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[Gamer79]

Outside of having the resources of Apple, how would a new company enter the console business? Is it feasible one could do so with all the buyouts?

 

[German Hops]

Crowd funding.

 

[Meicyn]

Ouya thinking about starting a new console brand? Make sure you include cutting edge 3DO graphics hardware. This ain’t your daddy’s Intellivision!

 

[Daneel Elijah]

A natural need to enter or a opportunity that can't be denied. Michelin created the Guide Michelin because they wanted to give to the people reasons to travel more. Samsung was creating some parts for the Iphone and decided to enter the market. We can see some of those actions in the gaming market: Sony was making the sound of the SNES and was suited to make a console for many reasons. Microsoft was already in the gaming business and feared being left behind by Sony. Steam did the Steam Deck in part because of their fear of being cut of Windows by Microsoft.

For me we would need a company that is from a emergent country that is hungry and willing to try new things. So Samsung or a new company from China or India could easily do it. Not do it well like Sony or Nintendo did IMHO. But a good enough first try, that pay for itself. Some manufacturers could decide to push for it too, like TSMC if they loose the contracts with Sony, Nintendo and Xbox. We know that it will be hard to enter no matter what, but when we see Facebook continuing with the Metaverse I can see a multibillionnaire like Musk just decide to do it for fun.

 

[AV]

A reason to do it. There aren't many.

 

[StueyDuck]

Money... lots and lots of money.

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

You'd have to be clinically insane.

 

[clintar]

How much money does Microsoft have?

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

Money, exclusives...

and beaches, lots of beaches.

 

[OrtizTwelve]

The only viable potential new player in the console gaming space is Apple due to their endless money and sky high brand adoration. I could see them carve out a market for themselves in gaming if they approach it correctly. They certainly have a global fanbase for it.

Rumors are however that the next Apple TV box refresh for 2024 is going to have either an A17 PRO or new M series chip which will allow PS4/XBOX One style visuals and performance. Apple has also stated that they are “serious” about entering the gaming market moving forward.

It remains to be seen.

 

[Kilau]

A Time Machine, it’s fucking done.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Google already tried and failed.

Maybe Apple will do it, if mobile power ever becomes so indistinguishable from console power.

 

[diffusionx]

I just got the Meta Quest, and you know, it's a console. It's just in a different form factor obviously. That's the point, it's basically impossible to make a console like a PlayStation or Xbox to compete against them, and I am also not sure anyone would want to. It just requires so much.

 

[jroc74]

I think at this point it would take for one of the 3 bow out first.

There was a time when everyone and their grandmother had a home console out. After the dust settled 3 seems to be the max.

 

[Varteras]

Cake.

 

[Hudo]

Probably a paradigm shift. Maybe my observation is wrong but I think that most "serious" competitors in a business emerged during a paradigm shift. Sony emerged when 3D and the CD caused a paradigm shift in gaming. Xbox entered the market somewhat successfully when the internet caused a paradigm shift in gaming (even though online multiplayer was already a thing in the PC gaming space).
Apple became a serious competitor for other phone manufacturers with the touchscreen, causing a paradigm shift in the design and usage of phones. Etc. Tesla became a serious competitor to other car manufacturers when electric cars (the batteries) became good enough for daily use for many use-cases. Etc.

I guess there were some companies who had bet on VR causing a paradigm shift... Didn't work out so far, I guess. And Google's attempt at entering the market with Stadia, using streaming and subscription services as a paradigm shift also didn't work out... Dunno what the next "paradigm shift" for gaming could be and who could benefit from it.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

Good games

 

[brian0057]

Nothing.
Unless your goal is to burn as much capital as possible with little to nothing to show in return.

 

[LostDonkey]

Whatever happened to that MadBox? Ian Bell from Slightly Mad Games, anyone remember?

Fell off the face of the earth.

 

[Icymanipulator]

$100,000,000,000 to start +
Be ok with operating at a huge loss for at least 2 generations.

 

[FalsettoVibe]

Be Apple.

