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Rumours about Apple moving into gaming as the company's next big thing are increasing.
Now that Apple rules the world with the sexiest phone and MP3 player, let alone its stylish Mac computer range and fresh perspective Apple TV, gaming is the obvious gap in its expanding kingdom.
Apple has made it clear it wants to rule the living room of the future - just as Sony and Microsoft do with their respective gaming consoles being part of today's interactive lounge, centred around a couch and an oversized TV.
Apple TV - still not making as much noise as the company wants since it lacks a killer app - could be the device to evolve into a set-top box which doubles as a console for online and casual gaming.
Speculation ranges from such a bold assault on the well-established Xbox 360 and Sony's PS3 to extending the game playing in the iPhone and iPod Touch or cranking up the iMac into a gamer's hi-def centre.
Or all of the above.
Of course some of those getting excited about the prospect have forgotten that Apple has dipped its toes in this water before.
Its 1996 launch of a games machine called Pippin rates as not only one of Apple's worst flops but listed in PC World magazine's hall of shame of the worst tech products ever.
To be fair, it was a joint enterprise from Apple and toy-maker Bandai and aimed to be a machine that would play games and be a network computer. It was based around a 66-MHz PowerPC 603 processor, a 14.4 kbit/s modem and ran a stripped version of the System 7.5.2 operating system.
This was how Apple tried to sell the Pippin to the world:
There were numerous reasons why it flopped: there was a lack of software and it just couldn't compete against the machines that ruled the gaming world around this era - Nintendo 64, Sega and the original PlayStation.
In all, Pippin sold only about 42,000 units.
Fuelling the belief Apple is up to something is news that an Apple patent application, just published by the US Patent and Trademark Office, depicts a new 3D remote technology , similar in basic concept to the Wii controller and suitable to be part of the Apple TV product.
Of course if I had a dollar for every reported Apple patent that never resulted in anything, I would be rich enough to buy the company!
But as this American stocks blogger points out , 'physical gaming' is attracting thousands of casual gamers who never would have thought they would be into it. Think Wii Sports and Guitar Hero.
While urging readers to buy Apple stock in anticipation, he does paint a credible and compelling picture of the future:
"Imagine combining the physical instruments of Guitar Hero with the real life mixing and recording capabilities of Apple's Garageband. Such a game could actually teach its user to play the guitar, or any other instrument. By developing a 3D gaming platform, Apple is a serious candidate to deliver the next big thing. You actually want to learn to fly a plane, to sail, to race Nascar, or to improve your golf swing? 3D Apple could bring these real life simulations to the mainstream."
Back to reality
Meanwhile back to reality, it's been a quiet few weeks as gamers' pocket money was soaked up by the big-selling GTA4.
The next big release, out on the 23rd, is Haze for PS3, set in the year 2048 where worldwide Governments have outsourced military operations to private corporations and you play a soldier fighting rebels in a war-torn country.
I've been playing the demo and can see this exclusive title will be mayhem in multiplayer. Four player co-op and an arsenal of weapons, complex stuff solved with a rocket. Demo download is 1550 MB though.
