The App Store mindset has taken over. From the Apple iDevices, to the Android Marketplace, and to Windows Phone 7, it has become increasingly easy to get your App fix from a mobile point of view. But what about the rest of your digital world? Apple recently released the Mac App store that brings the mentality of easy to install and use software to your Mac as long as you are running Snow Leopard or later. But the living room has still yet to see an app store of its own…or has it? More after the break.
In comes the Xbox Indie Game store
Xbox Live Indie Games initially began working its way onto the Microsoft gaming console back in 2006. After a few bumpy years, the indie game store managed to release over 1,600 games as of February 2011. If you try to compare it to the iTunes App store, 1,600 indie games for a console is only a fraction of the 400,000+ Apps iTunes has now for handheld/portable devices. I understand that these two stores launched with completely different purposes. But what if Microsoft took a hint from Apple now, and changed the indie game store to a full on app store for your living room?
Changing Indie to App Store
With the huge success of the iTunes app store, its only a matter of time before it makes its way to the Apple TV. But Microsoft could have a chance to beat them to the punch. By converting the Xbox Indie Game Store into an all out App store, Microsoft could capture the next generation of a fully integrated “Media Center” on this current generation gaming device.
If you look in the Indie Game Store today, there is already a number of releases that have nothing to do with gaming, such as guitar tuners, music synthesizers, and so on. By giving more recourses to the indie developer, such as access to the kinect or opening up to the web (highly unlikely, I know), Microsoft can increase the functionality, increase profits by number of sales while keeping prices low, extend the life of the current generation console, and even get into more of the homes of people who may not consider themselves gamers.
I believe that by blurring the line between gaming console and all encompassing multimedia device, Microsoft can gain even further control before competition steps in.
But what defines an app store? More importantly what would an app store mean to you in your living room?