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The next 2 major players in Video Game Console wars?


crazytoy

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I have been hearing rumors from my friends out west that Google wants to topple everything that Microsoft stands for and are obviously making their own phone, own web browser, own shopping sites and now their own video game console??? just a rumor

 

Another thing I am hearing is Apple might be coming out with their own video game systems.

 

Apple and Google are the hottests tech companies out there right now.

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I haven't heard these rumors but just off the top of my head, if I were to make an educated guess at it, I would say that Apple has a fairly decent chance at getting into the gaming business in the near future. If not the next generation, then the one following it. They already have the iPhone as a platform for portable gaming, after all. A dedicated console wouldn't be that far of a jump for them.

 

Also, Google is more into the business of software right now, not hardware. So I doubt they would get into the business of game consoles. Not yet, anyway. If I were to pick a second company for a video game console, it would probably be Toshiba as my "out of left field" pick, much like how Microsoft's announcement of the Xbox struck me way back when.

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Google's stated mission is "to organize the world's information", so I wouldn't be surprised if they started a service for downloading games, or finding games, or even creating a line of browser-based games (they just released a new browser beta, obviously intending to do something firefox/opera/IE doesn't or can't do). I don't think they would get much into the hardware business though.

 

Apple, on the other hand, I'm sure would like to do with the game industry what they did with the music industry, and get people to buy or rent games on some kind of proprietary device, like the iphone or its successor. The game industry is bigger than either music or movies, so it wouldn't surprise me one bit if that's where they set their sites (sights?)...

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Also, Google is more into the business of software right now, not hardware. So I doubt they would get into the business of game consoles. Not yet, anyway. If I were to pick a second company for a video game console, it would probably be Toshiba as my "out of left field" pick, much like how Microsoft's announcement of the Xbox struck me way back when.

 

Google likes software, a lot. They put a lot of their resources into a project, if it works, they make a crapload of money. If it doesn't, they hit the "delete" key and move on to the next, with no issues in getting rid of unsold inventory or factories. I don't predict they'll make the massive investment into hardware just to try their hands at making a game system.

 

I have a hard time seeing Apple entering this market in the same capacity as Sony, Nintendo, or Microsoft. I'd be more inclined to think they'd continue to beef up their iPods and AppleTV gaming setups to attract EXTREMELY casual gamers. And by that, I mean people who think the Wii is too complicated. Hell, I mean people who think a Frisbee is too complicated. That's the low-hanging fruit that Apple can grab without taking too much of a risk.

 

I don't know if any company would really want to try and break into this market, which is already saturated with big names and big money. Microsoft only pulled it off because they were willing to bleed stupid amounts of money, I don't see any other sane company being willing and able to make the same sacrifice. The only way to do it would be to partner with one of the big three and ride their coattails.

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Nintendo will release their follow up console - the Wang. It will be a marginally improved N64 with Ocular Mega Excitement Function!™, being able to read you simply rolling your eyes at the screen to control all action. It will also have other breakthrough features such as a power cord.

 

It will sell a billion units.

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Nintendo will release their follow up console - the Wang. It will be a marginally improved N64 with Ocular Mega Excitement Function!™, being able to read you simply rolling your eyes at the screen to control all action. It will also have other breakthrough features such as a power cord.

 

It will sell a billion units.

:lolblue:

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i can see MS and Sony exiting the business if they start to lose significant money with the current gen (and the economic downturn).

 

As a result, you could see the XBox or Playstation brands spun off into their own separate companies, with more conservative buisness models. Sony could especially beneift with this arrangement, they could still get a nice chunk of change with blu-ray sales and licensing.

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i can see MS and Sony exiting the business if they start to lose significant money with the current gen (and the economic downturn).

 

As a result, you could see the XBox or Playstation brands spun off into their own separate companies, with more conservative buisness models. Sony could especially beneift with this arrangement, they could still get a nice chunk of change with blu-ray sales and licensing.

 

While MS and Sony are both doing well enough to stay in the game for now, I don't think this scenario is all that far-fetched. I've always felt that the market isn't REALLY big enough to support three major consoles, and Nintendo's decision to branch off and do their own thing with the Wii seems to support my theory.

 

I don't think MS would be the one to bow out... they took a massive loss to get their foot in the door, and it's only now (almost 10 years later) that their strategy seems to be paying off. They're going to stick it out. Sony, OTOH, got where they are more by sheer luck than anything else. Both the PS1 and PS2 managed to hit the market at the exact time when there was no real competition*, and that helped them gain massive marketshare. The PS3 was the first system they released that went up against a well-established and competitive console, and you can see what happened. Sony could end up killing off the Playstation line or selling it off to someone else. I'm not saying it'll happen tomorrow, but I don't see it being impossible.

