Gabe Newell: Apple Could "Redefine" Consoles

[viranimus]

Yes, Apple could redefine consoles. Pushing style over substance, Charging premiums for brand recognition, Cramming impractical and illogical features down the publics throat, Overzealous restrictions on use, Overzealous patching things that werent broken. Establishing precedents dangerous for the consumer. And so many many many more ways.

Yep, indeed it is true, Apple certainly could very well redefine the console.

 

[Vigormortis]

I imagine it'd be a good time off, but there could be some truth to Newell's words here. I'm not sure Apple's dedicated induction into the realm of "living room" gaming would ring the death knell for other console makers, but it would undoubtedly take a HUGE chunk out of their user base and, consequently, profits. So while it wouldn't mean Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo would suddenly go out of business, it could mean they might go the Sega route. Pull out of the console making business and pool resources solely for game development.

Or, he could be way off base and Apple may never attempt such a move. I don't know. That said, Gabe Newell has made many claims and predictions over the years and, while not always accurate, he's got a pretty good track record for guessing correctly.

Finally, a journalist on the Escapist. Quick, catch him!

I for one would like to see an Apple console. Though, I would have reservations when it comes to their traditional OS, which doesn't run DirectX, but OpenGL. But hey, that didn't stop the Wii, which is also OpenGL.

Accept that, generally speaking, OpenGL is superior to DirectX. In just about every way. (ignoring id's God awful snafu with Rage for a moment) Hell, OpenGL had tessellation years before DirectX even hinted at it. The problem is Microsoft ran a rather successful "scare tactics" campaign against it in favor of DirectX. As a result many people, even some in the game design community, bought into the crap spewing from MS and have shied away from OpenGL for years. This has led to OpenGL losing much of it's support from both software and hardware companies.

Here's a better explanation: http://blog.wolfire.com/2010/01/Why-you-should-use-OpenGL-and-not-DirectX

 

[42]

Rant incoming!!!

Do we really need another fucking contender in the console market? it's hard enough being able to afford 2 let alone all 3 main consoles.

Apple should stick to what they know, which is computers and stay the hell out of the console market. anyway they make shitloads of money from all the casual game apps on iTunes.

Apple products are expensive, and if you live in Australia we get price-gouged by them anyway.

Yes I am a bitter Aussie about the price of video games, because i still don't get why Americans pay 60 while we pay almost 100. and no i don't want to go to a online order store to get it cheaper, I want to go to a store and buy it like a normal human being.

 

[Nurb]

No, that would be awful... what, a new console coming out every year that does the same thing while not being as powerful as existing consoles but cost more? An apple console would ruin gaming faster than the big publishers are trying to right now.

 

[Von Strimmer]

Now introducing the........ iConsole.

And in 6 months, they will introduce the iConsole2. Basically the same exact hing, only with a different package and more problems than the first. This will repeat for about 4 years, until they make the portable iConsole (Basically a repackage iPhone.)

Hey hey cut aPple some slack. They'll chuck a camera on the front aswell.

OT iDont care what aPple does to be honest. Actually its a double edged sword when you think about it.

1. Apple brings out a console and hundreds of new games are created to appease all the people that would inevitably buy the console thus creating hundreds of angry birds... I mean different games.

2. As above except that only one type of game is produced, rediculously expensive and then you get a million console angry birds.

 

[KyeMc]

I've never seen you before!
OT: Closed platform...platforms are really bad for a consumer, as they can't receive things other peoeple have on open-er platforms.

Like viruses.

There are viruses for Macs; there aren't as many, considering most people have used (and still use) PCs (which obviously makes PCs more popular for virus-creating), and because the average Mac user isn't tech-saavy enough to actually need viruses on his/her computer in order to either send important identity info to others or to mess up his/her computer.

And you can get all the good stuff that comes out on an open platform on a closed platform as well. In fact, its a lot easier to carry over an indie game to a closed platform than a virus. The bad of an open platform is always there, and don't try and pretend "the only reason PC viruses outnumber Mac viruses 1798454201 to 50 is cause "Mac users always screw it up themselves".

Well actually the reason is because PC still contains a majority market share and thus someone who creates a virus is better off designing it using windows/dos in mind instead of the unix based apple mac. This is also the reason why viruses are so rare on linux based systems. So basically if your gonna target a OS Platform you might as well pick the largest one.

But on topic i can see apple attempting to access the console market and it being a casual gamers wet dream but 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.

 

[theriddlen]

Ehh... every time people talk about Apple console they mention that machine made by the old Apple. Current Apple is a completely different company. The old one was a regular tech company that tried to make everything at once (there were tons of different products, and none of them were really popular) and suffered financial problems - and you should stop linking it to the new one. The new Apple was created by Jobs when he came back to the company - he thrashed almost all previous products, leaving only couple things that he thought were most important and since then Apple is doing amazingly well.

 

[Jegsimmons]

Sure you can play battlefield on it, as long as you agree to letting us own your copy of the game, your tv, your console, your house, your dog, your other apple products, agree to mandatory updates or else it wont work, sign up for a contract that cost 80 bucks a month for user plus an additional ten dollars for each item you own in your house including non apple and non digital products, You also agree not to use this device to help create weapons of mass destruction that are nuclear, biological, or electronically in nature. And also that when we raise steve jobs from the grave that you lend us your brain to feed him while your body is used for the human-cent i pad 2.[insert several pages like this] Do you agree to these terms?

 

[Jegsimmons]

whoops, double post. My bad.

 

[Ghengis John]

Funny...you can get Steam for Mac as it is...

Yes on your Mac. But on your Apple mobile devices there is no competition for the app store. Sabes? In this way it is similar to Xbox Live and hence what I perceive to be the true root of Mr. Newell's objections. I suspect Sony was conspicuously left out of console discussion (don't you find that a little strange?) specifically because Valve has made inroads onto their platform. With the absence of Other OS is the Playstation network any more open? Is Sony's market share negligible in the console market compared to apple's theoretical market share? No on both counts. This is about trying to make his economic issue a moral issue and to perhaps an early test of the waters of public opinion on the matter.

 

[Aprilgold]

If apple makes a console they'll be selling about 3 different ones ever year and people will probably keep buying them.

Not only that but it would double as a device no one asked or want.

Really Apple, I feel your console is going to fall flat.

 

[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.