A lot of people said Apple wouldnt get games,or be interested in games or console etc.

Carmack goes on to discuss this so called game, will be on other platforms as well. Could we be seeing the birth of a new concole from Apple here shortly?  Apple also announced they may release their wireless movie download earlier, despite what hollywood thinks/complains about.

Today at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), CEO Steve Jobs touted the fact that his company's Macintosh computer line is getting a double-shot of support on the games front.

"Who run Bartertown?"

First, in the wake of its casual game push on iTunes, Electronic Arts revealed it will release several top-tier titles onto the Mac. After Apple CEO Steve Jobs talked up the number one third-party publisher, EA chief creative officer Bing Gordon took the WWDC stage.

"Starting in July, we're going to bring four of our biggest titles to run on [Macintosh] OS 10," Gordon told an enthusiastic crowd. The quartet in question includes favorites Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, Battlefield 2142, Need for Speed Carbon, and the as-yet unreleased Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Gordon also revealed that following Phoenix, EA will start releasing majors games "simultaneously on the Mac" when they ship for other platforms. The first two titles to be released on this platform will be Madden NFL 08 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08, both due in August.

After Gordon, id software cofounder and chief technical officer John Carmack stepped up to begin a technology demo. "We were able to put this together fairly quickly, which speaks highly of the Mac platform," said Carmack, sporting a black-on-black three-button suit. He then emceed the first public showing of the all-new engine that will power id's forthcoming game, which was first revealed in 2004.

Titled "id Tech 5," the demo began with a swooping pan through a desert canyon filled with a shantytown straight out of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Carmack talked up the fact the engine supported "a world that is entirely covered in unique textures." He said the sequence, which followed a MotorStorm-esque dune-buggy racetrack, had a whopping 20GB of texture information. He said that said information will allow designers to tweak any aspect of the textures "without affecting the stability of the game."

In his concluding statements, Carmack also revealed that id's as-yet unnamed new game will be formally unveiled to the public at the E3 Media & Business Summit next month. He also confirmed the game would be "running on the PC, PS3, Xbox [360], and Mac." Between E3's kick off and the 2007 QuakeCon convention, id will also "have another Mac-related announcement," Carmack promised.

I don't know about you guys, but I wish I could be a fly on the wall at E3!!

I seriously doubt any kind of console or gaming platform Apple makes will be anything but a money-grabbing machine that only gets ports from other systems...

Serious? Do you think they would have the know-how/hussle to get developers on board? Apple has accomplished of good job of making their brand a household name once again. I do not own a mac, but they are fun for graphics/design.

The last thing I want to see is an Apple console and I'm a long time Mac user.

Apple is extremely irritating when it comes to cooperating with third parties. I don't want to see them in the console business and I doubt we ever will.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Pippen

My favorite line from Wiki entry for the Pippen:

"Costing US $599 on launch, and touted as a cheap computer, the system, in reality, was commonly identified as a video game console. As such, its price was considered too expensive in comparison to its contemporaries." 

LOL! 

Guys - this isn't about a CONSOLE. Its about the battle for PCs.

This is a HUGE slap in the face for Microsoft. This is going to give Apple some serious leverage in the PC market, and with the iPhone coming out (and SDK announcements made recently) this is all significant.

EA dual releasing ALL PC titles for Windows/Mac basically says they have no confidence in Microsoft. After the disaster that was the "Games for Windows" launch, I'm not surprised.

...

I'm seriously considering getting a Mac (some form) for my next PC/laptop. Had enough of PCs. 

Shams,
here-here mate! My next computer based purchase is going to be an Apple, I've had enough of PC's too.

Very true, MS got into it for fear of Sony/PC/home market, They didnt even realize apple, Apple is like a sleeping giant, although i do not own an ipod, they showed sony up with the walkman. I don't know if the phone will catch on but did you get a chance to review Apple's new wifi movie download?? It is suppose to be out later this year, I actually seen it on the News channel on the wii before i left.

For casual gaming, I can see Apple make a dent (albeit small) in portable gaming with iPods, but then again, the hardware is pretty limited (to my understanding) - it doesn't have the dual-screen and stylus input of the DS nor the awesome screen and raw power of the PSP, so the breadth and depth of games it can come out with should be limited compared to the DS and PSP offerings. But the userbase is definitely there.

Plus, there is no reason why iPods have to be perpetually confined to the form factor and functionality it current has. Apple can simply start releasing portable music players with slightly more "game-capable" hardware shoehorned into their next batch of iPods. They already have one element in place - the multi-touch screen of the iPhone, which has great potential as a gaming input mechanism.

But if this is indeed a battle for the PC, then I say Apple has an uphill battle to fight:

http://news.softpedia.com/newsImage/Mac-OS-X-and-Linux-Bite-the-Dust-Windows-Vista-Did-It-3.png

Here Apple has their work cut out for them. First, you have consoles, then you have the 800lb gorilla that is Windows to contend with, all vying for the same piece of pie. Second, you have the already installed user base that has their gaming rigs and assorted hardware invested in Windows, and with the high price of gaming PCs, I don't think anyone will go out and plonk another 2-4k on a Mac just so they can get arguably the exact gaming experience. Third, the Mac userbase is not associated with games to start with (or they'd be in the Windows camp!) and at least initially, the only people playing Mac games (if gaming ever materializes beyond the three-year-old ports it occasionally receives) will be the existing users.

Additionally, Microsoft is trying to create some synergy between Vista and Xbox, both dependent on DirectX, and developers are used to working with that API. Mac has OpenGL which is nice and platform-independent, but the majority of gaming software and hardware are designed around DirectX first and foremost.

Nothing is impossible, however, and it could be a matter of a generation or two (in terms of PC, not human lifespan) to change the public perception of Mac to that of a viable gaming platform, but I'm not holding my breath on this.

Anyway, my 2 cents...