[jpxxx]

Well, we can all agree that the $69.99 title-in-a-box model has reached something like saturation, yes? There's no reason to believe anyone wants to enter this market, least of all Apple which years ago lost the knack for selling software titles at $25+.

I think the future of consoles depends a lot upon how large the exploding Freemium/Recurring models can grow. That pie is growing, and there's no reason to believe it can't work in the living room as well as it does in the pocket.

So my argument is that Apple can have the biggest slice if they want it, and that that slice alone may be worth more than Consoles As We Know Them.

[jiggy2011]

I don't know, COD , Skyrim, Halo etc still seem to be having healthy sales.

I don't see any reason that you couldn't have these titles on an Apple Console though. But it would probably depend on Apple making deals with the developers. I can see EA wanting their AAA titles to be listed on a special shelf away from all of the dross.

[jpxxx]

Yeah, the AAA franchises are doing great, but they're still part of a stagnant market that's selling into a market that doesn't see the value in what they consume.

Apple would need to spend a fortune in hardware costs just to enable the current expectations of AAA titles, and even then they wouldn't be bringing anything to the table that Sony and MS aren't already.

[jiggy2011]

I think it might run the same risk that I think the OUYA does in that case.

Sony & MS will launch new consoles with some jaw dropping must have launch titles to push sales to "hardcore gamers". At the same time they wait to see which independent Apple/OUYA titles are becoming popular, approach the devs and get ports for their consoles.

As the price for the next gen Sony/MS consoles drop the reasons for buying the other consoles start to shrink because all of the best games are available on the PS4 anyway.