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It's official: Nintendo won the Console Wars

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Nautilus

Banned
I had this feeling already the last few years, but the last MS presentation and Sony direct just cemented this thought on my head: Nintendo persevered against the other two belonging to the Big Three, and came out on top of the Console Wars, which seems to be heading to a conclusion.

Why, do you ask? Microsoft has all but gone third party at this point, not only having a few of its IP on a Nintendo console, an ecosystem which they have zero control of, but having literally all of its catalogue of first party games, save a few exceptions(that won't remain so for long) on PC, meaning that it is utterly unnecessary to own a Xbox to play MS games. And now the same is happening with Sony.A lot of its big first party games are and will be available to play on PC, and that transitioning process is only going to accelerate, as TLOU Remaster/Remake has shown, as it was announced simultaniously to PS5 and PC and Sony adquiring stufios especialized in porting games to PC, until every single PS game will be available on both systems, to the point that they will probably be released day and date on both systems, effectively becoming a third party developer.

The only holdout that remains is Nintendo, as 100% of their games remains exclusive to Nintendo systems, and that seemingly won't change for the foreseeable future, as Nintendo believes there is value in innovating the hardware in which the games are played, and thus giving further value to the games that are played in it. As such, as the Console Wars revolved mostly about the hardware manufacturers having exclusive games for it, thus driving sales to said platform, and finally giving said manufacturer influence over the industry at large as those select few had a large chunk of its marketshare, with those players backing down and focusing on the sales of its games, and far less on the marketshare they have over the industry through the dominance over the ecosystems that those games are played on, releasing their games on a "neutral" ecosystem such as the PC, it stands to reason that the only player still standing, Nintendo, finally won this 4 decades long war, after going through innumerable battles against Sony, MS and Sega.

But why is it happening now?Simple: Because with the advent of new tecnologies, Nintendo's fierce competition, gaming becoming bigger than ever, and the innerent rising cost of developing games, continuing to fight in the Console Wars became too dificult and risky, especially as a new war started brewing over the horizon: The Platform Wars.

We are already seeing that happening in the PC space with Steam and Epic fighting it out, As this new War focuses not in the dominance through physical means, by forcing everyone onto one hardware and one ecosystem, but rather over one platform that tries to unify all games onto one place, creating a "virtual" ecosystem for players to be invested in, through whatever hardware that is able to contain said platform. And given the digital nature of such War, it won't be contained to only the PC Space: It will spill over to all digiverse:We will see battles unfold in the Mobile Space, in Smart TVs, and most things that has a display and can connect to the internet. So now we see MS and Sony decided to cut short their losses in the Console Wars, and join this new war, as in their eyes, this new horizon brings more opportunities for them, and that they were bleeding yoo much in the Console Wars. Its an exciting new age, where less focus will be given to hardware(excluding Nintendo) and thus we will see less innovation on that level, but far bigger focus will be given to the software itself.My worry is that the market will be flooded with too many similar games due to the lack of hardware innovation outside of it having more power, but I guess we will see.

But that worry is for the future, because presently congratulations are in order for the victors of the Console Wars, Nintendo!

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//DEVIL//

Member
A console with PS3 level graphics isn't really in the same race as the other consoles.


And what kind of console war is this when the system is 6 years old already and has 4 years headstart ?

Nothing against the switch. I turn it on every now and then. But not really something I consider as a main console.
 
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Kokoloko85

Member
It was great seeing them comeback after the Wii U. We’ll see if they can keep it up.
They have a nack of selling a console really well and then not so well. Being portable saved them
 
Fuck Console Wars, grow up and appreciate all platforms and realise that fighting for one plastic box over the others just robs yourself of amazing experiences you could play on the other two.
Are you unemployed? Or just tell me how you magically have all the time to play on all those systems. I must be doing something wrong.
 
