In a recent article, I discussed how U.S. sales of the Xbox 360 had reached 10 million and that Don Mattrick, head of the Xbox division at Microsoft, stated that “history has shown us that the first company to reach 10 million in console sales wins the generation battle.” However, does there really have to be a “battle” in the first place?
Why can’t we just look at consoles for what they are, entertaining pieces of equipment? We have already seen Nintendo state that it is not in direct competition with Microsoft or Sony because its game offerings (Nintendo DS and Wii) cater to a different kind of audience than Microsoft and Sony’s. That’s not to say that there isn’t some overlap, for there certainly are people who enjoy offerings from all three companies, but it’s still important to recognize that consoles mean different things for different people. One person might buy a Wii to play games like Wii Sports, while another might play games like Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3. Likewise, a person might buy an Xbox 360 to play games like Gears of War and Halo, and another might play games like Viva Pinata.
From a sales perspective, yes it is important to know how you are doing in the face of your competitors. However, it seems like this sense competition has begun to expand beyond corporate boundaries. Not only are the people behind these companies intent on knowing “what place they’re in”, but now consumers are as well. Sure, it can be fun to look at the NPD numbers and see what consoles and games come out on top for a given month, but please don’t let what place a system is in affect whether to buy and/or support it. It’s a lot like sports. We support the teams we like whether they’re winning or losing and we go to games, not to see whether they win or lose (although that is a part of it), but to have an enjoyable time. Let’s not forget that at their core, that is what video game consoles are all about, having fun.
So is the console war over? For many people, no, it won’t be over until the next generation of consoles. However, for other people, there never was a war to begin with, just several great consoles to choose from with equally great game lineups.
Filed under: Microsoft, Nintendo, PS3, Technology, Video Games, Wii, Xbox 360 Tagged: | Don Mattrick, Gears of War, Halo, Metroid Prime 3, Microsoft, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Sony, Super Mario Galaxy, Viva Pinata, Wii, Wii Sports, Xbox 360
The console war will never be over, even if there is only one Console then still people will argue how the earlier generation of this Console is better then the current one