The Nintendo Wii is the greatest console that ever existed, no other console in the history of gaming could challenge it and win. However Nintendo has fallen from a position of greatness once, and now they've kicked open the door of possibility you must now consider the next generation at this point to be an open field. As I said, no console in the history of gaming could challenge it but the futures is a different story entirely.

One could argue that the PS3 and Xbox 360 are better than the PS2 from a complete perspective. The technical issues or low frame-rate, the controls are more responsive and intuitive and the systems can deliver a far wider variety of game content that the one that came before. Nintendo in this sense bettered them yet again by putting the fundamental problem of control and interface on the agenda and moving towards solving it. Essentially its like saying they sold excellent cars but they forgot that most people drive an hour to work in a traffic jam and Nintendo just invented the automatic transmission.

Does anyone remember when the Sony executives were considered geniuses? Sony could do no wrong and everything they touched turned into gold? This business is a funny one, it involves a massive amount of money and creativity when usually the use of both of those terms together is an oxymoron. This is like a poker game, the bet you put on the table gets bigger every round, but the reward also increases substantially if you put together the winning hand. When you have three companies taking big bets between innovation, engineering and creativity you can never be sure what will come of it until the writing is on the wall.

Nintendo is a great company, but that doesn't mean they have a manifest destiny for greatness. Each company must prove their worth to their consumers (Game buying public and developers). Nintendo failed once in part because they forgot about their developers. Sony failed once because they forgot about both developers and the game buying public. Microsoft failed to really capitalise on the Xbox 1 because they didn't have a clear reason to be in this business in the first place until this generation.

In the end one thing that has come out of this generation is that there is no one console yet that can satisfy every consumer. The market has changed and the very concept of "winner takes all" has become a misnomer. There are numerous winning strategies for the next generation and they don't all involve taking the number 1 spot. However all three companies in the business have tasted success, they have all won a majority of consumers in the past or in other fields. Divergent strategies do not support a status quo scenaro, and all three console companies are not expected to follow the same path to success.

Huh?

D'uh.

Meh.


OK. Now that I have exhausted three-letter responses, a bit longer one.

Basically, this generation taught Sony that no manufacturer has a manifest destiny to be on top. Nintendo learned this lesson in the mid-1990s. That's why Nintendo changed the game with the Wii.

But you are correct, with all the changes, the next generation is going to be interesting. And victory will go to the innovator rather than the imitator -- whomever that may be.

Mike from Morgantown

microsoft never had a #1 console i recall

And Nintendo hasn't proved their worth to the consumers this generation. Or any generation? Please do explain.

Sure there is no requirement of respect until it is earned. However in certain aspects all 3 have earned some respect that is undeniable. Ninty for timeless franchises and more recently expansion of the market. MS for their innovations and progression in online and social networking on consoles. Sony for their expansion of the market and continuated innovations in new IPs and gameplay.

They all have made their mistakes and they all have those flaws and we should of course make sure to tell them. We've told them numerous times about their flaws this generation such as Ninty's marketing focus for the expanded audience while excluding the core audience and from E3 to October conference we saw that change. For MS it was the inability to provide to the Japanese gamer and escape the "shooterbox" and we've seen numerous attempts to break those molds as well. For Sony its been the high price point and more focus on gaming rather than multimedia and 2008 showed a lot of advancements in that.


I think its silly to irk on one company for its flaws or accomplishments and not do the same for the rest. Instead we should continue to challenge all 3 companies and any developer while still maintaining a certain level of respect for what they've done for this industry. What Ninty has done for the core gamers throughout the last 25 years, Sony for its continued expansion of the market, and MS for its online services.

So no none of them have this manifest destiny of greatness but they sure have earned some respect from some of these people who talk so irresponsibly on these forums. Take what they've given them for granted and throw it off as nothing. That's not justice. People can think whatever they want about these companies but disrespecting them with no legit cause or for self-interest is just disturbing. That's when it becomes a problem to me and it should for all of ya.

Good article Squilliam I just hope ya see I'm just adding onto it.

i am stick being a multiplatform gamer as i always been =P

There are some odd statements in the original post, but I think the main message is this: "The fact that Nintendo is cleaning up right now does not necessarily mean they will be dominating forever." Which I hope is actually a popular assertion, because it's inarguably true. If you disagree, you are bad and I think you're ugly.

I think Nintendo is conscious of this fact, even if some of its fans are not. Microsoft and Sony are going to have a tough time trying to beat Nintendo until that hubris starts creeping into Nintendo management. I think it might be a while before it does.

CAN SOMEONE IP BAN ME?

If Microsoft can't achieve first place, the best they can do is achieve constant profit by not releasing their next system with glaring issues like the RROD. MS should focus on profit and a slowly increasing market share. MS wants first place but realistically they are going to have to pull drastic changes and succeed next gen to do that - otherwise they just get eaten by Wii HD.

The other thing people tend to forget is all Nintendo systems have ultimately generated Nintendo a profit - realistically they have won every generation in terms of profit - something no other company has yet to do.