Apple Poaching Gaming PR Execs from Activision and Nintendo

[AlligatorBloodz]

But is it the right content?

The sort of games that will make the iphone a legitimate threat to the competitors' products just aren't coming out in any sort of timely manner, if at all. So the devices will continue to cater to different parts of the market.. But if we want more "proper" games on iOS Apple have a hell of a lot of work to do.. They haven't set up a perfect platform for it yet.

1. Define a proper game. I think there are a lot of proper games on iOS. But I think I get your point. Do you mean hardcore? Halo, elder scrolls, call of duty etc.

2. What do you mean make a legitimate threat? I would bet money there are more iDevices in peoples homes and hands than Nintendo or Sony devices (of similar purposes) I watched a friends kid for a week in January while she was on a business trip. The kid loved his DS to death. For Christmas he got an iPad. He didn't even know where his DS was anymore, it was old news. Plus when apple has enough money to buy either company out, I think that makes them a legitimate threat.

 

[Piggie]

You raise an interesting point, but would holding an iPad with a gamepad around it really be that comfortable?

I can think of two reasons why it wouldn't be:

Device weight and the distance at which you'd have to hold it for it to be usable. iPad is 601g - holding that at arm's length or thereabouts while trying to concentrate on a game could be quite difficult, especially for younger users. It's almost three times the weight of a Nintendo DSi.

Sorry, perhaps you misunderstand what I mean.

I mean a separate hand held controller. Not connected to the iPad at all.

You have the iPad on a stand, angled up a bit like a monitor, or tilted up like the smart cover does, or laying on your knees, and you are holding the controller in your hands nowhere near the screen.

You can have your hands relaxed wherever you want them to be, and your iPad is your gaming screen.

Note: I'm not suggesting this for a mobile gaming experience when you are on the move. That's why I don't think there would any point really in this type of option on an iPhone or Touch as they are more "on the move" devices, you pull out your pocket and play for a few minutes.

The iPad is a more home device, a chill out on the sofa or on the bed ect device, and in these scenarios you would be able to prop up the screen with anything your like and get your controller out if you wished to.

Again, no-one would be forcing you, it would just be an option.

 

[AlligatorBloodz]

You raise an interesting point, but would holding an iPad with a gamepad around it really be that comfortable?

I can think of two reasons why it wouldn't be:

Device weight and the distance at which you'd have to hold it for it to be usable. iPad is 601g - holding that at arm's length or thereabouts while trying to concentrate on a game could be quite difficult, especially for younger users. It's almost three times the weight of a Nintendo DSi.

Also buttons let your brain maneuver through the game by feeling and location on the controller. The iPad is a flat surface. You would have look where you are pressing.

 

[Red-red]

It's quite obvious what Apple are doing.

They're not going to make a console as such because it's a cumbersome solution. What they'll do is continue to improve and expand their current iOS platform and the games involved.

The "console" solution they're working on is quite simple. Airplay. If the rumours are true about Apple trying to licence the tech and if we go by the relatively cheap Apple TV iteration the future is staring you in the face.

Your iPhone, iPod or iPad will become the console or the controller in the tradition console sense. Games will be sent wirelessly without lag to the TV where others can join in with their own iOS devices. The devices can change depending on the game and the flexibility of the touch screen. Once you've finished you take your iOS device with you and carry on playing on the go.

Apple will never make a traditional games console. It isn't in their DNA to make something so vulgar. They'll simply integrate experiences into a whole. Airplay is the way they'll do it in regards to the TV.

The possibilities in terms of games/applications and revenue are huge.

 

[Piggie]

It's quite obvious what Apple are doing.

They're not going to make a console as such because it's a cumbersome solution. What they'll do is continue to improve and expand their current iOS platform and the games involved.

The "console" solution they're working on is quite simple. Airplay. If the rumours are true about Apple trying to licence the tech and if we go by the relatively cheap Apple TV iteration the future is staring you in the face.

Your iPhone, iPod or iPad will become the console or the controller in the tradition console sense. Games will be sent wirelessly without lag to the TV where others can join in with their own iOS devices. The devices can change depending on the game and the flexibility of the touch screen. Once you've finished you take your iOS device with you and carry on playing on the go.

Apple will never make a traditional games console. It isn't in their DNA to make something so vulgar. They'll simply integrate experiences into a whole. Airplay is the way they'll do it in regards to the TV.

The possibilities in terms of games/applications and revenue are huge.

And it still won't work.

Can't you understand?

You can't look at a screen and hold a controller to play a game well, when there is nothing for your fingers to feel on the thing (sheet of smooth glass) you are holding as a controller.

 

[AlligatorBloodz]

It's quite obvious what Apple are doing.

They're not going to make a console as such because it's a cumbersome solution. What they'll do is continue to improve and expand their current iOS platform and the games involved.

