
Apple CEO Tim Cook Spotted at video game designer Valve headquarters - kessler
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/04/13/apple_ceo_tim_cook_spotted_at_valves_gaming_headquarters.html
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warpspeed
My prediction is that Apple has been biding their time and preparing to
dominate the console gaming market. Think about it- the iPod touch and iPhone
are becoming more and more robust in terms of hardware, I don't know the
benchmarks but I'd wager they're close to consoles in terms of actual power.
Apple has enabled "AirPlay" through AppleTV, which allows the iPhone/iPod to
stream directly to the TV.

So what you have is a gaming platform that's already ubiquitous, can act as
it's own controller (gyro, accelerometer, speaker, mic, vibrate, touchscreen,
buttons are all built-in), and is able to stream wirelessly to any AppleTV.
These devices already have a fantastic network in terms of downloading and
paying for content. At this point all you need is some games to take advantage
of it and you're set.

OR they could just be trying to integrate Steam into their upcoming tv. My
hope is for the former though.

~~~
nextparadigms
I've been waiting and suggesting Google to turn Google TV/Android into a
"console platform" and try to take over the console market the same way they
did it with phones - by getting all companies to make mini-Android consoles
with high-end ARM chips that have "good enough" graphics. They could've
started doing this from day one of Google TV.

Instead they still keep focusing only on the "TV" part. I think they will miss
a huge opportunity here, and like you said Apple will probably turn it into
another blockbuster success a year from now, and Google will only then
scramble to catch-up and do the same.

It baffles me how Google can't even get these pretty obvious "visions"
sometimes. Even tablets should've been a pretty predictable market coming as a
sort of upgrade from smartphones, and not how Microsoft tried to do it before
with a full PC OS.

I'm sure Apple had the idea for years before the iPad launch, but the first
"public" suggestion for such a thing I think was Mike Arrington's idea with
the Crunchpad. I think it was 2008 when he started talking about it and
getting people involved. Since then I myself started thinking that I would
want a "tablet" rather than a mini-laptop/netbook in many situations (couch,
bed, travelling, etc). But the iPad also seems to have caught Google
completely off-guard back in 2010, as it took them a full year to even release
a half-baked Honeycomb OS version.

~~~
warpspeed
It should be interesting to see what happens when Sergey and Larry gain
complete control over the company after the stock split. "Tech Dictatorship"
seemed to work well under Jobs, maybe these guys will make some riskier
decisions in the name of progress.

~~~
ipince
uhm.. maybe im mistaken, but i thought their current control would remain the
same. the new class of stock allows them to give out more stock without losing
any more control. but their current control remains as is. or am i missing
something?

~~~
mongol
I think you are completely right.

------
ary
From: [http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/valves-
gabe...](http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/valves-gabe-newell-
talks-wearable-computers-rewarding-players-and-whether-w)

Quoting Gabe Newell,

> Well, if we have to sell hardware we will. We have no reason to believe
> we’re any good at it, it’s more we think that we need to continue to have
> innovation and if the only way to get these kind of projects started is by
> us going and developing and selling the hardware directly then that’s what
> we’ll do. It’s definitely not the first thought that crosses our mind; we’d
> rather hardware people that are good at manufacturing and distributing
> hardware do that.

Who do we know that's good at manufacturing and selling hardware? Which
company has had explosive growth in the video game sector as a platform
provider in the last few years? What company famously has its eye on the
television market?

Valve and Apple have priorities and incentives that align nicely for a
partnership on a new console-like _thing_. They also seem very alike when it
comes to design values.

~~~
krashidov
In terms of casual gaming, the xbox 360's Kinect and Wii have already been
wildly successful. One could argue that as an entertainment all in one hub,
where the whole household buys casual games over the marketplace and watches
TV shows and movies effortlessly, the xbox has failed.

This is the device Apple and Valve might be building. Not only are they going
to try and streamline the software and UX of the whole thing to be in line
with Apple's standards but I think they are also going to try to make it a
replacement for cable tv. This is something Sony and Microsoft have not tried
to do with their consoles, which confuses me.

Personally, I think Apple should just make a T.V. Apple has become such a
strong brand that people will trust their hardware and software, even if the
markup is somewhat outrageous.

