Steve Jobs could have saved us from the atrocity that is the XBOX brand, and could have saved classic pc gaming...

if Halo had become a Mac exclusive like Steve wanted it to. Xbox would have never taken off in the way it did.

The fight for Halo is the one important battle Steve Jobs lost, and it led to a decline in average game qaulity for consumers in the console market. While Sony and Nintendo offered games that were full of charm and good level design, Microsoft went all-in with dudebro games and PC ports.

Remember Diablo on PS1?

Me neither, because PC games weren't designed for consoles and they generally sucked bad on them. PC ports were the shovelware in earlier gens.

With Microsoft out of the picture we wouldn't have to pay to play online, Bethesda & Bioware etc would have continued to design games for PC with the strength of the platform in mind and the dumbing down of difficulty in games is also on MS. Games wouldn't be multiplat that often because Nintendo and Sony systems have always had drastically different hardware design, leading to more exclusives being made.

With MS out, think about what we would have got. It's all we ever wanted from Sony atleast. They would continue to make beasts like the PS3 which could rival the best PCs out there for it's time. A powerful system with games being third-party exclusives and designed for the PS3 specifically, making them better. Just like in the PS1 and PS2 days.

And PC devs like Bethesda and Bioware would be still making PC exclusives specifally designed and tailored to PC.

Nowadays PC gamers play console games with higher performance and brag about them. LEL!

Would you rather have 150 multiplats or 150 exclusive? Think about it.

tl:dr Steve Jobs could have stopped the XBOX by securing Halo as an exclusive, and gaming on all platforms would be better off altogether.

Halo was originally being dev'ed as a RTS and it was MS who had Bungie make it a FPS, Halo wouldn't have been the phenom hit it became if not for MS.

Swing and a miss, care to try again? :P

Dudebro games need to happen too, if everything was "super hardcore darksoulz" gaming would be incredibly boring. Variety is nice.

Would he have saved is from your awful threads though?

Maybe, but without Microsoft, online gaming on consoles would also still be crap since Nintendo did not care about it (and still doesn't) and Sony proved that they did not know how to make a good online service before Microsoft gave them the blueprint on how to do it with Xbox Live. Even then, it took Sony many, many years to implement important features that were first implemented on Xbox many years before like party chat. And even now, after Sony has spent over the past decade just copying things from Xbox Live, their online service is still inferior.

I much rather pay to play online than be stuck with the crap that Sony tried to offer as an online service before they copied Xbox Live.

@SecretPolice: Ignorance is bliss. Millions of people still play Halo today, its a series with high replay value and that makes it a prime target in System Wars. It's simply another feather in Halo's cap.

I fixed that first line for you.

Darn you Steve Jobs!

To add to your correction, Apple had already launched a gaming console with an exclusive FPS from Bungie, Super Marathon. Based on how few people know of this game/consoles existence, I'd say it's a great thing that Jobs did not get his wish.

If Steve Jobs had his way, Windows users would still have been left out in the cold. Halo would have withered with the Mac's smaller user base.

If MS didn't buy Bungie out, Halo would have been considered a PC franchise.

Halo's rumored genre went through several phases. But, by the time the news blackout took place, we already knew it was going to be an FPS of some sort.

@justtoday: Would you rather have 150 multiplats or 150 exclusive?

I rather just have 150 games I want to play period :)

What's next : "What if time traveling Aliens killed Bill Gates?"

Where the hell is the 500 min post rule when you need the damn thing ?

Tc wouldn't be making crappy threads like this one.

Atrocity of the Xbox brand? I'll take the OG Xbox and 360 all over again, thanks.

I'm not sure why i'm even giving you the time of day in this thread TBH.

Apple + free anything?

lolno

He almost saved gaming but unfortunately child labor isn't adequate for game development, sadly. ?

LOL

The xbox 360 was probably one of the top 10 best consoles around.

That big single mouse button always lent itself so naturally to gaming and would have helped make Halo a multi-million unit selling success!

But in the end Apple and Steve Jobs are sitting on mountains of gold.

While Microsoft and Sony crumble like an old dynasty past their prime.

XBone Windows 8 Windows Phone PSVita Xperia Play PS Vue PS Now

Macbook Pro iMac iPhone iPad and iTunes

Who really won?

@justtoday: Lol yeah ok then.

Get over it

You may want to go look up Steve Job's obituary, he's not sitting on any pile of gold, although the inheritors of his estates may be.

Then if we forget the near monopoly MS holds over PC operating systems and no sign of this changing, Sony's complete domination over this generation's home consoles, Google's 85% market share in smart phone operating systems which has greatly contributed to them becoming one of the worlds richest companies and Samsung having a larger share in the worldwide handset sales than Apple. Everything you posted is completely correct.

@justtoday: It's ipod and iphone.

What's wrong with MS getting Halo? It was the killer app that made the brand viable, the Xbox 360 was the leader in setting new standards for 7th gen consoles with streamlined online, demos and XBLA titles, downloadable games, built in wireless controller functionality, apps, DLC, they spearheaded that standard last gen. The series itself is still a great series. What would Apple have done with it?

@clyde46 said:

LOL.

Halo wouldnt be as good as it was back then if that happened.

If Microsoft didn't enter the home console market, then Bethdesda would have never been given total success with the Elder Scrolls franchise by just relying on PC hardware all the time, the same case goes for The Witcher Franchise. Sure the first game was a PC exclusive, but with their success, CD Projekt RED needed more funds to create games and took a dip at making the Witcher 2 for the 360 and Witcher 3 for all platforms (except Wii U, hahaha).

@SecretPolice: Right you are, sir.

Besides the point of this topic being false in so many ways, I, for one am glad that Apple never got the chance to ruin the game market. All they are good for is overpriced and underpowered equipment. It is a blessing to everyone that plays games that the Apple Pippin was scrapped. Jobs was nothing but a condescending a-hole that largely took the credit for other people's work.

The problem with PC gaming back in the day was a lack of standardization, and an inability to deliver updates quickly and easy to customers who had issues. The digital revolution did a bit to change the first issue, but software auto updating in the background is what really what made most multipurpose electronic devices a lot more user friendly.

No company could have "saved" classic PC gaming before the rise of digital distribution. All they could have done is released another closed platform, the way Sony and Nintendo were already doing.

Actually in the consoles area Microsoft and Sony are winning.... those two consoles are doing pretty well.

cr-apple iphone just brought back the PDA with bells and whistles and marketed it a revolutionary. Nothing new. Good innovation, but nothing new.

Xbox live revolutionized online console multiplayer.....

Furthermore Apple is known for releasing incredibly overpriced products.. Quite frankly your a fool if you think Apple would be better when the represent some of the worse trends in the industry.

Well said gents. And LMAO at "saved us from the atrocity that is the Xbox brand". You don't have to buy it TC.

People should be happy Apple hasn't stepped in to the console biz

@howmakewood: Yeah I Don't get it. Nintendo already gets a lot of flak for overpricing their hardware due to their capabilities and having the most closed systems. Apple are the kings of this...

@howmakewood: They've already been in the console market, remember the Pippen?

Mac gaming? Do you know how expensive and underpowered they are.

I'm sorry but don't make me laugh. If Halo had come out only for Mac nobody would have played it and Microsoft would have failed hard like they did anyway.

Yes and thankfully that flopped, also the old Apple isn't exactly the same as the current one.

Is there a name for Apple fan boys in here ?

I love "what if" scenarios. They mean absolutely jack shit.

Worms. :P

@SecretPolice: I like that :)