Hot on the heels of the release of the indie Android-based gaming console Ouya, Forbes is reporting that Google and Apple are eyeing gaming consoles of their own based on their respective Android and iOS mobile operating systems. Judging by the early reviews of the Ouya and its successful Kickstarter fundraising campaign, a new platform by either company could be exactly what gamers everywhere want.
Earlier this week the Ouya debuted after raising $8.5 million on the crowd funding site Kickstarter. The reviews rolled in quickly, citing a number of unpleasant aspects that suggested the console was on the right track in terms of what the consumer wants, but it wasn’t quite up to snuff in terms of actual hardware and software.
Google and Apple may have both realized that Ouya is on to something big. Perhaps gone are the days where Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4 will rule the gaming realm while the likes of Nintendo try to play catch up. Judging by how successful the Ouya was on Kickstarter, how fast people were willing to purchase it, and the high-volume of constructive criticism, it looks as if gamers want a console based off their favorite, used-everyday mobile operating systems–such as Android and iOS.
While Ouya has already blazed the trail for an Android-based console, Google can surely pick up the torch and use its innumerable resources to create something even more technically sound than Ouya has. Similarly an iOS gaming platform could take cues from perpetual rival Microsoft’s Xbox One system and create multi cross-platform syncing device that intertwines the best of what a living room gaming console, smartphone, and tablet have to offer.
Should Google and Apple opt to go down this road, both conglomerates will need to tread carefully. Taking cues from a rival company’s can lead to sometimes false claims of copying, as Facebook has learned the hard way in recent years. That right off the bat puts a bitter taste in the mouth of users who don’t want to be talking to their friends about the bootleg system they just purchased.
The good news for either company is that they have the opportunity to tap into a niche market that has yet to be exploited by big-name electronics makers. People choose to game on mobile Android devices and iOS devices because they are afforded the opportunity to play the popular games they do everyday while riding public transit, or waiting on the DMV, or sitting in the grocery store checkout line. Forbes continues,
“They’d be specifically designed to play all those massively popular Android or iOS handheld games on a big screen, rather than running the likes of Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty and the endless array of triple A titles available on traditional game consoles like the Xbox and Playstation.”
Naturally Microsoft, PlayStation, Nintendo, and the rest won’t like it if Google and Apple attempt to disrupt their market, which they would do, and neither will game makers like Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, and Activision Blizzard. We could be seeing the seeds planted right before our eyes of an upcoming gaming war. Apple is known for making not only user-friendly gadgets, but one’s that are pristine and stylish, something the current console makers can’t necessarily boast.
Either way, the fact that both company’s are looking to start from scratch on a brand new product is very exciting. But what do you make of it all? Will Google and Apple officially announce their attempt to start making gaming consoles? Will they be able to compete with those who already have a market stranglehold? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
