The Most Terrifying Recent News
Screw the swine flu, “climate change”, and the return of ’80s fashion. According to a few reports, Apple is thinking about buying EA.
EA, the publisher once hated and mocked by the gamer community has done a complete 180 in the last year to become what I consider the premiere publisher of quality games. Last year they gave us Battlefield: Bad Company, Mirror’s Edge, Dead Space, an actually improved Madden, and the amazing NHL 09.
I see two different routes that Apple could go with this. In reality, Apple is not a software company. They are a hardware company that sells products that execute software. Extrapolating the Apple business model, this could mean that we might see an overpriced console with the Apple logo, motion controls, and expensive hardware refreshes every year. The acquisition of EA would give them a solid first-party lineup to move the platform.
Or perhaps this is Apple’s attempt to turn the Mac into a gaming platform. Currently games are one of the few reasons to buy a Windows-based PC. It would surely be one way to up their hardware sales.
For me this is awful because I disagree with Apple’s business model. They have the largest profit margin per unit of any PC manufacturer and have cornered the appearance-oriented consumer. Demand for their products is artificially high because of this, and that allows them to continue to gouge consumers. Beyond that, they’re a hardware company that has only recently started dabbling in software with the iPhone. In the end, if Macs become the platform for PC gaming, it means that Apple can price gouge consumers even more because there is no hardware competition to keep prices in check.
What do you think this move could mean for the future of EA, Apple, and gaming in general?
