"It appears to me that mentioning Apple in an actual videogame website and as a videogame player in the industry is usually received with a disdain reaction. But please allow me to explain what I mean here..."

Of course it is, no one considers Apple a game company.

"I believe 2011 has been one of the most disappointing years in the history of videogames, and that's not due to lack of content, in fact I would say 2011 has been one of the best years in gaming. But the real problem is that despite 2011 being highly rich in terms of content, so far, none of the games seem to have made much of an impact in the industry.

We see great games coming by and being forgotten in just a matter of days, and while we could say that because this generation of consoles have been around for more than half a decade, it has run its course, but I believe the real issue here is the rise of Apple and how the image of videogame has been changed in just a very short while."

Great games? Where? So far none of them has been interesting. The games you think are great are in the most part just some good core games that will never cause any significant impact in the public because the developers jsut don't want to target mass market and prefer a niche demographic.

"Apple never showed any real interest in the gaming industry, heck, they even refused the tech behind Kinect when it was proposed to them first; they simply lacked the motivation to seriously enter this crowded market. But now, when you look at it, it’s Apple this and Apple that, and the history of how Apple became a game player is amusing, because their entrance to this market was a complete luck. The fact is, early on, Apple did not even position iPhone or iPod Touch as a gaming machine, and they didn't even start their App Store until around a year of their release. Apple themselves have said that they started to market iPod Touch and to a lesser extent, iPhone, as a gaming machine after the huge traffic of game applications was seen post App Store launch."

But even with all the gaming apps, none of Apple's products are seen as video game machines, they are viewed as portable computers.

"That just shows how random their entrance into gaming market has been, and now, because of them, the actual gaming market seems to be dwindling to the point that it may soon become irrelevant. It saddens me how everyone, even within the industry, is trying to compare how Angry Bird outsells every major release. Angry Bird is not even a game; it’s more like a mini-game within an actual game which is unlocked as an extra. I have been baffled by those comparisons because I have those "great" iOS games and I don't see them to be really comparable to what we have considered as videogame in this industry."

The game industry is dwindling because they refuse to adopt new ways to cater new markets and instead are doign whatever they want, making crap only the developers like. That is the reason the industry is failing.

"Day after day though, reality is kicking in further and further. Apple is now universally considered a videogame player, and they seem to have tarnished the gaming image by lowering the standards and making it like all games should be $0.99. This industry simply can't push forward with such price schemes, and that's because the development costs on actual games are way way higher than what one person creates in his basement.

Handheld platforms are the biggest victims here; 3DS have so far failed to make a big impact in the industry. And I believe Vita wouldn't fare much better unless things go extremely well for Sony. PSVita, in particular, would be a good testament to see how much Apple and smartphones have impacted handhelds, because Vita can do everything iOS and smartphone games can, but far better, with actual buttons, and only $20 more expensive than the entry iPod Touch."

Handhelds are not failing, the 3DS is failing because it actually isn't a handheld, just a portable Gamecube. If the DS was launched now instead of the 3DS, it would sells the same as it sold 6 years ago.


The reason Apple isn't a threat to the game industry is the same reaosn why computers weren't a threat to video-games in the 80s.

well i guess you can say iPad is a handheld but not a console.

do hardcore gamers take iPad seriously? i'd say the answer i no.
does anybody on this site take iPad or its brothers seriously? i'd still say no.
would anybody on this site buy anyone of the apple products in the op just to game on? i'd say no.

hey dud. apple has a new game! really; whts i called? opps my bad its just another app.

why compare the 2. It's not the same thing,the Ipad/smartphone is not meant to be a primary gaming device and I don't really consider it such. There games are apps (*wink,wink) are just meant to be played when your bored are something. Why would I play for hours and hours on a weird little screen,plus I would have to charge up these devices all the time. It just baffles me,when people compare games on a smartphone to a games on a regular gaming console,there just two completly different experiences.

I bet those small japanese publishing houses can on PSV and it's flexible pricing structure and digital releases.  The industry as we know it can't, but that doesn't matter.  It will fall by the way side and smaller more nimble people and companies will fill the void.  

Sony should have been where Apple is ages ago.  If they could properly leverage their media and hardware advertising they stand much to gain. I dont know how they let that walkman legacy crumble.

They have impacted the real game industry.  Handhelds are a large part of it.  For a lot of japanese developers it's all that's left.