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Apple gaining EA would seem weird as hell to be honest. Apple has no gaming systems on the market (oh ho ho ho), and I can't really see much come of this.
Though, I suppose this plus Apple getting that one Xbox guy means they're finally serious about putting games on the App Store. I'm not really holding my breath. I've played quite a few games where accelerometer-based controls really made the experience bad, and touch screen-only games vary in quality as much too.
Meeeeeh.
Though, I suppose this plus Apple getting that one Xbox guy means they're finally serious about putting games on the App Store. I'm not really holding my breath. I've played quite a few games where accelerometer-based controls really made the experience bad, and touch screen-only games vary in quality as much too.
Meeeeeh.
I used to hate Apple because I had been a PC guy my whole life. Then I got an iPhone and I love that thing, and I think maybe Apple isn't so bad. I would be interested to see what they can put together.
I'd prefer Apple to acquire less of a mainstream company than EA. Their two business philosophies just don't match up.
If apple took over EA, there's an odd thought, but if it were to happen I guess we will see a lot more I phone games, they don't have their own console so I'd imagine they would stay multiplat.
This wouldn't affect sony and nintendo that much, but considering MS relationship with apple, that might be a sh*t storm waiting to happen(they aren't exactly the best of freinds,and considering how much madden and the other sports games sold on the 360 I don't imagine the xbox crowd responding well to the "we really don't need EA Now speech").
Or they'll get along great who knows, at any rate this would be interesting, and somewhat scary.
This wouldn't affect sony and nintendo that much, but considering MS relationship with apple, that might be a sh*t storm waiting to happen(they aren't exactly the best of freinds,and considering how much madden and the other sports games sold on the 360 I don't imagine the xbox crowd responding well to the "we really don't need EA Now speech").
Or they'll get along great who knows, at any rate this would be interesting, and somewhat scary.
Oh crap, Apple trying to break into the gaming market? What's wrong Apple? All those iphone games not enough for you? And nobody enjoys playing Mac games no more?
I'm pretty sure Microsoft would try to counter-bid any takeover attempt by Apple. It would be in their long-term interest to own EA rather than let Apple have it.
If Apple buys EA... The single most evil corporation in the world would be born...
We have to stop them..
We have to stop them..
what would concern me the most is apple gaining exclusive rights to EA, i personally enjoy quite a few of their games, and would want to play them on my PC, PS3, 360, DS or PSP, sadly i dont own any apple product (would like an iphone though).
Yeah I really see more chance of Microsoft drinking it instead of Apple. EA is becoming kinda cool but their policies are still very similar. Apple joining forces with Nintendo would be much more believable.
Seriously though, if Apple wants to hop in this train, they need to open their own studios and hire their own developers, taking over EA is something very unsporting for the company kind it is.
Seriously though, if Apple wants to hop in this train, they need to open their own studios and hire their own developers, taking over EA is something very unsporting for the company kind it is.
I hope not, I hate apple. Three years ago I made the "switch" (laptop only, I will never give up a PC desktop for gaming) and my hard drive failed TWICE in a year and a half. Infuriating. I wish they didn't make the iPod.
I feel mixed about this. EA have just got into their stride, from reliance on sport games, to more varied, good product. I don't think its a good time for this to happen to EA, espcially now that EA have Valve in their pocket.
Valve are great, really open and invite mods, etc, Apple are the opposite, though iPhone/touch may be changing that. Indeed, I just don't know if their overall ideaologies will work together.
If it does go down, it'll make a lot of interest news, and worry MS. Dealing with MS and Nintendo is enough sometimes, though.
Valve are great, really open and invite mods, etc, Apple are the opposite, though iPhone/touch may be changing that. Indeed, I just don't know if their overall ideaologies will work together.
If it does go down, it'll make a lot of interest news, and worry MS. Dealing with MS and Nintendo is enough sometimes, though.
@ BGFUSAB: Apple doesn't make the hard drives, so don't blame them. Do you blame Microsoft when your PC hard drive fails?
Maybe if Apple takes over EA we will get *real* Mac versions of games instead of half assed Cider ports.