The "console" solution they're working on is quite simple. Airplay. If the rumours are true about Apple trying to licence the tech and if we go by the relatively cheap Apple TV iteration the future is staring you in the face.

Your iPhone, iPod or iPad will become the console or the controller in the tradition console sense. Games will be sent wirelessly without lag to the TV where others can join in with their own iOS devices. The devices can change depending on the game and the flexibility of the touch screen. Once you've finished you take your iOS device with you and carry on playing on the go.

Apple will never make a traditional games console. It isn't in their DNA to make something so vulgar. They'll simply integrate experiences into a whole. Airplay is the way they'll do it in regards to the TV.

The possibilities in terms of games/applications and revenue are huge.

Brilliant! then a family of five can all play scrabble or monopoly for the low low cost of $1,495*



*listed price includes iDevices only. Apple tv required to play. Apple tv, monopoly and scrabble sold separately.

 

[toddybody]

I wish they'd "poach" Bobby Kotick...and by poach I mean shoot with an elephant gun and mount on Jony Ives wall.

 

[TheUndertow]

I 'm waiting for Apple to BUY Nintendo.

I'm hoping/expecting they're the next to get into the ring from a console standpoint and they've come out of nowhere to be sneaky good with the portable gaming.

I'm a gamer and my original iPad had kept me surprisingly content since my Asus G71G-Q gaming notebook died (and I waited until it was out of warranty to finally send).

 

[jimbobb24]

Real games aren't played on an iDevice. Say what you want, it's true at the moment. No need to look into the future..........cause you don't know what it holds. And if you do tell me if i'll be at work Monday please! (Gov worker)

"real games"? What does that mean?

Don't you guys get paid whether or not it all gets shut down? Its crazy - why didn't Obama make a budget last year when they had the House and Senate? All very weird/incompetent.

 

[Red-red]

And it still won't work.

Can't you understand?

You can't look at a screen and hold a controller to play a game well, when there is nothing for your fingers to feel on the thing (sheet of smooth glass) you are holding as a controller.

I understand completely the limitations of the approach but you're the one who doesn't understand or more precisely doesn't seem to accept the possibilities.

Apple isn't going to release a controller or a controller add on. Get that into your head. It isn't happening.

I'm not asking you to understand or like the approach just so we're clear. I couldn't care less but that is what they're doing. No two ways about it.

Brilliant! then a family of five can all play scrabble or monopoly for the low low cost of $1,495*

Apple are all about building integration and eco systems. Their visions of the future of consumer electronics... or post PC devices is iOS. If a family of five buys into that ecosystem they already have iPhone's, they already have iPads, they already have iPods and if they don't... they're probably going to buy one.

If you approach it with a closed mind you won't understand it. You clearly don't which is why you've reeled off the predictable reply about current cost/usage.

 

[AlligatorBloodz]

Apple are all about building integration and eco systems. Their visions of the future of consumer electronics... or post PC devices is iOS. If a family of five buys into that ecosystem they already have iPhone's, they already have iPads, they already have iPods and if they don't... they're probably going to buy one.

If you approach it with a closed mind you won't understand it. You clearly don't which is why you've reeled off the predictable reply about current cost/usage.

Sorry I have such a small brain.

Apple really messed up hiring those 2 guys with years of experience working in the gaming industry. They could have just hired you. A person who has all the answers and can see the future.

In all seriousness. I am a gamer and a consumer, and if Apple wants to make gaming a MORE serious part of there business, then I want a controller with buttons and a console or someway to stream off of the Internet.

 

[Red-red]

Sorry I have such a small brain.

I never said you had a small brain at any point nor did I ever insinuate you were stupid.

Not understanding something doesn't make anyone stupid.

Apple really messed up hiring those 2 guys with years of experience working in the gaming industry. They could have just hired you. A person who has all the answers and can see the future.

They've hired two people who work in PR. Probably for their contacts and influence. Their hiring has little to do with Apple's direction into gaming.

They're already well established and have their direction planned out. All you need to do is connect the dots to see where they're heading.

In all seriousness. I am a gamer and a consumer, and if Apple wants to make gaming a MORE serious part of there business, then I want a controller with buttons and a console or someway to stream off of the Internet.

You're not getting a controller with buttons. It isn't happening.

You have to look at it not by what "you" want "now". It's typical of tech forums because people find it very hard to distinguish between the two.

Is it what I want? I'm not so sure. It's an interesting concept and the potential is certainly huge not only for gaming but app's.

Whether we'll see fully fledged games like we're used to or it'll continue to be a foray into the casual is something else that we don't really know yet. It's up to developers to create the apps & games to drive the platform and ecosystem forward but the potential would certainly be there and as we see more and more people shift toward these devices the desire for more complex forms of entertainment will increase.

We've only scratched the surface.

