Before the release of each console, each company spent millions to try and secure their place as number one this generation. What we are seeing now is the fruition of their plans. It is those plans that make their console of choice succeed or fail this generation. It is the superior strategy and tactics employed years ago, before protoypes were being made that sealed the fate of each console.

Anyone who thinks Nintendo fluked this generation are grossly misguided. Nintendo had already seen the Wii succeed in the DS. Console, handheld doesn't matter, the principles are the same. Anyone who thinks the 360s game library is only due to the year head start are deluded. Similar architecture/development to PC gaming gave third party support instantaneously. Anyone who thinks releasing a $600 console at a loss will be a success should be shot.

The battle for the core gamer - Games Library.
360 - Release a year ahead of the competition. Make the hardware easy to develop for. Allow backward compatability.
PS3 - Allow backwards compatability. We're Playstation. Third party support will come to us.
Wii(/DS) - Make the hardware easy to develop for. Allow backwards compatibility. Use first party games to show uniqueness of hardware. Third party support will come to you.

The battle for ex(non) gamers
360, PS3 did very little this gen to expand the market. Both offered HD gaming on a HDTV when HD content as a whole was minimal. Both appealed to the technophile with HD-DVD and BluRay but there is huge overlap between the video gamingphile/technophile. They saw 50M GC/XBOX plus another 100M PS2 sales and decided to fight over it. MS/Sony saw the same thing Nintendo did in the DS but must have ignored it.

Wii(/DS)- Make playing a game accessible. That's it. Making the game enjoyable is part 2, the hard part. Making the DS as easy as pen and paper or Wii as simple as a TV remote is the most important step. Just showing people that they can easily draw a smiley face is the hard part over. Then comes quality first party support for everybody. Third party support follows.

Motion control for core gamers is a chance to experience new game genres AND enhanced controls for "old" game genres.

Motion control allows for simple access to gaming for new gamers.

This console War was decided before the DS was released but Nintendo didn't know it then. Nintendo knew the way the competition would go but the competition didn't know where Nintendo was going.

The battle for nextgen.
Right now, everyone, including Nintendo are looking at ways to kill off the Wii at some point. It has to be done. Luckily for Nintendo they can morph it into the Wii2 with BC for both the core and ex-non gamer. For clues to the Wii 2, I'd be looking at how DSi and DS2 kill the DS.

The systems must be accessible. They need people to know instinctively how to use them. Joypads aren't enough. Sony and MS need to embrace motion or some variant (Eye toy?) next gen or they will not come close to matching the Wii. Any console that doesn't have motion next gen is doomed to fail out the gate.

Price is probably the least important factor. The Wii was selling for more than the PS3 during peak demand. The next gen consoles will not be near the PS3 launch price but I wouldn't be suprised to see Nintendo's console as the highest. It will matter little it iis up to the other two to show they can do the same as the Wii 2 for less or try to  innovate. I think they will charge less.

My money is on Nintendo for the next gen simply because Wii will be synonymous with video gaming in most gamers minds. Playstation and 360 are foreign terms to the new market. And most importantly, Nintendo appear to be way ahead of the curve.......years ago.

interesting read indeed
Let's just hope that the next wii don't fall like the playstation name
Who knows but my point is that no brand name now is secure

Personally, I think the biggest advantage Nintendo has over Sony and Microsoft in the upcomming generation is that Nintendo has (pretty much) free reign to do whatever they want to do ... There (obviously) are some limits (like Nintendo won't take large losses or release an expensive system) but they have a much wider range of possibilities when it comes to processing power and features than Sony or Microsoft do.

What I mean by this is that Sony and Microsoft have fallen into a "Trap" of focusing the value of their systems on their technical performance which makes it very difficult for them to release a modest improvement over their current generation system and keep their existing users; in contrast, Nintendo can choose to release something similar in performance to the PS3/XBox 360 or they could produce the best system possible (for $300), and (pretty much) anything in between.

Now, I personally think Nintendo will continue to "dominante" in the next generation because it will be a very evolutionary generation. People will be looking to buy the "New Wii" much like how people were/are really excited to buy new iPods regardless of what the competition offers.

Playstation is a foreign term to the new market? Just let me laugh: "Ah ah ah ..."

Thx.

You think the NEW market knows much beyond Wii? Y

You have too much faith in those 3-10year olds and 50-100 year olds.

Well excuse me, but yeah they know the word "playstation" and they know its a console... Even my grandmother knows that! Older people are not retarded you know Oo

We've been talking about playstation and playstation since 1995, do you think that everybody's gonna forget it???

I agree that the wii has a bigger appeal than the other two, but c'mon people, don't say BS in every thread.

Pyro we could easily say:

"And do you think the hardcore knows much about the video game market? they thought the wii was gonna fade away in its first year"

Maybe you have too much faith on your hardcore logic.

@Pyro

I think you'd be surprised about the number of (so called) "New" gamers who have known about videogames for a long time, and really haven't cared until Nintendo released the Wii.

@Tremble

Knowing about the "Playstation" brand and caring are two very different things.

At one point in time the Walkman was a far more dominant brand than the iPod is today, and yet no one has cared about any personal music player Sony has manufactured in a really long time. The reason for this downfall is that when people wanted MP3 players Sony pushed a Mini Disc player, and when people wanted an iPod Sony pushed a Mini Disc player with Atrac ... Sony (essentially) focused on selling what they wanted to sell rather than focus on what the consumers wanted to buy; in ways you could say that the Playstation has suffered a similar fate as the Walkman and we just don't know the extent of the damage yet.

"Playstation and 360 are foreign terms to the new market"

That's what he said. It's about knowing, not caring.

I don't think Nintendo will do as well next gen as they did this gen.

Let's look at Sony. They were on top of the world with the PS2. A lead of 100 million units over the Xbox and GameCube. It has sold almost 3x what its competitors have sold combined. It was profitable, and due to sheer userbase, it got both third party support and software sales.

Then came the PS3. Third place, several million units behind its competitors, expensive and sold at a loss. Third party support disappearing.

What's to say Nintendo won't go the same way? What's to say they won't get as complacent as Sony?

And Sony are going to learn from their mistakes. Pushing new technology is a bad idea. Accessibility, low price, good games, these sell consoles.