Maybe if Apple takes over EA we will get *real* Mac versions of games instead of half assed Cider ports.
Bring it on! Shake things up. Plus apples business model would do wonders on stagnent game franchises.
The nightmares this possible merger gives me are so bad, I dare not speak of them. @.@ That being said, I don't see Apple trying to swallow up the biggest third-party developer out there.
Honestly, a lot of people have Apple hate not because they honestly know how Apple works or have any experience with their products beyond an Ipod, but because of the fact that they're PC users. What I mean is that they valiantly rise to defend their computer because they don't want to feel like they made a bad choice and hearing that something could be better or is different makes them insecure of their choice. Where have we heard this before? Oh yeah, console fanboys. So a lot of people out there who hate on Apple really have no idea what they're talking about.
As far as my opinion on this goes - I say it'd be fantastic. While a lot of people are afraid that it would ruin EA's newly found stride, you need to actually look at Apple to see how their business model and product standards would apply. Apple is one of the companies that consistently raises the bar with it's products, thereby forcing competition to actually evolve instead of stagnate. For example, look at the Leopard OS X - it created a fast interface with a dash board that gave quick access to a variety of user created widgets for the user to use for their own set functions. Windows Vista comes out with a sidebar with some of the most popular Mac Widgets. Windows 7, the new OS they're creating, has been released with images that look a lot like the clean interface of Leopard OS X. Thanks to the Iphone, we now have a plethora of touch-screen phones on the market. Thanks to the constantly evolving Ipod, we have thousands of better developed MP3 players on the market. So to say that this merger would be absolutely horrible is immature and premature. Right now Apple's track record is pretty good and to see a company that brings innovation come into our stagnant game industry is a nice thought and one that I hope goes through.
As far as my opinion on this goes - I say it'd be fantastic. While a lot of people are afraid that it would ruin EA's newly found stride, you need to actually look at Apple to see how their business model and product standards would apply. Apple is one of the companies that consistently raises the bar with it's products, thereby forcing competition to actually evolve instead of stagnate. For example, look at the Leopard OS X - it created a fast interface with a dash board that gave quick access to a variety of user created widgets for the user to use for their own set functions. Windows Vista comes out with a sidebar with some of the most popular Mac Widgets. Windows 7, the new OS they're creating, has been released with images that look a lot like the clean interface of Leopard OS X. Thanks to the Iphone, we now have a plethora of touch-screen phones on the market. Thanks to the constantly evolving Ipod, we have thousands of better developed MP3 players on the market. So to say that this merger would be absolutely horrible is immature and premature. Right now Apple's track record is pretty good and to see a company that brings innovation come into our stagnant game industry is a nice thought and one that I hope goes through.
@ Jaxyl, Brilliant.
I mostly agree with you, but I don't get this whole hating of macs. If you look at it most PCs are designed for gaming with, which is cool, I like gaming...And then you look over at the mac and the only group who actually make good games that function on them is Blizzard. But that's just it, so far the mac hasn't been a gaming computer. Its main function has been for work, not play. Which is the exact same as MS, they didn't start as a gaming company, they made their computers for people to do their jobs on and look how well its worked for them.
I mostly agree with you, but I don't get this whole hating of macs. If you look at it most PCs are designed for gaming with, which is cool, I like gaming...And then you look over at the mac and the only group who actually make good games that function on them is Blizzard. But that's just it, so far the mac hasn't been a gaming computer. Its main function has been for work, not play. Which is the exact same as MS, they didn't start as a gaming company, they made their computers for people to do their jobs on and look how well its worked for them.
I really don't get the point of this type of merger. What does Apple stand to gain out of this? I agree with previous people who said that they should hook up with Nintendo... Both of those companies seem to be more in sync then an Apple and EA merger.
The only reason why I agree with Nintendo Apple merger is because Nintendo needs some help bad in the OS department...
Hell I would buy a DSIphone...
The only reason why I agree with Nintendo Apple merger is because Nintendo needs some help bad in the OS department...
Hell I would buy a DSIphone...
As much as I do indeed adore the MAC OS I can't stand Apple Hardware... So mixed bag for me I 'spose.
