Apples and oranges

[Administrator]

There's always been something compelling about the idea of Apple taking an active interest in video games. Steve Jobs used to talk about how Apple existed "at the intersection of technology and liberal arts", which would be an appealing philosophical position for any console manufacturer, and its insistence on controlling "the whole widget" - hardware, software, operating system, network - so it can guarantee a consistent user experience would also work nicely.
Its other strongly held values would be a pretty good fit as well. Look at the company's most recent brand advert and the language is familiar in agreeable ways. "This is it," the narrator explains over a succession of images of people living their lives. "This is what matters. The experience of the product. How it will make someone feel. Will it make life better? Does it deserve to exist? We spend a lot of time on a few great things, until every idea we touch enhances each life it touches. You may rarely look at it, but you'll always feel it."
In many ways Apple's rhetoric about its products is reminiscent of Nintendo's philosophy of making games. "My feeling is that the game designer's role is to create fun and exciting new interactive experiences for people to play," Shigeru Miyamoto explained last month at E3. "What matters is how you feel when you play the game," added Reggie Fils-Aime. It's not too far apart. Both companies operate from a clearly defined set of beliefs that are evident in everything they create.
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