Nintendo or Sega? Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat? PC or Console? Call of Duty or Battlefield? Forza or Gran Turismo? Commodore 64 or ZX Spectrum? These are some of the rivalries that take place and have taken place since the dawn of gaming time, but I think it’s fair to say that all of these rivalries take a back seat when the argument over Xbox or PlayStation rears its head.
This isn’t a new rivalry either, and it’s unlikely to go away soon. It tentatively started between the original Xbox and the then undisputed king of the consoles, the PlayStation 2. Microsoft were the new kids on the block, and Sony were masters of all they surveyed.
N64? Dreamcast? They bowed to the might of the original PlayStation which sold over 100 million units world-wide, compared to the just over 40 million units between the latter 2 combined. And then in 2000 Sony released the PlayStation 2 – officially the best selling games console of all time, with over 155 million units being shipped world-wide, and their final servers only recently being turned off. But this was when Microsoft entered the console party, with their original Xbox and tried to fill the vacuum left by Sega’s demise after the failure of the Dreamcast, and Nintendo’s then falling popularity.
Although they gained a foothold, they could only sell approximately 24 million units, with Sony seemingly turning the console wars that were dominated by school-yard arguments in the 90’s between Sega and Nintendo, into a one-horse race.
That is until 2005, when Microsoft pushed hard and released the Xbox 360. Many were converted and with Sony not releasing their PlayStation 3 console until a year later, Microsoft were able to gain a valuable beachhead in what would be a war that continues to this day – Xbox vs PlayStation.
While there are “fanboys” on both sides, I think a lot of serious gamers saw the benefits and pros of each console, and felt that the idea that there can be only one console to rule them all is a little…silly to say the least. But that certainly doesn’t stop Microsoft and Sony in engaging in this war, much like it doesn’t stop Coca Cola and Pepsi from doing the same thing. (Pepsi – yum, Coca Cola – yum: get over it)
I mean, Microsoft didn’t want to name their second console the Xbox 2 as it would look as though it’s a generation behind the PlayStation 3, it’s these little subliminal things that they do which fuels the “war” and at the end of the day, for both companies, it’s all about one thing, the sales.
PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 were very evenly matched, to the point that their world-wide sales are most likely probably too close to call with both consoles hitting around the 84 million mark by 2013. Which is when the current gen of consoles was released, the new dawn in the war between Microsoft and Sony.
And it didn’t start well for Microsoft.
Microsoft seemed to lag behind in every area, with rumours of needing to be online constantly and at least “check-in” once every 24 hours to your Xbox Live Account, among other things which Sony pounced on repeatedly and forced back-tracking statements and the like from the Xbox hierarchy. This led to the Sony starting this latest round of console wars in pole position. And to date, Sony have still sold more consoles than their Microsoft opponents.
But as Nobel Prize winning legend, Bob Dylan, said – “The times they are a changin'” and change they have over the last few months as Head of Xbox Games Marketing, Aaron Greenberg, was keen to Tweet about…
Big thanks for making @xbox best selling US console 3rd month in a row from @npdgroup. 1st time this gen we have won 3 consecutive months! 🎉
— Aaron Greenberg (@aarongreenberg) 14 October 2016
That’s right, for the past 3 months, the Xbox One has outsold the PS4 probably thanks to Microsoft dropping the price on the Xbox One from June and also the release of the Xbox One S. However, with Microsoft focusing on the Summer months, have they inadvertently given the all important Winter months and Christmas period advantage to Sony with the PS4 slim only coming out in the last half of September, the PSVR only just launching this week (check out Bella’s first impressions here) and the PS4 Pro coming out next month? Time will tell I suppose, but for now Aaron Greenberg is enjoying the moment, and why not?
How I’m feeling today because it’s Friday, all my meetings canceled due to wind & we won best selling console from #NPD 3rd month in a row! pic.twitter.com/v5l1IeHqR3
— Aaron Greenberg (@aarongreenberg) 14 October 2016
We here at RGM are all about the love of gaming over the love of a particular console, so to us – Xbox One? PS4? PC? Nintendo? You’re all amazing and you’re all loved! But what do you think of this? Let us know in the comments below, the RGM Forums or on Twitter.
