Exclusive were and always have been important.  Without exclusives the WiiU would have been worse off, and it helps Nintendo overall as a console maker.  It's not just about separate console generations.  It's about the image of the console company as a whole and the expectancy of the consumer.

Hey, I didn't bring the WiiU up.  That other guy did.  Besides, what Nintendo excels at is their 1st and 2nd party games.  That's why they are still in the game regardless of how well or how relatively poorly their consoles sell.  It gives them that identity that you'll know what to at least expect from them. This is also why they've survived this long in the console market regardless of where they place marketsharewise from console gen to console gen.

Is it really that close, 5%? I assumed MS was way way behind.

And yeah, you're right about exclusives. They factor in for list warz for Internet fights. Actual sales, not so much. On a very very small scale.

No wonder steam forums are full of nazi supremacist Steam groups. Building a pc is not some sort of hardcore achievement. It's pretty easy actually.

Well, then let me also add that Nintendo doesn't have the cash flow such as Microsoft.  Also as we all know, Sony was in financial disarray not too long ago.  What helps make consoles successful are the games (or course) that has to have the offering that attract you to that console.  So exclusive will play an important part.  Nintendo and Sony has this advantage as a whole and has worked for it as opposed to Microsoft.  One of the primary reasons why the Xbox console line is still in existence (if not the primary reason) is because they have the financial backing from other divisions to keep it afloat.  There, I said it.

No....exclusives amount fo first party income for a company and they help with increasing marketshare based on the consumers value of their internal offerings. The problem is that more people have chosen Sony as the primary platform and thus has resulted in Microsoft getting less sales for their exclusives and thus downplaying the concept of exclusives. Sony gets more because they give more, quite simply. The culture of multiplayer only gaming is hurting the Xbox single player games sales (for variety and overall health) for that reason. Outside of Halo and Gears im not sure any one of those three exclusives Spencer just paid for with most likely arrive next gen or the very end of this gen. If you look at the dismal yearly sales of XBox this year and why Microsoft is not talking about their sales after their Xbox One X Boost in november, that might be all they have in the tank until their only two heavy hitters come once more. One wouuld also assume that most who have an Xbox already bought one for Gears and Halo as well which means Xbox needs more heavy hitting content. You see....God of War at its height sold the most for the hack n slash subgenre of action/adventure games. Those who want God of War or even Spiderman will pick up an Playstation for those games (and it will reflect in their monthly sales). 

Exclusives might not be the bottom line for Microsoft because they arent particularly good at making them. Sony and Nintendo however....they hold up tradition in the console realm, which is why when people question where single player exclusives are going....they increased consumer confidence  as Microsofts competition.