Console Wars: Difference between revisions
→The Industry Shakeup (Eighth Gen): Updated
(→The Eighth Generation (Current): Add Switch, rm OnLive since it's not a console and was never a serious competitor. Declare the PS4 as the winner as it's pretty clear at this point. Will rewrite the section if I have the time.) |
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* '''Duration''': 2005-2014
* '''Sides''': ''Sony's [[PlayStation 3]]'' vs. ''Nintendo [[Wii]]'' vs. ''Microsoft [[Xbox 360]]'' vs. ''Zeebo'' vs. ''Hyperscan'' vs. ''V.Smile Motion''
* '''Winner''':
Microsoft was last in, first out with the Xbox 360, gaining a comfortable head start thanks to an even more advanced version of the Xbox Live system (with a point-comparing gimmick which catches on fast) and HDTV compatibility. However a hefty price tag, limited backwards compatibility with original Xbox games, and complaints about machine malfunctions plagued the console's early days (and, in the case of the malfunctions, continue to hurt it). Surprisingly, however, Microsoft did gain traction as a console developer after negative publicity in the run-up to the PS3 launch (specifically about Sony's hardware bottlenecks, poor viral marketing via fake blogs, and what is seen as the mistreatment of Sony's European customers) causes some waverers to jump to the 360. This is not helped by what is perceived to be Sony's decision to [[Follow the Leader|copy its competitors' unique selling points]] and the whopping [[Memetic Mutation|five-hundred and ninety-nine US dollars]] price tag of the PS3. However, Sony's die-hard supporters, gathered through the PS1 and PS2 days, remained in droves, and reported excellent stock take-up in the first weekend of sales, through sales really didn't pick up until the eventual and inevitable price cut.
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Another footnote could be added for the V.Smile Motion: It's basically a V.Smile console, but with slightly upgraded hardware- namely, it now has an integrated wireless controller receiver and the controllers now come with a built-in accelerometer. Again, due to the educational franchise tie-in, it's largely ignored by the mainstream.
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At the
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=== The Eighth Generation
* '''Duration''': 2012-
* '''Sides''': ''Nintendo [[Wii U]]'' & ''[[Nintendo Switch|Switch]]'' vs. ''Sony [[Playstation 4]]'' vs. ''Microsoft [[Xbox One]]''.
* '''Winner''': PlayStation 4, with the second place going to Nintendo by default since Microsoft [[Sour Grapes Tropes|stopped releasing sales numbers]] after 2014.
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A number of rumors in 2009 about Microsoft kick-starting the 8th generation ended up being Sony and Microsoft jumping late onto the motion-control wagon with PlayStation Move and Kinect, respectively — and most analysts are bullish on their chances of success. Microsoft has apparently reported that the Xbox 360 (which came out first in the 7th generation, mind) is only halfway through its lifespan, expecting it to last until 2015. Similarly, Sony has claimed that the [[PlayStation 3]] will have a 10-year life cycle, lasting until somewhere around 2016.
So it was up to Nintendo to upset the applecart. They did, announcing the [[Wii U]] at E3 2011, with a release planned for sometime in 2012. It is back-compatible with all Wii games, controllers and accessories, but not Gamecube ones (Officially). The console itself looks like a downsized X360, but that's because all the excitement's in the controller, which is the lovechild of a Wiimote and an iPad — in addition to rumble, motion control, and all the buttons and thumbsticks you'd expect, it's got a touch-screen (single-touch only), camera with videochat support, and can display both secondary outputs (non-important information) ''or'' be used to play the game directly while someone else uses the TV to, say, watch TV. However, it is ''not'' a portable; without a set-top box to think for it, the controller accomplishes little on its own.
(Interestingly, during the '11 holiday season, the Wii's last as Nintendo's premiere console, its sales took a nosedive. The question is whether this makes Nintendo prescient, releasing the Wii U just as the Wii achieved market saturation, or stupid for crashing sales of a perfectly good product by announcing a perfectly-gooder one. Given the market's current antipathy towards the U, it seems safe to assume the former, but only time--and the console, you know, actually going on sale--will tell.)
Of course, there is little information on the [[Wii U]] at the moment, and information on future Sony and Microsoft consoles are limited to rumors from Kotaku, who reported on the "[[Xbox]] 720" in [http://kotaku.com/5879202/sources-the-next-xbox-will-play-blu+ray-may-not-play-used-games-and-will-introduce-kinect-2 January '12] and the [http://kotaku.com/5896996/the-next-playstation-is-called-orbis-sources-say-here-are-the-details/ PS4], also called "Orbis," in March. Both
Near the middle of the decade, the technology of all the eight generation systems was getting long in the tooth, yet Sony and Microsoft were not ready for totally new consoles. Thus Sony released the PS4 Pro and Microsoft the Xbox One X, enhanced versions of those consoles designed for the upper end of the market.
