Master Kosak should:

1) Grow up
2) Get a life
3) Discover Boot Camp

..now they just need to buy Blizzard instead. Don't tell me that Apple doesn't have the $$$, they could definitely make a solid bid to do it. Failing that, perhaps form a strategic partnership with a major console manufacturer like Nintendo, build up the interoperability of devices like the Wii and DS with Apple (would be easy since bluetooth is becoming so ubiquitous) products.

While I agree that railing it about it on the web accomplishes nothing, I think its a bit silly to ignore the fact that games move boxes, many users choose computers based on the availability of games and that is a big reason Apple continues to lag Windows based PCs in the home PC market. Its not the biggest or only factor, but its significant enough that it deserves apple's attention.

The fact is Steve will probably address it at some point, but doesn't seem to think its a priority just now, maybe he is waiting for CGI to cross the "uncanny valley" on affordable hardware before he worries about it, that would be just like him

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Rainy Day wrote:
Master Kosak should:

1) Grow up
2) Get a life
3) Discover Boot Camp

What is the reason for this complete dismissal? An OS is only as good as the software that is natively available for it - and that includes games.

It probably has to do with the fact that Apple has been and is working very hard to be taken seriously as a computer and not a toy. It's a pretty simple concept. The Mac is for getting work done, being creative, producing, etc. That's how it will be taken seriously. And remember, the Macs have 5% market share, probably 16-20% embedded marketplace.

Game consoles exist for games. Not everything under the sun has to converge into one unit.

It's a financial judgement call. Don't risk your bottom line for a market you don't apparently deem worth it.

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Tiger wrote:
It probably has to do with the fact that Apple has been and is working very hard to be taken seriously as a computer and not a toy. It's a pretty simple concept. The Mac is for getting work done, being creative, producing, etc. That's how it will be taken seriously. And remember, the Macs have 5% market share, probably 16-20% embedded marketplace.

Game consoles exist for games. Not everything under the sun has to converge into one unit.

It's a financial judgement call. Don't risk your bottom line for a market you don't apparently deem worth it.

I simply don't see how the existence of a thriving game market would negatively affect any image the Mac has as a tool for productivity and creativity - especially creativity, as video games are arguably a form of interactive art.

Is the Mac's image really so fragile that the mere presence of games would drop sales to an untenably low level?

We read such complaints/suggestions frequently, but no one gives real numbers: how many gamers would be likely to switch? I would guess that the answer is probably close to zero. Nada. None. Here's why:

- They have a lot invested in hardware and software. They'd probably be more likely to upgrade their hardware than ditch it to buy a Mac.

- Many of the gamers I've run into (all young men) have built their own computers or had someone build it for them. The only Mac they might be interested in would be the Mac Pro and it is way too expensive.

- Even if more games come out for the Mac, the ratio will still be very lopsided for a long time. Developers will most likely concentrate on Windows versions, simply because the market is larger.

Another point: how many gamers are there, as a percentage of the total computer market? A big chunck of Windows PC sales are to businesses and institutions (e.g., government agencies). I suspect that hard-core gamers are a rather small portion of the total market.

(I had to leave for an appointment before finishing this.)

It's about diverting focus.

Apple's stock, both financial, and image, took a major hit with the announced delay of Leopard. It still is. Take a look at the headlines on macsurfer.com's ammalgamation site and you will see them.

The company is taking hits for being stretched too thin now working on ONE device that has marginal ties to the business of computing. There was a negative impact initially due to the iPod diversion. Yes, that made LOTS of money, but it still isn't the primary focus of the company.

Ramping up to the gaming realm would only further dilute the company's resources and I think would trigger another round of negative feedback.

It's just pragmatic. Not making a value judgement here.

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Tiger wrote:
The company is taking hits for being stretched too thin now working on ONE device that has marginal ties to the business of computing.

Apple is a business. That translates into one thing and one thing only: AAPL. Not the business of computing. AAPL.

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Tiger wrote:
Ramping up to the gaming realm would only further dilute the company's resources

I completely agree.

Who is he and why are we talking about him? Oh, Fileplanet's editor-in-cheif? It really is too bad that he acts like an immature bonehead. Good one.. start a letter to Apple with sexual innuendoes.
He could have laid it out better, discussed the pros and cons and maybe offered a path besides "Just buy a company.. you have the money." But then again, he's no John Martellaro. http://www.macobserver.com/columns/hiddendimensions/2006/20060605.shtml
As immature and unprofessional as he is, I think he has some valid points. I would like to see more gaming on Macs, because I do think it would increase market share and hardware cycling. I don't think Apple should devote a lot of resources to it, just more. Encourage those young people to take the step off of the PC platform (because they really do want to) and get them on Macs.. for life.
I wonder if he's even realized there is a community focus on game development at WWDC this year.. http://developer.apple.com/wwdc/communities/games/

While I will always buy a comparably priced Mac version of a game ahead of its PC equivalent, I find no shortage of games for my Mac because I run Windows via Boot Camp.

