The "Console Wars" Are Over

[Kyuu]

HebrewGamer said:

Kyuu said:

I was referring to "total software sales" not "total software available". Otherwise Switch has more games available on it than PS5 and apparently even PS4 (Switch's library is even more padded by garbage or unpopular software, I guess they don't count by your own logic). Yeah, anyone wishes to have Nintendo heavy hitter numbers. Now what? What does this add to the discussion? Astro Bot is doing well, not every game has to sell 10 million to warrant its existence. As a matter of fact... Sony not supporting smaller games enough is one of my major criticisms against them. Even Nintendo has several beloved games that fail to do huge numbers: Fire Emblem, Xenoblade, Metroid, Pikmin, Bayonetta (published), etc. Little Astro Bot is a blessing among Sony's games. Stellar Blade (published) is one of their better recent games as well. It's nice to have games like this.

Yeah, Nintendo is the king of 1st party software sales. So what? As a consumer, I'm more interested in quality/varied output that suit my taste. Playstation (and by extension Steam) offer a greater variety of popular and quality games, especially ones that I care about.

Information about individual game sales are scarce, and PS5 is in the middle of its life, so it's a pointless comparison. Sony's 1st party sales alone sell somewhere between 35-55%~ of Nintendo's annually, which is a healthy figure considering the low output and a rising focus on live service games like Bungie's and Helldivers, especially for a platform that excells at 3rd party games, mtx, and subscriptions. Subscriptions and mtx do in fact count. Tens of millions of gamers put countless money and hours into these and benefit the platform holders as much as traditional software would (as a consumer, I'm currently having a blast playing Where Winds Meet for free). So there is no reason not to factor them in. Playstation's strong 3rd party software is something Nintendo would love to have, because it's essentially free money that ensures the success and expansion of your platform. Apple and Google dominate mobile phones without any need for internally developed software, all companies would kill to have their positions. Valve is more or less the Google of PC gaming (except they have Counter Strike and are capable of making incredible games).

Playstation and Switch systems have different strengths and weakness, and both should continue to exist for a long long time provided their companies don't make major blunders. But you kept acting like nothing outside Nintendo and COD exists lol.

You said Sony was bigger than Nintendo in "total software". Now you've changed it to "total software sales". According to you, Nintendo has more software than Sony and Nintendo is definitely bigger in software sales. not sure what you're trying to go on here. Nintendo can continue with series like Xenoblade, Pikmin, and metroid because of how well Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon do. Sony does the same thing with killer apps like TLOU, God of War, Grand Turismo, Horizon, etc. their tent pole games just aren't remotely as successful as Nintendo's. If you're not making money you can't experiment on games that aren't going to sell.

I'm not here to argue against your personal tastes. Play what you love, love what you play. I'm arguing Nintendo doesn't need all these other avenues of revenue to run a successful gaming business. The competition does. Nintendo doesn't have a problem selling their software or their hardware.

The PS5s best selling game is Spiderman 2 at around 14 million. That's the only PS5 game to crack 10 million while the Switch has 21 games that hit 10 million. Animal Crossing New Horizons sold 30 million 5 years ago and is now closing in on 49 million. All 21 of those 10 million selling games for Switch are in house Nintendo titles. Nothing new here as Nintendo's own games always carried their systems. Even the NES with all it's memorable 3rd party releases like Castlevania, Contra, Ninja Gaiden, Megaman, etc didn't sell anywhere near as much as Mario, Zelda, duck hunt and the like.  

Strengths and weaknesses....Like EA used to say "it's in the game". Software sells hardware, not the other way around. Nintendo does do their share of MTX and subscriptions. They have NSO which is a repository of their retro library and they have a handful of mobile games. You will never see games like PokemonZA, Age of Imprisonment, Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bonanaza on anything but a Switch, but they do have games for the mobile MTX game market. 

Things other than Nintendo obviously exist bud, they're just not competing with Nintendo.

I obviously was talking about sales, because sales is the entire context lol, it's crazy to assume anything else. Playstation dominates the Switch in total software sales (mtx/subs included).They're not close even without COD (which you foolishly tried to say it's the only PS game that mattered). Nintendo dominates in merchandise and 1st party software.

Every brand is doing their own thing but Switch, Steam, and PS do indirectly compete. Playstation somehow remains super strong despite the lack of true exclusives (its more compelling software will be divided across multiple platforms, limiting the hardware/plarform sales potential). Nintendo is super strong due to PC/console handheld monopoly and an unrivalled 1st party software that you cannot play anywhere else.

PS isn't required to match Nintendo's 1st party output or sales. Sony has a much stronger software competition within Playstation, and they don't care because it nets them a lot of money and ultimately makes PS the most consistent home console in history. Nintendo and Sony can both take routes that the other can't or won't dare.

Thanks for mentioning mobile phones. Nintendo takes mobile gaming and non-gaming sectors into account in their profitability reports, whereas Sony's major mobile games count under Aniplex/SonyMusic. So they are different down to how they do the counting. Fate Grand Order made over 8 billion, and not a dollar of it goes under SonyGaming.