| HappySqurriel said: This isn't an easy question to answer because there are dozens of factors to take into consideration ... The simplest way to put it is that they release a new console when they think that their medium to long term strategy depends on new hardware to maintain or increase sales. Quite often the market leader is "Forced" to release a new console because their competition releases a console and they can not let that console build support (for fear of losing their market position); and often the trailing consoles are forced to release a new console because of poor sales or manufacturing difficulty. Microsoft released the XBox 360 because they couldn't manufacture the XBox anymore which triggered Sony to release the PS3; Sega released the Dreamcast because the Saturn's poor sales prevented them from being a profitable company which triggered Sony to release the PS2; and Sony released the PSP to take over the handheld market and Nintendo responded with the Nintendo DS. I can't think of any generation which was started by the market leading console manufacturer, but every time the successor to the market leading console has been given a head start they have dominated the generation. |
Pretty much. I think the classic example is NES vs Genesis. Except in Brazil, the Master System was going nowhere, so Sega released the Mega Drive/Genesis in 1989. It started eating into Nintendo's market, and forced Nintendo to release the SNES, which took, IIRC, 2 years. Although the SNES eventually overtook the Genesis, IIRC, Sega spent the two years building up a significant lead, cutting into NES sales, and was the leader for most of the 16-bit era.
DS vs PSP I think is another great example. I assume Nintendo was working on the DS before the PSP announcement, but Sony pretty much forced their hand by threatening to take over the portable market, probably having them release the DS before they intended, ironically, this probably helped Nintendo in the long run. I doubt the "Game Boy" name could ever appeal to adults as well as the DS has, and we all know how the DS influenced the Wii.
