Could Apple “Kill the PS3, Xbox and Wii if it Wanted”?

Xbox co-founder Nat Brown has claimed that if Apple wanted to they could “kill off” the major games consoles made by Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. Brown, also an ex-Microsoft engineer, uses the Apple App Store’s profit split of 30/70 in favour of the developer as the main reason for this, suggesting Apple TV could be their weapon of choice:

“Apple, if it chooses to do so, will simply kill Playstation, Wii-U and xBox by introducing an open 30%-cut app/game ecosystem for Apple-TV.”

To view Nat Brown’s full blog post visit: Stupid, Stupid xBox!!

The big advantage of the Apple iOS app platform, and Google Android for that matter, is anyone with the appropriate app design and programming skills can develop software for release and do so far cheaper, and with fewer limitations, than those offered by the major gaming companies.

As a gamer I love my consoles, the hardware and the technology they bring but as a developer the potential of Apple TV is hard to ignore. At present the Apple TV platform doesn’t allow users to download apps but an iPhone or iPad can be mirrored on your TV, yielding some pretty impressive results with very little lag. The iPhone also makes for a pretty nifty motion controller.

If Apple did decide to go down the cloud gaming route, it’s conceivable that existing Apple TV hardware could be used to play games as impressive as those found on any console. The Apple TV box can also be purchased for as little £80 and is the best media streamer I’ve ever used, not to mention the ease of set-up. Netflix streams beautifully, as do full HD 1080p rentals from the iTunes video store. The only thing I can imagine holding Apple back are our existing download speeds and the profit potential available from a higher spec device.