Kotaku: The Console Wars Are Over And Nobody Really Won

Who really won?

  • Total voters
    432
Mibu no ookami said:
I don't think Microsoft was an improvement over Sega.

I think Xbox Live was really the only major contribution Microsoft has made to gaming and Sony caught up to it in a generation.

I think console gaming would have been better off without online gaming and without GaaS, but that's just my opinion.
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Sega's consoles has so much charm and style to them, a complete contrast to Microsoft's dull, corporate grey sludge

 
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Mibu no ookami said:
Apple would be starting out from square one. We haven't really seen this uptick of game development on their M series chips either. Maybe that changes with an Apple TV Pro and an expansion of Apple Arcade.

I think people ignore how high the barriers of entry are here. Microsoft failed not because they didn't try, but because this shit is hard.

You might see something out of china from Tencent, but I think that would struggle to gain traction globally. Hell, it might struggle in China too, since they're so heavy into PC and I don't think you'd get any western support for it.

Microsoft really should have tried partnering with Sega and Samsung over the years.

The one thing I'll say is that as a media player, Apple TV is so much better than PS5 and it isn't even close. So, I do think that could play to Apple's advantage on top of if they can get people to make games for it and have those games work on laptops and phones.
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Even the world's most valuable company would struggle to topple Sony and Nintendo, especially when Google and Microsoft have failed so badly.

Apple would have to buy some big publishers like EA and Ubisoft and make the games exclusive to get their foot in the door.

An Apple TV Pro capable of playing Mac games would be interesting to see though…

 
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RetroGamingUK said:
Sega's consoles has so much charm and style to them, a complete contrast to Microsoft's full, corporate grey sludge
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I think a lot of the charm that has been taken out of gaming is the lack of presence of Sega.

People are complaining about games and I think they're picking up on the wrong things.

Games have become homogenous and that's the real problem with AAA games.

We've always had AAA games. Look at Metal Gear Solid, but Metal Gear Solid was unique and special. Shenmue was unique and special. Even games like Medal of Honor at the time were unique and special.

All these games built in Unreal engine with the same ubisoft open world skill tree formula is what is hurting AAA gaming.
 
They will keep making these articles because we quote them and keep calling them stupid.

Maybe kotaku likes being berated. The slut.
 
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Badlucktroll said:
i'm sure everyone will be pleased when apple takes microsofts seat at the table and rips everyone a new asshole
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Apple won't enter the console race. Any console from Apple would be overpriced.

Amazon or Samsung are more likely than Apple, but that's still a long shot. Out of anyone I'd put money on Valve entering the ring.

Bring back the Steam Machine. A dedicated box that has access to almost the full Steam library on day one would certainly get my attention, depending on how much it costs of course.
 
RetroGamingUK said:
An Apple TV Pro capable of playing Mac games would be interesting to see though…
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It won't happen. The entire product proposition of AppleTV is a $100-$150 nettop box to unlock the apple ecosystem. Plus Apple has such a huge passive revenue from mobile gaming they don't even need to a lift a finger further. Prestige AAA games are too much work and Apple has other areas to attend to, they will ot funnel money into a deep black hole like MS. That's why they are so successful.
 
Obviously Sony "won". Because they've stuck around long enough for all their direct competitors to decide to go a different way.

Which isn't to say they've put their opponents out of business, because the most obvious example is Nintendo, who dipped out of the "war" post-GameCube and have since enjoyed massive success with Wii and Switch. Consoles that are clearly differentiated to the extent that they are almost categories by themselves.
 
Both xbox and Playstation are embarrassing shadows of their former selves. In 1 generation they've both convinced me to never buy their products ever again.

On the other hand, nintendo is amazing and I can't wait for a switch 2. I'll be PC/steam deck/Nintendo going forward and I won't miss anyone else.
 
Sony won big in the console space. Enough with the delusions.
A single console will get the kind of support that was unheard of on a single device since the PS2 days.
 
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IDKFA said:
Apple won't enter the console race. Any console from Apple would be overpriced.

Amazon or Samsung are more likely than Apple, but that's still a long shot. Out of anyone I'd put money on Valve entering the ring.

Bring back the Steam Machine. A dedicated box that has access to almost the full Steam library on day one would certainly get my attention, depending on how much it costs of course.
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There is zero chance Samsung goes into the console business.

A Steam machine is a reality, but it's hard to really classify it as a console, though what a console is has changed so much that it closely resembles what a Steam machine might look like.

A Steam machine has a lot of advantages in that the online play would be free, it has all the games, presumably would have Steam VR, but it also has a lot of weaknesses.

Valve doesn't make a lot of games, a steam machine is going to be overpriced because Valve can't sell it on short margins and Valve's software royalties are less than Sony's. Being all digital, it'll struggle to find a place in retail.

