The Loop is reporting that sources have apparently told them about Apple’s plan to cut 32 game titles and certain hardware devices such as printers, scanners and some hard drives, to make more room in Apple’s retail stores for the new in-store personalized setup services that started in January 2011.
Before you start freaking out at the thought that this may be the end of games for Apple computers, consider one thing: the Mac App Store.
Saying goodbye to third-party Mac products isn’t a bad thing. Not only are games not great selling software titles for the company, it’s not like we were buying the overpriced printers and scanners just because they were suggested by the employees of the store either. Most of the important, worthwhile software has migrated to the Mac App Store so there isn’t as much need for boxed products that take up space.
The Mac App Store cuts down on the need to go to the retail location and pick up new software. Instead, we get instant gratification (well, minus download speeds) so we can go forth and edit that family film or Photoshop our Facebook profile picture as soon as possible. I’d gladly give up the experience of going to an Apple store, spending an hour looking for the box of the program I want, and then waiting another 30 minutes to purchase the product because the line was long. So, yes, we may go down to eight games being sold at each store, but using the space to show customers the basic functions of their new computers just makes more sense in the App Store age.
More on TIME.com:
How Apple and Google Became the Two Most Admired Companies in the World
Adobe Helps Turn Flash into HTML5, Targets Apple Devices
Apple Looking to Simplify iPhone 5 with Aluminum Body, Internal Antenna?