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Apple Pins Its Hopes on Gaming

1up.com — Back when I was in college -- way back in early 1997, I'm afraid -- I wrote a well-reasoned letter to the online arm of Ultra Game Players magazine in defense of Nintendo, whose star was starting to take on a distinct tinge of tarnish among the nascent online hardcore gaming fanbase.

Who dugg this? Made popular Nov 22, 2008

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  • bassil0330, on 11/22/2008, -10/+39 WE STILL WANT ***** COPY PASTE!
  • ClevelandBrown, on 11/22/2008, -2/+21PC > Mac

    (For gaming)
  • Sabre24q7, on 11/22/2008, -4/+23Apple and gaming? lawlz
  • Branchex, on 11/20/2008, -1/+16Apple needs to develop it's own games to show off what the machine can do. So far they have only made Texas Hold'em, not the best example.
  • Shaggy3, on 11/22/2008, -0/+10iCrysis
  • nikki2300dk, on 11/20/2008, -4/+13Finally, Jobs sees the obvious. Hope it's not too little too late.
  • inactive, on 11/22/2008, -2/+10I admit i skimmed through that (at my highest skim setting) so I may have missed it...

    But isn't this only bout the iPhone and not actual macs?

    Anywho I'll be doing my gaming on consoles and my portable gaming on dedicated portable gaming machines for the foreseeable future.
    Games on phones are a nice distraction. But a distraction is all they will ever be.
  • alais, on 11/22/2008, -2/+10Apple's hopes are about to be dashed.
  • Super6, on 11/22/2008, -0/+6I hope Steve can't sleep at night when thinking about how Valve offered to port HL2 for $1 million. Of course he isn't because he knows everything and games weren't meant to be played on computers...
  • jtbell04, on 11/22/2008, -0/+6Dugg for the image of apple "coming hard on a gaming machine."
  • Scopitone, on 11/22/2008, -2/+7So...it's going to invest in Blizzard?
  • SlapAyoda, on 11/22/2008, -0/+5Pins its hopes? Oh, I forgot Apple was doing so poorly in the marketplace.
  • VipeNess, on 11/22/2008, -2/+6As a serious gamer, Apple needs to come really prepared. I mean; to say to your friends, hey you get that new apple console? Apple is usually cool about making products, but on a serious note; they gotta come hard on a gaming machine. I would like to see Apple succeed in the Video Game business, but there is just something that doesn't seem right about the equation.
  • jasmus, on 11/22/2008, -0/+3I think the article is leaning more towards the iPhone and iPod touch as gaming devices.
  • l800LEMMINGS, on 11/22/2008, -0/+3this a great goal for them but that said they have a lot of work head
  • iXneonXi, on 11/22/2008, -0/+3Blizzard should make an iPhone RTS. They've always supported gaming on Apple hardware, and they have mastered the RTS genre.
  • kangy3213, on 11/22/2008, -2/+5are you ready for iGame?
  • inactive, on 11/22/2008, -1/+4The equation: Apple = Computer version of Nintendo

    Although I kinda like Nintendo for their recent stroke of innovation (Nintendo DS and the Wii are quite neat toys, especially with homebrew)
  • enronias, on 11/22/2008, -1/+4How about games on the laptops/desktops, don't really care about the iphone
  • TurboBeard, on 11/22/2008, -3/+6oh my ***** god. Apples have had multiple mouse buttons for a while now. The mighty mouse, although *****, has right, left, center, a 360 degree wheel, and a full mouse pinch sensor.
  • Jeffler, on 11/22/2008, -0/+3wtf
  • PrometheusBorn, on 11/22/2008, -0/+3I think when the iPod was released, it would have been appropriate to say 'not too little too late'. That was a time when Apple needed a success or potentially disappear into oblivion. I THINK Apple has progressed some since then.

    Games are not the end game with the iPhone. It's just a surprisingly good bonus on top of everything else you can do with your phone or touch. With or without games, the iPhone will have continuing success for several more years even if Apple sits on their ass like some of their competition has.
  • jazzyinco, on 11/22/2008, -0/+3Yes, that title is a bit sensationalized. Nobody really believes Apple is pinning its hopes on this.
  • inactive, on 11/22/2008, -0/+2Yes but can you spell Crysis? Sorry could resist!
  • cthellis, on 11/22/2008, -0/+2Actually, the Texas Hold'em app is a very good example. It's quick, clean, easy, and has an intuitive AI. The online component works well, and it's just fun to spend your free time in. And it's pretty much an easy purchase at $5, if you like Texas Hold'em at all.

    It's no revolution in gaming, but it IS a good example of the kind of simple and casual games that Apple will almost assuredly grab from the DS and PSP, and develop sooner and better than the other mobile platforms. (In much the same way that people have replaced compact cameras, watches, PDA's, and other devices with their cell phone, since it's constantly on them.)

