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So the consensus these days is that no one really 'won' this generation, right?
- Thread starter Shtof
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Castef
Banned
I'd say Nintendo is the clear winner, number-wise.
In my point of view the only "loser" is Sony, which had her huge market share created with PS2 munched by both Microsoft and Nintendo.
Are people seriously going back to calling it a fad now? It outsold everything for a good four years, and still did decent numbers in it's fifth year. That's pretty much a full console cycle by any measure. It did have a fast decline though, but hardly surprising with the lacking third party support. Nintendo couldn't support it by themselves forever, especially as they moved their efforts to 3DS and WiiU.
Wii sold more software than the PS3. PS3 was sitting at 595M units of software shipped in Mar 2012. I don't think that Sony has released updated figures, but it hasn't made up the nearly 300M deficit to pass the Wii in the last 18 months. Even if you discount bundles from both, Wii is probably still ahead.
No idea what the 360 is sitting at.
timetokill
Banned
Wii didn't win because it reached market saturation too fast. Clearly a good console should take 8+ years to approach market saturation.
The only problem with the Wii is that it was too good.jpg
The only problem with the Wii is that it was too good.jpg
That's right, they sold more
Otakumegane
Member
Nintendo sucked in all the profits.
They made more profit this gen than likely all the gaming consoles ever that aren't Nintendo
They made more profit this gen than likely all the gaming consoles ever that aren't Nintendo
While Wii definitely won last gen, I don't think dropping into irrelevance 1-2 years before console generations switched over is a good thing. Even if Wii was breaking sales records in the first half of this generation.
they're still about 20 million units away so no, there is not a chance in hell
I own all three current gen consoles, and my play time over the span of the gen was pretty even. The first couple of years, the 360 was my main platform, then this honour went to the PS3. The Wii was always there though, clipping at the heals of the HD twins. It was the de-facto console to play games with my son, and together we would have clocked up hundreds of hours playing co-op games together.
I'd rank the Wii as my favourite console this gen.
Spine_Ripper
Member
I bought the wii and the NSMB game. I hardly played the damn thing. Most amount of money that I've spent on a product that also had virtually no use. And I'm part of the core audience. I'm sure families and casual gamers everywhere did the exact same thing.
JetBlackPanda
Member
Nintendo won $$
Microsoft won mindshare
Microsoft won mindshare
Baron Aloha
A Shining Example
You do realize that Sony sold like another 50 million PS2s since the PS3 shipped, right? They have a pretty damn good chance of making it happen.
i guess that seems a lot but i'm pretty sure the ps2 went from like 100 odd million in 2006 to 155 million when all was said and done. idk i'm not an expert.
The PS2 sold another ~40m since the PS3 was released. I see no reason the PS3 can't do at least half as well as that.
CadetMahoney
Member
But if software sales are a better indicator of success who sold the most software overall?
Except for the part where 880 million pieces of software were moved on 100 million consoles. Seriously guys, are we still doing this on a forum that's supposed to be more in tune with the game industry?
I think the hundred dollar Wii mini will continue to sell steadily to the Walmart crowd.
HueyFreeman
Banned
Yeah, I'd have to agree with this. Obviously if we're looking at pure sales it's an easy question to answer, but part of a company's role is to foster continued success. I think Ninty's big failure in this generation was to lose a huge amount of brand loyalty. If brand (re-) growth and position for continued success is a metric, then Sony is the "clear" winner.
Regardless, it's a more complex argument than the drive-by's are making it out to be.
Geez, I wish the internet could just do away with drive-by posts.
Here's the thing: if it's straight-up hardware sales, it's Nintendo. However, if we're talking in terms of software, longevity, and future positioning, it's clearly Sony.
The PS3 wasn't a world-beater, but I think it'll eclipse the Wii in terms of units sold eventually; I say that because it's clear that Nintendo has no intentions of supporting the Wii any longer, nor does Microsoft plan on supporting the Xbox 360 outside of Titanfall. Sony, however, has positioned themselves well for future success for the PS3. While price cuts have helped, it's the first party lineups and PlayStation Plus that have really helped Sony...
The PS3 wasn't a world-beater, but I think it'll eclipse the Wii in terms of units sold eventually; I say that because it's clear that Nintendo has no intentions of supporting the Wii any longer, nor does Microsoft plan on supporting the Xbox 360 outside of Titanfall. Sony, however, has positioned themselves well for future success for the PS3. While price cuts have helped, it's the first party lineups and PlayStation Plus that have really helped Sony...
I bought a 360 and about 10 games, and I haven't turned it on since I finished Shadow Complex(my favorite exclusive on the system) over 3 years ago.
I bought a Wii and bought about 25 games and live alone with my wife who doesn't play too many games. I get a ton of exclusives and Shiren the Wanderer (one of my favorites on the system). What's cool is that I can still play these games on my Wii U.
