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Console war

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"Console wars" is a term used to refer to periods of intense competition for market share between video game console manufacturers. The winners of these "wars" may be debated based on different standards: market penetration and financial success, or the fierce loyalty and numbers of the fans of the system's games.

Due to different manufacturers releasing consoles at different times, the wars described below are not exact definitions and do not necessarily have firm beginning and ending dates. Also, these wars had different years and combatants on different continents, since traditionally the 4 main markets—Europe, Japan, Australia and North America—have been treated as separate entities, with machines and games released at different times or even completely different games being released. This situation is not quite so apparent today; however, it is still there, particularly with regards to Japan vís-a-vís the other three markets.

In the mid-1980s, home computers from various manufacturers were used primarily for gaming purposes by consumers worldwide (in the absence of comparable consoles following the video game crash) and are included here as well.

In North America, the devotees of each system are referred to as fans or by linking to the platform name, as in PS2 owners. In the United Kingdom the term fanboy originated during the 1980s during console wars between many home computer systems, particularly the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64. It should be noted, however, that the two terms have been used by people of the other countries. For example, the term fanboy is used quite often on US-based Video Game message boards. By any name, fanboys lock themselves into buying and using one console, one brand, or one company's line of console.

General concepts found in system wars

Although a "console war" can be thought of as a battle between competing console manufacturers, much of the controversy and notoriety is associated with the supporters of each console, who often pledge loyalty to a console even before its release and engage in intense arguments over the merits of their chosen console.

This phenomenon is unusual in the world of consumables; there are, for example, hardly any "stereo system wars", where people care about what kind of stereo system others purchase. The only explanation usually put forth as to why there are console wars amongst gamers is based on the idea that the more popular a console is, the more games will eventually be developed for it. This is the positive network effect and is the underlying reason for a related phenomenon, the computer operating system OS Wars.

What makes these "fan wars" even more fierce is that often, the major controversies and debates occur before any of the systems are even released, based on what historically have often been dubious specifications released by the manufacturers.

Psychologically, debates amongst fans in a console war can be seen to be a way of dispelling buyer's remorse. This is because game consoles are often a significant outlay for a youth, and often a gamer feels they can only afford to choose one. Realizing as more games are released that one has chosen incorrectly can be a major ego bruise.

Early console wars

In North America in the late 70s and early 80s (peaking between 1980 and 1984) an early sales battle between three companies which bares quite a resemblance to later console wars developed. The pyrrhic outcome and virtual bankruptcy of all the major combatants set the stage for Japanese dominance of video game console manufacturing by eliminating competition and discouraging American and European investment. When Nintendo brought console gaming back to North America in 1985, the discredited market segment held no American-based competition.

The Atari VCS was introduced in 1977 at a price point of $199 USD, after two years of research and $100 million in investment. Its name was changed to Atari 2600 in 1982 when Atari introduced the "next generation" Atari 5200. By 1980, sales were doubling annually and three million homes had Atari consoles.

Seeing this success, toy company Mattel began work in 1978 on their own console, the Intellivision, which debuted in 1980 with a price tag of $299 and a pack-in game, Blackjack. The system was an immediate success. Though not the first system to challenge Atari (systems from Fairchild Semiconductor, Bally, and Magnavox were already on the market), it was the first to pose a serious threat to Atari's dominance. A series of Intellivision TV ads featuring George Plimpton mercilessly attacked the Atari VCS's lesser capabilities with side-by-side game comparisons. Nevertheless, Atari held exclusive rights to most of the popular arcade game conversions of the day, and used this key segment to support their older hardware in the market.

This game advantage and the difference in price between the machines meant that each year Atari sold more units than Intellivision, lengthening its lead despite inferior graphics. This need for price parity has influenced every console war in the quarter century since Atari and Intellivision faced off.

Colecovision was introduced by Coleco in 1982 and sold 500,000 units its first year, further dividing the marketplace. It was priced similarly to Intellivision and had slightly greater technical power, and Coleco licensed several major coin-op games for its system as well.

