Poll: Console Race

[BENZOOKA]

None of them won't drop out for a quite long foreseeable future, if "ever". Consoles have evolved to entertainment systems from mere gaming devices. That evolution will go on and I strongly believe that all of the three major players will not stop putting out devices that you can play games on. Internet, social features, non-gaming entertainment and cloud services will probably play an ever bigger role in the future. And also the consoles' ability to communicate and share data with other devices.

All the manufacturers have other gaming markets too, Windows with PC and mobile OS's. Nintendo and Sony have had their handhelds for quite a while. I simply cannot see them throwing the towel in. It's only a question about how they decide to go on, whether to something tablet-like, or more comprehensive systems that will try to become the primary Gaming, Internet, Movie, TV, Music and communication systems for households.

 

[TheCommanders]

I could never see Nintendo dropping out, no matter how much criticism they have gotten they end up making the most successful console. Regardless what people may think of the wii, it did revolutionize gaming and it was the most sold console up until very recently.

Ah yes, it revolutionized gaming so much that they decided to try to make everyone forget about the gimmick they promised was good and would make up for inferior hardware by producing another console with a different gimmick and soon to be outdated hardware. Where would we be without them? Oh, right, without Microsoft and Sony wasting money on gimmicks on their consoles because they think that the freak accident that was the Wii's success could be replicated. The Wii U will not attract as many people as the Wii did for one simply reason: the mobile game's market. If the Wii had been released after the boom of mobile games, it may very well have flopped. Also, you mentioned the "most sold console up until very recently" True, but look at a graph of console sales over time. You'll notice the Wii had a boom of initial sales that quickly petered out, whereas xbox 360 and ps3 have been selling steadily all the way up until now, and will continue to do so until shortly before the new generation.

 

[Yopaz]

I think MicroSoft will be the next, maybe Sony, but I doubt it. The reason I don't think Nintendo will be the next is that they don't have anything else going for them. They earn money from making games and systems where those games get released. MicroSoft is a big company that will probably quit the console market if they see the market gets too rough to go on. They got the PC market, they got the tablet and smart phone market, though I wouldn't want a Windows phone or tablet, they have that going for them. Sony got multimedia. They got Hi-fi systems, they got decent phones, media players and some of the best looking TVs out there. Sony could give up on consoles today and still do pretty well without it. Nintendo would sink away without the console market. So I am voting for Nintendo because they're the company with the least wheels turning.

Oh yeah, I got the opposite way of thinking today. Boom!

 

[WitchD0ctor]

Please.

 

[the abyss gazes also]

I'd sat Nintendo because, if anything, they will be the first to move to something different. I personally don't like the Wii, or the move, or kinetic, but Nintendo was the first to take the leap into something new, so they may drop out in favor of... cyborg implants?

 

[Total LOLige]

I don't think any of them will drop out of the console race anytime soon. I think they're all doing really well financially.

 

[Rtoip]

Microsoft makes the most sense, they have other sources of revenue and could promote PC gaming witch would benefit the anyway since they control the OS market, but I don't think they will let go just yet. They weren't gathering the samey shooter fanbase for nothing.

I'm always wondering, Is Sony really selling consoles below production costs or whatever the people say and loosing so much money, because PS (or maybe condoles in general) prices always seem like a rip-off for me anyway. In that case the only reason I can think of for why the still haven't dropped out is that they want to maintain presence on the market and hope they will manage to get it back with the next generation.

GLORY TO THE PC GAMING MASTER RACE

 

[Fiad]

I will say Nintendo will drop out of the console race, most likely after the WiiU or the next after. They just aren't cut out for modern console consumers, as shown by the year old games going to be released on the WiiU. But will continue to control and dominate the handheld market.

 

[dimensional]

Cant see anyone dropping out soon to be fair, Nintendo and Playstation are extremely strong brands and the Xbox is working its way up I think 3 consoles is sustainable that said If it made sense for any to drop out it would be Microsoft they could easily switch the xbox brand to pc software and try and control PC games more i.e if using windows only microsoft sanctioned games will run on it which can only be bought from the Xbox PC store I hope they dont try and pull this rap though actually im not sure they could even do this but no doubt they would find a way if they wanted.

