Devin Coldewey for TechCrunch.
So it’s funny when the opposite seems to apply for the games industry. There’s already a premium product out there: the triple-A games produced by huge studios like Ubisoft, EA, Valve, and so on. The Xbox 360 and PS3, and soon the Xbox 720 and PS4, or whatever they’re called, have always been and will continue to be the premium platform — something that has worked well for Apple elsewhere, and something they’ll never be in the games space.
Why? Here’s that content-platform thing again. Apple simply isn’t a triple-A platform for games. Sure, there are great games on it, good-looking games, expensive games. And millions of people play them. But let’s not kid ourselves.
No.
Comparing Apple’s offering to the PS3 and XBOX 360 is wide of the mark. Apple aren’t currently interested in the home console market. More so than any other platform provider, Apple realised that the future is mobile and have targeted that market. Hard. And how are the players in that market handling it? Nintendo have reported weaker than expected demand for the 3DS and Sony continue to slash prices on the PS Vita.
In the mobile space, Apple is a Triple A player. Instead of comparing Angry Birds to Halo, compare it to the offerings on the PS Vita and the 3DS. Look at titles like Bastion and tell me Apple aren’t a Triple A player in the games industry.
And let’s not forget, Apple already has the major games producers releasing on iOS. People like Electronic Arta, Activision, Ubisoft et al release, often day and date with the consoles, their Triple A titles on iOS.
Don’t confuse where the games industry was five years ago with where it is today.