LOL cat until after they became a semi hated meme...

I have to ask, are you serious? Because if so, yeah, you are really out of the loop. A good year out of the loop, actually, which is an eternity in internet time. For a brief explanation, the latest incarnation of My Little Pony somehow managed to be a good show, and it's gathered a following outside of the target demographic similar to the one Animaniacs had in the 90's. For a more in depth explanation look at the <link=http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic#.Tpaml7IVGuI>Know Your Meme page. Oh, and if that's not enough to explain it to you, please do us all a favor and use the search bar. We were getting weekly threads asking about it for quite a while, and any answers you may be looking for have already been given numerous times. I don't want to sound rude here, but the repeat threads got to be pretty serious a problem for a while, and it's only in the last month that they've really tapered off.

OT:


I don't see Apple releasing a traditional console. I do see them releasing a future version of the Apple TV that plays games -- maybe even one connected to an Apple controlled version of OnLive. Whether it takes off or not, I think they'll probably try it at some point.

 

[Atheist.]

Unfortunately, Apple does not understand the concept of "pricing". Sony didn't either but quickly learned their lesson on that one; Nintendo quickly learned theirs as well. It doesn't help that it will be a first console which will require a killer app along the lines of Halo-level phenomenon at launch, they will have many kinks to iron out, they will have plenty of other things to do as well. Microsoft's Xbox came in with just the right things to get it chugging along, which is why it did as well as it did. I just don't see that happening with Apple. I am sorry, Gabe, but I will not be buying Apple's console until it has proven itself.

Plus, there's the whole "Apple" thing. You know, I've bought two iPods in my life, and both of them lasted about twenty days. Twenty days, whereas I just gave a cheap supposedly throwaway piece of shit that I've had for years to a relative of mine.

That is, if Apple is actually releasing a console.

I just want to point a few things out here. 1. Sony sold their PS3 console at a loss for quite a long time. 2. I'd hardly consider Halo a killer app, as much as a complete success in marketing. 3. Microsoft's Xbox (The original) was basically a flop. They ate their money for quite some time there. 4. Gabe never really said he would support an Apple console in the article.

 

[Pinkamena]

Hm. I foresee a future where the revolutonary console "iPlay" will be replaced with a new and "improved" model, once a year. There will be no backwards compability.

 

[jhlip]

What'll happen is Apple will release the console, then in a year sell it in the polar opposite color, then in another half year to a year, release the slim version, and then they'll add some other small "innovation" to it and charge full price again. Wait a minute, this sounds an awful lot like what Microsoft has done for the 360..........................................................................yeah, not gonna lie, with Jobs gone, it might happen.