Game console makers looking over their shoulder at Apple
As video game giants like Sony and Microsoft touted their new gizmos at the Tokyo Game Show this week, industry executives had more than the coming holiday sales season on their minds.
Apple’s recent foray into video games — with the iPhone, the iPod Touch and its ever-expanding online App Store — is causing as much hand-wringing among old industry players as the global economic slump, which threatens to take the steam out of year-end shopping for the second consecutive year.
Among the questions voiced by video game executives: How can Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft keep consumers hooked on game-only consoles, like the Wii or even the PlayStation Portable, when Apple offers games on popular, everyday devices that double as cellphones and music players?
And how can game developers and the makers of big consoles persuade consumers to buy the latest shoot’em-ups for $30 or more, when Apple’s App store is full of games, created by developers around the world and approved by Apple, that cost as little as 99 cents — or even are free…?
The concerns highlight an accelerating shift away from hard-core games, which have traditionally driven console sales, to more casual ones played on cellphones. Of the 758 new game titles shown at the Tokyo Game Show, 168 were for cellphone platforms — more than twice as many as in the previous year.
Apple did not participate in the Tokyo Game Show, which ends Sunday. But the company introduced a beefed-up version of the iPod Touch this month, explicitly comparing it as a gaming platform with the Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable.
I don’t know from gaming; but, I know a tad about marketing and design. At this point in time, I’d rather own Apple shares than Sony.
This seems like a nonsense story. I wonder who planted it?
I mean, who wants to play a game on a dinky little screen if they aren’t forced to do so?
Does an Apple telephone really have the same power CPU, memory, sound and video power as a console? That seems sort of unlikely to me.
How rich and complex a game can you fit into a telephone, anyway? I’m just guessing but I think, nothing I’d ever want to play. Maybe games for 10 year olds?
I dunno. I’ve never even seen one of these expensive little Apple toys but even if they were available here, I’d never pay Apple’s super premium price for anything, let alone a ‘gaming platform’ when what I actually need is a telephone.
This has got to be a joke, right?
Cinaedh
September 26, 2009 at 7:50 am
Ever priced a Nintendo DS or a Playstation PSP?
Like the iPod Touch, they sell in the millions.
keaneo
September 26, 2009 at 8:02 am
They’re priced like that and they sell like that because they’re very powerful game consoles, neh?
You certainly can’t say the same thing about a grossly overpriced cell phone.
Cinaedh
September 26, 2009 at 8:16 am
The little critters have more horsepower than my first couple of “turbo” PC’s.
keaneo
September 26, 2009 at 10:16 am
It’s called progress…
Jägermeister
September 26, 2009 at 11:27 am
still playing with my psp
eazyshare
September 29, 2009 at 5:45 am