Which of the 3 will be the first to exit the console wars?

[motherbra1n]

Whether it happens in 2 years, 5, 10 or 50, microsoft, sony or nintendo will inevitably exit the games console industry (either that or its 1-0 to the mayans).

I'm gonna have to go with sony because it's just bad news piling up everywhere for them, and I'm not talking about idiotic analysts I'm talking about their losses, the ps vita's struggles in japan and mild success elsewhere else. To me, it almost seems as if sony doesn't even make any money out of the gaming industry. The PS3 was sold at a loss for so many years (not sure if it still is) and last years PSN outage has made gamers quite skeptical of playstation.

On the other hand, I think that microsoft have alienated a lot of core gamers in recent years and will continue to do so if they do not establish any new ips, which at the moment doesn't seem likely. Microsoft have turned most of their focus on kinect lately and don't seem to give a toss about their core fanbase anymore. Gears of war is dead, fable was never great and it just keeps getting worse and worse and halo is a dead horse that they are beating to try to stay alive. But they don't need those people anymore, they're making more than enough money out of kinect, I think that slowly but surely, the core xbox fanbase will jump ship to playstation and nintendo (but mostly playstation) so that's one thing which I think will help sony out a bit, but won't be enough to save them in the end.

When and if sony do exit the industry, I think that they will most of their ips to various publishers and probably not take part in the industry whatsoever.

just my take on it.

Nintendo, well...mario...pokemon...enough said.

edit: oops spelling error in the poll, my bad

[KingBroly]

Sony
- They're in the red constantly
- They're systems are "high end" but are ultimately behind the curve in a lot of respects
- Their online infrastructure is mediocre at best, offensive at worst
- Their systems have no games

Ultimately, everything Sony is doing, everyone else is doing it as competently or better than they are.

For Microsoft to leave the gaming industry, it would only be if their next system nose-dived and if Halo became a bastardization of what originally made people fall in love with it (why I don't know), causing the hardcore to lose interest. I could also see them leaving to fight Apple 100% but they've already lost that battle.

Nintendo isn't leaving until they die. They've already said as much.

[ddddd]

For being a handheld, Vita seems to have done really poorly around the world, and their next home console is looking to be nearly as beefy as the next xbox. While they might get a way to not suffer so much this time, I cant see them surviving for too long with their current strategy (not only their gaming division is doing bad)

[Mirr0rR3flection]

Sony will exit the console wars first. Their hardware is too pricey at certain times. They depend on third parties way too much. Take them away and they're pretty much done. They lack the system seller money making first party games that Nintendo has. Plus Sony is bleeding money from what I hear. I also hear though that they're doing fine with their gaming division but ultimately their other divisions will bring them down if they don't get rid of them. Microsoft will keep doing finer than them since they have plenty of cash I believe.

[NightsOwl]

-sigh- As much as I dislike Microsoft, I'd have to say Sony. They just are having too much problems with their bank. With the Vita doing poorly, I'm just... at a loss for how to feel. As a moderately loyal fan of Sony I'm sad they still havent given me a reason to want a Vita. =/

[gtt]

I think sony will, but will do so by spining off SCE as its own company, and they will do better without the media and TV side of sony weighing them down.

I expect this to happen with in 10 or so years.

[J0RdAnN]

Microsoft is sitting on a gold mine that they barely tapped into. Their acquisition of RAREWARE could work out in the long run for them if they pull the right moves and actually hire good staff and send them to RARE, they could resurrect all of RARES old franchises. BanjoKazooie and Conker as their Platformers, Killer Instinct their fighter, Battle Toads as their 3rd person action game.Plus Halo, Forza and their "Kinect" titles they have enough to compete.

[Mirr0rR3flection]

Microsoft is sitting on a gold mine that they barely tapped into. Their acquisition of RAREWARE could work out in the long run for them if they pull the right moves and actually hire good staff and send them to RARE, they could resurrect all of RARES old franchises. BanjoKazooie and Conker as their Platformers, Killer Instinct their fighter, Battle Toads as their 3rd person action game.Plus Halo, Forza and their "Kinect" titles they have enough to compete.

I couldn't agree more with you. I'd buy one just for new Banjo Kazooie and Conker games. (If they turned out good.)

[HammerGalladeBro]

I'll have to say Sony, they're facing a lot of problems, and the Vita isn't selling well, if anything, they'll be the first to leave. but when that day arrives, all the press will be like "SONY? WHY NOT NINTENDO?"
And for some reason, I can't stop thinking that if Nintendo leaves, it'll be a chaos in the industry.