Essentially what I'm saying, is that I agree with Jusblaze. Nintendo have durable hardware down and Apple could benefit from that.
Of course it'll never happen though...
Essentially what I'm saying, is that I agree with Jusblaze. Nintendo have durable hardware down and Apple could benefit from that.
Of course it'll never happen though...
Utterly terrified. I own an apple, but the don't need to make games. It would be the most gimmicky piece of crap set of games ever made.
That would make me incredibly unhappy. I hate Apple, quite a lot. I'm just starting to love EA for being a good company.
Seriously, if they're going to take over a company, they should take over Ubisoft. They have the same philosophy: Make it look good... and nothing else.
Seriously, if they're going to take over a company, they should take over Ubisoft. They have the same philosophy: Make it look good... and nothing else.
@Jaxyl: Yes, it is fanboyism, but please make sure you apply it to both sides of the debate. When those "I'm a PC ads" came out, even PC people like myself laughed it off. They were creative and funny, and the characters entertainingly awkward. Now with all these new Windows ads, all the Mac-ies are so mad you'd think someone raped their families. If anything Mac fanboys have gotten a lore more rabid than usual. They remind me of PS3 fanboys with all their Killzone 2 stuff a few months ago. I forget his name, but the "Apple 2.0" writer at Fortune.com even outed the frist girl's full name, address, background, everything. What gives him the right to give people tools to harass her.
Yes, Apple does come up with a lot of "innovaitve" marketable products. They helped make the touchscreen popular, i'll give credit where its due, but they were definetely not the first. They're also the trendiest company out there for devices and that helps people associate certain prodcuts with them (Ipods instead of MP3 players for instance).
As for the OS stuff, Pretty much since Windows 95 computer have used the taskbar/start menu interface to access programs. Apple may call it the dashboard ro dock or wahtever fancy name they choose but at the end of the day its the same thing. Its the place wehre porgrams are launched from and minimized/hidden to. So each windows iteration may not be leaps and bounds ahead of previous ones, but enither is each OSX iteration; 10.3, 10.4 and 10.5 look the same to me. There's only so much you can cahnge with each new OS, and that applies to both PCs and Macs. PCs may adopt some MAc features, but Mac originalyl adopted the PC Start menu idea; lets not forget that.
And one final argument I encounter from Mac-ies: "Well my Mac comes with iLife and Time Capsule/Machine, so there!". I'm sorry, but am I too stupid to hook up an external drive and copy files over? Is it so hard to move pictures from one folder to another? To burn files? To play DVDs? Jsut because they think iLife is great and wonder how they could have lived without, doesn't mean the rest of us don't see it as the "bloatware" they claim they don't get on their Macs.
Please note: I was trying to be curteous and did not mean to insult anyone, if I did. I merely enjoy healthy logical debates.
Yes, Apple does come up with a lot of "innovaitve" marketable products. They helped make the touchscreen popular, i'll give credit where its due, but they were definetely not the first. They're also the trendiest company out there for devices and that helps people associate certain prodcuts with them (Ipods instead of MP3 players for instance).
As for the OS stuff, Pretty much since Windows 95 computer have used the taskbar/start menu interface to access programs. Apple may call it the dashboard ro dock or wahtever fancy name they choose but at the end of the day its the same thing. Its the place wehre porgrams are launched from and minimized/hidden to. So each windows iteration may not be leaps and bounds ahead of previous ones, but enither is each OSX iteration; 10.3, 10.4 and 10.5 look the same to me. There's only so much you can cahnge with each new OS, and that applies to both PCs and Macs. PCs may adopt some MAc features, but Mac originalyl adopted the PC Start menu idea; lets not forget that.
And one final argument I encounter from Mac-ies: "Well my Mac comes with iLife and Time Capsule/Machine, so there!". I'm sorry, but am I too stupid to hook up an external drive and copy files over? Is it so hard to move pictures from one folder to another? To burn files? To play DVDs? Jsut because they think iLife is great and wonder how they could have lived without, doesn't mean the rest of us don't see it as the "bloatware" they claim they don't get on their Macs.
