As we approach the release of the PS4 and the Xbox One, we prepare to truly enter next era of console gaming. But the history of console gaming goes back decades, 40 years of history. Wars, alliances, betrayals, and the rise and fall of many companies. Exeposé Games sets out on a journey of great historical importance, charting each generation of…The Console Wars.
The seventh and latest generation formed on 22nd November 2005.
After a mixture of failure and success with the Xbox, Microsoft released its successor, the Xbox 360. It was the most powerful console launched to that point, with a triple core processor, and was able to utilise the new HD format to give an even greater graphic quality. The console also had the largest external storage devices of any console yet, with removable hard disk drives of 20GBs available. The online function, Xbox Live, had been upgraded and was ready for launch. The controller was also redesigned, it was smaller, in most cases wireless, with two shoulder buttons and two triggers, as well as a new ‘X’ button in the middle of the controller.
The console released with 18 launch titles to Canada and the USA, and then to 36 countries in the rest of the world over the next year. The scale and time of the global release was the first of its kind.
The release had two console formats: one with the 20GB HDD, and a cheaper one with just a small memory card. Its sales were amazing, with estimates after the first six months suggesting around 5 million sales. Microsoft couldn’t keep up with the demand.
It had issues though. The short supply led to people re-selling their console for vastly greater prices. Not only that, the early consoles had an issue with reliability, with the error report appearing as what became infamously known as ‘the Red Ring of Death’. As a result Microsoft modified much of the hardware, from change the solder to replacing the motherboard. Though the ‘Red Ring’ remained a problem, it became much less frequent.
The 360 got its head start, but not for long. Through November and December of 2006, Nintendo and Sony released their new consoles, the Wii and the PS3.
The Wii was a unique concept. While not having the graphic quality of its competitors, it was the cheapest, and brought a new innovation: motion control. The wireless controller was linked to a sensor that would move different areas on-screen in relation to it. This was best represented in the Wii’s bundled game, Wii Sports.
The Wii was one of the smallest consoles ever made, and took in feature from several other consoles of the past: backwards compatibility, large external memory support with SD cards, a dedicated online service and menu, and connectivity to the Nintendo DS. All this gave it a wider audience, marketing to all ages. There was even rumours in newspapers that Queen Elizabeth II had played on the Wii.
The console was highly popular, even more popular in terms of hardware sales than its competitors, but the Wii wasn’t ever seen as a hardcore ‘competitor console’. After its release with 22 launch titles, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata stated it wasn’t ‘thinking about fighting Sony’ but rather getting ‘new people playing games’. The console also had limited third-party support due to the difficulties in creating Wii versions of multiplatform titles.
The war was a two-horse race, and the 360’s rival was to be the PS3.
The PS3 was the most powerful of the three consoles, improving on the popular and successful feature and hardware of the PS2, while still also including the dedicated online service the Xbox had popularised. It also was the most expensive, and the slowest to get going. The console launched with a complete HD capable, Wi-Fi Internet, 60GB version, and a smaller 20GB version, with prices being around $499, $100 more than the 360 at launch.
It had a delayed release to March 2007 outside the US and Japan, releasing with 14 launch titles, the smallest number of the three, having a more complicated menu compared to the others. To compete, Sony had to lower the price to boost sales, a plan which worked to an extent.
The console war began escalating from that point. Both Sony and Microsoft went toe-to-toe in many areas to continue to drive sales up.
One of the big areas for the two, as multimedia players, was the on-going ‘HD wars’ between Blu-Ray and HD DVD. Both Microsoft and Sony picked alternate sides to back: Sony chose Blu-Ray, Microsoft chose HD DVD. With Blu-Ray winning out in 2008, the 360 only had DVDs compared to the PS3’s Blu-Ray and DVD compatibility, which also came to apply to games, as the PS3 got a higher graphic quality. Sony had won out on this front.
In many other areas, Sony had less success. The PS3‘s controllers were seen to be inferior, with criticisms being made toward the Dualshock 3’s less desirable smaller size, compared to the Xbox controller. Though both companies would try a venture away from traditional controllers, again, to varying success.
The ‘Motion Control war’, between the two in 2010, had both companies look to the Nintendo Wii’s success with motion control to extend their console lives and drive sales. Sony went for a more sensitive motion controller, Move, while Microsoft abandoned controllers entirely with the Kinect. Microsoft’s unique concept worked, while the Move didn’t live up to expectations, the Kinect sold 8 million units in 60 days, and 10 million by March 2011. The Kinect was the fastest selling consumer electronic device, a record recognised by Guinness World Record. The most intense battle would be for exclusive games.
The 360 had multiple highly successful exclusives from the Xbox, and Microsoft capitalised on each of their existing franchises. Halo 3 became the driving force for 360 sales in 2007, and Forza continued to rival Gran Turismo on the PS3. They also released new franchises, which garnered equal popularity, such as Gears of War which came to be one of the 360’s flagships.
While the PS3 had popular exclusives, such as Uncharted, Gran Turismo, and Killzone; they also lost some key titles, some games which were originally planned to be exclusives instead became multiplatform titles due to the popularity of the 360. The 360 also had more popularity with games due to the implementation of game achievements.
While this was happening, the consoles were in an arms race. Microsoft and Sony continually released improved versions of their consoles, which made the consoles quieter, run quicker, and have more storage; leading to redesigns of both consoles during the middle of the generation. The online service software was also continually updated and redesigned to make them more appealing and easier to use, while increasing the application available, transforming both into entertainment hub for all forms of media.
The arms race has no clear winner: both still looked to improve their consoles up to the release of the next generation.
The seventh console war lasted seven years, and the generation eight years, making the longest console war by far. It was also the largest, with the Wii selling over 100 million, and the 360 and PS3 80 million each. It was almost a dead heat throughout between Sony and Microsoft. While the Wii had vast hardware success, it didn’t have the same level software success to compete against the other two.
Between the two it’s difficult to call the victor, with the PS3 being able to catch up the 360 and give a deadlock in console sales, though later into its lifespan. However, the 360 had significantly more success with its games early on, even influencing third-party developers to make PS3 exclusives multiplatform.
Market control leaned towards the 360: for the first time since 1983, a US company was the dominant force in the console market. The Xbox 360 won the console war.
Beyond their success, the consoles came to be some of the most influential devices on the market. Many features of the generation were implemented beyond consoles and beyond gaming in general. The consoles lasted a long time, but it came time to pass the torch. The eighth console war was about to begin.
Check in tomorrow for the full history of The Eighth Console War…
Luke Pilchowski
Like our the Games Section’s Facebook page to receive the latest updates. Or follow us on Twitter to get in touch @ExeposeVG
exeposedev 