i hate dominance.
i think it would be very bad to game industry.
last time it happened, one hardware maker went out(sega), nintendo had to change market, make more games for your grandma than for gamers...
i want to have options.

also, i woulndt like to see 3DS dominating over vita.

also, foruns would be boring places, heheh

Anyway, I gotta go. I just wonder why people really want one company to dominate and take such joy in the idea. I've seen it happen before. Atari, Nintendo, and Sony all had their time as ruler of the industry. I think things are so much better when everybody won. It was exciting, it drove innovation, and some other third thing I can't think of. Later, guys!

I feel the Golden Age of gaming can only exist if their is a clear and defacto market leader.

The fact that this generation there wasn't, it really almost put video games entirely out of business. As well as basically killed inovation.  Wii may be 20million ahead of the other two but that is a small lead when you think that the PS2 was more than double it's nearest competitor, as was the DS.

With 3 consoles  really about equal in userbase, developers were forced(or duped) into making most games Multiplatform. The costly necessity of making every game across a plethera of architectures sent the price of each game through the roof. Some games just cannot exist in this world because they are not widely marketable enough to be published multiplat. Games started to all look alike as they try to capitalize on whatever game was doing the best (COD and AC). Everyone knows an exclusive usually experiments a lot more with new ideas than a Multiplat game. Exclusives should return if their is a sizable lead like previous gens, and thats for both systems. Some exclusives will exist because devs can reach a decent enough userbase without spreading their game so thin cuz of multidevelopment with the Market Leader(Final Fantasy), and the runner ups will recieve exclusives that can more easily make a name for themselves without the crowding (Ninja Gaiden on Xbox and Jade Empire come to mind)

I can't be the only one that believes gaming was better when most games were exclusive to one platform or another rather then focus tested towards what is most popular at the time. A market leader emerging will bring Exclusives back.

I played online on the dreamcast for free. I'm not sure what you're trying to say there.

If the market was ready, why did so many companies bankrupt? If the market is ready for next-gen why are all 3rd party games multi-platform with current gen? The risks are astronomically high.

PSO was required to be on the console for you to play the game. Again im confused. Did you play PSO on the DC? I sold my used PSO copies. I'm sure its possible for other people to play them if they create a new account. At least here in europe.

The shooter only market was something ushered in by microsoft but they arent the only ones responsible. The main problem is they rushed the generation, especially in the US market and those are the only titles that sell really well. Given the risk it forced many publishers to just make lots of them to survive. Today, we find most genres are financial risks and just get scrapped in favor of more FPS's and TPS. I dunno about you, but i cant tell you how sick i am of shooting stuff.

Aha! I've spotted a CONTRADICTION IN THERE! You said you payed online on the dreamcast. ERGO YOU SAY YOU'RE FREE TO PAY ONLINE!

haha typos. My mind tends to race faster than my fingers. xD

That reminds me my time would be better spend going back to playing AA5 instead!

Hard drives arent bad things. The uses that are beeing given to them are.

Oh yeah the software was awesome no douth about that, it's their buisness practice what I was reffering to.

Seganet: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/seganet-launches/1100-2625699/ maybe your parents paid for it.  I don't know.

Phantasy Star Online: http://www.segaforums.com/hosted/psoarchive/snak.html can't find anything else at the moment.  I'm behind schedule and have to go.  You needed a serial number and access key to play PSO on a Dreamcast.  If it was already used, the game wouldn't work.  I don't make this stuff up. SEGA!

the 2 most dominant consoles of their times (NES and PS2) are some of the most fondly remembered.  I'm of the mind that even if hardware is dominated by one company, software makers still have to make stake their claims.  They will compete JUST as hard because being on a dominant console doesn't mean you get a ton of sales for your game.  You still have to make an awesome game so there's your competition.

I like the almost even 3-way split we got this gen. Keeps things exciting to watch, and more importantly makes sure that if one console maker does something we don't approve of, there are other viable options with good support.