Just when you thought rumors about an Apple video game console were intriguing, news surfaces that Apple Inc. has applied for an iWatch trademark in Japan. Normally such wearable technology wouldn’t be big news to gamers, per se, but Apple’s co-stranglehold on the mobile gaming market (along with Google) means there is likely a batch of Apple iWatch games coming to a wrist near you in the not-too-distant future.
Apple’s iOS, along with Google’s Android operating system, has played a significant role in mobile games taking some of the luster from traditional gaming platforms. Nintendo’s 3DS is certainly no slouch when it comes to handheld game sales, but it’s still dwarfed in comparison to the game-sales volume associated with Apple and Google. So when the iPhone maker comes out and says it’s serious about creating a wrist-based device, finding out which Apple iWatch games are most likely to appear on the gadget is bound to be a hot topic.
According to Bloomberg, the filing for the iWatch name was submitted to the Japan Patent Office on June 3 but just made public last week. The report also says that Apple “has a team of about 100 product designers working on a wristwatch-like device that may perform some of the tasks now handled by the iPhone and iPad….”
Gaming may not be the device’s primary function, but that’s akin to saying playing music isn’t the iPhone’s primary function. So, precisely what tasks the Apple iWatch may perform is still unknown outside of One Infinite Loop, but it’s safe to say mobile iWatch games will play some role in the device’s use case.
Back in the days of Maxwell Smart, we all got a good laugh at his shoe phone. When Dick Tracy came around, his wristwatch phone was equally novel, though it didn’t seem nearly as far-fetched. How far we’ve come technologically that a trademark filing for “iWatch” in Japan not only doesn’t seem unrealistic, but actually gets folks excited. And, from a gaming perspective, that everyone’s excitement is about the entire device value proposition, including Apple iWatch games.