 

[Cheerwino]

"In my day" a hardcore gamer was someone that custom built a gaming rig consisting of no less then 2 graphics cards (add a third and get SLI + PhysX), each costing at least if not more then a single PS3, the most expensive 'extreme' cpu they could find, and a small nuclear power plant for a PSU, then boasting about their 3D Mark scores.

Hmmm, in my day, a hardcore gamer was someone with a pocket full of quarters.

 

[Cheerwino]

Guys, they hired PR people. I'm a PR person. We promote things that other people create. They are not developers, programmers, designers or even marketers -- they are press and industry promoters. You want folks with contacts in an industry, good at getting press and related placements, who are also good at running a PR department. It's important and useful for companies, part of the marketing mix but not the whole show.

Folks need to realize there are multiple consumer segments in any product category with varying degrees of interest and values around any product. This is true for cereal, furniture, tires, games and just about any consumer product. Thanks to our somewhat free market capitalism we have a choice in products, so companies work hard to figure out the ideal formula to reach certain target groups. Those groups overlap and vary according to the brand and product. This stuff is complex and there aren't easy, clear answers.

I think these hires just show Apple is serious about the gaming market (an all it's variety) and trying to maximize what is possible within the context of their product capabilities. [gag, spoken like a true PR person, I see]

 

[341328]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

Why doesnt Apple allow you to plug a controller in the 30 pin adaptor? Wouldnt that be the best of both worlds?

I agree! I need some buttons. Or wireless via Bluetooth even better.

 

[!¡ V ¡!]

I agree with another commenter regarding removal of default applications i.e. Game Centre, Weather. I believe you can deactivate YouTube via system preferences and it hides the application, why not the same for other default apps.

 

[gorgeousninja]

So I guess you don't watch movies, TV shows, go to the pub/bar, visit museums or browse the inte...
Hmmm

I think it is precisely that so many people do enjoy, not only playing games, but going to the movies, bars etc that what is considered 'hard-core' gaming has become marginalized and frankly irrelevant.

Many many people, myself included' have spent endless hours playing games on both consoles and custom gaming rigs. I take issue when someone who knows nothing about me suggests that because I now have that same need satisfied by an iOS device means that I know nothing about gaming, whereas it is far more the case of 'been there done that'.

The stereotype of a person describing themselves as a 'hardcore gamer' being an adolescent boy with more disposable income than social skills seems, unfortunately, to be more than justified by some of the posts written here.

As someone pointed out a true 'hardcore gamer' plays games..full stop.

Games such as 'Bejewelled' and the Zynga 'Farmville' Facebook games, are played for hours and hours and hours, by millions of mainly women, who would never think of describing themselves as 'gamers', and yet to ignore that market sector, or the iOS devices is not only commercial suicide, but shows an ignorance of where the true future of gaming lies.

 

[LagunaSol]

Real StarCraft for iPad, Blizzard. Make it happen.

 

[hayesk]

Brilliant! then a family of five can all play scrabble or monopoly for the low low cost of $1,495*

*listed price includes iDevices only. Apple tv required to play. Apple tv, monopoly and scrabble sold separately.

Gee, and you'll also need to buy a house to play it in. Are you going to include that too? What a ridiculous statement. If the these devices only played Scrabble then you'd have a point. But these devices do so much more. So why would you say such a ridiculous thing?

 

[Pilgrim1099]

I 'm waiting for Apple to BUY Nintendo.

Will never, ever happen. Do some research. Nintendo is based off from Japan, not the USA originally.

And guess who's come back from the dead?

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/04/08/commodore-64-welcome-back-old-friend/?mod=google_news_blog

What goes around, comes around. Apple can stay on for so long and sooner or later, they're bound to fall. They're human and they can't keep it up forever.

EDIT: I meant this http://www.commodoreusa.net/CUSA_TronVideo.aspx

 

[Photics]

Here is an easy way to explain it. You can heat a slice of bread in a toaster and a microwave oven. Are you going to say microwaves compeat with toasters now. When they do not heat bread the same way.

That's a tough analogy, as it's true... microwaves and toasters can coexist. (Although, I don't have a microwave. It does strange things to pizza.) Yet, I don't think it's the same in the gaming world. Are iOS games really so different from other video games?

The only thing really lacking is a decent controller. There are so many ways to resolve this.

Example... put a motion sensing camera on the Apple TV. That $100-$150 box could be used for FaceTime and video games. I think that would be very popular.

Another Example... the remote control for the Apple TV could be expanded into a controller.

Yet Another Example... one iOS device can be used to control another. This technology is already in play.

I can't see how Apple making a Bluetooth controller, which, say looked a bit like a PS3/360 controller, and selling it as an optional accessory could be in any way a negative thing.