This 'first console war' ended with the Video game crash of 1983, when huge oversupplies of games and competition from personal computers caused game prices to drop precipitously.

Personal computer wars

Although these wars are grouped under one category here, there were many different minor wars between personal computer brands that ran from the mid 80s until the mid 90s. All of the computers involved had many upgraded versions released over their lifetimes, which usually included increased RAM and improved CPUs, but rarely a reduction in size due to their integrated keyboards. These wars mainly took place in the United Kingdom, which during the late 80s was the centre of the world computer game industry, having been unaffected by the crash that took place in Japan and the US. This period is also renowned for being the time of the 'bedroom programmer', and many companies formed by such people have lasted until the current day.

ZX Spectrum vs. Commodore 64

In the UK, the Atari vs. Intellivision war never reached the major scope and impact that it did in North America. Instead, the Spectrum vs. Commodore wars of the mid 1980s were the true originator of the console wars. This was due to the start of single format computer game magazines and the far greater entry into mainstream youth culture of these computers than the previous consoles. The Commodore machines were generally far more technically advanced, but they usually sold for double the price of the Spectrum and thus did not gain much support from the bedroom programmers. One aspect of this period was a 'class war' of the low priced Spectrum and Commodore owned by average working class children against the far higher cost of the BBC Micro.

Amiga vs. Atari ST

The Amiga vs. Atari ST wars took place in the late 80s and lasted well into the early 90s. Each system had its pros and cons: the Amiga had the best graphics and sound, and an in-built double sided floppy disk drive from the start. The ST was cheaper and had an in-built midi port, plus many games were developed for the ST and simply ported to the Amiga. Fans of the Amiga proclaimed its use in the television industry, while fans of the ST proclaimed its use in the music industry.

8-bit era

Main article: History of video game consoles (third generation)

In what is known as the "8-bit era", the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) came out on top in North America and Japan (where it was known as Nintendo Famicom), partially due to its earlier release, but mostly because Nintendo banned developers from releasing their games on other systems if their games were released on the NES.[1] This put a damper on third party support for the Master System and the rest of Nintendo's competition. In Europe and Brazil, the Master System did much better than in any other territory. Many more games were released in Europe and Brazil than in North America, and the Master System had a very long shelf-life in Brazil, finally "dying" in the mid-1990s.

World wide sales figures

Handheld wars

In the handheld wars, Nintendo's Game Boy came out well on top and far outlived the Sega Game Gear, becoming one of the most successful consoles of all time. The Game Boy's victory is generally attributed to its greater battery life, cheaper price tag, and wider third party support over the Sega Game Gear, despite Game Gear's color screen. However, Nintendo continued to research into improving the screen and first released the Game Boy Pocket, with a truer black-and-white screen. Later, Nintendo created the Game Boy Color, with nearly-full backwards compatibility.

The Game Boy had many ports of games from popular Nintendo franchises. It was also launched with the extraordinarily popular puzzle game Tetris as a pack-in.

Many other companies attempted to get in on the handheld market and they could also be added into this category. These included the Atari Lynx, the Neo Geo Pocket, and the WonderSwan (though the latter was in Japan only).

World wide sales figures

  • Nintendo Game Boy & Game Boy Color: 118.69 Million as of March 31, 2005 (Japan: 32.47, The Americas: 44.06, Other Regions: 42.16)[2]
Game Boy: 69.42 Million as of December 2004 (Japan: 20.61, Other: 48.81)[3]
Game Boy Color: 49.27 Million as of December 2004 (Japan: 11.86, Other: 37.41)[3]
  • Sega Game Gear: 8.65 Million as of December 2004 (Japan: 1.78, Other: 6.87)

16-bit era

Main article: History of video game consoles (fourth generation)

The "16-bit era" is mostly known for the rivalry between the Sega Mega Drive (known as Sega Genesis in North America) and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) (known as Super Famicom in Japan). The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis came out about two and a half years earlier than the SNES; however, its first few years were not very successful and it was not until the release of Sonic the Hedgehog that it started to sell well. The results of the war revealed that the Mega Drive outsold the SNES in Europe and North America (possible fallacy), though it was never able to secure as good position in Japan. Overall, the SNES came out the winner in the console war.

