Xboxist

Is Apple Secretly Developing a Game Console?

Cuppertino, California based Apple Corporation has been making some quiet moves that suggest a growing interest in the video game console market. Flush with cash from sales of its wildly successful iPhone, the company may be seeking to extend its fledgling video game experience from mobile phones into the living room. Two recent hires from chip-maker AMD suggest that the company is acquiring the know-how needed to enter the home console space. The company recently grabbed Bob Drebin, who is most well known for having designed the internal graphics hardware in the Nintendo GameCube (the same tech was later enhanced and re-used in the Wii). This week, it was announced that Apple has also poached Richard Teversham, head of video game strategy for Microsoft. Teversham was one of the key executives in the development of the successful Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles for his old employer. What on Earth does Apple need with a console strategy whiz and two graphics chip eggheads, unless it is planning to release some gaming hardware of its own?

A more coherent picture of Apple's plans can be pieced together from various other sources. Television personality and financial analyst Guy Adami stated on his show Fast Money that Apple might be shopping for a takeover bargain at publisher Electronic Arts. It was previously rumored that Disney would likely be the one to acquire the giant games publisher if such a buyout were to happen. However, an Apple takeover bid would certainly make sense if the hardware manufacturer wanted to enter the video game space in a big way. Owning the world's largest third-party games publisher would certainly go a long way toward securing exclusive games for any possible home console.

It is possible that Apple will stay out of the home console business for now, hoping to perfect and enhance its current gaming offering with the iPhone. All of the available evidence could compatible with a mobile (albeit enhanced) gaming device. However, history has shown us that Apple is one company constantly ahead of the curve, and we wouldn't be surprised if they have something more impressive in development.

[Sources: Fast Money, Apple Hires Xbox Exec]