What if Apple and/or Google released a gaming console?

[Auberon]

Apple I wouldn't care, as the entire IP is a closed system and fans know it. Google on the other hand would integrate Google+ onto it as with everything else, and I wouldn't touch with an eleven-foot pole.

 

[Alfador_VII]

Let's see a Google console would be Android based, and probably fairly powerful, like a beefed up Ouya.

In fact it would probably be pretty close to a PC, just with Android (which is based on the Linux core). Basically it's a Steam box with a different UI, and a different game store.

 

[Frezzato]

Spoiler

Apple won't. Or rather, they did.

Steve Jobs tried, and his console failed. He refused to acknowledge gaming until his death. In fact, he felt the industry had no future.

Apple is following his doctrine. Apple doesn't care for gaming, they don't even care enough for apple TV. if they do release it, it will be DOA just like the pippin.

Google is the same. Their console will be DOA once anyone brings up the NSA.

Sony and Microsoft lost billions on consoles. With their divisions lacking any real profit to dig themselves out of the hole in a timely manner. There is no way anyone will try to touch console gaming with a 10 foot pole after seeing how Sony is struggling financially and the xbox too.

Going into consoles is a sure fire way to make your stock price take a nosedive after telling investors how much consoles require to make and maintain.

Frankly, phone games have taken away any reason to do anything with consoles. They already own the market anyway, so console profits are chump change.

FYI, Steve Jobs had been fired from Apple years before the Pippin was released, and he returned just as the Pippin was abandoned. Everything involving the Pippin happened under the watch of a different CEO, Michael Spindler.

And "phone games have taken away any reason to do anything with consoles"? Yes, I suppose you're right. Fruit Ninja has completely taken all the fans away from FIFA, Halo, Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto V. Rockstar is shaking in its collective boots right now.

Since Supercell beats GTA V in pure profit, why bother with console gamers? Mobile games make so much money why bother spending billions in R&D and marketing for consoles?[...]

Because most gamers don't want to play a game on a 5-inch screen and have their inputs limited to two fingers while holding a phone/tablet at a specific angle.

Using your own argument, why make PC games at all?

So why do people continue to make PC games? Because the market demands it. Just like the market demands consoles, just like another portion of the market demands smart phones. The past two weeks have proven that people still want consoles. The sooner you accept the fact that other people want things that are different than your own tastes, the sooner you'll no longer have a problem with people spending their own money the way they choose.

 

[Frezzato]

snip

Forget this. Let's just flip a coin. Best two out of three determines if consoles are evil. If the coin is Bush, consoles are bad. If the coin flips as John Kerry, consoles are not bad.

Ready? [http://www.random.org/coins/?num=1&cur=20-novelty.voting-2004]

Back on topic though, Apple and Google will probably never join the console market simply because it's already too crowded.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Apple? I wouldn't buy it. Though I can't escape the feeling that people would actually buy an expensive console made by Apple just because its Apple. I remember reading about companies like EA are planing on making mobiles a priority. It might not be too long before AAA's get ports to android and iOS given the rate mobile tech is moving. So Google's console could just be boxes that run android, use controllers, and play Android ports of games

New consoles from apple and/or Google would be great because it would be more competition in the market which is great for consumers. It would create a new kinds of arms race to make the best kind of console that would appeal to the widest audience.

This^. I want competition. The reason Microsoft and Apple have their panties in a bunch over Google is because they're trying new things and they're losing customers to Google's free services. Microsoft has been flopping around like a fish out of water for years and while I like Sony's products, there isn't much driving the market. Not to mention Nintendo is in a league of their own now

Imagine a console in which you could upgrade key components over time, had several online stores to allow for shopping at competitive prices (outside of store exclusives), and was an open platform that allowed for all games. That would be an amazing console, but then Im pretty much describing a PC there.

A pc that's cheap, plays games, uses less power, comes in a smaller box, and with a free, light, open source OS? Sounds like my kind of computer.

 

[runic knight]

Apple? A console that is only a console? Not in a million years. They want their all in one machines, so they will stick with the phones and pads for gaming. Not bad I suppose, but apple will not make an actual console because of it.