The negativity that I see is if it's an unsupported accessory. What if customers don't go out and buy it? What if developers don't modify their games to support it? There are lots of failed game accessories out there. While I doubt Apple will release the next Nintendo Power Glove, a goofy looking controller — like the PlayStation move — could be harmful to iOS gaming.

 

[roocka]

1. Define a proper game. I think there are a lot of proper games on iOS. But I think I get your point. Do you mean hardcore? Halo, elder scrolls, call of duty etc.

2. What do you mean make a legitimate threat? I would bet money there are more iDevices in peoples homes and hands than Nintendo or Sony devices (of similar purposes) I watched a friends kid for a week in January while she was on a business trip. The kid loved his DS to death. For Christmas he got an iPad. He didn't even know where his DS was anymore, it was old news. Plus when apple has enough money to buy either company out, I think that makes them a legitimate threat.

Lets be honest, APPLE will never buy Nintendo or Sony. Apple will make them inferior and insignificant. Apple will not create the same games but rather will change gaming. Apple will probably make gaming more interactive and more inclusive.

I would say the odds are greater that Sony will buy Nintendo in a desperation move to remain relevant or Sony will get bought out by Microsoft after Apple starts creating televisions. Mark my words, Apple will never buy a bloated and inferior company. To truly believe that makes you a moron.

 

[Cameront9]

Nintendo will go out of business before they sell themselves to ANYONE. They're a proud Japanese company that's been around since 1889. They aren't going anywhere.

 

[Piggie]

Trying to use a finger controlled touch screen as the new answer to everything, and young people thinking this is right, in a way reminds me of being at work.

We have a company that's been around for 60 or 70 years and has many systems in place to run smoothly that have been perfected over the decades as proven ways of doing things.

Many years later the original management retire etc, and very young, fresh faced managers straight from school come in, and want to "make their mark" they then set about rubbishing all the "old ways" of doing things, for no really reason other than THEY don't like them, and they are things of the past, hence they must be wrong for just this reason.

Old = Wrong, New = right.

They then implemented for force through their new systems, ignoring people who tell them "this won't work" and "you can't do it like that" as, in these young eyes, these people are just stick in the muds resistant to change.

Move forward a few years of this and everything is a mess, things are way more complicated than they every were, paperwork is much more and things that used to be simple are now causing people all sorts of issues.

But still the young managers refuse to admit they might be wrong and the ways things used to be done were better, and all the "workers" are struggling having the keep the new systems working.

A little like, someone saying, Oh a round steering wheel in a car? How old that design is, it has to be wrong, from now on all our cars won't have steering wheels, that's for old people, we are moving forward to a flat touch screen panel in the car, much more modern, and those people who don't like them, or think a car is harder to control are just old people who can't understand the possibilities that this will bring.

 

[mixel]

1. Define a proper game. I think there are a lot of proper games on iOS. But I think I get your point. Do you mean hardcore? Halo, elder scrolls, call of duty etc.

I sort-of mean hardcore, though I think thats a wonky label too.. There are quite a lot of "hardcore" RPGs on iOS already. I mean games with decent budgets and a sizeable team working on them. The vast majority of the >$100 billion games industry works that way.. Metal Gears, Silent Hills, God of Wars, Halos, Resistances, Fables, Killzones, Gears Of Wars, Half-lifes, Portals, L4Ds, Elder Scrolls, Witchers, Crysises, Zeldas, Shadow Of The Colluseses, Resident Evils.. The hardware is more than capable of having incredible titles, but the devs just wont give it a proper go. What are our true iOS classics? Any dedicated console at this point in its lifespan would have a load of them.

It was neat when we got the Dead Space spin-off but the big boys have really only dipped their toes into iOS without truly committing yet.

I do agree though there are a lot of proper games on iOS, just not high profile ones that would attract many outsiders. I love small and indie games and the experimentation they offer.. Its not a failure to not have the big support IMO it's just playing a different ball game.

2. What do you mean make a legitimate threat? I would bet money there are more iDevices in peoples homes and hands than Nintendo or Sony devices (of similar purposes) I watched a friends kid for a week in January while she was on a business trip. The kid loved his DS to death. For Christmas he got an iPad. He didn't even know where his DS was anymore, it was old news. Plus when apple has enough money to buy either company out, I think that makes them a legitimate threat.

Not to traditional gamers really. Apple aren't going to buy either company, and both companies are still offering a whole tier of game quality above what iOS currently offers. Only once the developers start seeing iOS as a real standalone gaming platform and not a curious aside for drumming up publicity for their true AAA titles will it appeal to most gamers.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/40635/Global-games-market-worth-over-100bn - tbh devs seem much more keen on funnelling development resources into supporting Facebook/social gaming than iOS, which is pretty sad. Look how small the mobile section is compared to others.

I'd love to see Apple's future plans regarding the games industry.