what is the point of this? long post full of nothing but guesses. i guess its fun to daydream - but why try to pass it off as something to be debated or discussed. Its a freakin day dream

2 out of 3 scenarios have the PSP2 coming in last place. and you are still under the dilusion that Sony is losing loads of money. you are making guesses about the next generation of video games before this one is even close to be settled, hell one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle (blu ray) is just now moving to the fore front.

i like how its soooo long and tought out, but Sony's BEST CASE is 2nd place. inferring its not even possible for them come out on top.

They would get destroyed.

So are Apple actually going to bring a console/handheld in?
Weird where does this specualtion come from?

Well Apple has filed some patents recently, just like Microsoft did in 1999 for gaming devices.  Doesn't mean anything will come, but gaming involves so much money it is worth the entrance costs to the few who can afford it.

As for PSP, look at Japan, hardware sales fluctuate wildly regardless of big game releases in many cases.  Software sales aren't as bad as people think they are given the userbase, but the hardware is still used for many other purposes than gaming, and I think Apple would handle that part of a portable better than Sony, while Nintendo would handle the game side better, which is why I have Apple's product coming in second.  For all of PSP's sales, Nintendo portable sales have not really dropped.  DS will pass GBA in late 2008 or 2009.  It will probably pass Game Boy + Game Boy Color sales around the time its successor is unveiled, which means Sony's entrance didn't really really shrink Nintendo's portable sales like Sony's console entrance had.  

I know Sony's gaming sector is profitable, but its likely because PS2 is so profitable, rather than because PS3 is so cheap to make now.  Its not like PS2 is going to remain as profitable as it is going forward, and PS3 still has a few major price cuts ahead of it. 

Xbox1020 - 110 million (shouldn't it be called Xbox1080 btw? 360+720=1080)
PS5 - 100 million
Wii 3 - 85 million
I-Novate - 55 million
------------------------
= 350 million

Apple will probably have java or flash games on its iphone or ipod touch, and the games will be available on download for like $5 off the itunes music store. Perhaps it can liscense old ROMS from different 3rd party companies, but I doubt they will directly compete against the Nintendo DS or the PSP.

It will probably be touted as an iPod that can play games (as it is now), but not anything completely dedicated to playing games.

As for consoles, I can see the AppleTV easily becoming a trojan horse for games. But again, any games from Apple via the AppleTV would probably be simple java or flash games available for download on the iTunes Music store.

My speculation is that it won't displace Wii or PS3 or Xbox games, but it probably will put dents in the DLC market (i.e. XBLA/WiiWare)

Okay, now, my turn.

Sony and Microsoft entered their respective parts of the industry with a possible fan base already at hand.

Sony came into handheld with the brand name Playstation to help it move hardware and gain worldwide recognition.

Microsoft came into the home console race, and needless to say a lot of PC/Microsoft nerds latched on, and this is debatable of course but I also see this as reason to why 360 FPS’s do so well, so the transition wasn’t so tough, but we’re not here to talk about home consoles.

Apple have virtually nothing, they have the Ipod brand that is as popular as the word Playstation, but that is strictly for media purposes, not gaming, even though it plays games, but that is about as useless as saying the N-gage should of done well cause we could play Snake on the Nokia 3210.

Sure Sony entered the industry in unknown lands, and was successful, why can’t Apple? Well simple really, PSP is doing so well because it piggy backed the Playstation brand Sony built with the home consoles, Apple don’t have a big brother to lead it in, it’s going to be jumping in deep water with no life jacket, it’s either going to have to swim or drown real fast.

Then there’s also the developer issue at hand, this would make 3 main portable consoles to choose from, developers never had to really chose any more then one and that was the GB and GBA, now there are 2, the DS and the PSP, developers are going to opt to develop for the DS2 and a lesser will develop for the PSP2, who’s going to want to develop for the Apple handheld when they know their investments are likely to work on the others.

I think whatever the patent was for, it’ll likely be just an Ipod ONE and Games Device TWO, in which case will be successful.

Excuse this post for being unpolished, it’s 11am here and I haven’t slept since yesterday or the day before, but I’m sure something in there makes sense to some extent.

I think if apple would enter this without a partner they would be in very far over their heads. Heck they can't even convince companies to make games mac compatible half the time.

Now the main problem they would have. They would be entering the marketplace around the same time that sony and nintendo would be logicaly launching new handhelds. That is quite a fierce competition on both fronts.

Unless they buy out Nintendo

Nintendo said they want to make the next "ipod" of game systems

I hate to quote you and push this infront on other posts which are far more important but I felt the need to tell you that I disagree with you, your post goes on to laugh at TheSource saying how it's all a day dream, at this stage I'm thinking *Okay this is a bit disrespectful I wonder why this guys so upset* and as I continue to read on I found my answer, the parts highlighted in red, well done you just trolled this thread with your obvious Sony Fanboy rage.

If you have nothing to add to this thread why come here?