Google? Why is the 7 hells would I ever trust them to make a gaming console? You seen what they keep doing to youtube every couple months? And their habit of collecting information? Why would anyone want a company that refuses to not break what is already fixed and who are obsessed with collecting personal info in order to market to you, in charge of a gaming console? And that is to say nothing of what their user agreement would probably consist of in terms of screwing over the consumer more. I like their search engine well enough, but nothing else about google is appealing, even though it insists upon itself at ever opportunity. Can only imagine them working in their own version of Origin that requires a hook up to your google+ account. Would not wish them into the console gaming market if the only way they could get in was after executing EA itself.... well, maybe then.

 

[Alarien]

Apple?

You mean that you wouldn't want to buy a $2k priced game console that couldn't play any games that anyone actually wanted to play?

Or is that the Mac?

Nevermind, can't remember.

As for Google, what does Google offer that I want to integrate into my gaming world? Some experience with Android?

The thing about Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo is that they have all established themselves in the market with, at least at some given point, the industry-leading console and a working history. They are also ALL still in the market.

The thing about Steam Machine is that Steam is currently the king with the PC Master Race, so that crowd will gravitate there, if the thing works, at least.

But Google? Yeah, bring that right on. Along with the Ouya. And that thing that Nokia made. Oh, and did I hear that Yahoo and LG were making gaming consoles?

Mmm.... give me more of those.

 

[Frezzato]

Apple? A console that is only a console? Not in a million years. They want their all in one machines, so they will stick with the phones and pads for gaming. Not bad I suppose, but apple will not make an actual console because of it.

Google? Why is the 7 hells would I ever trust them to make a gaming console? You seen what they keep doing to youtube every couple months? And their habit of collecting information? Why would anyone want a company that refuses to not break what is already fixed and who are obsessed with collecting personal info in order to market to you, in charge of a gaming console? And that is to say nothing of what their user agreement would probably consist of in terms of screwing over the consumer more. I like their search engine well enough, but nothing else about google is appealing, even though it insists upon itself at ever opportunity. Can only imagine them working in their own version of Origin that requires a hook up to your google+ account. Would not wish them into the console gaming market if the only way they could get in was after executing EA itself.... well, maybe then.

Speaking of spying, I wonder why nobody seems concerned about the LG TV spying admission from just a few days ago.

The lack of interest on the internet and even on The Escapist puzzles me...

 

[runic knight]

Apple? A console that is only a console? Not in a million years. They want their all in one machines, so they will stick with the phones and pads for gaming. Not bad I suppose, but apple will not make an actual console because of it.

Google? Why is the 7 hells would I ever trust them to make a gaming console? You seen what they keep doing to youtube every couple months? And their habit of collecting information? Why would anyone want a company that refuses to not break what is already fixed and who are obsessed with collecting personal info in order to market to you, in charge of a gaming console? And that is to say nothing of what their user agreement would probably consist of in terms of screwing over the consumer more. I like their search engine well enough, but nothing else about google is appealing, even though it insists upon itself at ever opportunity. Can only imagine them working in their own version of Origin that requires a hook up to your google+ account. Would not wish them into the console gaming market if the only way they could get in was after executing EA itself.... well, maybe then.

Speaking of spying, I wonder why nobody seems concerned about the LG TV spying admission from just a few days ago.

The lack of interest on the internet and even on The Escapist puzzles me...

Might be lack of personal stack in it. People either not heard of it (such as myself) or the lack of personal effect it had (as not having a LG TV would mean) simply meant they passed over it without much look. Give it a little more time or post a thread and a link and see what happens.

 

[Frezzato]

snip

I see the problem here. Allow me to clarify:

If any developer doesn't make any money on PSN, Xbox Live or Wii U, in the end...

I don't care.

Don't get me wrong, I do feel bad when companies go out of business. That's just common sense. I worry those people and I don't even know them. But it's about the free market and capitalism. If a dev cannot make money working a specific platform, then it's their right to stop working on that platform and go off in search of profits. As you previously mentioned, Phil Fish and Team Meat have gone their separate ways from Microsoft, but nobody put a gun to their heads to make them sign the contracts and NDA.

The original team that made Journey for PSN broke up (making Journey nearly bankrupted them because getting the money from Sony took so long) and the last remaining team members are seriously considering developing for mobile. You know what I say about that? Good for them.

You've mistaken me for someone who actually roots for specific companies, so I'll point out the badge list under my avatar. See that little Steam logo there? I leave those there as an easy way to let people know that I buy what I want on whichever platform I want. If you think about it, it all kind of makes sense.