Microsoft is sitting on a gold mine that they barely tapped into. Their acquisition of RAREWARE could work out in the long run for them if they pull the right moves and actually hire good staff and send them to RARE, they could resurrect all of RARES old franchises. BanjoKazooie and Conker as their Platformers, Killer Instinct their fighter, Battle Toads as their 3rd person action game.Plus Halo, Forza and their "Kinect" titles they have enough to compete.

Yeah, they needs to revive Banjo-Kazooie's platforming and bring back those series as well, too bad Microsoft is using that talent as the "Kinect developer".
Can I ask something, Is RARE currently developing any game?

[Waluigi]

Not surprised that Nintendo has no votes on a Nintendo fansite :p

Either way, I do think Sony is in the worst position right now, and are the closest to a breaking point. MS and Nintendo are safe for now, but Ninty has a lot less money than MS does. MS loses money much much more than Nintendo does, though... either way, those two wont be leaving anytime soon, I think. Sony is a definite maybe.

[Mirr0rR3flection]

Not surprised that Nintendo has no votes on a Nintendo fansite :p

Only Nintendo hating TROLLS would vote for Nintendo but remember they'll usually get banned before they could every vote on a poll such as this one. XP

Though I bet someone just for the heck of it will vote for Nintendo just to see other peoples reactions.

....

...
(*changes vote*)

Spoiler:

jk

[Iridium077]

Nintendo's the least progressive aside from control schemes, Microsoft's the least profitable, and Sony's the least wise. It's really kind of an anti-triforce when you think about it, perhaps making it fitting that Nintendo would be the anti-Link and Microsoft the anti-Ganon.

But you know how most people would choose the triforce of wisdom? There's a reason for that. Sony has solid technology and beautiful games, and could do so much... but its business moves are so patently ridiculous that it's almost definitely going to be kicked out by the end of the generation.

[Mako]

Sony's stock keeps breaking records week in and week out, and by that I mean their stock is lower than it has ever been before and is lowering each week. Things don't look good for them with Vita struggling as much as it is. I hope they can turn it around, but I'm not sure, so if I had to guess I would say Sony is first to go.

Microsoft doesn't even have to worry about making profit selling consoles because they make so much money on everything else. They can afford to sell at a loss.

Nintendo is almost always profitable and has more unique games than any of the big 3. Even if the Wii U flopped they would still be fine.

[WarioT]

Sony definitely things can change for them on E3 if they don't screw up but I think even that won't be able to save them from exiting first.

Microsoft is safe for sure

Nintendo is safest of all

[bunny-cow]

Sony for sure. Can't believe it either that the reigning console-maker of the mid-90's to 2006 has been spiraling downward. What a weird couple of years... I mean Vita looks bleak but the PS3/PSP can't really be considered failures (unless you're a PSP everywhere but in Japan that is), it's just the whole company is in turmoil. I feel bad for the company and its employees. Less so for those brash PlayStation spokespeople who fuel GoNintendo headlines.

Just as I'm surprised at Sony flailing, I'm equally surprised that Microsoft is actually doing great. They were pretty good with gamers in the first place but now with the late, sudden onset of the Kinect, I'm amazed at how it continues to sell very well (unless you're in Japan).

And Nintendo... it's always wrong to doubt Nintendo. They must be doing something right if they've been in every console generation cycle (first two generations don't count because nobody cares about them lol).

[Irritating Stick]

Sony for sure.

The way they're losing money right now makes me think that they'll be the first to go. I don't think they can take another PS3 right now.

MS seems pretty unlikely since the Kinect is selling OK and the 360 is doing well for itself for some time now.

Nintendo I see dropping last (and not just because this is a Nintendo-centric site) but mainly because they are the only company that only does games. If the gaming divisions in the other two manufacturers go bad, they can cut their losses and move on to other lines of profit, such as TVs, Computers, and OSs. Nintendo, on the other hand, only does gaming and would try harder to stay in business than I think Sony or M$ ever would.

[thresholdXCI]

As much as I'd be disappointed, I think it'll be Sony who'll go first. I don't think it's imminent though. PlayStation's been one of few reliable things for them. Their new strategy for reversing their fortunes is to focus on gaming, camera and mobile and pretty much scale everything else back.

