Did Sony have a monopoly when the PS1 released? You know... Their first console.

Not greed, but arrogance. But hey, if you like paying $600 for your console, be my guest.

The reason why I picked the PS3 as an example should have been obvious: Sony didn't screw up with their other two consoles. Clearly my post went over your head completely.

The world isn't black and white.

Nah, people would have just moved to Sega and they would have been credited with saving gaming.  Nintendo didn't really do anything significant, just released a decent console at the right time.

Yeah, they just created Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Kid Icarus, Duck Hunt, Punch-Out! and Excite Bike.

What a bunch of chumps.

I wouldn't be so quick to say this.  Mortal Kombat, and other games with massive amounts of violence existed long before playstation.  I don't think an older audience would have came by as quickly had it not been for playstation, but it was going to be a turning point with all the sports games, violent games, and ever increasing power of technology.

Had there been no Sony, Sega would still be in the console race as they wouldn't have felt pressure to rush the saturn, nor the Dreamcast.  The Dreamcast would have seen titles like Fable, Crazy Taxi, etc.  And, the Saturn would have been a much bigger hit with the crowd.  Sega, with their risk taking (The sega genesis had its own version of PSN) and you could even play against each other online in Japan, if I'm not mistaken, though it lagged.

But, the major factor in my reasoning is that sega had ideas, and took the risks to put them out there.  The only thing is they didn't take off because Sony was always in the back of their mind, causing them to rush consoles and not get the exposure they needed.

You speak of a decline, but you have to realise, if you are Nintendo, or Sega, and the entire market is going into a decline, what do you do?  Eventually, SOMEONE would have gotten the idea to go after the older crowd, like Sony thought to do.

And where are those people now? Probably not playing games, maybe playing phone games, the avid gamers went to Playstation and Xbox, and small percentage of them will actually get a Wii U.

Nintendo got rich primarily on casual gamers that went away. Much like pogs, Wii was a fad. On a side note, moving away from the Wiimote for a tablet control was the dumbest move this gen.

I think the Wiimote was actually a good idea. I mean it was like controling a game with a mouse you hold up. Nintendo should have stuck with it, its practical and it creates and its a unique way to play games.

3DS was actually a good idea as well. Its a pretty basic portable system with a 3D screen. The system works fine even with 3D off. The dual screen is kinda dumb in my opinion, but whatever. DS and 3DS would have been successful even with a single screen.

Those aren't just gimmicks, they are more practical than they get credit for. The tablet control... that was a terrible idea. Even Nintendo struggles to find ways to use it. That's when Nintendo jumped the shark with gimmicks. Now where is my vitality sensor?

Those people moved onto other devices, that doesn't somehow negate the fact that Nintendo moved the industry forward during the Wii era.

And how exactly are Playstation/Xbox moving the industry forward? Like I said in another reply, PS2+Xbox & PS3+360 will sell roughly the same, and it's very likely PS4+XB1 will as well. They haven't done anything in 15 years to move gaming forward since their audience has remained stagnant for 3 consecutive generations.

Console makers were trying to get back into it, but ultimately failing becaue they were burnt out. I know you really don't believe what you are saying, and I get the point you are trying to make. Sony didn't just arrive at the right time, they played their cards right as well. It wasn't only luck, no matter who in this thread says it.

It is black and white when certain individuals refuse to give any credit where it's due.

Also, interesting how you bring up ps1 and not ps2. Did ps1 not dominate? Why did they not go all arrogant with the ps2? Nothing went over my head. Nice try, though.

He chose the ps3 because it's the perfect example of treating consumers badly. they could be losing 1000 dolars on each console, what matters is that it was a very expensive console because of tech unrelated to gaming and they even told people to get a second job.