Apple has provided this as a workable, very-almost-there desirable solution for running games. I only ever switch to Windows to play games and the re-boot doesn't bother me at all. In fact, that start-up chime is like a partition between work and play. Indeed, it's a welcome ritual.

For the "serious" gamers out there, Boot Camp is the answer. It may be stop-gap, but it's as good as owning two computers for the price of one, a far more desirable and immediate solution than waiting for Mac games development to gather traction.

..just so I can play good games. Don't get me wrong, my current solution is game consoles combined with the occasional round of Starcraft or Civ III (don't have the iron for IV yet). I just think Apple would add some awesome things to the game market as a software provider, remember Hypercard?

All I'm saying is, buy/partner with a proven quantity in the game space, ala Blizzard, and Apple would add a tool to the mac arsenal currently missing. The point of Boot Camp should not be to enable Mac Users to use Windows as much as it should be to give Windows users the ability to switch without giving up crucial apps. The same way that Apple slowly improved OS X and others supported it so that I could gradually boot 9 less and less, windows users switching need to be given more and more reasons to stop booting Windows as the OSX-on-Intel software base matures.

It would require a massive outlay of capital to acquire these resources and people, of course, and it may be that Apple (and apparently its users here) are too timid to do it, or (more likely) there is a plan in place involving this space that will become clear at a future point.

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Rainy Day wrote:
Master Kosak should:

1) Grow up
2) Get a life
3) Discover Boot Camp

Boot Camp is just not an acceptable long-term option for ANYTHING. Boot Camp runs Windows. Mac users don't want to run Windows. It's your kind of attitude that could very well lead to the death of the Mac. Developers should not consider Boot Camp good enough, and users certainly shouldn't either.

Not everyone has all the same values and priorities as you. And not everyone is so willing to settle for crappy (and expensive) solutions.

Does anybody really believe that Boot Camp is long for this world? The minute Parallels provided the option to migrate your Windows partition from Boot Camp into it's virtual environment, that signaled the death knell for Boot Camp. It will get released with Leopard, as promised, but don't look for upgrades, improvements, or even longevity. It's counterintuitive to sharing files and switching users. And for Apple, that's still paramount.

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brett_x wrote:
But then again, he's no John Martellaro.

Haha nice. That was funny. Also great since you followed that up with your amazing opinion of "Apple should focus some resources on games but not too much." Wow! That really makes you think. Did you get that from reading Johnny's article?

I think some folks are short-sighted. Particularly those that just say "Games are a waste of time, get a life". I'm sure they never watch TV, rent a movie, etc. But hey, maybe Apple should ditch the AppleTV and tell everyone that TV is a waste of time and to stop being couch potatoes.

Wait...we aren't all couch potatoes, are we? Just as not all gamers are basement-dwelling no-life obese hacks that like to pry open Windoze boxes and put in the latest graphics cards.

I don't think Apple should start developing games or buy a software company that makes games. How about just working with the existing ones to help port and advertise the latest games? The Mac is more than capable of handling the requirements for those games now.

It would be one more selling point. No, it won't bring over the hard-core gamers who like to customize their box or buy overpriced Alienware machines. But it will help those folks who do like to play games on occassion and be able to have that option to play the latest and greatest on a Mac. Especially families with tweens or teenagers.

This was a theme of many 1994 advertisements Apple tried to poke fun at. In fact back then Macs were only seen as good at being good gaming machines. Now that Macs are good business machines, people are complaining about games. If something isn't perfect, there will always be complaints. Well, I've written a FAQ page to calm Mac gamers fears:

http://www.macmaps.com/macgamepages.html

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gopher wrote:
In fact back then Macs were only seen as good at being good gaming machines

Huh? I mean, we had some good games back then (Marathon, Pax Imperia), but I don't know anybody who saw them as game machines. Then and now the main spaces for Macs outside of just personal users was DTP and other graphics/sound production. Maybe you're thinking of the Pippen?

Go to GameSpot.com, look in their menubar. You'll see links to all the major gaming platforms, including PC. Mac is not there. If Apple wanted Mac to be there, it could; N-Gage almost made it up there FCOL! It would just take money/effort that Steve feels is better spent on other things, and I don't agree, not saying I know better than he does we just have differing opinions on this one subject

Nice collection of links though, one or two might make it into my bookmarks.