A hot topic is "who's gonna win?" which is a question I heared numerous of times in my life!
I really think that Nintendo has an upper hand this time. Why?
I'll cut that to phases so you can piece it together later and understand:
PHASE 1:
On the Super Nintendo days, Nintendo OWNED the market. It was just them Vs. Sega, and Nintendo killed them in there.
So what happens is, Nintendo calls Sony and asks them to make a CD add on to their SNES console. But discontinues the project when they see Sega's CD add on failing. leaving Sony with an investment they do not want to lose. Nintendo here were King, and cocky.
PHASE 2:
Nintendo releases the Nintendo 64, Sony release the PlayStation. Nintendo forces the cartridge system down the industry's throat. AND charges an arm and a leg to publish games. On the other hand, Sony gave them freedom & charged next to nothing.
So this is what publishers were thinking: Hmmm. Pay alot, work with a limited memory & limited freedom, or pay little; have alot more memory & have all the creative freedom I want?
Naturally, everyone moved to Sony, even Square! Nintendo failed to understand that the market grew up, and they are not children anymore. In the end of this phase, Nintendo realized it could not go head to head with Sony, so they picked a niche market (smart move, they went with kiddie stuff) and remained dormant.
PHASE 3:
PlayStation 2 & Game cube. here it gets interesting; Nintendo is cautious and Sony Ambitious. We all know Sony won eventually, but what Nintendo gained here is that they re-introduced popular franchises, and showed people that they are not a kiddie system anymore. I am quite convinced that they did this on purpose, I don't think they really were trying to dominate this round, they simply wanted to re-establish trust.
PHASE 4:
Very interesting phase. It is the exact opposite situation of PHASE 2!
Sony is very cocky, system is overpriced, games are overpriced, and they think "We are the PlayStation, people will come".
They maybe right, but look what Nintendo did, they are doing the exact same thing that the first PS1 did: Give great incentives to both publishers & customers.
The Nintendo Wii is :
- Introducing the consoles to a new market
- Is more than 50% cheaper than the PS3
- Has Mature games at launch, to solidify the "non-kiddie" image
- Has an advanced image sensoring system (a product from a wholly owned subsidiary) which Sony clearly imitated
- is entering the market with 4 Million units as opposed to Sony's 400K
the Wii is cheaper but it's neither a BD player or HD compatible. That's fine. BD has alot to prove, that's one, and as for HD? Nintendo can easily re-release an HD version of the console after a year or so. by then they would have owned the market!
Also the availability of PS3s are really dismal. I mean Sony shipped 500K with the PS2 and still got a shortage, and now they are shipping 400K PS3s? Stupid. real stupid.
So in essence, this is what happened with Nintendo:
Phase 1, Nintendo Cocky
Phase 2, Nintendo gets PWNED!
Phase 3, Nintendo lurks in a corner to study and preparePhase 4, all guns ablazing!
Nintendo is the lucky number. Want proof? In the new Smash Brothers game for the Wii, Solid Snake (from Konami's Metal Gear Solid series) is making a guest appearance. Konami is usually an avid supporter of PS3, so whats this?
In the business world that means: Konami senses the danger lurking around Sony, so its strengthening its ties with Nintendo, just in case.
....
I didn't mention the Xbox did I?
Never mind. I hate the thing, and its only saving points are XBOX live service, and the fact that the defected RPG famous producer (Sakaguchi I think) has formed his own studio & will release to Xbox.
Interesting, but I think the major battle is Nintendo Vs. Sony, and I think Nintendo is winning.
What do you think?
6 comments:
Wow, that was time of my life i'll never get back. Extremely biased.
Yea. Waste of time on that read...
FUCK YOU!!! SONY SUCKS, AND the WII IS NOT A REAL GAMMING CONSOLE. ITS GAY! 360 fits my everyneed..
Wow, this guy is insane, anyways, what you said about konami and solid snake is retarded, you sir, are a retard, and also, ps3 games arent more expensive than any other games you jackass, this article is a waste of time and the creator is a waiste of skin, air, water, and anything he can consume in life...
You Fags are all jerks that are pissed cuz this guys right. Wii is the shit Sony and Microsoft will bow down!! SSbb has taken so manny "sony characters" already cuz Konami and squarenix even disney knows whats gonna happen.
I think the PS3 will do alright, and I like the Xbox360, but I do have to admit, it looks like Sony really is making the same mistakes Nintendo originally did. I seem to remember reading an article about PS3 in which the head people of Sony said "We saw how much people would pay for an Xbox360 over the internet, and we knew how much the brand PlayStation meant in the world of gaming." AFterward they state that such things are the reason they felt comfortable with making the PS3 so pricey. They though "We are the PlayStation, people will come" just as you said.
It looks like Nintendo is winning also because they are trying to conquer the market in different places. The other consoles try to win the fight by getting the already-gaming market. But what about the people who don't play games? Nintendo is not only fighting on the field that the other consoles are, but they are conquering that which isn't even being targeted by the other consoles.
I have to say, Nintendo is probably gonna win this one. I can't be sure which one will come in second, however. I'd probably never get a PS3, and if I did, the only game I'd want to play is Metal Gear Solid 4. Xbox360 sounds pretty good... I like Halo, Gears of War sounds awesome, so does Oblivion, Call of Duty, etc. But I can't be sure which one will win. Sony is a good company, but Xbox has got some good things going for it (I'd say).
Still, even for those who don't like the Wii, we gotta admit that it'll probably win.
The most important thing though is to pick which system YOU'd like to buy, and not give a shit about the other systems that you don't like. Who gives a damn if Wii wins? If you like Sony's or Microsoft's systems, buy them instead.
I, personally, wouldn't be able to choose between Wii or Xbox360, although I think I'm leaning more towards the Wii.
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