~~~
ary
> In terms of casual gaming, the xbox 360's Kinect and Wii have already been
> wildly successful. One could argue that as an entertainment all in one hub,
> where the whole household buys casual games over the marketplace and watches
> TV shows and movies effortlessly, the xbox has failed.

Really?

[http://www.everybodyplays.co.uk/feature/360/Xbox-360-now-
use...](http://www.everybodyplays.co.uk/feature/360/Xbox-360-now-used-for-
media-more-than-games/931)

Try to think of game support in Apple's vaporware console/tv-box as less of a
strategy and more of a tactic.

------
lukeholder
Also relevant: Valve has JUST started advertising for hardware jobs:
<http://www.valvesoftware.com/jobs/job_postings.html> see "injection molding"
etc in job descriptions.

~~~
windsurfer
It's interesting how a company known for games has basically no game developer
positions open. Anyone know why?

~~~
teamonkey
Valve doesn't need to advertise for jobs. They'll find people mostly by direct
applications or, more likely, personal recommendations.

~~~
redthrowaway
Precisely. Valve is _the_ place to be if you're a game dev. There's lots of
other great studios around, but none have the cachet Valve does. It would be
like asking why Ferrari doesn't advertise openings for automotive engineers:
there aren't any, and if they were they'd find the best through people already
there.

------
gbookman
Seems like Steam/Valve games would be an awesome addition to an Apple-branded
television.

~~~
taligent
I was thinking the same thing.

The real interesting part is that the AppleTV would surely be an ARM platform
and Valve are exclusively an Intel platform. Given the price point it could
easily be both.

I agree that being compatible with whatever hardware Valve is making would be
pretty awesome.

~~~
Steko
"AppleTV would surely be an ARM platform"

Battery life isn't an issue in the home and ARM can't really do full fledged
ports of the most demanding and popular AAA console titles. So I'd expect an
Intel chip. It could possibly have an ARM chip too but I'd guess emulation is
good enough and higher profit. Alternatively they could put in a bunch of ARM
chips but iOS just makes a lot more sense on paper. With an Intel chip you
gain the whole iOS library and the whole OS X library. At that point the
library and capabilities may be good enough to forego other console purchases
for many consumers.

~~~
hej
Noise is a problem. I'm not sure whether Apple wants to compromise on that.

~~~
potatolicious
The hypothetical Apple TV also has a very generous footprint, which gives
Apple a lot of playing room for thermal management.

Not to mention, the current Mac Minis run dead silent with fairly speedy x86
chips.

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sabalaba
Games + Augmented Reality? Apple could be looking to buy into steam for games,
but they could also be working together on some Augmented Reality hardware /
software.

~~~
kevinchen
Apple already has Game Center on iOS (and soon OS X, with the release of
Mountain Lion). And Steam's user experience on the Mac is an absolute joke --
the app is ugly and filled with serious bugs. Unless Valve starts paying
attention to their OS X client, I can't see Apple supporting it anytime soon.

------
rollypolly
I think that's a sign that Apple is starting to take games seriously on the
desktop.

It's, in part, what made the iPhone successful after all.

~~~
roc
That's what many hoped when they announced their previous Mac Gaming push. But
nothing much has come of that.

It was likely behind Steam being ported to the Mac, so it wasn't _nothing_.
But that move hasn't borne nearly as much fruit as one might have hoped.

And the continued existence of the performance gap between OSX and win7 via
bootcamp is not a good thing. Apple needs to take a much more proactive
position on correcting that. Maybe the problem is with drivers, maybe it's
missing frameworks, maybe it's third party developers starting with directx
and not following through with an OpenGL port. Whatever it is, they ought to
put more effort into correcting it.

~~~
sounds
I believe Microsoft's gaming ecosystem plays a huge part in this gap.