Even though Sega saw success in the 16-bit console war, the 32x and Mega-CD Mega Drive add-ons signalled the beginning of the end with their attempts to usher in the new generation needlessly ahead of time, while they were performing well in the current one. This, combined with Sega dropping virtually all support for the Mega Drive and its add-ons in favour of the upcoming Saturn upset loyal fans, and resulted in the Saturn getting off on the wrong foot.

A knock on effect of Sega's early ending of the console war and releasing the Saturn was that the SNES eventually went on to sell more than the Sega Mega Drive in North America; however, this took place after the end of this console war.

World wide sales figures

32-bit era

Main article: History of video game consoles (fifth generation)

In the "32-bit era," the Sega Saturn was released first, but suffered from limited third-party support. Sega's decision to use dual processors has been roundly criticised, and some believe the second CPU was added as a knee-jerk reaction to the PlayStation's specifications. It has been said that only Sega's first-party developers were ever able to utilize the second CPU effectively. The Sega Saturn was the more difficult console to program for with some titles being dropped during the development process (STI's Sonic X-treme for example), and therefore the 3D graphics on its 3rd party games often lacked the luster of the PlayStation or Nintendo 64 (N64), a severe disadvantage at the dawn of 3D games.

Sega was also hurt by the plan to have a surprise four month early US launch of their console [1]. This head start failed for several reasons. One of the major reasons being there were few software titles ready. The Sega Saturn was also $100 more expensive than the PlayStation at its launch, and only available at four retailers.

Sony took an early advantage by initiating an expensive ad campaign and appealing to an older demographic who had grown up playing video games. The PlayStation was positioned as a necessity alongside the TV and VCR. The securing of this demographic is widely credited as the key to the system's success. Sega and particularly Nintendo's offerings were characterized as appealing more to children (both companies, for instance, featured mascots that appeared in Saturday morning cartoons). With Sony's greater hardware sales came greater third party support; ultimately the PlayStation won the era virtually unopposed. Sony carried this momentum over into the release of the PlayStation 2. The Saturn was discontinued in 1998, as Sega again tried to gain a head start over Sony with the Sega Dreamcast.

Although this era is known as the "32-bit era," also loosely grouped into this period is a secondary war between the PlayStation and the 64-bit Nintendo 64 which was released much later than the other two consoles with which it was originally meant to compete directly. By the time of its release Sony had already established their dominance and the Saturn was clearly nearing the end of its life. Its use of cartridge media rather than compact discs alienated developers and publishers due to the space limits and the relatively high cost involved (compare £2($3.50) for an N64 cartridge to 20p(35¢) for a PS1 disc), though the Nintendo 64 had much faster load times because of its cartridge media. In addition, the initially high suggested retail price of the console may have driven potential customers away, and many early adopters of the system who had paid the initial cost were angered by Nintendo's decision to reduce the cost of the system within a few months of its initial release, although compensation was available to those who had claimed. Still, Nintendo managed to carve out a profitable niche in this era selling over 30 million consoles.

The Sony PlayStation was the first clear winner of a console war since the Nintendo NES.

