Google Looking To Build Android-Based Video Game Console
Google could be planning to expand its Android ecosystem from smartphones and tablets to smartwatches, video game consoles and a spherical entertainment hub called “Q.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, Google is developing these devices to compete with Apple’s alleged upcoming products of the same nature. Though rumors of an Apple and a Google smartwatch have been hovering for some time, talk of a Google-built gaming console has been thin, if not entirely nonexistent.
Android is the most popular mobile OS in the world, commanding a 75 percent global market share in smartphones alone, according to an IDC report. It’s this kind of popularity which Google could capitalize on by branching Android out to new kinds of devices.
The two-horse smartphone race between Android and iOS has all but left game console makers in their wake. As more games become available on a mobile platform it becomes difficult to sell an expensive console and title. There are those, however, that are using the popularity of mobile gaming to revitalize the console market.
Ouya, a small and open source gaming box, also runs Android and is capable of playing the typical pocket games found on mobile devices everywhere or other games developed specifically for the platform. As a gaming powerhouse in their own rite, Apple has before been rumored to make an entry into the gaming market.
Though its platform is on fewer devices than Android, Apple has a loyal developer base, many of whom are committed to writing only iOS apps. Furthermore, many apps and games arrive on iOS before Android, and with so many of today’s most popular mobile titles starting out on iOS, a potential Apple gaming console could be a serious contender.
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