Email: Apple and Valve game console rumors ? Malstrom's Articles ...

Normally I would just brush these aside, but the recent rumors are spiraling out of control. Even if nothing is announced, there?s definitely a flame where the smoke comes from. They?re at least considering it.

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The basic rumor right now is that Apple and Valve are together developing a console. There are a number of smaller rumors with more details.

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Cook was spotted visiting Valve HQ (it?s worth noting because Apple?s CEO would never go himself for something trivial)

There?s the famous ?Steam Box? rumor

Valve is confirmed to be hiring hardware engineers for the purpose of developing a new product (the two biggest rumors are Steam Box or a controller)

The list goes on and on.

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I?m currently in the camp of this being a controller and putting Steam on the iPhone (as part of the App Store). It could be anything, or nothing, but it?s making a lot of noise right now.So a PC game company wants to work with a PC computer company in making dedicated hardware that plays video games?

This is nothing new. It?s like Microsoft buying various PC game companies or Sony buying/dealing with various PC game companies. It is not integrated gaming and hardware so it will never be a threat to Nintendo (the threat to Nintendo is Miyamoto with his 3d jihad).

The game console business is not easy. How many billions did Microsoft lose entering the market? And Sony wouldn?t be in the market today if it weren?t for their prior success of the PlayStation 1 and 2. Apple has never faced such a market. Game consoles are nothing like walkmans or cell phones or even personal computers.

While nerds might have orgasms over a Apple and Valve union, I point to the graveyard of game consoles. I have heard the song and dance countless times. It is the pattern of the world that the hyped game consoles either do not perform well (e.g. PlayStation 3, Nintendo 64, PSP) while the game consoles that do perform well are ?unexpected? (e.g. NES, Genesis, PlayStation, DS, Wii).

Let me interrupt the nerd orgasms rippling across the Internet (a disgusting sight) and ask a very simple question: ?Will Steam only exist on this new Apple hardware??

If the answer is no, which I suspect it will be, then why should I buy the Apple device? I already have a computer. I can buy Steam games on it. Why should I buy an Apple device (which is never cheap, you know Apple) if the same general software is available on computers built by non-Apple companies?

Will Valve games only be able to be bought on an Apple device? Since the answer is likely to be no, then what reason does the consumer have to buy such a game console?

Game consoles are driven by software? mostly software that can only be bought for that hardware. Super Mario Brothers, Zelda, Grand Theft Auto 3 (for a while), Halo, Sonic, all of these pushed momentum into the hardware sales.

The question is not whether Valve and Apple are working together to make something. Big companies work together all the time. Valve and Microsoft work together. Valve and Sony work together.

Above: Valve and Sony worked together. Newell even appeared at a PS3 E3 conference!

The question is whether or not Valve is ready go exclusive on someone?s hardware (be it their own, Apple, or someone else). Since that would be such a radical change for the company, I assume the answer remains no.

Until Valve goes exclusive to a hardware manufacturer, there is no fire.

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