World wide sales figures

  • PlayStation: 102.49 Million shipped as of March 31, 2005 (Japan: 21.59, USA: 40.78, Europe: 40.12)[4]
  • Nintendo 64: 32.93 Million as of March 31, 2005 (Japan: 5.54, The Americas: 20.63, Other Regions: 6.75)[2]
  • Sega Saturn: 9.26 Million as of December 2004 (Japan: 5.74, Other: 3.52)[3]

Sixth generation

Main article: History of video game consoles (sixth generation)

This era began with the launch of the Sega Dreamcast in November 1998 in Japan and September 1999 in the U.S.. The impending and much-hyped PlayStation 2 competed with the Dreamcast before it was even released, which combined with Sega's tarnished reputation among Saturn owners and third party developers limited its adoption. The release of the anticipated Playstation 2 in March 2000 in Japan and October 2000 in the U.S. meant that the Dreamcast no longer enjoyed its status as the sole next-generation console. The brand Sony had established with the original PlayStation was a major factor in their victory, both in terms of securing a consumer base and attracting third party developers; the gradual increase in one tending to reinforce the other. The PlayStation 2 was able to play DVDs and was backwards-compatible with PlayStation games, which many say helped the former's sales. Any user considering buying a DVD player or PlayStation could view the PlayStation 2 as a cost-effective alternative, and the system effectively had a back catalogue available before it even went on sale. The Dreamcast competed with the PS2 for several months however eventually Sega's financial troubles left over from the Saturn's failure began to really show themselves and the Dreamcast was discontinued by the time the console war proper began.

The Xbox, despite the formidable financial backing of Microsoft and despite being more powerful than the PlayStation 2, failed to significantly threaten the Playstation 2's place as market leader, but has attracted a sizeable fanbase in the United States and Europe and has become a recognisable brand amongst the mainstream. In Japan its sales are far poorer, possibly due to the physical size of the console, and Microsoft's inability to acquire many major Japanese developers for their franchises as exclusives for the platform (contrast with Microsoft's multi-million dollar acquisition of UK developer Rare). A niche fanbase exists, particularly as the online services for the console, "Xbox Live", offers more to users than Playstation 2's non-centralized online system and Nintendo GameCube's near total lack of online games.

Nintendo struggled with their own brand images, particularly the family-friendly one cultivated during the 1990s. Nintendo's franchises and long history in the industry are failing to give them an advantage against the Xbox and PlayStation 2. The GameCube's low price point and the release of The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition has kept it competitive. Nintendo GameCube is in second place in total console sales in Japan, and in a close third place in the United States and Europe.

World wide sales figures

  • PlayStation 2: 115.36 Million shipped as of December 31, 2006 (Japan: 24.76, USA: 46.53, Europe: 44.07)[5]
  • Xbox: more than 24 Million as of May 10, 2006[6]
  • Nintendo GameCube: 21.52 Million as of December 31, 2006 (Japan: 4.02, The Americas: 12.74, Other: 4.76)[7]
  • Sega Dreamcast: 10.6 Million as of December 2004 (Japan: 2.30, Other: 8.30)[3]

Current generation

Main article: History of video game consoles (seventh generation)

The current generation war is between the new consoles of Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo: the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii respectively. The Xbox 360 was the first console to be released in this generation, followed by the PlayStation 3 and the Wii nearly a year later. All three consoles have had major shortages both at their launches and directly afterwards, with the Xbox 360's continuing for months after release and Wii's still continuing; the PlayStation 3 saw high demand for its first week of release, but it did not continue due a high price point and lack of software, now being in stock at most major retailers only 4 months after release.

Backwards Compatibility

The Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii are currently available worldwide. This new generation for the first time has all of the major consoles focusing on online integration and wireless controllers. All of these new consoles are backwards compatible with their previous counterparts, though at different degrees: the PlayStation 3's firmware is constantly being updated to give better backwards compatibility with both PlayStation and PlayStation 2 titles, but is available for download over the internet (via broadband connection) and may possibly be added onto a disk in the future. The PS3 "PS2 on a chip" solution has been taken out of the European release and is done through less-perfect but cheaper to produce software emulation. The Xbox 360 uses software emulation for backwards compatibility via game-specific patches, while the Wii is fully backwards-compatible with the GameCube and is arguably the most backwards-compatible via its built-in Virtual Console which provides the ability to emulate various older gaming platforms, though each game has to be re-purchased and saved to the console's internal memory.