Nintendo are both the most vulnerable and the most dedicated to gaming. If gaming isn't profitable for Microsoft or Sony they'll back out and focus on other things, whereas Nintendo have to try and stick with it to the bitter end. Luckily they seem like they've found a solid niche.

Microsoft are also pretty comfortable. They'd surprise me the most if they left the console race.

[mrmegaman]

Sony. Logically. Which is a shame because I love the PS3 and some of it's exclusives are to die for. Nintendo wouldn't exit the console war, it wouldn't make sense for a company that mostly makes consoles and games to switch dow- Oh wait, SEGA did that.

And Microsoft is surely just too big to fail at this point.

[AtomicBean]

Sony seems to be hitting the same sort of slump that Apple hit back in the '90s. They can recover if they really rethink their business model, otherwise they'll be getting nowhere fast.

Microsoft is targeting the "casual" crowd through Kinect and by turning their console into a dedicated entertainment center with all the non-gaming functionality they've added in recent years, and that seems to be working pretty well for them right now.

Nintendo is the only company dedicated to making console gaming the best it can be. They've stuck it out all these years, even through seemingly rough times with the N64 and GameCube and made it out just fine. They won't be backing down anytime soon.

[chris_the_wing]

Nintendo wouldn't exit the console war, it wouldn't make sense for a company that mostly makes consoles and games to switch dow- Oh wait, SEGA did that.

Sega never had the bank (safety net) that Nintendo had. They released four dud consoles in a row, the Sega CD, 32X, Saturn & finally the awesome but easily hackable Dreamcast. They also split their install base with games that could only run on 32XCD, requiring 3 different platforms actually duct tapped together. They confused their consumers by releasing two different consoles at the same time, the 32x & Saturn, & lost trust by not supporting either of them. The Saturn could have been an awesome 2D gaming machine, as it was intended, but the PS1 & N64 made the 3D push and Sega flip flopped with gimpy hardware.

Nintendo hasn't made any of these mistakes, maintaining quality support for their platforms even when things were looking grim, droughts aside.

[Waluigi]

I think Sony not going all-out on PS4 will be a good thing in the end.

2 decent power machines (WiiU and PS4) with lower dev costs vs one insane power beast (720) with large dev costs

It would keep PS4 cheap, it would become logical to develop for that and WiiU, it would kick MS out of the competition for a while, and decreased PS4 price will lead to more PS4 purchases, along with games being easily portable to WiiU, as they would have similar power levels (marginal upgrades from this gen). Win-Win for Nintendo and Sony fans

Of course, Sony likely will go all out, and potentially kill the company. Who knows?

[gtt]

I think Sony not going all-out on PS4 will be a good thing in the end.

2 decent power machines (WiiU and PS4) with lower dev costs vs one insane power beast (720) with large dev costs

It would keep PS4 cheap, it would become logical to develop for that and WiiU, it would kick MS out of the competition for a while, and decreased PS4 price will lead to more PS4 purchases, along with games being easily portable to WiiU, as they would have similar power levels (marginal upgrades from this gen). Win-Win for Nintendo and Sony fans

Of course, Sony likely will go all out, and potentially kill the company. Who knows?

I don't think MS is going to go balls out with the 720. they are currently running as fast as they can after the 'plays kinect and watches netflix crowd'

[GiriOni]

I'm going to predict MS, as Sony, in general, has more electronics they sell so a less likely chance they will exit first. Then again it also means that consoles don't matter as much in terms of profits, so they might cut them.

As for the Vita, I predict it's sales to double at the release of P4: The Golden in both the US and Japan, and to quadruple in sales in Japan at the release of a MH title. 'Cause like the 3DS, the Vita currently lacks games that interest most people.

[Irritating Stick]

Persona 4 is the only thing that's making me consider getting a Vita. There's really nothing else on the system that appeals to me.

I'd really like to see some worldwide numbers and compare them to how the 3DS, DS, and PSP did in the same time frame.

[chris_the_wing]

Persona 4 is the only thing that's making me consider getting a Vita. There's really nothing else on the system that appeals to me.

I'd really like to see some worldwide numbers and compare them to how the 3DS, DS, and PSP did in the same time frame.

I would never consider buying a system for a single game. The Vita is selling 1/3 the amount of the 3DS week to week. The 3DS is at around 17,000,000 while the Vita is stuck at around 2,000,000. The low install base coupled with high budgets for Vita games is spelling big trouble in little Playstation town.