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Jaybe

Member
Good write-up. Nintendo seems to get forgotten as they are not making news and acquisitions and their approach doesn’t pull them into fanboy fights. I’m glad for the industry they bounced back after WiiU performed poorly. Their hardware is consistently the top seller globally every month, and often in the US. Gabe N when talking about the Valve Index commented praise for Nintendo on the synergy of putting a game to a hardware.
 

kraspkibble

Permabanned.
Switch is my favourite console of the last decade. Forget PS4, Xbox One, PS5, and Xbox Series. Switch is where it's at.

It'll soon topple PS4 to become #4 best selling console of all time. 3 out of 4 of the top #4 best selling consoles will be Nintendo consoles.
 

DonJorginho

Banned
Are you unemployed? Or just tell me how you magically have all the time to play on all those systems. I must be doing something wrong.
How the hell do you jump to that conclusion from my initial post? :messenger_tears_of_joy:

It is (reasonably) easy to be employed and balance your time and schedule, yeah sometimes you may not get round to playing EVERYTHING on release, but you find the time eventually.

And how does this link to console warring again?
 
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kraspkibble

Permabanned.
Are people still doing this console war BS?!

Jesus christ, grow the fuck up. Enjoy your games on whatever platform 😂

whoa whoa whooooooa there. don't get too crazy. we like our warring here. get out of here with your mature, common sense, and rational thinking. we don't take too kindly to that kind of thinking.
 
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ManaByte

Gold Member
Because they can make more? Whatever PS5 stock gets resupplied is quickly sold out within seconds. Assuming the same happens with Series X.
The Switch is going to surpass the PS2’s lifetime sales. Neither the PS5 or XSX will ever do that.

The gaming market in Japan is also basically just Nintendo now. They won there with the handheld angle. Large home consoles just don’t sell there anymore.
 

Kacho

Gold Member
Are you unemployed? Or just tell me how you magically have all the time to play on all those systems. I must be doing something wrong.
We're on an enthusiast gaming forum, man. I'd wager a lot of folks here game on multiple platforms.

inb4lock btw
 
The console wars are not over. I'd argue they're less over than ever. My observations:
  • Nintendo first party remains dominant. IP strength is incredible for them. Games coming out quickly. Expanding internal studios and hiring slowly. On the development front things look good. The future of hardware for Nintendo is always unpredictable as they actually do innovate and try new things. You could get a Wii U or a Switch, so the future is never completely known. Gamecube or Wii. Up and Down. Nintendo is barely starting to flirt with subscriptions and even they are acknowledging this may be the future, so they're barely starting to plan on it through Nintendo Online.
  • PlayStation first party dramatically improved during PS4. They're selling close to Nintendo numbers on software now, and reviews are usually very high. IP strength is still not even close to Nintendo, but PlayStation puts out more new IP to compensate. Hardware demand is through the roof. They're experimenting now with laying the groundwork for a console-less, services based future.
  • Xbox is in a very strong position in terms of studios acquired and services. Games development in terms of volume and reviews is still not comparable to the other two. However, that could easily change over the next 10 years when you look at what they have on paper. Their services are cutting edge and forward thinking, and practically guarantee steady growth for Gamepass over the next 10 years on a wide variety of platforms.
I think basically all 3 are going to be indispensable for the foreseeable future. All 3 have amassed enough to be difficult to ignore.

If I have any critique, it's that PlayStation is going through a big identity crisis in my opinion.
  • I don't see Nintendo ever losing with their IP and game strength. They also make games cheaply and don't overspend on graphics development. They're incredibly sustainable and could transition to a console-less subscription if they had to and do just fine.
  • Microsoft is also incredibly sustainable because of their parent company, and they seem to be a lot more open to putting out AA games and reigning in budgets on some titles. Sustainability looks very good.
  • Sony currently makes some of the most expensive games out there, overspending on graphics, becoming much more risk averse with homogeneous gameplay designs in many releases, investing in many IP that feel similar, and trying to make this work by raising game prices which could really backfire in the future. Are their games really sustainable for a sub model? Probably not, so they will struggle more with this transition than others financially. And they're betting big on multiple GAAS games which could honestly be a market bust when we reach saturation on that genre, similarly to MMOs.
TLDR: All 3 seem like they're in a position of strength, in different areas. Sony's future is the least certain for me, and they may look like a very different company in the future compared to how they are now. They'll still be around, but they may change more than the other 2.
 
