Valve and Apple might be teaming up to make a gaming console

[lizard81288]

"Kinect-like video game console" reportedly the reason for Apple CEO visiting Valve headquarters last week, could integrate Valve's Steam Box project.

Apple could be getting back into the console game market with a helping hand from Valve, according to a report on Cult of Mac.
Is the console market big enough for Apple, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo?

Is the console market big enough for Apple, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo?

The Apple-focused news site followed up reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook visited the Bellevue, Washington, headquarters of Valve last week with an explanation for the executive's trip. According to Cult of Mac sources, Apple is preparing a TV set for release later this year that "will come with an Apple-branded, Kinect-like video game console." According to the site, the system will rely on motion and touch controls, possibly through a touch screen remote that will come with the TV.

The news follows rumors of Valve's entry into the hardware market. Last week, the developer posted job listings for an electronics engineer to join its hardware team, which is creating "whole new gaming experiences." The company has also said it is investigating the field of wearable computing and augmented reality.

Neither Apple nor Valve returned requests for comment as of press time.

This would not be Apple's first attempt at cracking the game console space. The company teamed with Bandai in 1995 to launch Pippin, a multimedia console based on the Macintosh operating system that also allowed users to access the Internet. The system flopped, selling just 12,000 units in the US before Bandai pulled the plug on it.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/apple-g...launch-6371858

This could be a game changer if true. People like Valve because they are cool and people like Apple because they are sheep. Plus Valve would cover the hardcore gaming market, while Apple would cover the casual market.

[Gypsy]

Do not want.

[Spose']

Would be great, it would combine both casual and hard-core. Probably would have pc specs also .

[Ragnar]

Plus Valve would cover the hardcore gaming market, while Apple would cover the casual market.

Or they'd cancel each other out, with each userbase hating the other...

I really can't see any need for either brand to team up, they could both successfully market something without the need to get trapped in some partnership.

[camb702]

Ugh. Hasn't gaming, and society in general for that matter, been dumbed down enough already? If Apple were to enter the gaming arena in such a capacity (iPad/iPhone not withstanding), we'd best prepare for another wave of revisionist history.

Last I checked, Steve Jobs invented cows, gravity, and the electric light bulb. Reality distortion field and all that...

/rant

[JKDarkside]

Wasn't this already proven to be bunk?

[Mohit]

crap console

[Slacker Magician]

Wasn't this already proven to be bunk?

The Valve console was. They are reportedly working on other hardware (not handhelds or consoles), I've got a link if you want it.

People can call random DS/PSP games shovelware all they want, app. games are just as bad, if not worse.

[Dr. Ivo Robotnik]

I have my doubts about this one. The audiences that Valve and Apple usually tend to go for are just too different from each other to really work for a single console.

Still, time will tell. I know I don't want it, but that could be just me.

[akeley]

Marriage made in hell, yet stranger things happened. They`re both DRM - lovers and both have spare billions to throw into some project. That`d probably sell regardless of how ridiculous/restrictive it was.

Couldn`t care less about the next gen thou. Wii U please, if anything.

[Dr. Ivo Robotnik]

Marriage made in hell, yet stranger things happened. They`re both DRM - lovers and both have spare billions to throw into some project. That`d probably sell regardless of how ridiculous/restrictive it was.

Couldn`t care less about the next gen thou. Wii U please, if anything.

I'm going to stamp a bit of an "um.. what" onto this one. Yeah, Steam is a form of DRM, but how restrictive is it, really? Compared to, say, UbiSoft's always-online bullshit or EA's love affair with limited activations?

Overall, I think calling Valve "DRM-lovers" is stretching the definition to breaking point. Then the only one who doesn't apply for the label is GoG.com.

[Kouen Hasuki]

Apple CEO Visits Valve headquarters... No shit, Valve games are on mac

for all we know it was to do with some future mac stuff though steam

Why people rush to speculate when there is plenty of other reasons a Apple CEO would visit Valve I'll always find amusing

[Spose']

Apple CEO Visits Valve headquarters... No shit, Valve games are on mac

for all we know it was to do with some future mac stuff though steam

Why people rush to speculate when there is plenty of other reasons a Apple CEO would visit Valve I'll always find amusing

Or Apple is considering making Steam a default program so they had to work out all the contracts.

[akeley]

Yeah, Steam is a form of DRM, but how restrictive is it, really?

Restrictive enough. You need to connect to a server prior to playing or set up some "offline" mode. Former sucks by default - nevermind things like recently their servers collapsing, and judging by amount of complaints about the latter it isn`t hassle-free either. And then you have Steamworks - meaning that buying even a boxed copy you`re required to have internet connection. Well, this actually is pure evil - alienating large part of customer base and kind of thing that actually makes people pirate games in the first place. (Btw Ubisoft backtracked on always-on long time ago). They also happen to have a stranglehold on PC gaming at the moment which is anything but a good thing, and their prices on new games are ridiculous.

"Stretching the definition"? Hardly. And yes, GOG`s the only one. What`s so strange about that?

It`s been said above that : "People like Valve because they are cool and people like Apple because they are sheep". Yep, Valve always gets a pass for some reason - because they`re "cool" somehow? - that always puzzled me. So they released some great games, okay (majority of which were made by mods first). But so did Electronic Arts and Ubisoft, and yet somehow they`re the big bad wolf.

[Dr Mario]

You do realise that Steam doesn't actually get to set the price point themselves, right?