Apple Gaming Console

Posted by Anand Ravi on August 7, 2012 11:32 am 14

I was recently thinking of buying a gaming console or building a gaming pc before deciding to buy a mac (haven't bought it yet though). But this whole thing got me thinking - how cool would it be if apple had a gaming console?

Apple has a lot of casual gamers trapped in its ecosystem. The app store is certainly doing well. It could usher the era of super fast internet and digital distribution of bigger games. The gaming console could certainly lure hardcore gamers. After all the ps4 and xbox 720 need some serious competition so that they remain on their toes. So here's what my apple gaming console would be like ( i like to call it the iGame or MacPlay):

Features:

• Hard Drive: 64-128 GB SSD (for super fast speeds)
• CPU and GPU: Whatever is the latest model. I would like it if it were built by apple itself
• No Superdrive
• Thunderbolt/USB 3.0/Firewire 800/ Ethernet Ports
• Built-in Wifi
• Controllers: iPad/iPad Mini (if the rumours are true) and/or traditional controllers + motion based controllers
• Online Capabilities - Facebook/Twitter/Gamecenter + Multiplayer/Voice Chatting/iMessage
• Compatible with apple wireless keyboard/mouse/trackpad
• Digital Distibution to be the only form of getting games (or maybe thunderbolt enabled small storage devices?)
• iTunes/iCloud integration
• Airplay mirroring support
• All apple TV features (maybe subsciption based)
• The same dimensions as the mac mini but with double the height

With a compact design similar to the Mac Mini, an apple console can change the gaming industry forever

Price: $299 for 64GB version and $349 for 128GB version

$59 for traditional Controllers and something about the same cost for motion controllers

Why it can be a success?

1. Its an apple product! - As an apple product it will integrate seamlessly with other apple products. All your music/videos from iTunes will be streamed to the device. It will be a quality product with a clean interface.
2. Awesome looking games - Think how infinity blade will look on a 40-inch display. Beautiful! You can control it with an iPad while others (and maybe even you) can watch it on the big screen with double the resolution. Big name companies will port their games over to the platform because they know its gonna succeed.
3. Looks - You know it. Apple makes products that look great. Some people buy products with eyes not with their brains. But it will sure be a treat for our eyes and the ps4 and xbox 720 will look pale by comparison.
4. It will bring hardcore gamers into the ecosystem - Admit it, if you own a range of apple products its because you first owned one apple product. Then you liked it, then loved it and then gradually moved towards other apple products. The same goes for other people too. If gamers are moving to the apple console developers will move towards it too.
5. Its indie friendly - Surprisingly, many of ios' best games have been developed by small studios not big name companies. That just shows how apple has embraces the indie market and the console is bound to do so too.
6. It could usher the era of super fast internet and digital distribution of bigger games.
7. Games will cost less - With digital distribution the only form of getting games the games will cost less because the production cost will go down (no physical copies are needed) and thus the market will bloom. Would you rather buy one great game at $59.99 or buy three games at the same cost (or even less)?

Awesome Graphics!

Why it can fail?

1. Hardcore gamers may not be prepared to leave ps4/xbox 720 yet. This may cause a great loss to apple. Macs don't have a reputation for gaming so it may not attract many gamers and in turn not attract big name publishers.
2. Casual gamers may not buy the idea of an apple console. This is the major source of apple's great income. If casual gamers aren't interested apple may suffer a huge loss.
3. Lack of storage space can be a problem. The storage space in a blu-ray is about 25GB. Downloading 25GB will be tedious and it will consume a lot of space on the console. But if the games are around 8GB in size (which is the size of most PC games with better graphics) then it will not be much of a problem. [iCloud integration and the option to add extra storage via thunderbolt/firewire 800 can be a great boost]

Wrapping this up, I personally think a gaming console by apple would be awesome! A good sturdy build that could last me 3-4 years while providing an excellent graphical performance would be worth the three-hundred dollars i would spend. If apple made the console such that it could also behave like a mac (mac mini type thing which is what i plan on purchasing as my desktop computer) i would gladly pay a hundred bucks more.

So what do you think?