Console Naming

[The_Liquid_Laser]

The names of the consoles reveal the strategy that the company is using. Let's start with Sony.  PS1, PS2, PS3, etc....  It seems predictable, but that is actually Sony's strategy.  Predicatable = reliable.  You know what you are getting with a PS5, for example.  It's going to be just like a PS4, but more powerful.  A lot of people like that reliable nature for Playstation so that makes it a good strategy.

The XBox names are all style and no substance, which is very much what the XBox strategy is as well.  Their third console is called XBox One.  The more I think about it, the more moronic it seems.  It sounds cool at first though.  It's basically empty marketing, without a lot of guarantees, which reflects the XBox strategy as a whole.

Nintendo I find most interesting of all.  Each console has a different strategy, and it is revealed in the name (except maybe Gamecube...not sure what that strategy is).  The systems thought up by Iwata often have double meanings on top of that.

Famicom - Family Computer.  This is a cheap computer system that the whole family can use.  In Japan it had a disk drive, keyboard, and a bunch of other features that a computer can use.  Of course it also had games, but their were a wide variety of games that appealed to all members of a family, kids and parents.  Plenty of Go and Majong games in Japan to go with Mario and Zelda.  A system for everyone.

Super Famicom - Like the Famicom, but better.
N64 - We have 64 bits!  Look how powerful our system is.

Wii - Bring everyone together to play.  Wii = We (local multiplayer).  Also Wii = Whee!  (It's fun.)  Simple fun for everyone.  Not complicated.
Wii U - Combines "a multiplayer system for everyone" with "a system just for you".  It's a nonsense strategy which helps explain why it flopped so badly.

Gameboy - It's a little game system for on the go.  It's not quite a full grown up game system.  Simple, quick games.
Virtual Boy - Like the Gameboy, but with Virtual Reality.
Gameboy Color - Like the Gameboy, but now in color.
Gameboy Advance - Like the Gameboy but Advanced, more powerful.  (See also Super Famicom.)

DS - Stands for Dual Screen and Developer's System.  They made it easy for developers to make games for it.
3DS - Like the DS, but in 3D.

Switch - You can switch between home and handheld mode.  I also think they intend gamers to switch from Playstation to Nintendo.  The latter is my personal speculation and still remains to be seen.