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Apple Racks Up the Gaming Patents

Posted by Soulskill on from the one-button-controllers dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Evidence has been growing that Apple is developing a new gaming console. Now, there are some possible details about how a combined media/game console might work, based on patent applications filed by Apple in late 2007 and early 2008. Here is some of what we can look for: having your personal music integrated into a title, a 'natural' gesture multitouch interface, and a single online store that sells games, media, and video."

5 of 245 comments (clear)

  1. Cause someone will bring this up: by denttford · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Apple's other attempt to enter the gaming market.

    As much as I dislike their products, if Apple goes after the Wii with stong iTunes and iPhone/Pod integration, as a gaming and convergence device, they could hurt Nintendo. The saturated market isn't an issue when you can lower the standard of definition and quadruple the market space (e.g. the "smartphone" market).
    They will probably have to kill Apple TV, though.

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    Leben Sie jetzt die Fragen.
    1. Re:Cause someone will bring this up: by denttford · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, it does better than expected as a niche product. Still, I suspect a PVR+iTunes frontend+Gaming platform with strong iPod tie ins and in HD would sell very well. It would be a major initiative, and I doubt Apple would let a "hobby project" dilute that market.

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      Leben Sie jetzt die Fragen.
    2. Re:Cause someone will bring this up: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The problem with Apple entering that market: price. One of Nintendo's biggest selling points is their price. If Apple continues with their buy-in-club pricing mentality (and we have no reason to believe that they won't), then I highly doubt Nintendo has much to worry about.

  2. Does it even need new hardware? by Sockatume · · Score: 5, Insightful

    All of the stuff mentioned there could apply equally well to the iPhone and iPod Touch, which Apple have been positioning as proper gaming devices anyway.

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    No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  3. Re:Thought we already had an Apple console... by ActusReus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sigh... in the not-so-distant past, when the Slashdot community was oriented around open vs. proprietary discussions, Microsoft and Apple very much WAS considered to occupy the same basic space.

    These days Slashdot is all about piracy, fads and rumors in social networking sites, and discussions about marketing. The occasional GPL vs. BSD/MIT/Apache flamewar still sprouts up, but mostly it's just fanboys praising or bad-mouthing various shiny objects on the basis of how "sexy" they are.

    Apple sells "better" stuff, Microsoft sells "more" stuff. Other than that, yeah... they are pretty much the same thing.