Look out, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. A reported visit by Apple CEO Tim Cook to game-maker Valve in Washington has raised speculations of a partnership between the two firms to build a new video game console.
Apple blog Cult of Mac reported that the company was planning a “full-on assault” to take over the living room and not just through its Apple TV.
“We’ve gotten word that Cook was indeed at Valve yesterday, and what’s more, Apple is planning a full-on assault to take over the living room. This assault won’t just be limited to the long-rumored Apple HDTV set, but will also include a revolutionary home console as well,” the site wrote.
“Our sources also say that Apple’s television set will come with an Apple-branded, Kinect-like video game console. The interface will rely heavily on motion and touch controls,” it added.
Valve is behind game series like Half-Life, Team Fortress and Portal. It has an online PC gaming platform called Steam that operates similarly to Apple’s App Store.
“Recent rumors have suggested that Valve is working on its own console dubbed the ‘Steam Box.’ Instead of another Xbox or PlayStation, the hardware would serve as more of a standard that Valve would license to partners, much like the way Google handles Android in the smartphone space,” Cult of Mac said.
Citing its own sources, Cult of Mac said Apple is also working on a TV set with an iTunes-integrated touch screen remote and Siri-like voice command technology.
Such a TV set could debut before the end of the year.
A theoretical collaboration between the two companies would likely involve elements of the two above devices. But should such a gaming platform materialize, it would not be Apple’s first foray into the console world.
In the 1990s, it collaborated with Bandai to produce a Mac OS home console called the “Pippin,” which had a disappointing showing.
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