So I'm going to take this back to one of my original questions. I let it slide, which was my fault, but now I'm genuinely curious as to your response.

Why do you care so much about what people buy with their own money?

And if you want to switch to personal messaging, I don't mind freeing up this thread from our rantings.
[hr]

In retrospect, regarding the OT, I suspect Google would also do very poorly with a console, not just Apple. The only example I can think of right now is Google Glass. It's probably not common knowledge, and yet easily verifiable (ironically through Google), that the asking price for the initial wave of users who got to use Google Glass for free, was $1,500 after the trial period. Considering that Google really is a software company, Google Glass is just another strange stop along their journey, including maps of Mars and self-driving robot cars.

If Google did make a gaming console, it would probably be by accident, privacy issues notwithstanding.

 

[Parasondox]

Apple? A console that is only a console? Not in a million years. They want their all in one machines, so they will stick with the phones and pads for gaming. Not bad I suppose, but apple will not make an actual console because of it.

Google? Why is the 7 hells would I ever trust them to make a gaming console? You seen what they keep doing to youtube every couple months? And their habit of collecting information? Why would anyone want a company that refuses to not break what is already fixed and who are obsessed with collecting personal info in order to market to you, in charge of a gaming console? And that is to say nothing of what their user agreement would probably consist of in terms of screwing over the consumer more. I like their search engine well enough, but nothing else about google is appealing, even though it insists upon itself at ever opportunity. Can only imagine them working in their own version of Origin that requires a hook up to your google+ account. Would not wish them into the console gaming market if the only way they could get in was after executing EA itself.... well, maybe then.

Speaking of spying, I wonder why nobody seems concerned about the LG TV spying admission from just a few days ago.

The lack of interest on the internet and even on The Escapist puzzles me...

Someone did do a thread on the matter I think but because not many people I think have LG smart TVs they over look it. In the UK, as far as I know, an investigation has been launched about that very subject of LG spying and South Korea will have a lot to answer for.

 

[prpshrt]

Wow there's a surprising amount of hate for apple... Having a console from Google sounds equally terrible. They should both stay as far away as possible from the console market. Besides, it seems like it wouldn't even be that profitable for them to start from scratch.

 

[NoeL]

given consoles are just consumer electronics PCs now i really wouldn't be surprised if you saw one come out of China or something

What, you mean like these?

Spoiler

etc.

With the former ban on international game consoles and China's lax stance on piracy there have already been a ton of ripoff consoles floating around China. Plus there's the Android-based PSVita clones that become obsolete by the time the package arrives at your door. There's seriously like a newer model being released every month.

OT: I can't see Google or Apple entering the home console market at this point in time, but then again I probably would have said the same thing about Sony and Microsoft before either of them entered the race. Sony had the right product at the right time, and Microsoft pretty much threw money at developers to get a foothold (a strategy I predicted as soon as I first heard about the Xbox). I think both companies are well aware that console gaming's going the way of the dodo so we won't see anything from either of them (though of the two Google seems much more likely to enter the race. Apple don't have a large enough portion of their consumer base that would be interested in a console).

 

[Parasondox]

Wow there's a surprising amount of hate for apple... Having a console from Google sounds equally terrible. They should both stay as far away as possible from the console market. Besides, it seems like it wouldn't even be that profitable for them to start from scratch.

The hate for Apple is mostly how they brainwash their consumers. Not Call of Duty/FIFA brainwashing where some fans think "their" game is better than every other game in existence (eg. some person saying "COD is better than Skyrim" even though those two games are of different genres and experience. I laughed), BUT brainwashing their consumers as if it's like a religion where you can't bad mouth any Apple product released, or you will be a traitor, pay for something extremely overpriced (£1000 for a ten inch laptop? No thank you), and think you know more than PC and Android users cause "Apple is pure and the only way to live and function because our apps will do every better than our own human brain mere mortal", like a self righteous mother fu... I think I should calm down but you get my point.

If Apple did ever try to enter the gaming industry now, if will just have people thinking they are elite cause they will pay over £1000 plus for a half arsed machine that won't even come close to matching a PC or a console that's half the price. Oh and of course each component will be sold separately OR if you need to by an extra controller or addition hardware, it will cost way too much.