Please note: I was trying to be curteous and did not mean to insult anyone, if I did. I merely enjoy healthy logical debates.
Given that I doubt Apple would restrict EA games to apple hardware, I remain optimistic about this merger, if it happens.
I love EA but highly dislike apple with their overpriced products...
If they buy themselves into the gamingmarket can't they just buy Nintendo...I mean the Wii looks like apple could have designed and both launch products for the mainstream!
Sure I bet Its a little pricy but at least then at this point I wouldn't have to care!
If they buy themselves into the gamingmarket can't they just buy Nintendo...I mean the Wii looks like apple could have designed and both launch products for the mainstream!
Sure I bet Its a little pricy but at least then at this point I wouldn't have to care!
A bit off-topic, but I just have a question:
How come MS gets sued for having IE as a pre-installed browser in its OS, but Apple even flaunts it as being able to connect to the internet with Safari "right out of the box"? Is there a double-standard?
Ok, that was 2 questions. But still...
How come MS gets sued for having IE as a pre-installed browser in its OS, but Apple even flaunts it as being able to connect to the internet with Safari "right out of the box"? Is there a double-standard?
Ok, that was 2 questions. But still...
I agree with what silvain said.
"consolidation worked so well for banking, maybe we should try it again here"
It'll be interesting to watch what, if anything, comes from this rumor.
"consolidation worked so well for banking, maybe we should try it again here"
It'll be interesting to watch what, if anything, comes from this rumor.
@seltzermx: Of course the argument against PC fanboys goes the same to what you call Mac-ies...what would a PC be called? PC-ies? So while I don't present the other side of the coin, I figured it'd be obvious that I'm not heralding Macs and their users as saints. Just as there are crazy PC fanboys, there are crazy Mac-ies...but that doesn't make my case any less valid, it just shows that there are idiocy is fair to both sides of the coin. Also, the new Windows commercials with the kids are hilarious because I have a hard time believing that a 5 year old girl could take photos with a state-of-the-art camera, upload them, then print them with no help whatsoever. I say that not as a Mac user, but as someone who's watched kids stare at a mouse in confusion.
I think you may have misunderstood me in what I was saying, Apple wasn't the first company to use touch screens or a taskbar. It's their constant innovation that I was heralding and continue to. They've constantly upgraded their OS and products and each iteration, no matter how small the change, is always a step forward. You really can't argue that about Windows OS due to the fact that while Vista is visually nicer then XP, it isn't better. Windows 7 looks to be a step in the right direction, but they've taken a leaf out of Apple's book and steam lined their archaic OS to that of Leopard. So yes, I thank Microsoft for creating Windows so we could have Leopard, but that doesn't change the fact that Apple continues to innovate every product they release. Because of this, I find it hard to believe that an Apple-EA merger would be bad.
On a side note - what would they be called? EA - Electronic Apple? I have no idea.
As far as your last argument against bloatware - I agree it is. Just like how PCs come with bloat ware, so do Macs. Anyone who uses it will swear it's essential, anyone who doesn't will claim it's a waste of HD space. Anyone who claims that it isn't bloatware regardless is just another fanboy who doesn't want to think that their decision could have been the wrong one.
Also don't worry about upsetting anyone - if you do, you do. So long as you upset them with valid arguments, then it doesn't matter because you did nothing wrong. Also I'm just glad someone actually responded to me without being hateful; it's hard being a Mac user in a PC world.
I think you may have misunderstood me in what I was saying, Apple wasn't the first company to use touch screens or a taskbar. It's their constant innovation that I was heralding and continue to. They've constantly upgraded their OS and products and each iteration, no matter how small the change, is always a step forward. You really can't argue that about Windows OS due to the fact that while Vista is visually nicer then XP, it isn't better. Windows 7 looks to be a step in the right direction, but they've taken a leaf out of Apple's book and steam lined their archaic OS to that of Leopard. So yes, I thank Microsoft for creating Windows so we could have Leopard, but that doesn't change the fact that Apple continues to innovate every product they release. Because of this, I find it hard to believe that an Apple-EA merger would be bad.
On a side note - what would they be called? EA - Electronic Apple? I have no idea.
