If we go by the numbers, Nintendo has won the generation. But this gen has many shades of gray and there seems to be no clear cut winner, at least in terms of bragging rights. Let's face it, this is about making money. It's a business. And while your console of choice may have bragging rights to the amount of units sold, it's all about the monies. And yet oddly enough, even in this column there are shades of gray.
If we look at Microsoft, why did they get into the gaming console market? To bring something new to the table? No. It's pretty much accepted they joined to stop Sony from 'taking the living room' and they've succeeded. Though one could argue how much space a console took in the average home, but we are seeing each new generation trying to make the console more and more the central focus of the living room. Again, we can debate how effective they have been.
In terms of console sales, they've outsold their previous system, and there's still at least two more years left in this gen. At least. So the 360 is a success. Though they do have a few bruises and missteps that tarnish bragging rights. Biggest one being how Wii overtook it, and quickly too. Another big one is how the PS3 is selling at a faster, or similar pace than the 360 during this point in it's lifetime ... more or less. And one could even mention their inability to do much in the Japanese market, but they've already sold more there this time around with their new console than with their last (And obviously in less time) so there's good news on that front.
But what they lack in a definitive victory in the consoles sold column, they make up for in software. In a reversal of fortune, a vast majority of multiplatform games will sell more on the MS console, vs the Sony one. And while you could attack MS for throwing money around for exclusives, the sales speak for themselves I think. 360 seems to be the software king this gen.
Sony. This one is harder to measure. On one hand, they sold a lot less than their previous system. So if using my scale I applied to the 360 (Selling more than your previous console) marking that system a success, then we'd have to say PS3 is a failure. Though as I already said, shades of gray. Another accepted universal truth, Blu-Ray was put into the PS3 to win the format war. We can talk about how great it is or isn't for game, how it jacked up the cost of the console to $600 at launch, but we all know the PS3 is a trojan horse. While DVD helped PS2 last gen, I think there was a role reversal and this time the console helped the format this gen. And Blu-Ray won. Thus helping Sony take back a bit of that space in the living room so many people use. But again ... that damn color gray pops up. Not everyone can take advantage of the format, don't have the right setup. And people still hold onto the DVD format due to cost. But as time goes on, will more people move past DVD and towards Blu-Ray? If so, will it be in time? As streaming media seems to be the next big thing.
Then we have software sales. I don't track the top 10 or 50 or beyond very much, but I do gaze at the top 5 each time I visit the site. And there's one console almost always missing. PS3. Games for the system seem to rarely break the top 5, which is often dominated by Nintendo or Microsoft. For all the talk about Wii and it being unable to move games, I see Wii in the top 5 every week practically (Not counting Wii Sports). I hardly ever saw GC up there. And again, I hardly ever see PS3. If Sony and Microsoft take the angle of losing money on the console, but make up for it in games sold, then hasn't the PS3 failed here? It's not the game pushing system the PS2 was last gen, or what the other two seem to be this gen. The gray area here being, that a system that for a good portion of it's lifetime sold at a much higher price than their competitors, they're still holding their own. How many other brand named consoles could sell initially at $600 and live to tell about it? This would even test the most loyal of Nintendo fanboys.
And then we have Nintendo. What an interesting ride they've been on. I am, for lack of a better word, a Nintendo fanboy. I owned the NES, but then moved away from gaming during the 16 bit gen. Only to be drawn back in when I bought the N64 for my then 6 year old nephew. Didn't pay it much mind, until I decided to play Zelda when it came out ... long story short, been back into gaming ever since.
But I was the type of person who on one hand kept Nintendo afloat during the lean years ... but also hurt them. Yep. I'm the Nintendo fanboy who bought only Nintendo games. Had no use for third parties for the most part. I was Nintendo's home console salvation, and the bane of their existence as more and more third parties just threw their hands up in the air and claimed "Non-Nintendo games just don't sell on Nintendo consoles." A stigma that still sticks today.
If we use the same measuring stick I did for the other two, how much your console is selling compared to your previous one. Nintendo is the runaway champion here. Not too many shades of gray on this one, in terms of console sales. I mean they blew away all previous consoles they've released, all that's left is the NES and that too will be surpassed. Not only that, Wii has become a household name. A few short years ago, a movie or show would show someone playing or mentioning a PS2. They now use the Wii as their go to product placement. So not only has Nintendo sold their console like it was free crack, they've also made it a cultural phenom. No easy feat.
The gray area we encounter with the Wii, are games sales, types of games made, and exactly who is playing this console. We have one side still claiming Nintendo games are the only ones to sell on the console. And have ample data to back up their claims. Fanboys will claim a sucky game is a sucky game, and doesn't mean anything. The console has also been 'plagued' with the non-game. Though I'm not sure I like using that word. A game, is a game. There is no real or fake game. If cookin Mama was fun for you, then more power to ya. Who's to say it's not a 'real' game? Even Wii Fitness. If you enjoy it, for whatever reason, isn't that the main purpose of any video game?
I'm also not convinced the Wii was sold out for the better part of two years because of the non-gamer. I think there are many hardcore gamers who own this system. Then again, we have a huge number of people ready to kill someone else for a tickle me Elmo doll, so maybe I'm not giving the non-gamer enough credit.
As for game sales, again I think the Wii sells games very well. But it's the type of games that give us another gray area of this console. A game called "Wii Doggy Park" will probably outsell a game called "Alien Invasion" even if the first game was panned by all critics, and the second was hailed as the second coming.
So if you've listened to my rant, bless you! Who the hell knows if anything I said made sense! But the question still stands, will we ever have a clear cut winner this gen like NES, or PS1 and PS2 gens before it? While 360 sells games at a better attachment rate than the others, console sales have been rather flat throughout it's lifetime. Though they have outsold their previous system already.
Sony is selling well, especially considering all the initial missteps. But, it's no PS2. And while it would've been difficult to surpass the PS2, there's a good chance PS3 won't even be close. And as I said, I don't see that many software hits on the console. If a game releases on PS2 and 360, 360 will outsell the PS2 version easily most of the time. A reversal from the last gen.
And Nintendo. Crushed the sales of their previous console in under two years, still selling strong, and was impossible to find for most of it's life, on store shelves. The other two consoles have initiated numerous price cuts, following a trend started last gen. Wii has remained at full price since launch. And outselling the 'superior' arcade version of 360 despite being price at $50 more. But it's still getting little third party respect, and not getting the same type of games as the other two. And when it does, it seems, they don't sell on the Wii.
Will we ever have a true winner? Or will there never be another PS2 again, in any generation?
