14 Feb 2008

Game on for Apple?


It looks like Apple could be about to step into the highly competitive video games console market after the company filed a trademark extension with the US Patent and Trademark Office. It could all be speculation and some experts have dismissed it as being related to the current iPod games on offer, but the extension included: "handheld units for playing electronic games", "handheld units for playing videogames", "stand-alone video game machines", "LCD game machines" and "electronic games other than those adapted for use with television receivers only".


Having worked in the games industry as a consultant, I know first hand how brutal it can be – so, can Apple crack it? Well, some might remember that they’ve been there before with the ill-fated PipPin consoles that struggled against strong competition from Sony, Nintendo and SEGA before being consigned to history as an ugly footnote on the company’s otherwise brilliant record in the product space.


MyTake – tough one this, on one hand Apple has an awesome record in the product space, rewriting the rules and even creating new markets. On the other hand the gaming market is a hard place to succeed. But, if they do enter the gaming market the other boys had better watch-out, gaming is about fun, listening to the consumer and giving them want they want – and that epitomises what Apple is all about.

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