Who is the strongest console developer now?

[blizzaradragon]

I'm going to have to say Nintendo in this case. While Sony is definitely in prime position as well, it seems to me that Nintendo is the only one who's making their game console a...well, a game console. Sony and Microsoft are both pushing towards the "entertainment box" approach, albeit with Microsoft essentially sprinting in that direction while Sony is more doing a leisurely walk.

I think part of that is that out of the three console makers Nintendo is literally the only game company. If MS or Sony take losses in their game departments, they still have plenty of other departments to make it up and keep the company alive. If Nintendo takes losses, then it hurts a lot more as that's it for them. I think this shows more in their approach as well, as they don't have the other departments leaking into their console.

Plus Nintendo has shown they can turn around bad launches. After all, the 3DS went from no one wanting it to being a handheld in high demand. Meanwhile Sony is still floundering with the Vita. The Wii U is already showing that it is similar to the 3DS early on(although from what I've seen the sales numbers, while not as distributed throughout the 6 months, are at about the same as the 360 in it's early launch), but if the PS4 ends up being a Vita repeat I'm not sure what Sony would do.

 

[veloper]

Currently IBM sits on the console throne as all the CPUs in the current gen consoles are IBM.
Next gen AMD/ATI will be the console king because 3/3 GPUs and 2/3 CPUs.

 

[bug_of_war]

What's so ironic is that both MS & Nintendo rely on rehashed titles to sell their consoles.......

MS - FIFA, COD, Halo etc.
Nintendo - Mario, Zelda, Metroid etc.

.............but you always feel as if Nintendo could do anything with each franchise. As if it could branch off in any crazy direction and that they really care about creativity and the games.

Whereas you know exactly what you're getting with each MS rehash, and it's reached a point where it's unfathomably hard to get excited by any further releases (IMO)

COD and FIFA aren't exclusive to Xbox...Gears of War is (still love that series) and I'm quite sure Fable is a Microsoft exclusive. I'd say the difference between Nintendo and Microsoft is just that you know the direction that Microsoft will take their product, they're still fun (Gears and Halo yes, Fable...debatable), but Nintendo (other than the previously mentioned, "New, NEW Super Mario Bros *insert console name*") seem to just be like, "Fuck it, lets throw Mario into space" and whilst it's still relatively similar, it's a nice change up. As much as I think Nintendo should try and make new franchises, I can see that they have nearly perfected the franchises that they have. Zelda is still interesting, same with games like Mario Party, Pokémon always sells them a bunch, and yeah, they're just that company that really has been the quiet achiever.

 

[Mr. Omega]

Right now it looks like Nintendo is in the best spot. There's the chance Sony could blow minds at E3, but Sony really could go either way.

Nintendo's strategy seems to be focused on staying small or just competing with Sony and Microsoft and avoid comparisons to PCs. They are cooperating with retailers like Best Buy, focusing on improving features currently on their machine as opposed to adding new ones, and have been putting a surprising amount of focus on indie studios. And the results are showing: some big kickstarter games like Shovel Knight or Road Rampage or Shadows of the Eternals might be coming out on PC, but Nintendo is the only console maker getting these games.

The WiiU's biggest flaws right now are the fact that there are little games out for it and that it is the most expensive machine on the market. The latter is not going to be true by the time the XB1 and PS4 come out, and odds are the former will be resolved by the fall once first party titles start coming out.

Doesn't mean that they are going to win, but they are in the best position. Worst case scenario is that they have another Gamecube (third place, makes money and Nintendo survives because of handhelds). Best case scenario is they repeat what happened with the 3DS.

 

[badgersprite]

I think it's too close to call as to who is in the best position right now.

In theory, you could say Nintendo still has the success of the Wii and the handheld market behind them, but from everything I've heard the WiiU isn't shaping up to replicate its success. Sony had huge success with Playstation 1 & 2, but had some pretty lean years during the last console cycle. Microsoft is difficult to judge because it's always just been kind of a middle of the road contender and I can't say that I think they're trying to be anything else, but they also lack a strong international focus in their marketing. The Xbox is not a truly international brand in the way that Sony and Nintendo genuinely try to be with their consoles and brands.

