If you think the iPhone or let’s say most iOS devices has dramatically changed the gaming scene now, just you wait. If the iPhone 4 radically improved the small-screen gaming experience, put yourself a picture what the iPhone 8 will do to it. That’s what Epic Games President Mike Capps is doing a hobby these days.
“If you look at the ridiculous acceleration of iPhone hardware and technology, trying to find a sweet spot for tech to make your mobile game,” Capps told IndustryGamers, “I mean, what would your mobile game look like in 2015? Who knows how fast that’s going to operate, but you can bet it’s going to be faster than an Xbox 360. I think that’s the real challenge for us now, rather than worrying about the difference between a couple consoles and some order of magnitude, whether 3X or 4X. It’s about how do we deal with iPhone 8. … if you watch where the gamers are going, that’s where they are. Your iPhone 8 will probably plug into your TV, or better yet, wirelessly connect to your television set to give you that big screen gaming experience with good sound. So really, what’s the point of those next-gen consoles? It’s a very interesting situation to be looking at. That’s what we’re starting to think about more … not how do we scale from some Nintendo platform to some other future console.”
Another intriguing observation coming as it does on the heels of similar remarks from EA CEO John Riccitiello, who last week claiming the iPad as the company’s fastest growing gaming platform.
Pete
Aug 06. 2011
Quite simple really. Because those guys at Epic will have the know how and imagination to take advantage of the CPU power available to the ps4 or xbox 720 which will be way beyond that of any mobile device. If they can’t do that well…
The iPhone 8 maybe it will be has powerful as the already 6 year old consoles. The main issue is battery technology and keeping the power usage to a minimum.
The guys above are talking from a bean counter point of view. Minimum development costs, imagination, game royalties etc…
Mornelithe
Aug 07. 2011
People mistake Apple’s success as some sign that consoles are on the decline. The point most analysts are missing is that Apple’s constituency isn’t remotely close to that of the home console market. Even the handheld market is a different demographic.
Apple is bringing in new customers, not changing the views of older customers. So, there’s hardly any chance it’ll bite into Microsoft or Sony’s bottom line. Beyond that, however, Apple is missing one vital ingredient, and that’s in-house developers. Apple will never ‘rule’ over Sony, because Sony has dedicated, professional, and top notch in-house development teams that produce games and franchises for the Sony brand, and the Sony brand alone.
Those who’ve spent the last 10-15+ years growing up on those franchises, could care less what Apple comes out with, because they’re not the experiences, and the memories that they’ve been enjoying for so long.
There’s room in the industry for all, so why we keep on prophesying the doom and destruction of another market leader is beyond me. If Sony exits the market, it would be bad for everyone, not just Sony. We should be encouraging as much competition as possible, that’s what keeps games, and developers on their toes, innovating and improving everything they deliver.
Derek
Aug 07. 2011
A few years back “Hardcore” gamers scoffed at consoles as they continually upgraded their PC’s with new Geforce and Radeon cards and spent hours tuning them just to get the game to actually work at a decent frame rate. . XBox 360 and PS3 has decimated the PC games market.
The difficulty of releasing a stand alone console is with smartphone and tablet technology lots of people are not going to bother going beyond their handy device.
Whilst Apple may be bringing in lots of new customers they are also diluting the existing user base.
Whilst “hardcore” gamers might not care what Apple comes out with they need to pay attention because each casual gamer lost to Apple or Android means less money to develop future games.
In July 14, 2011 550,000 Android devices are now activated by Google each day with
growth 4.4 percent per week and Apple has sold 55 million iphones this year so far.
None of these devices requires the user to purchase physical media to play a game.
The next console is not going to have DVD or Bluray; its going to be the size of your smartphone; plug into your TV and could use a bluetooth PS3 controller.
RIP set-top box consoles.
ThatoneGuy
Aug 08. 2011
1. Apple will NEVER break into gaming. What they will do (and have done) is create a new market that “analysts” think is gaming. This is just the continuation of snake on Nokia, not some revolution. The games sold on phones work because they are cheep and shallow, allowing you to jump in and out while waiting for your next meeting, flight, or other down time.
2. Setting the benchmark at power that is a half decade old claiming that it is the next step is ridiculous. Saying something will be as powerful as a 360 is a joke. 360 is on its way out, and I assure you, Gamers will not be settling for the future version of “mobile phone pong” when 720 or PS4 comes out. Gaming moves forward. It does not remain static. what worked on PS3 and 360 will be a short term distraction in short order… Unless you think Super Mario Bros would be a big seller today without any updates…
Just for reference, the Vita is as powerful as a PS3, and will in no way take gamers away from PS3, development money away from PS3, etc. It is for a different market. The PSP was as powerful as a PS2 and did not take anything away from consoles.
3. Casual gamers are not the same market as Gamers: The casual gamer market is large but not a driver of the industry. Casual gamers value is in the large number of small purchases, and their downfall is that they only make a couple buys and move on to something else. A gamer will buy a few full price games a quarter, or spend 600-1000 hours in one. They are separate markets, and trying to combine the two is ridiculous. One does not cannibalize the other, and there is absolutely no evidence otherwise. Sorry to burst your bubble.
This guy treats all gaming as sharing one big bag of customers and money. Is it left over fro the first day of Econ101 when they were setting up the very basics? If he had stayed in the class for the second day, he would have learned it is possible to bring NEW people into the market, and that brings in new money with it…
This is no different then a real estate agent trying to convince someone that houses are obsolete because a developer has invented apartments…
ALL mobile phone gaming has done is open the market of casual gaming to people who would not buy a gaming system to carry with them, on a micro-transaction basis… NOTHING more… These people did not trade in a PSP or a DS to play games on the go. They were not in the market before.
This article seems highly misinformed (ie zero understanding of markets or economics) and nothing more than an Apple fanboys dream of apple dominance in electronics.
As a caveat, the iPhone 8 likely will rule over the PS3 and 360, the same was a 4 function calculator rules over the Apollo command module.
bebe
Aug 08. 2011
Lmao. buy the time the iphone 8 hits stores. there will be a ps4 and xbox 720 which will be about 10x more powerfull then ps3 and 360. besides the only games you can play on an iphone are angry birds.
Jkreal
Sep 19. 2011
Handheld games suck they get boring very fast and playing on a touch screen won’t be an easy control so epic games I love gears but your comment Is stupid and apple can’t keep their dates *ahem* iPhone 5 anyone