I think currently there is a strong belief in the big 3 that they need to have a peripheral to differentiate themselves and to be the next must have toy.

WHY?

Because of the amazing success Nintendo had with not only the Wii remote but also with the Wii fit scales.

Why this is a flawed strategy

Because it was never the Wii remote or the Wii scales that made Wii successful, it was the software that was bundled with them. Its Wii sports and Wii fit that captured peoples imagination, we know this because nobody ever managed to replicate these experiences of success leaving most 3rd parties out in the cold, or relegated to just making poor clones. 

Sony even said me too and made the Move controller a more accurate and better version of the Wii remote, but without that key piece of software they never got the mass market attention.

It’s out of control

Now it’s out of control, both MS and Nintendo desperate to recapture that mass market audience have gone all out with Kinect and the Wii U pad, thinking bundling these peripherals is enough to bring people in, but with no key software to capture the public’s imagination to why they need these things people are just turning away.

The other key factor

Wii Sports was only half the key, the other was the fact the tech was cheap, dirt cheap. This allowed the console to release well below the £200 mark, making it off the bat a mass market price, one that people were willing to pay on impulse of just seeing Wii sports in action. 

Kinect and the Wii U pad on the other hand are extremely expensive, increasing the price of both consoles by close to if not over $100 each, which in turn means the consoles hardware looks overpriced in comparison to its power.

Sony got lucky

You may think I’m just having a go at MS and Nintendo, but I’m sure Sony's thinking was no different we know there tech team dabbled with having a touch screen on the controller instead of just a touch pad, we know they wanted to bundle the new PS Camera in with every console. But they were under strict instructions that the console could not be priced above $399 and in the end the touch screen was replaced and the camera removed. They still have their gimmick with the touch pad and light bar, but again no key software for either of these things that would make anyone look twice, but luckily both of these things are dirt cheap and are not adversely affecting the console price.

Is it too late?

Of course it’s not too late to find that key piece of software that makes there peripheral truly shine, but this is much easier said than done, making games is easy, having the idea is the big problem.

Conclusion

So we are left with Sony dominating but not because of any amazing innovation that is making the mass market casuals snap it up, but because for the gamers who buy yours CODS and Fifa's year in year out it’s the best choice. All the money that you pay for the PS4 gets you the best possible spec machine for the price, to play the games they want to keep on playing and none of it subsiding a piece of add on plastic that is failing to show its value.

I hope now with the sales of the start of this new generation they will finally see its not gimmicky peripherals that are the key to selling, it’s amazing software it always has been and it always will be. 

And i apologise now to any grammar nazi's out there.

I honestly think the peripheral argument is a red herring. The inherent problem lies that the kinect and the gamepad raise the price of the console to where it becomes less competitive, for a marginal benefit in "innovation" when they aren't really changing the industry at all.

Sony's Backwards compatibility was drove up the price of the PS3 and it was arguably more integral to the console as it increased the library substantially. They cut it to be competitive. If Xbox and Nintendo want to be competitve they will trim there fat as well.

Yeah i agree this is what im saying, im not having an argument about them being peripherals they just are.

Peripherals rarely succeed. Even the success stories only have a relatively small amount of successful software attached to them. Even when the Nes came packed with the Power Pad or R.O.B. or the Zapper, how many games did people play or buy for them?

I think as the default controller, the Wii U controller wasn't a bad idea. There were other factors involved that made the Wii U an undesireable product. Also, if Kinect didn't increase the price so much, it wouldn't be such a bad thing, either. I liked the 360's version quite a bit.

Yeah i agree its definatly the price of these peripherals thats the major issue, and why sony has manaed to get away with it, The mods to the DS4 add so little to the cost no one cares. 

I dont think Wii U Pad or Kinect are bad ideas on there own, there just bad ideas when combined with price bloating the console and no killer software to justify them.

Nailed it.

I like to think we both nailed it.  I held it down and was nailing it from the front when Xenostar walked in and nailed it from behind.

Nintendo and Microsoft werent thinking when they made these peripherals and believed they could sell without a lot of games to justify the price

The ds4 never had a touch screen. Since the begining it's just been a pad.

Tales from my ass in the sony got lucky paragraph.