As far as your last argument against bloatware - I agree it is. Just like how PCs come with bloat ware, so do Macs. Anyone who uses it will swear it's essential, anyone who doesn't will claim it's a waste of HD space. Anyone who claims that it isn't bloatware regardless is just another fanboy who doesn't want to think that their decision could have been the wrong one.
Also don't worry about upsetting anyone - if you do, you do. So long as you upset them with valid arguments, then it doesn't matter because you did nothing wrong. Also I'm just glad someone actually responded to me without being hateful; it's hard being a Mac user in a PC world.
Who said anything about a "merger"? There's no Electronic Apple, or EApple, or whatever, there'd just be Apple Inc. who owns EA. If apple does drop the change to buy EA, they'd do well to leave good enough alone. EA has made great strides in introducing new IP's while still catering to the Madden crowd. If MS and Activision were going to merge, that would be a nightmare company.
Keep in mind that Apple has billions of dollars of capital in the bank. They could buy EA (or most companies out there) outright.
Keep in mind that Apple has billions of dollars of capital in the bank. They could buy EA (or most companies out there) outright.
@Benson - many of EA's new titles run great on macs.
@seltzermx - iLife doesn't launch at startup and consume all of your resources right off the bat. Removing it is as easy as dragging it to the trash and emptying the trash. If MS made deleting software that easy, instead of taking a half an hour to remove a coupon notifier that runs in the background at startup through "add/remove software wizard cuz you're too dumb to do it yourself panel," people would complain about bloatware less.
You're also painfully oblivious to the talent of the new generation of users. I'd go so far as to say MOST children could take pictures, transfer them to iPhoto and post them on a website, given a mac and MobileMe. I've also personally seen 8 year olds run final cut pro like they had it in the cradle.
I don't think you've ever really owned a mac.
@seltzermx - iLife doesn't launch at startup and consume all of your resources right off the bat. Removing it is as easy as dragging it to the trash and emptying the trash. If MS made deleting software that easy, instead of taking a half an hour to remove a coupon notifier that runs in the background at startup through "add/remove software wizard cuz you're too dumb to do it yourself panel," people would complain about bloatware less.
You're also painfully oblivious to the talent of the new generation of users. I'd go so far as to say MOST children could take pictures, transfer them to iPhoto and post them on a website, given a mac and MobileMe. I've also personally seen 8 year olds run final cut pro like they had it in the cradle.
I don't think you've ever really owned a mac.
@ Seltzermx - What version of OS X (or Classic for that matter) has a start menu?
Or are you talking about file>edit>view from the Universal Human Interface Guidelines that predates Apple and Microsoft?
Or are you talking about file>edit>view from the Universal Human Interface Guidelines that predates Apple and Microsoft?
@Jaxyl: Oh yeah, there are raving fanboys on both sides. I guess my argument was that recentyl with the ads, the Mac ones got more rabid than the PC ones ever did. They might tout the simplicity of PCs more than its deserved, however, thats simply marketing embellishment. Like the recent Mac ad where PC goes into the future to see if PCs will ever improve and turns out they don't. It might be funny, but up to that point, Mac ads had always focused on what I guess they considered "known flaws" of PCs to make fun of. The whole future prediction thing is actually a direct attack at Windows 7 even before its released, and any concrete flaws are known. That at least implies that Apple is somewhat perturbed.
And I guess I did misunderstand your point about the touchscreen thing, but then again, maybe you also misunderstood mine. Yes apple continues to innovate and expand on it, but say for example that Apple had launched a touchscreen phone before it was known for its iPods and other similar gadgets; back when the company was struggling to reinvent itself and didn't as much marketing appeal. Back then I feel it would have made a smaller splash and people would not associate touchscreens with Apple so pervasively. I think it was Palm (or someone else) who first launched portable touchscreen devices but made no impact.
