Microsoft

Microsoft has been widely known as one of the highest contendors for the console generations. Their Xbox 360 was at the top and reigned over their competitors for almost a decade, however, now that the latest and greatest of consoles have been released. Microsoft’s Xbox One has been lacking behind. In the beginning of the Xbox One’s debute, Microsoft mainly held their focus on the media aspect of the console. They wanted to create an all in one system that would not only be able to play games, but do much more. It initially was a great idea, but gamers did not see the view in the same light. Instead, there was a huge backlash against the Xbox One. Especially at the fact that it was required to have a Kinect to operate (Macdonald,keza). This extra feature ended up creating a bit of uproar which caused many gamers to change their platform in which they originally played on. One of the other main problems that persisted with the Xbox one is thanks to the kinect taking up some of the performance of the console, it began to lack in the graphics side. Many games that ran at 1080p on the PS4 only ran between 900p and 720p on the Xbox. To most, this doesnt seem like a hudge difference, but when actually playing the games and the fact that technology is constantly evolving, the performance becomes easily apparent. Since the release, Microsoft has been struggling, but also improving the console’s vision.Not only has the company been trying to change their mind in the media aspect and move back to gaming, but they are slowly making their way back into the homes of gamers. One of the most recent and interesting directions that the caompany is pursuing is the fact that they have slowly been moving windows into the operating system (Weinberger, Matt). However, it has not been possible up until the most recent release of windows 10. Now that Microsoft has made the switch, it has opened a new door for the versatility of the console. One of the main additions is the fact that the Xbox will have the ability to stream games with other windows 10 platforms such as a PC. Although the idea is great, at this momment the link between the two has not been completely implemented as dips in frame rates and resolution is still a bit on the fence (Machkovech, Sam). Seeing as Microsoft is making this leap, in due time it could contribute to the potiential of cross-platform gaming.

Xbox One’s Market Share

In November of 2015 the Xbox One totaled their sales to 8,503,910 units in the U.S. alone. That’s an average of 303,127 monthly sales (keating, Lauren). Worldwide it has actually sold 15,078,055 units and averages about 572,823 units in monthly sales. The sales increase has also contributed by the fact that the Xbox One has slowly been cutting the price since the PS4 has been so successful. If the track keeps going as it is, Miscrosoft may retrieve some of the loss sales before this console generation comes to an end. Microsoft holds roughly 29 percent of the total market share between the 3 main consoles.

Sony

As this current console generation has continued, PlayStation has held the lead in the top position. The Ps4 has become one of the most owned and most played consoles to date. With the better hardware that is build into the console, it has completely dominated the console market; leaving the Xbox One in the dust. The massive variety of games, easability to create games for, and the fact that the graphics are superior to the Xbox One, has made it one of the best choices to new and old gamers alike. Unlike Microsoft, Sony hit the ground running once the PS4 released. After hearing about what Microsoft wanted to do with the Xbox One, Sony decided to take the safer route and devote the PS4 to gaming in general. Not only that, but as soon as the PS4 came out, Sony had a lineup of exclusive games to release along-side the system. This increased the PS4’s popularity right out of the gate. Within 24 hours of the release, the PS4 sold over one million units (Yin-Poole, Westly). Even though Sony’s console is excelling in this console generation, the ps3 was completely dominated by the Xbox 360. Now it’s kind of ironic that the tides have turned and Sony is in such a lead that Microsoft will not be able to cathc up.

PlayStation 4’s Market Share

Within the U.S. the PlayStation 4 has sold 9,409,789 units (Keating, Lauren). This adds up to roughly 283,465 units per month. Just based on those numbers, the PS4 is dominatng, but the interesting part of the numbers is the sales around the world.In total, the PS4 has sold 27,684,836 units throughout the world. This averages to 572,823 units a month. Sony tops the 2 other consoles in market share with it’s 53 percent.

Personal Computer Gaming

Personal Computer gaming has been working its way up to be one of the coolest experiences within the genre. With all the customization that one can do not only with the graphics of the games, but also the hardware and aesthetics. Pc gaming, also known as the master race, is becoming more and more popular as it has begun to grow. This is causing many console gamers to switch platforms. Not only that, big companies such as Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, and Valve have created gaming software’s that allow gamers to puchase games and store data onto online cloud based servers. Of the 3, Valve’s Steam has been the most popular form of online distribution system to date (Saunders, Shawn). It lets gamers unify their library of games onto a single platform. On top of this, they have a friendly and easy to use communication system that lets players create profiles, message, and play with friends via the friends list. The program also has a built in option to let multiple accounts become part of one family account. This combines the account’s libraries at no extra expense. Where Steam truly excels overtop the other distrobution programs is in the sales. Steam sales become some of the biggest events within the PC gaming market. Huge amounts of games are discounted at insane prices during these yearly events.

Steam’s Market Share

In 2015, Steam’s market worth rose to a whopping $3.5 billion (Morrison, Angus). At that point in time, it was estimated that steam sold 350 million games. These numbers do not include free-to-play games that handle microtransactions.

Nintendo

Nintendo has almost always had a pretty good track record in the past, however, their consoles have slowly been failing as they cannot seem to keep up with their competitors. Even after the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 released, Nintendo had time to create a console that could potientially beat both of the other consoles. Thus the Wii U was made and said to be more immersive by adding a gamepad as the controller. This gamepad acted almost like a tablet in a sense that it had its own touch screen with motion controls, front facing camera, and a variety of interesting features like near field communication(“Wii U Features”). Even though the idea was great, it lacked in a few areas. Nintendo actually released a console that was worse than the other systems. The console released after the Xbox One and PS4 and still lacked in graphics and performance. With the amount of time Nintendo had to come up with the console, they could have created something that would have dominated the market, but instead they did the opposite.

Wii U’s Market Share

Unfortunately, the Wii U lacks behind the other to consoles with only 12,466,964 units for sales (PS4 vs Xbox One vs Wii U Global Lifetime Sales-December 2015 Update) and only holds 18 percent of the market share between the 3 consoles.

References

Macdonald, Keza.XBOX ONE WILL NOT FUNCTION WITHOUT KINECT ATTACHED.IGN, 21 May 2013.Web. 5 Apr.2016

Machkovech, Sam. “Xbox on Windows 10:What It Is, What It Isn’t, and What’s Missing [Updated].”Ars Technica.N.p., 13, Aug. 2015. Web. 04 May 2016

Weinberger, Matt. “How the Original Microsoft Xbox Project ‘pissed Off’ Bill Gates Because It Didn’t Improve Windows.” Business Insider, Inc 05 Sept. 2015. Web. 04 May 2016.

Keating, Lauren. “PS4 vs. Xbox One: A Breakdown Of Success By The Numbers.” Tech Times RSS. N.p., 23 Nov. 2015. Web 04 May 2016

Yin-Poole, Westly. “PlayStation 4 off to a Great Start in North America.” Eurogamer. N.p., 18 Nov. 2013. Web. 5 Apr. 2016

Morrison, Angus. “Steam Games Market worth $3.5 Billion in 2015.” Pcgamer. PC GAMER, 5 Jan. 2016. Web. 04. May 2016.

Saunders, Shawn. “Steam Vs. Uplay Vs. Origin.” Best Gadgets. N.p., 06 Nov. 2013. Web. 04 May 2016.

“Wii U Features.” Nintendo. Nintendo, n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2016.

“PS4 vs Xbox One vs Wii U Global Lifetime Sales-December 2015 Update.” HottestGame News & Rumors. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2016.