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Belthazar

Member
Nintendo always had successful portable consoles so the Switch succeeding is nothing new. The difference is that this time they abandoned the dedicated console market since they couldn't realistically compete... I mean, out of their last 4 home consoles only one succeeded.
 
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ParaSeoul

Member
The console wars are not over. I'd argue they're less over than ever. My observations:
  • Nintendo first party remains dominant. IP strength is incredible for them. Games coming out quickly. Expanding internal studios and hiring slowly. On the development front things look good. The future of hardware for Nintendo is always unpredictable as they actually do innovate and try new things. You could get a Wii U or a Switch, so the future is never completely known. Gamecube or Wii. Up and Down. Nintendo is barely starting to flirt with subscriptions and even they are acknowledging this may be the future, so they're barely starting to plan on it through Nintendo Online.
  • PlayStation first party dramatically improved during PS4. They're selling close to Nintendo numbers on software now, and reviews are usually very high. IP strength is still not even close to Nintendo, but PlayStation puts out more new IP to compensate. Hardware demand is through the roof. They're experimenting now with laying the groundwork for a console-less, services based future.
  • Xbox is in a very strong position in terms of studios acquired and services. Games development in terms of volume and reviews is still not comparable to the other two. However, that could easily change over the next 10 years when you look at what they have on paper. Their services are cutting edge and forward thinking, and practically guarantee steady growth for Gamepass over the next 10 years on a wide variety of platforms.
I think basically all 3 are going to be indispensable for the foreseeable future. All 3 have amassed enough to be difficult to ignore.

If I have any critique, it's that PlayStation is going through a big identity crisis in my opinion and it's not clear that I'll even be that interested in it going forward.
  • I don't see Nintendo ever losing with their IP and game strength. They also make games cheaply and don't overspend on graphics development. They're incredibly sustainable and could transition to a console-less subscription if they had to and do just fine.
  • Microsoft is also incredibly sustainable because of their parent company, and they seem to be a lot more open to putting out AA games and reigning in budgets on some titles. Sustainability looks very good.
  • Sony currently makes some of the most expensive games out there, overspending on graphics, becoming much more risk averse with homogeneous gameplay designs in many releases, investing in many IP that feel similar, and trying to make this work by raising game prices which could really backfire in the future. Are their games really sustainable for a sub model? Probably not, so they will struggle more with this transition than others financially. And they're betting big on multiple GAAS games which could honestly be a market bust when we reach saturation on that genre, similarly to MMOs.
TLDR: All 3 seem like they're in a position of strength, in different areas. Sony's future is the least certain for me, and they may look like a very different company in the future compared to how they are now.
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ParaSeoul

Member
While I think it might be a stretch to say Switch will beat PS2 it'll get damn close. I reckon it'll get to 120-130m. somehow i don't think PS5/XSX will get that high.
Until supply stabilizes probably not. This is supposed to be a long gen. I'd say it makes more sense to put Switch in last gen. It did release 3 years before the others and essentially compete with nothing because of its gimmick and the fact both the PS4 and Xbox One were in the final years of their lives where sales slow down.
 

ParaSeoul

Member
Unless Sony makes a handheld PS5 that also plays the same console games the big one does, Japan is lost.

Nintendo has won the war just on pure sales alone. Sony and Microsoft are slap fighting for a distant second place.
Japan matters very little to global sales.
Also.
Until supply stabilizes probably not. This is supposed to be a long gen. I'd say it makes more sense to put Switch in last gen. It did release 3 years before the others and essentially compete with nothing because of its gimmick and the fact both the PS4 and Xbox One were in the final years of their lives where sales slow down.
 

kraspkibble

Permabanned.
Until supply stabilizes probably not. This is supposed to be a long gen. I'd say it makes more sense to put Switch in last gen. It did release 3 years before the others and essentially compete with nothing because of its gimmick and the fact both the PS4 and Xbox One were in the final years of their lives where sales slow down.
generations don't matter here.
 
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