Who Really Won the Console War?

[STRYKIE]

fatslob-:O said:

RolStoppable said:
I don't think anybody really won.

1) Nintendo rediscovered their formula for success, but then abandoned their machine and did a complete turnaround to pursue the failed strategies from before the Wii.

2) Microsoft's goal was to have the #1 selling console of the generation (hence the "first system to 10m wins" mantra). Not only did they fail at that, but their gains also came mostly down to Sony messing up big time. Xbox cemented its position as a very US and UK centric brand, so as long as they'll stick with their brand, they'll never have a realistic chance to become global sales leader. Their position of fake dominance late in the generation also got to their heads and thus they moved towards what they really care about: non-gaming.

3) Sony lost on all fronts in their pursuit of non-gaming. Money, market share, goodwill. Should the PS3 miraculously end up in first place once all systems have stopped selling, then it would be a devastating sign for the video games market. Over 100m consoles sold and #1, but zero profits to show for it.

4) Gamers lost, especially those who liked the Wii and/or PC gaming. The Wii got hardly any worthwhile third party support despite selling better than any other system before it while a lot of big name PC developers began to make consoles their lead platform which led to watered down PC gaming. Not just on consoles, but on the PC itself as well. And those who liked what the 360 and PS3 had to offer saw their rights reduced or removed step by step in the industry's pursuit of the blockbuster model.

Nowadays the big publishers either nickle and dime their consumers or they are selling out to mobile platforms in hopes to save their flailing businesses. All because it's unthinkable to put a stop to the blockbuster model and get costs under control. As a result, the eighth generation will see fewer game releases that will also happen to be even more similar to each other. That's not healthy for gaming and if gaming isn't healthy, it isn't good for gamers. Some will not acknowledge that something is going wrong on a broader scale before it hits their personal gaming habits though.

I still say the Wii won. The PS3 was a total screw up by sony initially and your right about microsoft only leaching off from sony. Remember what malstrom said ? Winning a console war is always about having the least bullshit and it was the WII that had the least bullshit. Sure nintendo dropped the ball half way in the WIIs lifespan but it was still alot better than the sub hd twins until near end of it's life. Since when did third party support ever matter to a nintendo console ever since the n64 days ? (Except for portables ofcourse.) The WII was able to thrive without alot of third party support so why are you so down about nintendo consoles not getting any ? You're right about the AAA game model being unhealthy but at the same time those AAA games are the ones sustaining the gaming industry! Whether you hate COD or BF or some other massive AAA game like GTA V they are the ones who are ironically saving the gaming industry too. 

Bolded 1: You're acting as if the thing was in the same boat as the Atari Jaguar lol. Going from the PS2 to the internet's #1 angry pitchfork mob haven was far from ideal publicity and certainly not what Sony was going for, but it still did better in it's first year than the 360 did in it's first year. I'll even say that the "XBone = new Sega Saturn" consensus is rather overkill.

Bolded 2: Explain. This could literally adhere to anything.

Bolded 3: The fuck? What are you gonna come up with next? The PS2 and Xbox were Hard Drive twins? The PS1 and Sega Saturn were CD twins? Just because Nintendo choose to be out of the loop concerning industry standards doesn't make the next most relevant systems in question identical.

Bolded 4: Because this further motivated Nintendo not to improve their 3rd party relations, since the average Wii consumers were buying the same 6-7 1st/2nd party titles, yet left others alienated.

 

It's stuff like this that I don't think we're gonna have a unanimously agreed winner for at least 5 years, and even then, it might still be unclear.