> looking to break into the industry

Fucking lol, they have broken into the industry. Their console has/is

1) Outselling the DS and PSP put together, infact, sales of iphone/ipod/ipad aprobably come close to rivaling all 5 of the other 7th gen console put together.

2) More games than any other console in history

3) Making one hell of a profit, on hardware, on gaming software, on non gaming software

> aquisition of EA or Sony

Apple total Assets  $47.5 billion

Sony total assets $137.694 billion

It would also be the most bizarre aquisition ever for many other reasons. EA is a sinking ship. Apple only ever buys small businesses, usuaully for a specific product/patent. Those rumours were the stupidest thign I've heard in a long time

What can Apple add to the industry that would make it appealing to us gamers?

A way for developers to make money, to offset the amount they hemorage on some other consoles

Cheap, high quality games 'Broadening the market - introducing non gamers to games, makes us ostracised less and we have more people to game with

Where did you get those numbers?

According to Apple insider Apple's assets are above 265.8 Billion USD, also Apple is said to have over 51-billion dollars in dispensable income. Nintendo I remember a few years ago had only 8-billion in dispensable income. Nintendo is a bigger company then Sony is financially.

So yes Apple is big enough to aquire Sony. If Sony actually has 137.7 Billion in assets then wow but that would still make it a possible target as assets aren't company value.

They did and failed Big!!!

After this do you relay think they wont to get back in. 

Being around Apple fans my whole life, I have a snarky reply.

First, I am neutral. I think Sony dropping PlayStation or EA going out of business is bad for the status quo gamers have come to expect. If I was a developer, I sure as hell would want EA to fail, but since I am a lay consumer I don't share the concern.

Second, looking at their computers I know exactly what apple would bring. Soft edges, a touch screen, almost 100% unhackability, and a fluffy design hiding inferior insides. No one who is a PC gamer goes Apple first. They go anything other than Apple with their dream machine being an Alienware. Seeing as how Apple computers are sold based on looks, their security ,and ease of use, I just don't see Apple bringing anything the Wii has not brought already.

Finally, Apple would be much weaker than Sony because it lacks the experience with the video gaming market. Microsoft had experience in the PC gaming market and this is one of the primary reasons they have seen 100% increases in console sales from the Xbox to Xbox 360. Apple has no such experience other than putting out futuristic, coffee table paperweights they have the nerve to call computers and suckers buy them up in droves because they are "white," have "soft edges," and are more "pleasing to the eye" than that card-board box looking Dell.

I think Apple in the console market would be good for the laughs and bets of how "good looking" their console will be. My bet would be that they would create the most powerful, best looking paperweights.

I got those specific numbers from a source which lead to a broken link

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=aapl

Suggests 53 billion total assets instead of 49, sue me :P

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=SNE&annual

126 bill for Sony (but that's 2008 data)

Apple could not buy Sony, and even if they could, they wouldn't. Apple has shown itself to be a very careful company, in terms of their financial decisions - much as Nintendo is. Buying a huge, but not overly profitable company like Sony is a very risky move. 

im neutral about it, but i wouldnt like to see the gaming industry get too congested. i think they should stick with what they got (iOS devices)

hell no

This has been discussed enough already. You don'y buy assets, you buy market shares and Apple has enough money to buy 100% of Sony's shares even in the case of a hostile takeover. See, their market cap is the second biggest in the world, losing only to Exxon Mobil, and Sony is currently ammounting to just above a tenth of it. 

Not that I think Apple will buy Sony - this is very unlikely. However it is still possible. Remember when AOL went to buy Time Warner, and Apple is in a much better position than AOL back there, and Sony in a worse position than Warner.

No, I don't want to see a $1000 console that sells because it has a fruit on it.

Apple Fanboys are bad enough WITHOUT having a game console...think of what it would be like With one....