Xbox Project Founder: Game-Enabled Apple TV Would Crush The Competition

[Akshay Masand]

Writing on his own personal blog, Nat Brown, the founder and self-proclaimed namer of Microsoft’s original Xbox project, mentioned Apple could quickly come to dominate the gaming sector if the company decided to add gaming capabilities to its Apple TV set top box or the continually rumored Apple HDTV.

Brown continued by saying that Microsoft and other traditional console makers such as Sony failed to understand and capitalize on the potential for living room connected devices. According to him, Xbox’s primary critical problem:

…is the lack of a functional and growing platform ecosystem for small developers to sell digitally network distributed (non-disc) content through to the installed base of Xbox customers, period. Why can't I write a game for Xbox tomorrow using $100 worth of tools and my existing Windows laptop and test it on my home xBox or at my friends' houses? Why can't I then distribute it digitally in a decent online store... like I can for Android or iPhone, or for iPad?

He continued by pointing out that Microsoft’s developer program for its console requires “$10,000/year and a ton of paperwork, with Microsoft holding veto power over your game.” Apple in turn according to him is perfectly positioned to shake up the gaming sector if it decides to bring games to its Apple TV device. The company’s existing developer framework would make it easy to attract small developers. According to Brown:

Apple, if it chooses to do so, will simply kill Playstation, Wii-U, and xBox by introducing an open 30%-cut app/game ecosystem for Apple-TV... I will be the first to write apps for Apple-TV when I can, and I know I'll make money. I would for xBox if I could and I knew I would make money.

If all of this sounds a tad bit familiar, that’s because it is as Brown isn’t the first established name in the gaming industry to state that Apple is poised to make a big impact in gaming if it chose to do so, Valve cofounder and software engineer, Gabe Newell, also shared similar thoughts in late January. We’ll have to wait and see if Apple takes the cue and walks down that path.

Source: Nat Brown (blog)

[King_O_Hill]

Great, angry birds on my 73"

[pkmaximum]

Oh god...please do not let this happen. It will be the end of console gaming as we know it!

[Roadw3]

As long as 50, 60, and 70 dollar console games are not in jeopardy of getting cheaper then I'm all for it. We need expensive games for profits.

[Venom1234]

I doubt apple would crush the gaming market. Lol lets be honest here people c'mon.

[GrumpySod]

I would say Microsoft and Sony where slow in wanting their boxes to be connected devices in the Center of the home! It's just both have been stupidly slow and bringing simple high quality stores to their users! I have both Xbox360 and ps3 and my Apple TV 3G and 2g hammer them for speed and quality of media! And I blame both Sony and Microsoft being lazy and hoping others would do the hard work!

[Roadw3]

There is also a profit margin both of those companies want to maintain as well. If they offered all that in a console game system they would want a grand for it.

[rocky5]

Already been done, you can get HDMI Android dongles that have controllers & we don't see them as there not the next best thing.

If built into a tv, I wouldn't spend the extra Ł600 for it.

[Villebilly]

I think some miss the point trying to be made. Apple's advantage is that they are DEVELOPER FRIENDLY. Sony/Microsoft keep developers out by charging thousands just to get rights to make their games. Apple strategy is to let anyone try to make games and just get 30% of what actually sells.
It's not that Apple would have to make an Xbox equivalent system but that, like the App Store, they would quickly dwarf the competition by the sheer number of offerings if they could put into an all in one box.

[REMED1AL]

Oh god...please do not let this happen. It will be the end of console gaming as we know it!

Gaming consoles are already done. They come out initially with decent specs but quickly lose their potential as the hardware becomes out dated. I love some of the games on consoles and the Xbox controller is the best IMO.

There are tons of great developers out there that want to step up and build a great game on a great platform but can't afford the current options. We just need a great platform to allow it. Yes, we'll have giant angry birds but that's just the beginning. I sincerely hope this happens.

[kcsims]

Great, angry birds on my 73"

Don't forget about endless runners or tower defense games....

I have yet to play a game on iOS or Android that held my attention for more they 5 minutes. For the casual gamers, these are great. I'll stick with a console game that has some production value.

How often will the hardware cycle be? One year if you are lucky like they have already stated with the Ouya. Even at a cheaper price, I don't want to have to get new hardware every year just to play some newer games.

[luvmytj]

Oh god...please do not let this happen. It will be the end of console gaming as we know it!

Apple does have a way of changing entire industries don't they.

[alanjf]

I think some miss the point trying to be made. Apple's advantage is that they are DEVELOPER FRIENDLY. Sony/Microsoft keep developers out by charging thousands just to get rights to make their games. Apple strategy is to let anyone try to make games and just get 30% of what actually sells.

While you're right about companies like Sony and Microsoft, I still wouldn't call Apple "developer friendly", not when you consider all the hoops one must jump through. First one must pay $99 (USD) just to be able to develop an app in the first place, as you can't really sell it anywhere else (yes, there's Cydia in jail-break land, but I'm talking about official outlets that everyone can access), and that's if their app even gets approved (which granted isn't always a bad thing, but nonetheless, developers are rather limited in what's allowed.) And as you mentioned, Apple takes nearly a third of all sales, which actually is rather steep, and so I'm surprised you talk about it as if it's nothing. In the end, I wouldn't say Apple is any better than these other companies. It may seem they don't screw developers (and users for that matter) as hard, they just do it differently, in a way that seems more positive on the outside.

[feidhlim1986]

Stick to fixing the holes in your devices first Apple
YouTuber discovers how to bypass iPhone 5 lock screen on iOS 6 - Ireland’s CIO and strategy news and reports service – Siliconrepublic.com

[flash66]

As long as 50, 60, and 70 dollar console games are not in jeopardy of getting cheaper then I'm all for it. We need expensive games for profits.

Huh?

[Moreno53]

While you're right about companies like Sony and Microsoft, I still wouldn't call Apple "developer friendly", not when you consider all the hoops one must jump through. First one must pay $99 (USD) just to be able to develop an app in the first place, as you can't really sell it anywhere else (yes, there's Cydia in jail-break land, but I'm talking about official outlets that everyone can access), and that's if their app even gets approved (which granted isn't always a bad thing, but nonetheless, developers are rather limited in what's allowed.) And as you mentioned, Apple takes nearly a third of all sales, which actually is rather steep, and so I'm surprised you talk about it as if it's nothing. In the end, I wouldn't say Apple is any better than these other companies. It may seem they don't screw developers (and users for that matter) as hard, they just do it differently, in a way that seems more positive on the outside.

Oh please, just ask the developers who they'd rather develop for. Which platform has over 600 million users and which platform has a waining and rapidly depleting fan base. Developers make more money on iOS than they do on any other mobile platform...this is a fact.

[rkswat]

Whoever thinks this story as any legs is silly. No way any app will compete with Black Ops 2 and the like. Not gonna happen.

[alanjf]

Oh please, just ask the developers who they'd rather develop for. Which platform has over 600 million users and which platform has a waining and rapidly depleting fan base. Developers make more money on iOS than they do on any other mobile platform...this is a fact.

That issue wasn't who one would rather develop for, but rather a question about being "developer friendly", which Apple in the end is not really any better than the others mentioned. Developers have to put in just as much if not more resources in order to produce an app for iOS, and then have to give up nearly a third of each sale. Thirty percent is quite a lot when you consider that this is a store front that doesn't carry the same sort of overhead as a physical market place, and costs incurred by shipping, handling, and such are non-existent. So no, developers are not necessarily getting any better of a deal developing for Apple. What seems to make it more attractive is the exposure, and the promise that you might just hit it big.