    They haven't put forth an effort for the more complex gaming experience, however, and THAT will be the real sticking point for the iPhone/iPod Touch. And something which the PSP and DS already deliver quite well, with way more units on the market, and way more momentum behind them.
  • Dagreenman, on 11/22/2008, -2/+4well it's about ***** time. one of the reasons i still buy Windows is because of the serious lack of support for gaming on Mac.
  • inactive, on 11/22/2008, -2/+4Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh no.
  • VipeNess, on 11/22/2008, -1/+3Very True. Apple would come out with something almost with the design of the Wii, and call it like something with the beginning with the letter i. iConsole. It would for sure have itunes built into it, use the ipod natively, have itv built into it, stream movies, connect to your apple computer and be able to stream final cut projects to it. It would be a major multimedia machine that would connect to everything Apple.
  • cthellis, on 11/22/2008, -0/+2Such poignant commentary.
  • Spuy767, on 11/22/2008, -1/+3Too little too late? You are aware that one of the few tech companies who are currently swimming in money? To boot, their top tier hardware could be easily set up to trounce the offerings from Alienware and their ilk, with the exception of memory speed, for very little extra coin on top of the price of a Mac Pro.
  • PullingTeeth, on 11/22/2008, -0/+2That's a shame.
  • l800LEMMINGS, on 11/22/2008, -0/+2they made the xwing fighter type game for the iphone, that they never actually released, but used to brag about the capability... also not the best example
  • cthellis, on 11/22/2008, -0/+2You are immensely screwed up.
  • mstrebe, on 11/22/2008, -0/+2Yeah, Apple is "pinning it's hopes" on games, because, you know, the iPhone is otherwise a total failure and only games will rescue it.
  • garagepunk, on 08/05/2009, -1/+3apple is not pinning it's hopes on games, they are not 'desperate' at all to be even 'pinning hopes' anywhere. they are lauding their success and innovating the next innovations. buried for boringly failing.
  • Shaidow, on 11/22/2008, -3/+5If Apple can't manage adding support for copy-and-paste what hope do they have in the gaming world... I mean seriously.
  • inactive, on 11/22/2008, -0/+2Apple doesn't give a ***** about gaming. About every 4 years they make a big hoopla about it. Then it's right back to business as usual. They appear to fully support gaming on the iPhone for the moment. But it's a new device. So we'll have to wait and see.
  • inactive, on 11/22/2008, -1/+2Poor people, go buy a PC. The rest of us, who want quality, and want to actually get things done on our computers, will get a Mac. If you want games, go buy a freakin xbox. That's the Apple way.
  • cthellis, on 11/22/2008, -0/+1All of them aimed at that market with a product aimed ONLY at gaming, or a product that TRIED to be a hybrid, but had horrible design.

    The iPhone and iPod Touch, meanwhile, have draw behind all the REST of their features (iPods are more popular than any of the particular Gameboys, cell phones are way more popular than ALL the gaming portables that have ever sold, smartphones and feature phones are the fastest-growing cell phone segment...), while carrying gaming possibilities along for the ride. The only questions are "whether they get recognized for gaming" and "whether developers will start bringing along their A-game to be able to compete."

    The iPhone certainly loses out to the DS and PSP in overall gaming prowess, as well as the momentum they've already built in those markets, but it's HARD to overestimate the convenience factor of "the phone you always have in your pocket." Both the PSP and DS are annoyingly large in comparison, require you to carry a case around to have a library on hand with you, and make for "I have to think about bringing it with me all the time, when I'm not really sure if I need it." The iPhone (or Touch) is smaller, carry their whole library with them, and ONLY require more room if you're planning on gaming at a long stretch on the road, and you'll want to carry an extra battery. (And even then, it still takes up way less room.)

    Apple is pushing gaming a bit, but they're not "trying" directly at that market, in that they're directly competing with Nintendo's and Sony's devices in much the same way that cell phones weren't TRYING to compete with compact digital cameras or PDAs... They just found out at one point that they could, and for many people, they entirely took over.
  • LethalGeek, on 11/22/2008, -0/+1Yammering of a dreamer. Apple would have to come into the market where Nintendo has, is, and likely will be sitting as the all powerful king: Portable gaming.

    Yeah, Sony, Sega, Bandai, Nokia, and a couple more Japanese companies have tried entering that market. Ask them how well that really went.
  • cthellis, on 11/22/2008, -0/+1Same as normal. Nothing will really change there, except as their marketshare improves and more developers and publishers decide to support OS X.

    The iPhone and iPod Touch, however, is part of a sector they're jumpstarting, and have momentum behind.
  • DriversPlaza, on 01/08/2009, -0/+1yeah GTA would do great for iphone or ipod touch.. get updated with news abt it here - http://www.techlookz.com/gamers-news/
  • ggko, on 11/22/2008, -1/+2Secret of the top Korean Starcraft players? Copy/Paste
  • cthellis, on 11/22/2008, -0/+1> But isn't this only bout the iPhone and not actual macs?

    Yes.
  • surferjoemaui, on 11/24/2008, -0/+1I'd like grand theft auto for my iphone.
  • hongkongjapie, on 11/22/2008, -1/+2Agree, I would like be as desperate as Apple is at the moment.
  • cthellis, on 11/22/2008, -0/+1Of course it is the "giving a ***** about gaming on the iPhone" that the article was concerned with, not the Mac, so...
  • inactive, on 11/22/2008, -0/+1Why would you buy a crippled device and then bitch about it? Fail.
  • ELCad, on 11/22/2008, -0/+1Apple Pippen II
  • cthellis, on 11/22/2008, -0/+1The article was not concerned with Mac gaming in the slightest.
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