GuessMyUserName
Member
PS2 was an insane sales juggernaut unlike anything we have ever seen before or even after. It completely creamed everything it was up against and kept on trucking for years more because of that. You can't just apply what the PS2 achieved to any other console.
Syphon Filter
Member
Sony is not putting any first part either for PS3 besides the mlb yearly ports. Both will live off of 3rd party titles.
Thunder Monkey
Banned
It did.
But neither the PS3 nor 360 are the PS2. They don't have the libraries, and they aren't selling the numbers now to make up that difference. I think the PS3 could get close, but I honestly see Sony stopping production before it gets within 5 million units of Wii.
It's a costly design soon to be replaced by a much easier to scale design. One that will get cheaper much faster because of the amount of products that will be using this design.
It's definitely possible. If Sony sticks it out, But I can see the innards of the PS4 getting cheap quickly. I don't see PS3 getting much cheaper before they end production.
Microsoft won because prior to this generation Microsoft was a joke of a game company,the Xbox was a failure, and they had no real credibility outside the fact that they owned the Halo franchise. Meanwhile the PS2 was the most successful console ever and Nintendo is the most recognizable name in videogames. Despite this enormous disadvantage in goodwill and public perception they became the default console for a mass audience of gamers. They went from having no cache whatsoever to being toe to toe with Sony who had just come off the goliath that was the PS2. They did that in a single generation, not a slow crawl of continually increasing credibility but in one generation they made themselves equals with the biggest names in gaming.
If you compared this to the phone market where Apple and Android own like 95% of the smartphone market or some ridiculously high percentage like that. Then it would be roughly equivalent to Microsoft coming in with a Windows Phone that instantly split the market into a legitimate 3 company race from the undeniable 2 company race that currently exists.
The fact that Sony and Nintendo opened the door enough for Microsoft to swing it wide open and step into the presence of the big boys is an utter failure on their part. They both most certainly did not win the generation.
If you compared this to the phone market where Apple and Android own like 95% of the smartphone market or some ridiculously high percentage like that. Then it would be roughly equivalent to Microsoft coming in with a Windows Phone that instantly split the market into a legitimate 3 company race from the undeniable 2 company race that currently exists.
The fact that Sony and Nintendo opened the door enough for Microsoft to swing it wide open and step into the presence of the big boys is an utter failure on their part. They both most certainly did not win the generation.
Ratchet & Clank is a first-party IP. They have a new game out, don't they?
The PS3 doesn't have to be anywhere near the PS2 to overtake it.
Baron Aloha
A Shining Example
PS3 doesn't need to be the PS2 to beat the Wii.
GuessMyUserName
Member
I'm quite confused by seeing people claim the Wii didn't win because the audience left them, and then go on to crown Sony, who lost an incredible amount of market share from the same generation.
If your argument against the Wii is the loss in market share, then the only one you can crown in its place is the 360. Xbox accomplished incredible brand growth throughout the entire generation. And while I see that deteriorating next gen, that's a result due to how horrible they are handling their Xbox One now.
If your argument against the Wii is the loss in market share, then the only one you can crown in its place is the 360. Xbox accomplished incredible brand growth throughout the entire generation. And while I see that deteriorating next gen, that's a result due to how horrible they are handling their Xbox One now.
Meanwhile Nintendo went from selling 21 million gamecubes and being called to exit the industry to winning by every metric.
that's a good point. i hadn't considered the difficulty of getting to a low enough price because of the cell and stuff.
i realize the ps3 isn't the ps2 - i don't think the ps3 is going to add fifty five million more - i kinda assumed the ps2 had great legs beyond the ps3 launch because of its mass appeal but also because of sony's brand strength, appeal and distribution outside of the major countries. stuff like gran turismo being really popular in brazil or whatever. not being able to drop the price enough hurts that obviously.
Syphon Filter
Member
Yea he means next year and beyond though.
CaptainMoose
Neo Member
It''s hilarious seeing people try to say Nintendo didn't win.
Devilgunman
Member
Nintendo won but lost momentum
Sony came in second but gain massive momentum
MS lost this gen and has fucked up the next.
Sony came in second but gain massive momentum
MS lost this gen and has fucked up the next.
But they did not do that with an audience that was built to last or sustain their business. They created a gimmick that shattered everyone's perception of who would buy a game console, but they did it at the cost of losing tremendous mind share in the audience that could be relied on to continue sustaining them rather than the soccer moms and such that got caught up in the media storm that the Wii created.
Coolio McAwesome
Member
It's downright delusional for anyone to suggest that Nintendo didn't win. On a related note, those who are still trying to deny that the Wii had great games are also in denial. In any regard, Nintendo sold more consoles, Nintendo sold more games, and Nintendo made more money. For what it's worth, they also released many of the best-reviewed games of the generation (which is basically a moot point.) The were responsible for more growth than their competition and showed the most improvement over the previous generation (the Wii has sold five times what the GCN did). Nintendo clearly won.
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