If that were all, this would be but a footnote, but Nintendo very much wanted to cut its losses with the Wii U, which despite having a number of critical successes, was hugely underwhelming commercially. The result was the NX, later known as the Switch. A true Hybrid console, it was slightly more powerful than the Wii U but could actually be played on the go as well as on a TV. Throw in a low price point with a series defining title at launch and a killer game lineup in the following years and the Switch sold gangbusters, outselling the original Game Boy line and giving titans like the PLayStation 2 and Nintendo DS a run for their money in terms of units sold.
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=== The Ninth Generation ===
* '''Duration''': 2020-20??.
* '''Sides''': ''[[Nintendo Switch|Switch]]'' (Holdover) vs. ''Sony [[Playstation 5]]'' vs. ''Microsoft [[Xbox Series X]] and Xbox Series S''.
The Sony PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S consoles both launched in late 2020 in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, which made actually purchasing them hard for many at first.
A few competitor consoles were launched or planned, mostly focusing on a particular niche and not competing outside of it.
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'''VERDICT:''' With each major player developing and announcing their plans for the next generation, it seems safe to say that the Nintendo DS took the win for dedicated hand-helds, outselling the PSP nearly 3:1 world-wide and bringing in a much higher profit margin. The various gaming-phones had success in their own fields, and let's... leave it at that.
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===The
* '''Sides''': ''[[Nintendo 3DS]]'' vs. ''Sony [[PlayStation Vita]]'' vs. ''Sony Ericsson Xperia Play'' vs. ''Apple iPhone/iPad'' vs. ''Android''-powered devices
* '''Winner''': Depending on who are you asking. The 3DS is the main standalone machine, but the mobile sector is technically bigger if you agglomerate the incredibly segmented market.
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Meanwhile, the sucess of the Angry Birds has opened the door to several companies, and soon both the iWhatevers from Apple and Android-powered devices in general became viable venues for gaming. Along with hundred of start-ups releasing games, several companies that traditionally dabbled on consoles, like Square-Enix and Konami, had released iOS and Android ports of their most popular frannchises, along with new games directed to cellphones.
As for other
* The GP2X's latest iteration(s) will also stuck to the small black plastic Switzerland role like before.
*
* Panasonic flirted with plans for a handheld called the Panasonic Jungle, but quickly changed their minds.
* Many cellphone manufacturers have began a shift towards gaming. Nokia resurrected the N-Gage name to now refer to both a framework and a section in many Nokia phones in which downloaded games are found, Google's Android OS is beginning to become noticed for gaming, Samsung's launch of its Bada store which is primarily to act as an app store that's mostly filled with games, Microsoft's integration of Xbox Live into Windows Phone 7, and Apple ramps up its seriousness in the iDevice-as-a-gaming-system strategy by introducing a Game Center segment in iOS 4.1 and newer. (And of course there's the Xperia Play).
'''VERDICT:''' Smartphone gaming by raw size and cultural zeitgeist. That said, in terms of traditional handheld gaming, the 3DS won, though with serious competition.
'''Current Standings:''' At the moment, Nintendo obviously has the biggest lead. The 3DS got off to a rocky start with not much in the way of software its first few months; the high point being an [[Updated Rerelease]] of ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time]]'' in June 2011. Soon afterward in August, Nintendo announced that they were slashing the system price by $70 (and offering 20 retro games - 10 from the [[NES]], 10 from the [[Game Boy Advance]] - to early adopters as an apology), which many took to be a giant red flag as to the system's future. However, it seems to have done the trick, as sales shot up to surpass the first-year numbers of the ''original'' DS. On top of that, the system is considered to have hit its stride in the holiday season thanks to system updates and true [[Killer App|Killer Apps]] like ''[[Super Mario 3D Land]]'', ''[[Mario Kart]] 7'', ''[[Monster Hunter]] 3G'' in Japan, and downloadable title ''[[Pushmo]]''.▼
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The Xperia Play, on the other hand, has done pretty dismally in its short time of availability
Ultimately the 3DS did OK, and the Vita had standout titles while failing to achieve a huge market presence, ending Sony’s interest in bespoke mobile consoles for a time, with their next handheld being nothing more then a streaming accessory for the PlayStation 5.
{{reflist}}
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