By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Nuvendil on 10 September 2015
Edit Thread
Soundwave said:
Nuvendil said:

Not necessarily.  It's not like there isn't any overlap here.  The real, serious question is will the people who are on their phones (that they get for little to no money spent in many cases) going to spend a substantial chunk of change to even *buy* this device.  I mean, the whole reason these people ever bought a Wii was because they didn't have the free smartphone option.  Now they do, will they go back to spending that just for an Apple TV?  Especially when this device lacks a Mario or Metroid or Zelda - substantial expereicnes worth spending significant money upfront - associated with it?  Not saying those experiences don't exist, they do.  But those aren't the ones with TV commercials and all that.  Those are your Candy Crush and Clash of Clans.  But either way, I doubt this will represent any threat to the core gaming market as it sits now.  Because the people interested in "B" experiences and F2P/cheap games and nothing else already have that AND those interested in both...are interested in both.  And I highly, highly doubt Apple is interested at all in getting into a war with MS, Sony, and Nintendo as that would require a very high ammount of spending just to get in fighting shape.   Much easier for them to sit back and get what they can for the minimal cost. 


For what its worth, AppleTV has been selling considerably better than the Wii U has. Early in its product cycle it was kind of a neglected product by Apple, but since 2012 with a new revision, sales have picked up dramatically:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=178147655&postcount=204

Apple TV estimated shipments - ZhugeEX
2007- 0.3 million
2008- 0.3 million
2009- 0.7 million
2010- 1.6 million (REV2)
2011- 2.8 million
2012- 6.5 million (REV3)
2013- 7.0 million
2014- 6.0 million

These sales will likely increase a lot with this new model, so that while it won't have PS4 sales most likely, it will be likely outselling the Wii U by a mile and even the XBox One. 

Also while this particular model isn't neccessarily the be-all, end-all, I mean I think we have to consider that over time the hardware performance of this device will likely increase by leaps and bounds. An A9X processor for example could probably allow for games like Metal Gear Solid V to be played. 

But I think obviously the focus will be on more casual experiences. 

The issue is also that even if it *can* run MGSV, why would Konami put it there?  The consumer expected price of games on consoles is $40 to $60.  And the audience of mainstays in the console space are those interested and accustomed to upfront payment and repulsed by the image of f2p for their primary experience.  And companies like Konami and such have built development of those games around that price point and business model.  The mobile market, on the other hand, is opposite: consumers expect $0 to $5 tops, desire no upfront payment, etc.  Such an environment is not conducive to games built around the core game market model.  And simultaneously the established fans of such games would be repulsed by those tactics that dominate mobile.  And this device is tied into that market.

 

Not saying that this device will flop.  Apple has a dedicated foundation of fans who will buy this for one.  And it will get a few mil from other places.  It's just going to face the issue of selling like a dedicated device to a crowd not interested on the whole in the dedicated gaming thing and with a market that won't interest the dedicated gaming fans.  I think it will do enough for Apple to be satisfied, don't see it going further unless Apple gets extremely hands on with the app store and game development.