Sales as of April 2007:[8]

Console Sales
Xbox 360 9.86 million
Wii 6.8 million
PS3 3.07 million

Handheld war

Although Nintendo and Sony originally denied competing with each other with their handheld products, it was widely believed that a new handheld war had begun with the releases of the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable (PSP) in late 2004 and early 2005, respectively. (The Nintendo DS Lite, a smaller and sleeker version of the Nintendo DS was released later on in 2006.) As of the 2006 E3 press conference, however, Nintendo attacked Sony's handheld console, announcing that the Nintendo DS had been outselling the PSP. This could be taken as recognition of a new handheld war.

The Nintendo DS's power is comparable to that of Nintendo 64. It is notable in its use of two screens, one of them being a touch screen. It also sports a microphone input. It has shown considerable early success, particularly in branching out from the usual core demographic of video game players due to the intuitiveness of the touch screen control system. The Nintendo DS is the less expensive of the two systems at retail, and has longer battery life. The Nintendo DS is backwards compatible with Game Boy Advance games, but not with games for prior Game Boy systems. The GBA slot is also used for DS Option Paks.

Sony's PSP is more powerful than the Nintendo DS, with graphical power comparable to the levels of Sega Dreamcast and the PlayStation 2. It is advertised as a portable multimedia system, as well as a handheld console (much in the same way as the PS2). Numerous movies have been released on the PSP's UMD format, and the system can play video and audio from the Memory Stick PRO port. The PSP also supports a large high-resolution display, an analogue stick, as well as standard controller buttons.

Both the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP support Wi-fi networking, and have free online systems. The PSP has had online games since its launch in December 2004 in Japan, and the DS has had online games since mid-November 2005. Nintendo has also worked with McDonald's and Hilton Hotels to set up Wi-Fi access points across the USA and Europe.

Current system sales figures

  • Game Boy Advance: 78.86 million as of December 31, 2006 (Japan: 16.64, The Americas: 40.70, Other: 21.52)[7]
including Game Boy Advance SP: 41.33 million as of December 31, 2006 (Japan: 6.50, The Americas: 23.06, Other: 11.78)[7]
and Game Boy Micro: 2.40 million as of December 31, 2006 (Japan: 0.60, The Americas: 0.96, Other: 0.85)[7]
  • Nintendo DS: 38.26 million as of March 06, 2007 (Japan: 15.68, The Americas: 10.97, Other: 11.61)[7]
including Nintendo DS Lite: 17.33 million as of December 31, 2006 (Japan: 7.89, The Americas: 4.84, Other: 4.60)[7]

References

  1. ^ GaZZwa. "History of Videogames (part 2)" (html). Gaming World. Retrieved January 7. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b "Annual Report 2005 - Nintendo Co., Ltd" (PDF). Nintendo Co., Ltd. 2005-05-26. p. 9. Retrieved 2006-08-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |accessyear=, |month=, |accessmonthday=, and |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference console stats 2004-12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Cumulative Production Shipments of Hardware / PlayStation". Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. 2005-06-30. Retrieved 2006-08-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |accessyear=, |month=, |accessmonthday=, and |coauthors= (help)
  5. ^ "Cumulative Production Shipments of Hardware / PlayStation®2". Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. 2005-10-26. Retrieved 2006-10-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |accessyear=, |month=, |accessmonthday=, and |coauthors= (help)
  6. ^ "Gamers Catch Their Breath as Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Reinvent Next-Generation Gaming". Xbox.com. Microsoft. Retrieved 2006-08-14. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |accessyear=, |month=, |accessmonthday=, and |coauthors= (help)
  7. ^ a b c d e f "CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS" (PDF). Nintendo Co., Ltd. 2006-10-26. p. 9. Retrieved 2006-10-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |accessyear=, |month=, |accessmonthday=, and |coauthors= (help)
  8. ^ a b "Videogame Charts". Retrieved 2007-04-03. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |accessyear=, |month=, |accessmonthday=, and |coauthors= (help)
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