 

*Yes, I know the playstations all had some competition, but not really a lot. The Saturn was botched by Sega and Nintendo was still milking the SNES. Sega killed the DC early and essentially handed the market to Sony for the PS2. Prior to the X-Box, the biggest competition Sony had was the N64, and there was no way a cart-based system could compete with a CD-based system, no matter how good the games were. Again, each time Sony released a console, they had the undivided attention of the market, while Nintendo and Sega were sitting around with their thumbs up their asses.

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Samsung is the only company I can see with enough capital to really make a play for a piece of the console market. Any newcomer is going to have to burn through billions to get any kind of toehold, which is why I doubt Apple would take the gamble. Although, if they continue to improve the Apple TV to the point were it becomes a moderately powerful computer, I could see them begin developing game software for it. Games would be secondary to it's primary function as a DVR/Media player though, so I don't think they would market it to the same crowd as MS, Sony and Nintendo.

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Apple, on the other hand, I'm sure would like to do with the game industry what they did with the music industry, and get people to buy or rent games on some kind of proprietary device, like the iphone or its successor. The game industry is bigger than either music or movies, so it wouldn't surprise me one bit if that's where they set their sites (sights?)...

 

http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/09/2...0926iphone.html

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I have doubts that the market has room for another top tier console.

 

But, something along the lines of the original XBox model might work. Think a cut-down PC architecture that could sell at just under the price of the Wii, but run games around the speed/quality of a low-end PC.

 

Having said that, MS in reality is the only one that can do it since the XBox in effect used a cut-down version of the Windows Kernal and DirectX.

 

Sure, you could have something that used Linux but it would still leave hurdles for developers.

 

I'm not much of a fan of modern consoles. Fine, they tend to outdo PCs of the time on release but they date rather quickly, the games are expensive, and each new type of console means another platform to support, which spreads resources even thinner, which is usually most costly so far as new games coming out for the PC.

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  • 2 weeks later...

In the future there will be only one console manufacturer. It will be Dell. We will be sad.

 

Seriously, I don't see the status-quo changing any time soon. Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft have spent a crazy amount of time and money embedding themselves in the gaming infrastructure. I really don't see Apple joining the fray to any great degree. If nothing else, Steve Jobs isn't interested in games and Apple is a company who's entire product line is based around the personal whims of one man. That's not a bad thing, it's given us the most focussed and well designed gear in computing history, but it won't be bringing us a game console any time soon - and you can quote me on that :)

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I doubt there is any room for anybody else like Google or Apple. But as history teaches us always, companies will attempt. I say there will maybe be 2-3 major companies maybe like JVC, Hasbro, Google, Apple, Nokia, Electronic Arts, sooner or later somebody will attempt the dive for the profits!!! It is always the case, Look at NEC, Philips, Panasonic, Atari are prime recent examples the last 15-20 years. I probably missed some but you know the idea.

 

 

In the future there will be only one console manufacturer. It will be Dell. We will be sad.

 

Seriously, I don't see the status-quo changing any time soon. Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft have spent a crazy amount of time and money embedding themselves in the gaming infrastructure. I really don't see Apple joining the fray to any great degree. If nothing else, Steve Jobs isn't interested in games and Apple is a company who's entire product line is based around the personal whims of one man. That's not a bad thing, it's given us the most focussed and well designed gear in computing history, but it won't be bringing us a game console any time soon - and you can quote me on that :)

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I can't see any of the current "big guns" giving up their hold. Whether you like any of them or not, each them put a lot of time and effort into producing a high quality machine that is capable of competing in today's market. Anything less powerful and sold more inexpensively is a likely failure (see the Hyperscan) because most people will be willing to spend more for the quality. I don't think anyone else after Mattel is willing to enter the business on a lesser level to basically greet failure on the way in. So the only way to compete would be to release a high quality system. But since there isn't really a viable reason for there to be a fourth competitor, another company probably will not enter the race.

 

One thing that can be positive or negative, depending on how much you value collecting, is the possibility of a console being released based solely around downloadable content. I personally like my discs and the chance to get games at a cheaper price do to "used" condition. But, if the future of gaming lies in downloading what games you want and paying with a credit card/point card or something, then Google and Apple both have a chance (probably Apple over Google though). But keep in mind that even though it wasn't technically made by Apple, the Pippin was a shockingly epic failure and I don't know if Apple wants to try their hand at this gaming thing anymore.

