Computer World: Apple is "taking over the game market"

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No way. Apple targets casual gamers; it's taking sales away primarily from the DS. Sony and Microsoft target serious gamers and the quality of games on their platforms make iDevices look like a joke.

The biggest problem with this argument is that it rests on the assumption that most people that buy iDevices buy them as a gaming first machine. They don't. Both my parents and my sister (along with myself) have iPhones. I'm the only one that has ever played an iPhone game. The reality is there is no way to find out how many people buy these devices to play games.

Could Nintendos monopoly on the casual gamer market come to an end? Yeah, Apple will take over that market. Is Apple going to penetrate in the traditional gamer market against Sony and Microsoft? No chance. Even with the respectable graphics of the iPhone, the reality is that most iPhone games have the depth of maybe an NES or MAYBE an SNES game. They're more than a decade behind in that market. Moreover, as the quality of games on the iPhone rises, so will the prices. Don't expect 99 cent games that are console quality. This article makes way too many assumptions.

As a side note, the PSP hasn't ever been a big seller. It's always been overshadowed. I don't know why everyone is acting like poor PSP sales is news. The reality is most serious gamers would rather own a home console than a portable. That's why Apple and Nintendos approach to gaming on-the-go works and Sonys has not.

It was only a matter of time

I'm not going to begrudge Apple for carving out a nice niche for themselves within the portable gaming pie, but, personally, until they start putting out games on physical media, I'm not interested in whatever gaming experience Apple offers.

"Apple will shortly be rolling out AirPlay which allows media to be sent from the portable device to an Apple TV. There is no reason that AirPlay can't be expanded to include sending games from the iPad screen to the big screen."

Yes, there is. AirPlay does nothing more than stream pre-encoded media from one device to another device, in a format that device #2 can read. Game graphics are rendered in real-time from custom code.

My opinion is that any platform that doesn't have Gran Turismo on it, I don't want any part of it. I've been held captive on the Playstation for years just to play every version of Gran Turismo.

I'm sure Apple could build a very awesome console considering how much reserve cash they have sitting around but as it is now, I'm not even sure why they're in the running for top gaming contenders. I'm talking about in the traditional sense of even having a gaming division. I see iDevices as media players that just happen to play games in an lighthearted sort of way. That's OK because there are plenty of people of all ages that just want to relax and have some quick fun. I just don't think Apple's iPlatform appeals to hard-core gamers, that's all.

I wish Apple would buy Sony and then build some sort of super-Playstation console that could run all the downloadable apps and games from the App Store and Sony's exclusive PS games.

Computer games: "Crack cocaine for the rest of us!"

Consoles will hardly be replaced in the near future. You can't do multiplayer gaming with things like OnLive at a reasonable pace, and not everyone wants to play (or develop) casual titles. Imagine playing a game like StarCraft where milliseconds matter. Going through multiple servers (your computer to OnLive or some offsite server to Battle.net and then all the way back to you) would be a horrible mess.

And with games being more expensive products as well as more frequently used products (in that you usually watch a movie once and you play a game for several hours, if not more), people, especially gamers, won't take kindly to the fact that they may not be able to actually own their games and play whenever they want. OnLive should never used as an example for success when it hasn't proven to be a commercial success.

".. there is no reason why it couldn't support high-end gaming in addition to streaming music and video. It's looking like the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii may well be the last generation of the traditional gaming console."

Actually there is very good reason to assume that it will not be used for that. This concept only works with a really good internet connection and that is just not to achieve reliably if you have a single facility, that on top of everything isn't even particularly close to any major backbone hub.

No the PS3 and company are here to stay for another while .. Apple never was particularly interested in gaming .. and I somehow don't see that changing. Apple just doesn't get gamers I think, not even meant in a bad way, but their main target group is not a hardcore gamer.

T.

I don't understand the significance of the original CW article (or the fact that TUAW commented on it)? Is it to pat Apple on the back? I am an avid Apple consumer but wince when I read these Apple-is-dominating-the-market articles.

People who are in the market for a PS3, Xbox, Wii aren't choosing between those consoles and an iPhone for gaming. (They may choose between a desktop PC and those consoles or may forgo purchasing a console for a modern day necessity such as an app phone because of their budget.)

I agree that IPhones and iPads may prevent people from buying a DS or PSP because they are fulfilling their portable gaming needs. Who wants to carry around another device unless you're a very serious gamer?

But let's be honest. People buy games on iPhones/iPads because they 1) already have the hardware that they bought for some other reason (phone calls, emails, texting, reading, web) 2) It's convenient to buy games from the app store, and most games are much less than your average PSP/DS game. At least in my experience, no one says I'm going to buy an Apple device so I can play Angry Birds. (I'm sure there maybe a few people who will pony up a couple hundred dollars for a device to play a $1 game.)

I agree with other posters that it's not very easy or comfortable to play sports/action games on an iPhone compared to a system with a directional pad, but hey, I've already have an iPhone, and I'm with it most of the time, so why not buy a $5 game to kill time.

Now if Microsoft and Apple collaborate and make a Kinect device for the iPhone/iPod/iPad, then that would be news. That would be a "game" changer.