It's never to early to discuss the next generation of consoles, even though I'm quite satisfied with this generation and am not looking to upgrade any time soon, a good console should at least last five years.
Anyways to the point, what will the industry players name their next consoles? It seems many posters when refering to the next generation have lightheartedly adopted the logic of trend when it comes to the big three players. That is, that Nintendo will name their next console SuperWii, Sony will name their console PlayStation 4, and Microsoft will name their next console X-Box 720. I for one don't believe any of these titles will be adopted and I shall give my reasons for why each industry giant will break with the trend.
Nintendo has a long history in the console business. They started with the "Nintendo Entertainment System" (NES) or "Famicom" then added a "Super" to it for their next console which was evident to be their favorite word at the time with the plethora of games using it in their titles (Super Mario Bros, Super Metroid, Super Punch-Out). They followed with the Nintendo 64, perhaps trying to emphasize the 64 bit processor as superior. At this time they began to see a substantial loss in the market share to the new kings Sony, and rebranded their next console "GameCube" (which in hindsight seems to be cleverly similar to PlayStation - a compound word delivering "fun" and "box"). Regardless Nintendo continued to see a decline and took a risk with their next console and stamped that risk with an even more riskier name "Wii". Now, this is shaping to be their biggest success in home consoles since their initial offering. So what should they name their next console? SuperWii? Nintendo, unlike the other players in the industry, is almost synonymous with video games. No one thinks of Nintendo as making anything but video games. With the branding of "Wii", Nintendo was careful to keep their company name away from their product maybe from fears of genericizing (see kleenex, xerox, coke). Though in this industry with the fierce amount of loyalty and fanboyism I don't think that's a strong concern. Two things Nintendo needs to consider when naming their next console. One, emphasize it as the successor to the Wii, and two be careful with the abuse of "Wii" as the word seems to point in the direction of fad unless Nintendo in five years remains strong and public opinion overturns the current perception of fad (which I think will be the case). That said a great name for their upcoming console WiiOne ("we won?")
Sony entered the market after a volatile partnership with Nintendo and introduced the "PlayStation", a name that Nintendo sued over, having claimed it as their own. Nintendo lost the lawsuit and in turn lost the market to the new PlayStation. With the immense success that the PlayStation showed it only seemed logical to name the successor "PlayStation 2". Sony is a large media/electronics conglomerate that relies strongly on a brand name to allow consumers to know what it is they are selling (see Walkman, Betacam, Bluray). Naming their successor anything but PlayStation 2 might have created market confusion. And wouldn't you know it, their successor was aptly named "PlayStation 3". Now, here comes the problem, it seems as if the PS3 will not match or exceed the behemoth that was PlayStation 2 (in sales, market share etc). So is "PlayStation 4" the name to use to reconquer the market? A sequence of numbers really isn't the best method to go after consumers. That and they are notorious for becoming stale after three (see movies or book titles) though the video game industry seems to be more accepting of sequential numbers (see GTA, FF, etc). It's very possible Sony chooses "PlayStation 4", but if they are looking to capitalize I'd recommend they retain the "PlayStation" name but ditch the sequential numbering. "PlayStation Omega" maybe? I can see them add a snazzy word instead of opting for a "4".
Microsoft entered the market concerned that Sony (particularly PlayStation) was taking a bite from their business. Using DirectX technology they introduced the "X-Box". The X portion having been residue from DirectX. Microsoft, like Sony, competes in other businesses so they rely strongly on the brand name (see windows, zune). Chances are "X-Box" will feature prominently in their next offering as it did with their latest "X-Box 360". On a side note, I don't thnk Mircosoft was too brilliant with "360" seeing how that implies having come full circle. It's to my belief that "360" was thrown in to hip it up a bit. That said there's no chance that "720" (two circles?) will find it's way into the next iteration. Look for Microsoft to find a catchy word to trail "X-Box" or maybe even a variation of X-Box like "Y-Box" or "X-Cubed".
woot! 100th post... and a long one too.