If you develop your game in the Microsoft world, say, for XBox, almost nothing
is left by the time you're done porting to Mac OS, while porting from Mac OS
to Microsoft is much easier - not perfect though.

I can dig up links if anyone wants them.

------
Impossible
Another interesting possibility is mobile Steam with app purchases and
Appstore interoperability. It would be awesome to buy a cross platform game on
Steam and get it for PC, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android all the same time.
Ridiculously unlikely, I know, but I can dream.

~~~
Lockyy
Mobile steam is already there so it wouldn't be a huge leap. Currently it's
pointless except for the chat because, yeah I could buy that game on the go.
But why?

~~~
kevinchen
I think Impossible means that we would be able to _play_ the game on the go.

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ck717
I'll tell you why I think he was there: Apple wants a 30% cut of all sales on
the Steam platform. Steam purchases will soon be required to go through
Apple's in-app purchase system.

~~~
nkassis
I'd be surprised that Valve would even go for that, Apple hasn't been their
market anyway.

~~~
Steko
Key word: "hasn't" as in past tense.

~~~
Splines
It still isn't.

<http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey>

Mac HW numbers are in the single digits. Apple needs Valve, not the other way
around.

~~~
Steko
I think you're missing the point or maybe I didn't do a good enough job
communicating it. I don't mean the present is different but the future may
well be. If desktops turn into trucks and Apple does to consoles what they did
to mobiles then Valve will certainly need Apple.

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thomholwerda
Not to be a spoilsport or anything, but is there any confirmation for this? A
photograph, or at the very least a Twitter message? Something...?

------
GiraffeNecktie
So is a gaming platform the big Apple announcement Phillipe Starck hinted at
for the fall?

~~~
Steko
Presumably their new smart TV would do to consoles the same thing phones and
touches have done to mobile gaming.

------
justjimmy
Hang on, what if Apple wants in on the console action (on top of TV) and wants
to partner with Valve's Steam platform and bring Steam to consoles?

And instead of just a 'video game console', it becomes the ultimate
entertainment unit with all the other good stuff.

Bam!

------
iRobot
I spotted him at McDonalds once.. Work that one in to your rumours

~~~
redthrowaway
Who, Gabe or Cook? If it was Cook I don't believe you, and if it was Gabe
we'll have to wait another 3 months for Ep 3.

------
DavidAbrams
You don't "grow" a relationship or a company, any more than you "exist" a
relationship or company. You build it. You nurture it. You foster it. It
grows.

------
SODaniel
Gabe, if you sell to Apple we will never forgive you!

------
kennywinker
Surprised nobody has mentioned this yet: Apple is buying Valve. Creating a new
"Apple Gaming" wing of the company. Valve + Steam + GameCenter + AppleTV +
Steambox === AMAZING. Launches with HL3 exclusive.

Like MS did with Bungie and the Xbox, only classy and aluminum.

Saying this not because there is any evidence of this, but because I want this
so bad. shutupandtakemymoney.png

~~~
nitrogen
For the record, if Apple buys Valve, I'll never buy another Valve game again.
If they make HL3 a Mac exclusive, I'll publicly burn (nonessential parts of)
my paperweight of a Mac Mini in protest.

~~~
kennywinker
I was thinking HL3 Exclusive to the new Apple TV / Steambox device... but only
for a month or two.. then a full pc release.

I have an xbox but not an Apple TV... seems redundant as I'd mostly use the
Apple TV for netflix and the Xbox already does that. If Valve releases a
steambox, and Apple releases a new Apple TV I'll be in the same place I am
now... But if they were the same box? Win.

~~~
nitrogen
As a consumer I am fundamentally opposed to exclusive distribution deals.
Also, Valve is still primarily a PC gaming company. I neither own nor want any
"console" other than my HTPC, desktop PC, and gaming laptop. If Valve ever
treats PCs as second class citizens, I doubt I'll be alone in mourning (and
protesting) the loss of one of the last great PC gaming giants to the Dark
Side.

That said, a SteamBox unadulterated by Apple's shiny poison would be cool, as
long as PCs get releases on the same day.