And I actually prefer Vista over XP by now. I've had a Vista laptop since 2007 and i must say it runs flawlessly, and better than XP. My only restarts are with major upgrades or software installs, and I don't mind doing them since I rarely have to. And yes, I won't deny that Mac contineues to make improvements to the OS continuously, but now we enter the problem of timeframes. A new Mac OS is released every 1-1.5 years which I agree does give them a better implementation time for changes. But whose to say Microsoft hadn't been working on some of the Aero features that were "copied" off Mac, but since Mac releases every year you see more of them. Granted that might be a strange business model from MS, but att he same time, I'd rather not pay $130 (or whatever the price of the upgrade is) for a new OS on my same computer every 1.5 years as opposed to the nice spread between XP and Vista where I kept my same laptop for no additional fees for over 6 years.
And at least we agree on the bloatware argument, as it applies to both sides of the fight. :)
@TheStripe: Yes the uninstall process is more complicated than what you do for Macs, but it does not take 30 mins for a 2 MB ad program. I actually rather like the Add/Remove program feature as it nicely groups everyting I have into one lsit and I can quickly see what I do and do not want.
Also, trust me, I am not painfully oblivious to the talent of young kids when it comes to computers. I am 24 now and even I grew up knowing a lot about computers. One of my best friends in college wrote his first computer virus when he was 7 years old. Another wrote the Official Microsoft Guide to Frontpage back when he was about 16. Trust me I'm surrounded by competent users.
Which is another one of my arguments against Macs. They amke things too easy and sugar-coated. Its like, Here, its a Mac, its amiley face, it all works. But what if i want to go behind the face, and change it into a frown, or a scowl or something else. I feel PCs are better equiped for that sort of tweaking and modification. I want to change port setting, and IPs, and setup DMZs for my files. I want to setup FTP servers and stream everyhting across my apartment to my Xbox and Popcorn Hour. With my PC, I literaly did all that in under 5 minutes in easy to find menus and settings. I don't need a sugar-coated OS.
And I guess I did misunderstand your point about the touchscreen thing, but then again, maybe you also misunderstood mine. Yes apple continues to innovate and expand on it, but say for example that Apple had launched a touchscreen phone before it was known for its iPods and other similar gadgets; back when the company was struggling to reinvent itself and didn't as much marketing appeal. Back then I feel it would have made a smaller splash and people would not associate touchscreens with Apple so pervasively. I think it was Palm (or someone else) who first launched portable touchscreen devices but made no impact.
And I actually prefer Vista over XP by now. I've had a Vista laptop since 2007 and i must say it runs flawlessly, and better than XP. My only restarts are with major upgrades or software installs, and I don't mind doing them since I rarely have to. And yes, I won't deny that Mac contineues to make improvements to the OS continuously, but now we enter the problem of timeframes. A new Mac OS is released every 1-1.5 years which I agree does give them a better implementation time for changes. But whose to say Microsoft hadn't been working on some of the Aero features that were "copied" off Mac, but since Mac releases every year you see more of them. Granted that might be a strange business model from MS, but att he same time, I'd rather not pay $130 (or whatever the price of the upgrade is) for a new OS on my same computer every 1.5 years as opposed to the nice spread between XP and Vista where I kept my same laptop for no additional fees for over 6 years.
And at least we agree on the bloatware argument, as it applies to both sides of the fight. :)
@TheStripe: Yes the uninstall process is more complicated than what you do for Macs, but it does not take 30 mins for a 2 MB ad program. I actually rather like the Add/Remove program feature as it nicely groups everyting I have into one lsit and I can quickly see what I do and do not want.
Also, trust me, I am not painfully oblivious to the talent of young kids when it comes to computers. I am 24 now and even I grew up knowing a lot about computers. One of my best friends in college wrote his first computer virus when he was 7 years old. Another wrote the Official Microsoft Guide to Frontpage back when he was about 16. Trust me I'm surrounded by competent users.
Which is another one of my arguments against Macs. They amke things too easy and sugar-coated. Its like, Here, its a Mac, its amiley face, it all works. But what if i want to go behind the face, and change it into a frown, or a scowl or something else. I feel PCs are better equiped for that sort of tweaking and modification. I want to change port setting, and IPs, and setup DMZs for my files. I want to setup FTP servers and stream everyhting across my apartment to my Xbox and Popcorn Hour. With my PC, I literaly did all that in under 5 minutes in easy to find menus and settings. I don't need a sugar-coated OS.