 

[Nankatsu]

Money... lots and lots of money.

So basically Microsoft 2.0, but with a good management and a solid direction?

 

[Alexios]

A paradigm shift like VR, that's how Meta did it and is probably at around Xbox 1 levels currently (but Quest 3 should do better over its lifetime but also we'll probably see more competition at some point with the likes of Pico catching up, we'll see if exclusive wars will be a thing like on consoles).

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

It's almost impossible without splashing big cash on a couple 3rd party pubs to secure content for your new console. I'm not even mentioning setting up in-house 1st party studios as that's a mammoth job that will take years upon years with no guaranteed chance of success (see google and even amazon to a degree). Oh and good luck acquiring those 3rd party publishers when there will probably be big regulatory scrutiny due to lobby from Sony, MSFT and other smaller players feeling threatened by a new market competitor.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

They wouldn’t. They would enter the software publishing industry….and that place is BRUTAL.

Or you can just buy an android box or a handheld pc/droid/open console…those come out every week.

 

[killatopak]

I think a VR specific console would do okay. Like real first party VR games with AAA budget.

You have to cater to a certain niche very well first to expand. I’m thinking it could be a Wii thing.

However this strategy is like a do or die but entering into the console business right now is the same. Every company who did after MS never made it past 1st gen. Might as well make a huge splash.

 

[Gamer79]

The only viable potential new player in the console gaming space is Apple due to their endless money and sky high brand adoration. I could see them carve out a market for themselves in gaming if they approach it correctly. They certainly have a global fanbase for it.

Rumors are however that the next Apple TV box refresh for 2024 is going to have either an A17 PRO or new M series chip which will allow PS4/XBOX One style visuals and performance. Apple has also stated that they are “serious” about entering the gaming market moving forward.

It remains to be seen.

I bought the recent Apple TV that launched earlier this year. It is a good device and has enough power. The issue is the device has no cooling and when pushing graphic intense game the heat makes the device throttle. If they do release a new apple box with more power they have to find a way too cool it.

 

[bitbydeath]

Just need to stand out with good games.
The amount of studios has no bearing and you don’t need to buy established ones either, in fact you’ll likely have greater success with brand new IP’s.

 

[BennyBlanco]

I think the only companies who could viably do
It now are Valve (huge library of software and Proton) and Apple (unlimited resources and cultlike following).

 

[Black_Stride]

Google already tried and failed.

Ironically I think if Google released the Stadia as a true home console, I bet it would still be alive today
Its specs a year before the SeriesX and PS5 are actually decent, and assuming they priced it competitively and had 3rd party support, it could have made it to 2023, and we would probably be hearing rumblings of the Stadia 2 or Stadia Pro.

HBM2 memory would likely be dropped, but one can dream.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Apple, Google, and Tencent are really the only companies that could theoretically get into the market.

Tencent could sell a lot of units in China, which would garner it significant 3rd party support.

Apple has an ecosystem and subscription model that could help it enter the market. All they need to do is buy a major publisher and some studios.

Google is a wildcard. I think they'd fail because they are unserious people.

Amazon is also a very far-fetched possibility. But they could potentially have success largely around luna as a cloud streaming platform more than a console.

 

[64bitmodels]

Good games

you could just as easily publish those good games on competitor platforms so uh.... yeah

 

[SteelCurtain 59]

At this point the only companies that could possibly make a dent would be if Apple/Google/Amazon/ etc. actually put a serious effort into making a console and keeping up with it for a long time, possibly having to buy one of the bigger 3rd party publishers. I can't see somebody like Nintendo or even Sony size being able to break in without a whole lot of luck. Those two got in at the right time. I mean even Microsoft required a ton of long term commitment and they joined fairly early. Joining now would be even more expensive and difficult.

 

[64bitmodels]

like other people here, a paradigm shift. Probably VR since Meta and Valve are making good headway with it.

 

[Papa_Wisdom]

I’d take a sega console with the power of an PS4/Xbox one tomorrow