Personally, I think the Xbox One has fallen behind in the race for a number of reasons. Firstly, latching onto television even though television is kind of a dying medium. Secondly, calling a press conference that only gamers would be interested in watching and talking about everything other than games. Thirdly, again, targeting a games console at people who aren't interested in games during a press announcement that nobody except gamers were watching or interested in. Fourthly, basing their whole marketing strategy on appealing to this idea that people who aren't interested in playing games will want to buy a games console for its non-gaming functions. Even the Wii with its huge and wide-reaching mainstream appeal never sold itself as anything other than a games console; it sold because it had all these titles and casual games that audiences who don't usually play games were interested in. But I digress.

Overall, I really can't predict at this point who's ahead, and probably won't be able to until after E3, but I'd say that I'm anticipating that it's going to be much more of a two-horse race between Sony and Nintendo unless Microsoft has a dramatic turnaround.

 

[MrWunderful]

I think we should wait and see the ps4 and xbox one before everyone writes them off.

With that being said, I think the wiiU is a big steamy pile of gimicky crap. So my vote goes to sony and Microsoft.

 

[1UPZ]

Depends how you see next generation is...
To me ...

MS and SONY looks to be moving their gaming consoles to a new category, specifically MS, which is a multi-media/entertainment TV box/hub. A "lounge" Simiplified PC basically.

Nintendo is primarily staying put as a game console with add on features (Wii TV etc)


Nintendo knows their market and looks to be the only true gaming console next gen(current gen with Wii U).
MS has made the jump...
SONY is to be confirmed this E3.

Its fair to say Nintendo is(was) expecting 90-100 million Sales of Wii U, but probably have readjusted that to 30-40 Million.
Which is still great for them assuming 40-50% of the buyers buy Nintendo made games.
Combine that with Wii U game development approximately 25-50% of development cost compared to MS/SONY. That's an assumption based on new graphic engines, focus in graphically intensive games, online link, "WOW" factor etc.

Nintendo can emphasise their games a well as Wii U developers to focus more on gameplay and "affordable" graphics budget.

Plus you have to consider that Nintendo has placed themselves so that a big chunk of PS4 and XB1 owners will purchase a Wii U as a secondary console for niche genre or Japanese RPGs which I think Wii U will have a lot of... Looking at their exclusive developers like Monolith Soft etc who are jrpg focused.

 

[Strazdas]

Define strenght. It is not clear what you are asking.
Lets assume who will sell the most consoles, because thats what will make them money in the long run.
In this case = PS4. it has the power of a new console, it still remains at least mostly DRM free and it offers features SOME Gamers want and others are allowed not to use them if they so choose, and they still focus on games.
Nintendo is, well, like buying a Xbox360 now. Sure there are some ggood games, but it is so outdated that only nostalgia keeps it running.
Xbone...... has not been met well.

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

Sony will have little or no variation in its standing, which means it might win by default.

Nintendo will continue to fall from grace, a fall that started back with N64 vs PS1 and people are only now catching on to it in great enough numbers to matter. I stuck through up until the Wii U. I got almost no use out of my Wii, and what little I did was underwhelming. Skyward Sword, Other M, and Metroid Prime 3. All disappointing compared to the best or even the middling titles in their respective series. Only solid fun I had with it was RE4 port, and Super Paper Mario. Which wasn't half the game Thousand Year Door was.

I viewed the Wii like Nintendo's version of when a singer puts out an all Cover/Holiday album totally out of character with their most popular albums. I figured that it was a novelty, and had some clear success with some portions of consumers not normally interested in their work, but they would surely move on to make more of the stuff people are looking for.