@TheStripe Good to know someone has some UI/UX chops around here.
@seltzermx I tend to agree with most of your points, chiefly that Apple continues to produce consumer-friendly albeit seemingly oversimplified products. This is something that Apple has done a good job of selling for the most part. This is also not a demographic that is well represented in hardcore gaming circles. Given the nature of the Dtoid community and the hardcore gaming community at large I think you'll find that most users are the type who prize being able to have control over the most minute hardware and software details e.g. with a PC running Windows XP or Vista.
What we cannot fail to recognize is that Apple are masters of flexibility (i.e. when a user interface scales and is adaptable to users, regardless of experience level) and affordance. Things that look like they should be interactive simply are and are in such a way as they are easy to use the first time and every time. Expert users find solace in having advanced settings and a command line to utilize thus circumventing the GUI altogether.
In terms of sheer user experience across all computer-using audience segments, Apple wins. This doesn't means it's the best solution for everyone; however, it has some more robust web development, usability testing and interaction design/information architecture applications than are found on a PC. This doesn't imply that there are no solutions on the PC market, but that I'd rather have a Mac than a PC to do my job, that's for sure (Disclosure: I don't have a Mac.)
Back to gaming: if Apple does acquire EA, hopefully it would mean a renewed focus on the user experience - let's call it the gamer experience - and a commitment to developing titles that are not only great to play but great to master and won't soon go out of fashion (e.g. rehashed, but rarely improved yearly sports series).
@masterninja I think Apple could've done the Wii better than Nintendo and with a more intense focus on good software. They don't let you put any old garbage on the App Store and I think they'd be similarly stringent with the quality of software on a major console platform.
This is a quality comment thread. I'm glad I joined in!
@seltzermx I tend to agree with most of your points, chiefly that Apple continues to produce consumer-friendly albeit seemingly oversimplified products. This is something that Apple has done a good job of selling for the most part. This is also not a demographic that is well represented in hardcore gaming circles. Given the nature of the Dtoid community and the hardcore gaming community at large I think you'll find that most users are the type who prize being able to have control over the most minute hardware and software details e.g. with a PC running Windows XP or Vista.
What we cannot fail to recognize is that Apple are masters of flexibility (i.e. when a user interface scales and is adaptable to users, regardless of experience level) and affordance. Things that look like they should be interactive simply are and are in such a way as they are easy to use the first time and every time. Expert users find solace in having advanced settings and a command line to utilize thus circumventing the GUI altogether.
In terms of sheer user experience across all computer-using audience segments, Apple wins. This doesn't means it's the best solution for everyone; however, it has some more robust web development, usability testing and interaction design/information architecture applications than are found on a PC. This doesn't imply that there are no solutions on the PC market, but that I'd rather have a Mac than a PC to do my job, that's for sure (Disclosure: I don't have a Mac.)
Back to gaming: if Apple does acquire EA, hopefully it would mean a renewed focus on the user experience - let's call it the gamer experience - and a commitment to developing titles that are not only great to play but great to master and won't soon go out of fashion (e.g. rehashed, but rarely improved yearly sports series).
@masterninja I think Apple could've done the Wii better than Nintendo and with a more intense focus on good software. They don't let you put any old garbage on the App Store and I think they'd be similarly stringent with the quality of software on a major console platform.
This is a quality comment thread. I'm glad I joined in!
I would be hating life if Apple bought EA. They don't belong in a serious market that utilizes current technology. I'll gladly give Microsoft every penny to my name to help them buy EA instead.
I don't see how this would be a bad thing. Apple would buy EA, but it wouldn't be like EA would stop producing games for Microsoft's consoles, that would mean less money and I don't think Apple or EA would like that (Even if it's Apple's direct competitor, the 360 would be a big source of revenue for the company, so to suddenly stop developing for a company that has made them so much money just wouldn't make any business sense). You have to remember that these companies are businesses first, so it would be idiotic for Apple to deny all that potential cash just because it's evil Microsoft.
