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 next breakthrough in gaming is not going to be in hardware," Yoichi Wada, president of a top Japanese game maker, Square Enix, told Game Show participants. "It's going to be in how to create a successful business model."
New report from Skillsearch found that 22% of those surveyed had been laid off within the past 12 months.
It's a step forward for Stop Killing Games.
The Callisto Protocol director thinks the solution involves the right people, the right timing, and perhaps a little bit of AI
I don't agree with that. I WISH I could agree with that. But buying habits and customer opinions prove otherwise
We've seen developers in the AAA space try new things and ideas. More often than not, the customers aren't willing to give things a chance, or not enough people buy into the project for it to grow.
Creativity works better in the indie space because the budgets, pressures, and expectations aren't the same.
it's a nice idea and it worked during the PS2/PS3-era when AAA didn't cost hundreds of millions of dollars. smaller budgets and shorter development time left room for more creativity and more risk. a game didn't need to sell 4 million+ copies to break even. things are different now.
This is the guy who bragged about crunching his staff and having them work through the night. Crunch culture has lost more talent and done more damage to the industry than any other factor. Screw him.
"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?"
Because...those games are play for 5 min then throw away. The app store has nothing on top notch psp games and real gamers would never be satisfied with just apple games. The new psp minis are going to be small titles like the ones on the app store.
Sorry but the device is great as a little diversion but there has been nothing on my iphone that has come close to the full blown experiences I get on consoles.
No it doesn't. Gaming on Apple systems was an afterthought on Apple's part. People don't buy the devices to play games on them, they buy them for music, videos, internet and so on.
If Apple released a more powerful one just for games, it wouldn't sell 1/4 of what the PSP or DS does. If they release a games console, good luck - they might get away with badmouthing Microsoft at every turn, but try doing that to Sony and see what happens.
I doubt Apple can pull another Ipod on home consoles, even less on portables the DS would probably kill them like it does to the PSP.