Console Wars: Difference between revisions
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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''.
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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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The Xperia Play, on the other hand, has done pretty dismally in its short time of availability (thus far), but the few people who have bought them have tended to pay for more games than other Android users and developers are still adapting their games for it, so Sony Ericsson must be doing something right. The Playstation Vita, while getting more press than the Play, is also struggling with its Japanese release - let's put it this way; the 3DS was considered to have low sales when it launched, and the Vita's numbers aren't even ''that'' high.
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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