Apple Considering A Move Into Console Market?

Exactly what qualifications do you need to be a tech analyst?  In fact, who goes to their careers adviser at school and says "I'd like to be an analyst when I grow up"?  It's that curious blend of make-believe, assumption and research that manages to engender both hope (because they never foresee boring stuff) and scorn.  Anyway, today's analyst is Jesse Tortora, who you might remember from around the time of Steve Jobs' "2007 will be Apple products' most exciting yet" hype; today he's staying with the Cupertino company but broadening his scope to video consoles.

Jesse believes that, with iPod videogames appearing on the iTunes store, a move into the console market is "a distinct possibility":

"The game console device could be morphed out of some combination of the MacMini and iTV, while the handheld player could be developed as an enhancement for a future version of the widescreen iPod" Jesse Tortora

Gaming on the Mac has always been slightly less focused than on the PC, and few would honestly consider it a challenger to the current range of dedicated consoles on offer.  And although their industrial design is eons ahead of the competition, whether or not Apple would have the industry connections or the gaming cache to build a commercially-viable console business is key. 

Pro-G [via Mobility Today]