Apple Thoughts - News & Reviews on all things Apple

"Apple would have a "relatively good chance to succeed" if it tried to take on Sony and Microsoft in the video game console market. That's the opinion of EA's VP Patrick Soderlund, who fielded questions from CVG about the future of the games industry and those competing in it."

It's possible, as is anything, but I certainly don't think it is probable. As an Xbox owner, I'm pretty well entrenched into my games on the Xbox. I won't even buy a Playstation since the games aren't different enough to warrant it for me. Heck, even their Blu-Ray player wasn't enough for me to add the PS3 to my gaming area. I suspect there are others out there that are pretty much set in their ways as long as the game keep their interest. I don't see that waning anytime soon, but I've been known to be wrong in the past. They certainly would have their work cut out for them building what Xbox and Sony have in terms of community. What are your thoughts, would a gaming console from Apple interest you?

"The sad fact of the matter is we’re never going to see the release of the long fabled iControlPad iPhone case, which would allow you to add a D-Pad and physical buttons to your phone. For us jailbroken retro-gamers with an affinity for emulation, that’s pretty sad, but maybe there’s hopes: the iPhone Game Pad has now come along, adding the same functionality to the iPhone."

The iPhone Game Pad only works with a jailbroken iPhone, and currently the only iPhone that works with the device is the original 2G model. They're working on a model that will work with the 3G and the 3GS. This isn't shipping yet; it's just a concept. Personally, I don't really see a need for a device like this. I happen to like the gaming experience iOS provides natively. If I want to use a device with buttons, I'll just grab my PSP. Is there anybody who wants this, and if so, why? Let us know in the comments.

"Today is a great day for the Mac gaming crowd, as Valve has officially released the Steam client for Mac. For those of you unfamiliar with Steam (and it may be quite a few of you if you don't look across to the PC side of the fence that often), it's a software marketplace that deals in the digital distribution of games."

This really worked well when I used to play on my Windows machine (yes, I used to have one. No really, I did!), so I'm excited to try this out on my Mac. Steam offers a very similar experience to the Xbox, with leaderboards, player matching and achievements. What it also does is work no matter what operating system you are using, it's cross-platform so it doesn't matter that your friend is using a Windows machine and you are using OS X. And until May 24th, you can get Portal free. What are you waiting for?

"While some say Apple never wanted the iPhone to be a gaming device, the company knows which way the wind is blowing and wants to get involved. Apple is looking to hire a game and media software engineer for its iPhone and iPod touch team, which could mean it wants to make games of its own."

Conjecture actually on the gaming aspect, but they are looking for someone with gaming experience to fill this engineer position. According to the job posting they are looking for a "skilled software engineer who wants to work as part of a small highly motivated team to work on interactive multimedia experiences on the iPhone and iPod Touch." Sounds like Apple may want to tap into that growing market and get some of the dollars they are seeing go to developers. What are your thoughts?

Steve Jobs did say that the iPod Touch is mainly for gaming, and that is exactly what this ad is all about. However, as the previous news item shows, make sure it isn't the 8GB version!

"Those considering the iPod touch for gaming might want to steer clear of the not-so-new 8GB model, which is just last year's model with a lower price. The best gaming performance will come from OpenGL ES 2.0-capable hardware, which is only included in the pricier 32GB and 64GB models."

You can really tell the difference in the comparison video shown on YouTube, where the frame rate on the older processor is about a 1/3 of what it is with the newer one. Most that own the 8GB version won't even notice a problem, and not that there really is one, it's just that once you see the comparison you really see what you are missing.

"For the last few days I've been sampling some of the games available from the iTunes Store on the iPod Touch, and I've been stunned at how elaborate and involved they are. On the iPod Touch I've played a version of Gameloft's Real Soccer 2009 that rivals the version of the game on the Nintendo DS, and I didn't even miss the buttons. I've seen demonstrations of Sim City, forthcoming for the iPhone and the Touch from Electronic Arts, that look more elaborate and sophisticated than any versions I've played before on a desktop PC or console. They're immersive, addictive fun. And it's now readily apparent to me that the iPhone and iPod Touch are well on their way to becoming an important force in handheld gaming. When you consider the ease and reach of Apple's online method for distributing games, Apple could do in this category what it did in online music, causing big headaches for the genre's established players, Sony and Nintendo."

I can't count how many times I've heard this sentiment, and I can't how many times I've laughed at it. Honestly, as much as I love Apple and most of what they kick out, the idea that they're going to suddenly start dominating the gaming market is ludicrous to me. While the author does have a point in how good some of the games are, he gets off track by talking about how many of them there are. Yes there are way more games, but there's also way more kruft to get through to find the good ones. The other problem is that contrary to what Steve Jobs and his staff are selling, the touch screen and accelerometer are just crappy ways to control a game. Super Monkeyball and Cro-Mag Rally are two good games that are seriously hampered by the accelerometer control scheme. I don't mind the iPhone / Touch for casual games and puzzle games, but give me my DS for more advanced games and action games any time. Of course, this isn't the "Vincent Rants" show, so now it's your turn. What do you think of the overall quality of Apple's gaming offerings for the Touch / iPhone, and do you think that Apple is in any danger of becoming the handheld gaming platform of choice for most people?