 

By the way, anyone have a Pippin they want to sell? :D

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i can see MS and Sony exiting the business if they start to lose significant money with the current gen (and the economic downturn).

 

As a result, you could see the XBox or Playstation brands spun off into their own separate companies, with more conservative buisness models. Sony could especially beneift with this arrangement, they could still get a nice chunk of change with blu-ray sales and licensing.

 

 

Most of Sony's profit revenue is in the playstation business. They can't bow out.

 

Both Sony and MS are making money now, so something would have to change a lot to kick either out of the market. And if something did change a lot, Nintendo might end up in the worst shape because they are purely a videogame company.

 

But that all seems pretty farfetched. All indicators point to video games staying fairly strong for years to come. Maybe someday overtaking television, music, and movies as the number one source of entertainment revenue.

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I can't see any of the current "big guns" giving up their hold. Whether you like any of them or not, each them put a lot of time and effort into producing a high quality machine that is capable of competing in today's market. Anything less powerful and sold more inexpensively is a likely failure (see the Hyperscan) because most people will be willing to spend more for the quality. I don't think anyone else after Mattel is willing to enter the business on a lesser level to basically greet failure on the way in. So the only way to compete would be to release a high quality system. But since there isn't really a viable reason for there to be a fourth competitor, another company probably will not enter the race.

Did you really think that Mattel was marketing a low priced video game console? They were really marketing an interactive electronic trading card game that hooked up to the tv. They were hoping to sell a butt load of booster packs to make their money. Yes the HyperscaM was a video game system ( a pretty shitty one at that), but that wasn't what they were marketing.

 

I think a lower priced (sub $100) system could sell. But you can't make it look and feel cheap. It needs to be a quality product and marketed as a video game system with some games made by real developers. The problem with these "cheap" systems is that they're just disposable toys.

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I doubt there is any room for anybody else like Google or Apple. But as history teaches us always, companies will attempt. I say there will maybe be 2-3 major companies maybe like JVC, Hasbro, Google, Apple, Nokia, Electronic Arts, sooner or later somebody will attempt the dive for the profits!!! It is always the case, Look at NEC, Philips, Panasonic, Atari are prime recent examples the last 15-20 years. I probably missed some but you know the idea.

 

Well here's how I see your idea.

 

EA ALREADY TRIED THE CONSOLE BUSINESS. It was called the 3do, and Panasonic only manufactured the systems as did Goldstar and I think a couple other. I believe the CD-I was also the same way, Phillips and Magnavox manufactured them, but I could be wrong. Either way, I seriously doubt Panasonic, Phillips, and Magnavox are going to publish AND produce a new console.

 

Apple had the Pippin, it sucked, it's dead, they probably aren't going to go there, now a handheld on the other hand I can see.

 

Hasbro? That has to be a joke right, you think they've learned from Atari? I do, plus seeing Mattels system go down in flames, I can confidently say, hell no for a Hasbro system, unless it's like a Leapster or something.

 

Nokia yes for publishing, no for "DEDICATED" hardware.

 

Google. Just straight up no.

 

NOW, here's what I would like to see. SNK-PLAYMORE releasing the ultimate system, just like the Neo-Geo back in the day, release a system that totally dominates, price it at $1,800, or at least 4x the cost of a console today. have hardly any 3rd party support, but make some of the best 1st party games the world has ever seen.

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Most of Sony's profit revenue is in the playstation business. They can't bow out.

 

Both Sony and MS are making money now, so something would have to change a lot to kick either out of the market. And if something did change a lot, Nintendo might end up in the worst shape because they are purely a videogame company.

 

Yes...and no. Nintendo is "only" a game company, but because of that, they need to either survive, or buy into an industry they have no experience in. They're literally in "do or die" mode all the time. Sony and Microsoft, OTOH, can sacrifice their gaming divisions and make it up in their core areas. Admittedly, Sony has become much more dependent on its gaming division than Microsoft has... though Sony as a whole is a company in need of an overhaul.

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Nintendo is NOT only a game company. Yes they only deal with video games, but they do license other stuff like toys, stuffed things, mini key chain games, all the pokemon folders, clothes, etc. With as big as pokemon is, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Nintendo didn't pocket as much from non gaming merchandise as Sony or MS would on anther one of it's other non-gaming departments.

 

To say Nintendo only profits on games is false. They profit the same as MS and Sony, just not with TV's, camera's etc.

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