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With the overwhelming popularity of the DS and the increasingly popularity of the PSP, why would Apple attempt this move at this time?

Seems to me that they should have made this move 3-4 years ago.

How much fun can a game be when you only have one button?

How much fun can a hand held be with no games?

*In reference to Apple' s [sarcasm]vast[/sarcasm] line up of of games for their computers.

Apple, apart from their iPod line has always been a niche market.

They' d have more success with a downloadable game service for their iPod touch and iPhones. It' d be stupid to jump in right now.

Look for an Xboy before you see anything from Apple. Companies secure trademarks all the time to cover their bases. As of right now this doesn' t mean jack squat.

Apple doesn' t like games.

Apple, apart from their iPod line has always been a niche market.

Not really always... if you look back to the late 70s and early 80s, they were the clear market leader in both home and small-to-medium-sized-business computing. Steve Jobs screwed up royally when he killed the highly successful Apple II line and created the Macintosh line, and in doing so he initiated an internal competition within the whole company. Ultimately it' s genius-boy Steve Jobs who relegated Apple to perennial niche status. I think that part of the story is dramatized a bit in the decent movie " Pirates of Silicon Valley." Screw Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak is the man!

I meant before they stopped printing circuit boards on wrought-iron tablets Zoy.

It seems a natural extension of their ipod product. With most companies starting with phones and moving to mp3 playing and gaming, having say the next verion of the ipod compatible with some games seems a good idea to expand their empire. In fact it is possible that the PSP and DS are becoming too niche and expand into further areas to compete.

I' m more interested in what Nvidia just announced.

http://www.dailytech.com/NVIDIA+Introduces+HD+Handheld+Computing+Platform/article10650.htm

The nVidia thing looks nice. 720p on a handheld is pretty solid.

Do you realize how crappy low-end the parts inside iPods are? They aren' t going to play games.

My guess is that the new NVidia chip will be going in the inevitable MS handheld. MS just bought the creators of the Sidekick... hmm... wonder what could be going on there...

ORIGINAL: Rampage99

My guess is that the new NVidia chip will be going in the inevitable MS handheld. MS just bought the creators of the Sidekick... hmm... wonder what could be going on there...

Makes sense. Especially if they can get something to market before the next Gameboy or PSP.

Do you realize how crappy low-end the parts inside iPods are? They aren' t going to play games.

Casual games Loco.

Nintendo' s proven that the consumer' s looking for something to play on the go, or in the 5 minutes they' re waiting for the bus, or on their lunch break. Love it or hate it, this generation has embraced casual gaming in a way I for one totally did not anticipate.

The iPod line has appealed to an enormously wide market. A slick ad campaign, relative ease of use, wide range of 3rd party peripheral support and word of mouth have propelled it to the forefront of the MP3 player scene, taking an enormous chunk of the marketshare.

Take one year' s iPod sales for example. In 2006, they sold roughly 45,500,000 iPods. Now, instead of incurring losses by creating that many game systems, and trying to get those who already have an iPod to pack another device into their pockets, why not take the iPods that are already on the market, and allow them to download simple fun to play games from the " iGames" store?

Yeah, thousands of people playing Bejewelled or Puzzle Quest on their Ipods on the bus and on the train commuting to and from work or school. If Apple were to do something like this with the Ipod then it probably would be popular.

ORIGINAL: Agent Ghost

I' m more interested in what Nvidia just announced.

http://www.dailytech.com/NVIDIA+Introduces+HD+Handheld+Computing+Platform/article10650.htm

...and it plays Quake III too...





It' s mine just as soon as it' s released.

Huh, well how ' bout that? I' m totally missing the interface. Touch based?

NVIDIA worked closely with Microsoft on the APX 2500 so its safe to assume the processor will initially or ultimately be a Windows Mobile device exclusive.

Back to what I said about seeing an Xboy before an Apple handheld.

MS are likely to do it if only for spoiling tactics against apple.

You can already get very basic games like solitaire and a few other casual games, I don' t see why they wouldn' t make an iGames section and team up with some company like popcap games or some already successful casual gamer makers/distributors.

If MS makes the Xboy(or whatever stupid name they give it) then hopefully it will fare better then the Zune. Also I doubt they will put too much behind a MS handheld as it will just be to slow the other two down, though we might hear something at E3?

well they half-heartedly backed HD-DVD just to stop Blu-ray becoming the de facto standard immediately, when long term they were always aiming at downloadable as the way forward.

Level 3 woohoo. Sorry, I know that' s a bit sad, but it feels like a great achievement for me.