Nope. They thought to capitalize on a different gimmick and people don't seem to be buying it anymore. Every time I see a preview of a new Wii U title the selling point seems to be that every game can be played with the hand screen, with the wii remote/nunchuck, with a classic controller, or played entirely on the hand screen.

Why? Who needs that many different, and somewhat conflicting control schemes? Your selling point is that you have to look at 2 screens, that are drastically different sizes and not right near each other like on the DS, and yet you prioritize making games that can be played WITHOUT your gimmick controller? Or without your TV?

You already have a fucking handheld console, called the 3DS, which I and a surprisingly large percent of users, never turn the 3D on. Mine also likes to randomly crash while playing 3DS games. Its almost as bad as unpatched AssCreed 1 with the freezes.

The sad thing is that even now when they have taken their first financial loss in a long long time, they won't turn that ship around any time soon. They could make the best new console since the SNES appealing to all, and blowing out minds with its specs, thus attracting every 3rd party developer out there (for more than gimmicky shovelware) and put to rest the rise of the cell phone/tablet as a lead gaming device.

They could, but NOT competing, and releasing iterations of their key franchises every so often, worked out so well for them these last several years so meh. That is their approach. "meh"

Once again their handheld will see them through, though Sony's HEAVY pimping out of the Vita-PS4 remote play might rock the boat.

Microsoft seems to have caught what Gary Busey has, which is both tragic and entertaining. (I know what he has, and that it isn't contagious btw)

They will only succeed by cramming their product so far down our throats and by using the most cutthroat methods such as rampant bribery for exclusives that you will essentially be bullied and blackmailed into submitting to whatever they deem you should. You will pay for access to content, you will own nothing, and if you have a problem such as lacking an internet connection you can fuck off.

So more or less business as usual at Microsoft.

 

[Tom_green_day]

I'm in such a confused state when it comes to next-gen gaming.
Microsoft... I need say nothing about.
People are so appalled by Microsoft's fuck-uppage that they forget that Sony's presentation was also pretty awful. There are no new features in the console that improve gameplay or that I'd even use, and forcing devs to use the Vita play will handicap games. Also, there are no games that really interest me yet, however I'll wait until E3 in the hope that it proves me wrong.
I've never really liked Nintendo. Their games are all re-hashes of previous franchises and are mostly all aimed at children. There are no Mass Effect or Fallout equivalents for Nintendo consoles, and the Wii was not fun at all to use to play for games.
I don't want to get a PC. I love consoles, and I find computers really unfun to play on. Also, Steam annoys me.
As you can see, none of the four options looks great. I guess I'll just wait until E3 to see the exclusives.

 

[bug_of_war]

I know they're not exclusive, but they are still the core games which MS rely on to both sell their machines and provide "core" income. That's kinda my point and it's along the lines of what you say too - that Nintendo's creativity often overules the dollar, whereas MS prioritize dollar above all else. Nintendo see franchises as things which allow for experimentation and creativity as they'll sell a fair amount on name alone, whereas MS see franchises as things to be milked for every penny and little more.

Both are obviously out to make money but Nintendo want to make games too, whereas MS just want to make money period.

I think MS are just too scared to venture from not being a huge rug. They don't want to risk loosing what they've got, so they'd rather stick to a very clear path than take a risk. I don't blame them, it's a business decision, I just don't think their recent developments have been very good and that's why they're at the bottom of the big 3 in my list.

 

[CannibalCorpses]

If Sony can fix the issues they've had with the PS3 then i will certainly jump ship back to where i belong.

I doubt Nintendo will ever capitalise on the market, since their products tend to be more directed towards children rather than adults, but the price isn't too shabby either and with so many people struggling to make ends meet i can really see the cheapest console winning for at least a while.

I don't really know what to say about MicroShaft. Having played their console for far too many years i really don't think they have anything to offer to me anymore. I'm on my 5th console and that is falling apart due to poor manufacturing and cheap components and i don't think i will ever tolerate that again.