The year 2013 is going to be packed with brand new video game systems. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 are set to make their highly anticipated debuts during the holidays, and the Kickstarter-funded, Android-powered Ouya is scheduled to hit retail shelves this summer. Even the Wii U, Nintendo's first HD console, is only a few months old.
But could we see another entrant into the console wars this year? And could it take the strange form of an Apple and Disney collaboration?
Speculation about Apple entering the video game market isn't new. The iPhone and iPad are already home to some of the world's most popular games, and if the Apple TV ever becomes a reality, it would seem natural for Cupertino to enter the video game space in an official capacity as well. The latest rumor stated that Apple was actually showing off an iOS game controller behind closed doors at the 2013 Game Developers Conference.
Admittedly, there's not much information to go on here. So there might a controller. Is there anything else? But it might be interesting to consider the latest rumor with the speculation circulating a few months ago, that Apple and Disney would be teaming up to develop a game system.
If it sounds farfetched, that's probably because it is. According to RunServices.co.uk, there are "reports" suggesting "Apple is secretly working with Disney to unveil a gaming console code-named Toy Box. The initiative was reported to involve a gaming console with extensive mobile and other online applications including various Pixar and Disney characters that will be able to interact with each other for the first time."
Tracing this rumor back via Google, it looks like Patently Apple got its hands on a patent application filed by Disney for what seems to be a game system. The site claims New York Times speculation to be the source of the Apple connection, but its link instead leads to an article in Gameranx (which does hold a link to the NYT article in question).
Regardless, it looks like the passage Patently Apple credits to the NYT is actually just speculation by Gameranx, who mistook "Toy Box" to be a video game system rather than just a video game. That doesn't explain the Disney patent, but it does dilute the possibility that Apple may be involved.
So what's there to take away here? Disney already unveiled Disney Infinity as a video game, not a system, in which its popular characters can interact with each other, so that kind of explains Toy Box (Disney even referred to Infinity as a "toy box"). The patent, though, remains a mystery.
Is Apple making a game controller? That could be possible. Samsung revealed a controller for the Galaxy S4 recently, and it wouldn't be surprising to see Apple do something similar. At the same time, it's hard to imagine Apple releasing a controller without a larger, over-arching strategy, and that could finally be where the Apple TV kicks in. If Apple reveals a game controller that can play iOS games on a TV integrated with iOS' App Store, then you have a major announcement, one that could easily pit Apple against the Sony PS4 and Microsoft Xbox 720 for the future of gaming.
Pocket Gamer says that Apple is expected to make the announcement in April.