This could be a good thing for Apple, as it may lead to a games-console for them in the future, and more consoles wouldn't be a bad thing for us gamers, just a harder time choosing what consoles we buy. More choice is never a bad thing.
This could be a good thing for Apple, as it may lead to a games-console for them in the future, and more consoles wouldn't be a bad thing for us gamers, just a harder time choosing what consoles we buy. More choice is never a bad thing.
If EA was acquired by Apple all their games would cost $90 and come in the fanciest cases ever.
EA games wouldn't be limited to Macs. Safari isn't limited to Macs. Apple loves money, and PCs and consoles make far more money software-wise that Apple'd love to touch. If anything, I'd actually expect EA games to get MORE PC ports than anything, since Apple's primarily a computer company, and porting a mac game to windows is far easier than porting a windows game to mac (since OpenGL runs natively in Windows but DirectX needs to be emulated in OSX).
EA games wouldn't be limited to Macs. Safari isn't limited to Macs. Apple loves money, and PCs and consoles make far more money software-wise that Apple'd love to touch. If anything, I'd actually expect EA games to get MORE PC ports than anything, since Apple's primarily a computer company, and porting a mac game to windows is far easier than porting a windows game to mac (since OpenGL runs natively in Windows but DirectX needs to be emulated in OSX).
They don't let you put any old garbage on the App Store
*cracks up*
Not to troll, but have you honestly seen some of the stuff they approve? Ignoring the now-almost 20 Mafia clones and 10+ fart generators, they let some questionable stuff fly. Remember the baby-shaking game? Yeah, that got approved. As did Nothing ($0.99 for an app that does literally nothing?), or Am I Rich ($999.99 for an app, hello?). And then there are some that honestly I wonder how they can justify charging for. I'm not implying that there's nothing but crap on the iPhone. There's not, by far, but to say that they don't allow you to put any old garbage on the App Store is a total load of crap. Sure, you won't find it all just looking in the Top 25 or anything, but it's there. =P
You can argue that you can do the research and you're not forced to buy it, but does that philosophy help those of us with Wiis? Same idea.
You want to see some bad games, at least? Search "DS Effects" in the App Store. They even have their own kind of Action 51! Well, at the time of this writing, it's now 59. What do you think when you see a game boasting a thousand games on PC or the like? Take some time to look at the reviews some of these things get. The highest I saw was four and a half stars, yet the lowest was one. Yeah...
*cracks up*
Not to troll, but have you honestly seen some of the stuff they approve? Ignoring the now-almost 20 Mafia clones and 10+ fart generators, they let some questionable stuff fly. Remember the baby-shaking game? Yeah, that got approved. As did Nothing ($0.99 for an app that does literally nothing?), or Am I Rich ($999.99 for an app, hello?). And then there are some that honestly I wonder how they can justify charging for. I'm not implying that there's nothing but crap on the iPhone. There's not, by far, but to say that they don't allow you to put any old garbage on the App Store is a total load of crap. Sure, you won't find it all just looking in the Top 25 or anything, but it's there. =P
You can argue that you can do the research and you're not forced to buy it, but does that philosophy help those of us with Wiis? Same idea.
You want to see some bad games, at least? Search "DS Effects" in the App Store. They even have their own kind of Action 51! Well, at the time of this writing, it's now 59. What do you think when you see a game boasting a thousand games on PC or the like? Take some time to look at the reviews some of these things get. The highest I saw was four and a half stars, yet the lowest was one. Yeah...
@Doomsday Forte
Good point, and well put. A worth rebuttal, sir. The App Store is probably a bad example of Apple being responsible with their software output.
Basically, what I'm driving home is that they pay attention to the people using their products more than EA has in recent years. I'm not going to argue price points or market share simply that they do pretty well in user experience. If any of that user-focused design philosophy trickled down from above, I think we'd see improvement in EA software.
Good point, and well put. A worth rebuttal, sir. The App Store is probably a bad example of Apple being responsible with their software output.
Basically, what I'm driving home is that they pay attention to the people using their products more than EA has in recent years. I'm not going to argue price points or market share simply that they do pretty well in user experience. If any of that user-focused design philosophy trickled down from above, I think we'd see improvement in EA software.
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