Why
Apple Can’t Afford to
Ignore the Gaming Industry
BY BENJAMIN L. RUSSELL
Issue No.16
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Why
Apple Can’t Afford to BY BENJAMIN L. RUSSELL |
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May
| June 2004 Issue No.16 |
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Recently, I visited web2zone, an Internet café near Astor Place that, in addition to the usual assortment of high-speed PC's, has four G4 iMacs and a G5 Power Macintosh. While enjoying the Macs, I heard shouts of joy from the PC users across the room. I investigated and found that nationwide teams had come to play together in an all-night “LANsomnia” computer game party. Most were playing “first-person shooters” (games in which the player controls a character who walks through virtual fields, shooting at threatening objects – or people – using an assortment of incredible weapons). Watching, I discovered one particularly fascinating virtual-reality role-playing game, called Final Fantasy XI Online. In it, players create a virtual adventurer (drawing from one of five ethnic races and any of six jobs) to start out in a city (three different choices). They journey across the land of Vana’diel and team up with other players from the U.S. and Japan to pursue quests and stop the evil Shadow Lord and his minions from taking over the land. The storyline is deep and engrossing, the gameplay is engaging, the music is inspiring, and the graphics are richly imaginative. When I asked whether it could be played on a Mac, the answer was no; it was only for Microsoft Windows or a PlayStation 2. Was there a work-around? I surfed the Web to learn whether it could be played using Virtual PC for Mac. Again, “no,” this time because VPC supports only Voodoo graphics cards but not the contemporary nVIDIA or ATI varieties. I then read a post that the game's manufacturer, Square-Enix USA, had considered releasing a Mac version, but had decided against it because of prospective costs. Their website did not reveal any plans for a future Mac version, either. For days afterward I felt depressed. Why couldn't the world's most entertaining computer play one of the world's most entertaining games? Was Apple Computer in its right mind? Or was I the only one who cared? I couldn't rest until I found a resolution. In fact, it turned
out that I am not alone. And, I have to conclude, Apple is not in its
right mind, either. |
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“ ...The neglect ofserious gamingis causing Apple tolose another partof its customer base!Ignoring gamesdid not help Apple,it only hurtthe mother ship.” |
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According to the latest (as of January 26, 2004) figures published in an on-line article, “Computer and Video Game Software Sales Break $7 Billion in 2003” (Entertainment Software Association [ESA]), Apple is losing a significant part of its potential market share – which, at about 5% of the global personal computer market in sales, is already too small – because it doesn’t pay enough attention to the needs of the Mac gaming audience. According to the article, worldwide computer and video games sales in 2003 exceeded $7 billion for the first time ever, and of that total, computer games alone sold $1.4 billion. Further, games were the only entertainment industry to continue to grow in 2003, unlike either the movie or music industries.1 Just how big is that 5%? According to the baltimoresun.com article “The Mac user: Loyalty über alles,” by David Zeiler2, the total number of Macintosh users worldwide is estimated at 25 million. Another author, Jefferis Kent Peterson, who recently published “The Anecdotal Mac: Flight Simulators and the Exodus of Gamers from the Macintosh Platform,” has argued3 that
He continues4,
In a recent posting on MacNN Forums, a Mac user complained that he was actually purchasing a separate PC, even though he already had a Mac, just so that he could play Final Fantasy XI Online. According to Peterson, this user is not alone:
Losing customers can't possibly be profitable for Apple. Personally, I would most like to see Apple persuade Square-Enix USA to port Final Fantasy XI Online to the Mac. This game is significant for two reasons: it has a large registered player base, which recently celebrated its millionth new member, and, more important, it allows players from multiple platforms (currently, PC and PS2) to journey together in the same virtual world. Playing together with PC-users is critical because it would give Mac-based players access to the other 95% of the personal computer world. To get its share of this lost market, Apple should: see that more high-quality (preferably exclusive) games get developed for the Mac; grab more game market share with proprietary technology and some killer game-apps; and prove to potential developers that Mac games are profitable. Specifically, Apple should –
Finally (I can dream, can't I?), Apple could market these titles with sensational prime-time TV commercials. In my imagination, I see a scene in which a VR tank fires a photo-realistic rocket that shoots out of the Apple high-definition display in slow-motion and literally blows a PC-user out a window (similar to a scene from “The Matrix Reloaded”?). The poor PC-user then dizzily gets up, shakes his head, and exclaims, “Wow!” and the screen darkens, ending with the slogan, “Play different,” above the Apple logo. And it would greatly
help if Mac users – such as you – became more enthusiastic
about gaming. If you haven't tried it, you don't know what you're missing.
(I'd suggest you start with Enigmo™, Otto Matic™,
and maybe even Uru™: Ages Beyond
Myst®,
and discover a fascinating interactive virtual world.) |
1 "According to numbers compiled by the NPD Group, total game software sales in 2003 grew while both the movie and music industries reported losses compared with 2002 sales according to estimates made by Exhibitor Relations and Nielsen SoundScan respectively" (ESA) 2 Originally published on September 19, 2002. 3 In personal correspondence, which I am quoting here with his permission. 4 Peterson, The Anecdotal Mac
And it would greatlyhelp if Mac users –such as you – becamemore enthusiasticabout gaming.If you haven't tried it,you don't knowwhat you're missing. |
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Beyond profit for Apple and enjoyment for Mac users, gaming carries wider potentials. David Deutsch, Oxford physicist and winner of the Dirac Prize for Theoretical Physics, said in an recent interview5 with Taking Children Seriously that “[Video games] are not some transient, fringe aspect of culture; they are destined to be an important means of human learning for the rest of history, because of this interactive element. Why is being interactive so important? Because interacting with a complex entity is what life and thinking and creativity and art and science are all about.” 6 When Mac-users start demanding that Internet cafés rent more Macs and buy more Mac games, we'll be on our way. Macintosh users already know how to “Think different.” It's high time we also started to “Play different.”
Benjamin Leon Russell. Moderator of MetroMac Games Discussion Forum. Born in San Francisco, CA; lived near and in Tokyo between 1979 and 1989; graduated from Yale University, New Haven, CT, in 1994 (B.S. in Computer Science). Currently working as teacher of English at a major language center in Manhattan. Also teaches Japanese and Microsoft Office. In his spare time, he also serves as Glossary Editor for a Manhattan newsletter.
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5 “Video Games: A Unique Educational Environment,” in Taking Children Seriously, 2 September, 2003 - 07:31 GMT. 6 In fact, there is now a formal academic "games studies" subject, known as "ludology" (from the Latin for "game"), and the first doctorate exclusively in video-game studies was recently awarded to Jesper Juul at the Center of Computer Games Research of the IT University in Copenhagen, Denmark ("Video games seize ivory towers," The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky [March 6, 2004]). |
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