If Valve does come out with a Steam machine, I think Sony's PC strategy will change immediately and it will accelerate their plans for a PC Storefront.
 
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PS5 won the war, MS tried with all its almost infinite money to take it down and remove it from the market and in the end it has unfortunately ended up needing and depending on its games being sold on Playstation to save the Xbox business.
 
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I'm impressed by sony this gen because they got konami back and doing metal gear and silent hill (and hopefully castlevania) and actual 3rd party xbox AAA games which would have been unspeakable years ago
 
I don't know why they're trying to protect or be kind to the three trillion-dollar company. Xbox, as we knew it, is done. Sony and Nintendo defeated Xbox despite MS spending ten times more.
 
As far as consoles won, nintendo have highest profit than the rest, their low tech low budget led to higher incomes and profit. Low operational profit than the rest also helps. Also game sales often well done considering low budget works.
 
Badlucktroll said:
I'm impressed by sony this gen because they got konami back and doing metal gear and silent hill (and hopefully castlevania) and actual 3rd party xbox AAA games which would have been unspeakable years ago
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Sony have always done wonders with third parties.

Souls games - Sony invested
GTA 3 - Sony invested and helped make the series what it is today
Final Fantasy
Metal Gear
Silent Hill

The list goes on and on.
 
Playstation won it hands down. I'm now more concerned about ms as a software company. Eventually they will own soo much ip the only way to play them will be via subsciption. Just look at pc productivity software noways everything is a subscription. This could also explain the steam on xbox rumors as they can use that to eventually lawsuit their way into xbox store on ps/nintendo. It's going to eventually end up being the battle of storefronts in the future.
 
ValiantInstance said:
Game Pass is the brand now.

That said if they ever give up on it, which is plausible as subscription growth isn't as strong as they'd hoped, I fully expect them to do a total 180 and go back to console exclusives maybe even with delayed relase on PC.
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Yeah kind of on Xbox now, but hey are trying to win with Game Pass on PC but Steam was, is and will be smoking theyr ass...But on Playstation and Switch no chance in Hell, non of the 2 will except Game Pass on theyr platforms.
And that MS will abondon GamePass...dont see that happen, they are to deep in it. Hell will brake lose as they will stop with Game Pass on Xbox, the sales of Xbox hardware will plunch in to the deepest point off the MarianaTrench 🤗
 
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Xbox lost with the Xbox one, they just had the cash to limp on. Why they chose to self destruct rather than destroy PlayStation is something we'll never know unless it leaks.
 
I mean just going by install base... Nintendo?
And when looking beyond just consoles definitely the PC which now gets pretty much everything from all platforms...
 
99% of the cool games are coming to PC so I'll take that as a win.
 
If the winner is the one without debt, then it's Nintendo. The Switch is a success from the start to the end.

You let either Sony or Microsoft with such a weak hardware and they wouldn't have known what the hell to do with it. Nintendo outdid themselves with their creativity and it's commendable.

The other two thought they could brute force the whole generation and they ended up with the weakest gen yet. They should be thankful for the third parties saving the day.
 
bitbydeath said:
That'd be amazing but I expect Valve will step up before them, with neither entering the console space.
I Hope Please GIF
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Valve does not have the capacity or infrastructure to come close to doing that. That information is well known.

The console space is highly volatile. It's entirely possible nobody fills that space as it has high costs with low probability of success.
 
DenchDeckard said:
I do love that the ABK acquisition completely blew up in their face and ultimately destroyed the xbox brand.
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Career moment.

Anyway, I'd say it's big N. Huge library of 1P IP that remains platform exclusive. 1P games are generally released complete with few performance issues. Their console system remains affordable, accessible and basically prints money for them.
 
An end of an era. Console warring was so much fun when done right.
Now, Sony is the clear winner and there is little debate now to which console is better or what you should get.
 
As far as who won, it's not so clear. Nintendo obviously has sold the most consoles but the Switch is kind of in its own generation. Sony is doing well, and PC is technically the only market that is growing. The overall console market has been declining for some time in absolute terms. All I know is Xbox is losing.
 
Sony obviously won.

Xbox went from "we can outspend Sony" to "putting walls don't work for us" by putting all their Xbox exclusives games on PlayStation. Now, Xbox Game Studios are gonna be completely dependent on PlayStation, and Microsoft would be actively supporting PlayStation to keep themselves alive.

PlayStation, even without doing anything extra, has been achieving record console sales and record revenue. Now they are gonna get (1) Xbox hardware users who will buy PS5 and (2) casuals who will buy PS5 and PS5 Pro because of GTA 6. This generation is going to be crazy good for PlayStation.
 
Nintendo and Sony are both hugely successful. The Xbox division of Microsoft has been a catastrophic failure that's been handed $80b in order to try and stay relevant. It's pretty obvious that there's winners and losers.

That being said, all the best to MS as a third party publisher. Hope they bring it.
 
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