RolStoppable said:
Sony's and Microsoft's games would sell worse without third party games on their platform, because the userbases would be significantly smaller. For example, look at the Vita. In 2013 it was already devoid of legitimate third party titles in the American and European markets, Sony launched Killzone and Tearaway, and both of them flopped. On the other hand, Capcom can put Monster Hunter on the 3DS and Nintendo's games still reign supreme; the same held true when Dragon Quest hit the DS. And yes, I know that Nintendo doesn't win where it matters, simply because as soon as Nintendo wins, the rules for winning are rearranged to make Nintendo's victory not matter. |
Listen to yourself. Just re-read what you wrote. How can that actually make sense to you?
Now you're going to use a handheld as an example of what would happen to a Sony/MS home console if they lost third party support? A handheld that promised console quality games that never once delivered the experience? Have you considered that perhaps the reason games sold so poorly is because the concept that playing the exact same game as you can on your console, except worse in every way on a much smaller screen isn't very appealing? No. It must be the lack of third party support. It only had the likes of franchises like Metal Gear Solid, Borderlands, Assassin's Creed, Fifa soccer, Persona, Call of Duty, Minecraft etc. you know, some of the most popular third party franchises in the world. Big deal, right? Besides, you're cherry picking games. Uncharted and LittleBigPlanet pulled respectable numbers, and Killzone sales actually weren't too terrible either - it definitely didn't lose Sony money. Also, need I remind you that the PS Vita actually has quite a reasonably healthy following in Japan? Maybe not the best example to use - but I digress.
Also, you're meaning to tell me that the likes of Mario Bros, Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Zelda outsold the likes of Monster Hunter and Dragon Quest on a Nintendo console?! Colour me surprised! Its almost as if those games have quite almost always sold better than Monster Hunter and Dragon Quest regardless of the platforms those games are on! But I should also probably remind you that Monster Hunter sold better on the PSP on a much smaller install base, and two of the top 3 best selling Dragon Quest games are on Sony consoles, so those are also not great examples to prove your point. Third parties don't sell as well on Nintendo consoles as they do on other consoles. It's been that way for decades. You'll be hard pressed to find a mutli-platform third party game that sells better on Nintendo than they do on Sony or MS consoles. There's a few, like Just Dance, but the vast majority sell much much better.
No, Nintendo's win doesn't matter because it's winning in a dwindling market. The home console base appears to be expanding in spite of Nintendo dropping the ball so badly with the Wii U, and the hand held base is shrinking dramatically despite Nintendo having virtually no competition. There were over three times as many PSPs and DSs sold at this point in their life than 3DSs and Vitas. That isn't shifting the goal posts. That's a realistic perspective. You might claim that Nintendo forced Sony out of the 3DS space, but the truth of the matter is that they read the writing on the wall that says its getting harder and harder to make a successful handheld video game console, and decided to put their time and effort into expanding their presence in an expanding market. There was more than enough room for the PSP and DS to exist, there's certainly no reason to think that the 3DS drove the Vita out of the market when the 3DS is selling less than half of its predecessor.