 

[Scrustle]

No idea really. If the WiiU does really badly then perhaps Nintendo will drop out, but I find that somewhat unlikely. So... maybe Sony? They haven't seemed to have been on the ball when it comes to making hardware recently, they're lagging behind. But they're still successful so again, it's unlikely. I don't think MS will. It will take a mass boycott of their console to take them under and that's not going to happen, even with their shortcomings. I think they're the least likely to go anywhere. I don't think any of them will go under in the foreseeable future, except Nintendo if everything go very horribly wrong for them. Things will be different in a generation or two, it will be easier to tell then. Can't tell at this point.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I don't really see any of them dropping out of the console race. If anything though I would assume Sony would be the most likely to close off their gaming division if they were to take on a lot of stress. Just a shot in the dark of course. Nintendo is gaming so I doubt we'll ever see them drop out.

 

[WinstonJEC]

I could never see Nintendo dropping out, no matter how much criticism they have gotten they end up making the most successful console. Regardless what people may think of the wii, it did revolutionize gaming and it was the most sold console up until very recently.

Ah yes, it revolutionized gaming so much that they decided to try to make everyone forget about the gimmick they promised was good and would make up for inferior hardware by producing another console with a different gimmick and soon to be outdated hardware. Where would we be without them? Oh, right, without Microsoft and Sony wasting money on gimmicks on their consoles because they think that the freak accident that was the Wii's success could be replicated. The Wii U will not attract as many people as the Wii did for one simply reason: the mobile game's market. If the Wii had been released after the boom of mobile games, it may very well have flopped. Also, you mentioned the "most sold console up until very recently" True, but look at a graph of console sales over time. You'll notice the Wii had a boom of initial sales that quickly petered out, whereas xbox 360 and ps3 have been selling steadily all the way up until now, and will continue to do so until shortly before the new generation.

A valid argument, but I seriously doubt mobile gaming really would ever affect the Wii U. The reason that the Wii failed was because they had no third party titles and no HD graphics. And for some reason they still managed to be extremely popular. The Wii U will now output in full 1080P which a lot of games still fail to utilize on the xbox or playstation. I believe the Wii U will be a pleasant surprise. And lets not get started on sony and microsoft with their own motion controlled systems...

 

[idarkphoenixi]

I'm going to stay optimistic and say nobody drops out and that someone new will enter the competition.

 

[sethisjimmy]

Microsoft? Really? I don't see it. In the last few years they've put massive funds into marketing and turning the 360 into an entertainment center and making it a household name, not to mention pushing the Kinect at every opportunity.
Personally I see them staying a long time, I mean if they can get people to buy the fucking Kinect, they must have a marketing team that rivals that of Apple's.

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

In order of most likely to least likely to fail in the next several years:
1. Sony - Company is hemorrhaging money at an alarming rate. The rumors that they're looking to sell their NY HQ building doesn't help matters.

2. Nintendo - The Wii was a huge success, but sales have fallen through the floor and the WiiU doesn't look to be anywhere near as successful, plus it will be much more expensive to produce.

3. Microsoft - 360 sales are good, their online service is great, and they have a huge amount of cash to develop their next console thanks to Windows. They're clearly the early favorite for next generation, even though we haven't seen or heard anything about the next Xbox.

 

[Gatx]

It'll be a sad day when Nintendo drops, I'll tell you what.

Nintendo has more riding on it since they're a videogame company. Microsoft and Sony do plenty of other things, one of them just happens to be videogames.

 

[Wintermoot]

Sega is going to return because I say so. As for console VS console let it die it never was funny

 

[ragvaror]

Personally I wouldn't like to see any of them fold. The console market needs competition to keep each other motivated to make better games and products. If one were to fall, I'd tip it to be Sony (this coming from a die hard Sony stalwart.)

A more interesting question would be which former console manufacturer would re-enter the race with a new unit, or which would you most like to see come back.

I'd say Sega.

 

[Clearing the Eye]

After everyone eventually caught on and realized the Wii was basically abandonware with nothing but the rare release of quality to subdue their fans of the waterfall of mini-game collections, shoddy ports and remakes, and the 3DS being much the same, only worse, Nintendo has lost all of its good will. The WiiU will be a massive loss for them.