Published , by David Craddock
Published , by David Craddock
In sixth grade, my best friendship built on a solid foundation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and kickball at recess fell apart. We weren't the only casualties. The playground divided as everyone picked sides in the 16-bit war, and Danny and I found ourselves on opposite sides of the line. I rode Yoshi into battle and carried the latest issue of Nintendo Power; he flew the banner of Blast Processing and Madden.
Back then, the console war mattered. Both Nintendo and Sega touted exclusives the other side couldn't play. Multiplatform releases like Mortal Kombat looked and played differently on Super NES and Genesis. Plus, we were kids. We couldn't afford to buy these systems. We had to cajole or badger our parents for video games and a video game console. That's console, singular. If your parents were like mine, they would not buy you more than one brain-rotting box. You lived by your choice, and you died on that hill.
Sony's reveal of the PS5's release date and price point drove home the industry's new reality: The console wars as we knew them are over. Done. Finished. Dead.
Don't get me wrong. Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony would still prefer you support their platform over their competitor's. But the days of investing your (parents') money--and sometimes, your identity--in your console of choice are gone, and have been gone for a while, if we're being honest.
The landscape of game development has changed. Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft share some priorities, but their primary goal is no longer to sell more of their game-playing boxes than the competition. In July, Xbox boss Phil Spencer admitted to GamesIndustry.biz that coaxing or bullying consumers into buying his console rather than someone else's was "completely counter to what gaming is about to say that part of that is to lock people away from being able to experience those games. Or to force someone to buy my specific device on the day that I want them to go buy it."
Game Pass backs up Spencer's words. Over 10 million subscribers pay for Game Pass. Some of those subscribers play Xbox games on Xbox One. Some will play on the Xbox Series X/S when they launch in November. Others, including yours truly, will play them on their Windows 10 PCs.
"Our device is not the center of our strategy, our game is not the center of the strategy," Spencer continued with GamesIndustry.biz. "We want to enable you to play the games you want to play, with the friends you want to play with, on any device. On TV, the Xbox console is going to be the best way to play console games. Xbox Series X is the most powerful console out there and it will have absolutely the best versions of our console games. But that's not to exclude other people from being able to play."
When PS4 and Xbox One launched within a week of one another in November 2013, the idea that I'd be able to play either company's exclusives on any other platform was absurd. Over the last few years, Microsoft has made it a reality, and Sony is moving in the same direction. Following strong sales of Death Stranding and Horizon: Zero Dawn on PC, games previously only playable on PS4, Sony revealed in its Corporate 2020 report that it will consider bringing more first-party games to the PC.
"Targeted outcomes include growth in active users, stronger retention and a shorter cash conversion cycle, from which expanded cash flow can be expected," per the report. "We will explore expanding our 1st party titles to the PC platform, in order to promote further growth in our profitability."
Unlike Microsoft, Sony hasn't gone all-in on transferring first-party games to other devices. A trailer that teased Bluepoint's remake of Demon's Souls on PC appeared at the end of a trailer that has since been taken down, chalking up the text to "human error." However, rumors have circulated that Bloodborne, another crown jewel in the PS4 library and the fan-favorite "Soulsborne" franchise created by FromSoftware, may be coming to PC. The port will be a remaster boasting updates such as 60 fps, and will undoubtedly appear on PS5 as well.
And there's strike two. Aside from minor disparities such as 900p resolution on Xbox One's launch and "S" consoles compared to 1080p on PS4 and PS4 Slim, this gen's hardware from Sony and Microsoft was comparable. More comparable, at any rate, than previous systems. Back in the 16-bit console war, when we walked uphill to school both ways--in snow that was grainier on Sega Genesis but with slowdown on Super NES--your choice of platform mattered, because multiplatform releases might look better, play better, sound better on your box or your friend's.
In 2013, and in November 2020, the differences between Xbox Series X/S and PS5 will be negligible. Teraflops, system RAM, processing speeds, internal storage, loading time--no system has a huge, make-or-break advantage over the other. That may change once millions of consumers get their hands on one box or the other, but only the pickiest (those who insist on making the case for their side winning a war from the past) will perceive discrepancies. What's more, cross-play is becoming a bigger priority for many publishers. Destiny 2, Fortnite, and a few others will bridge the gap between PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, while other titles such as Rocket League have already invited those crowds and players on Switch to play together.
Back in the day (snow, uphill both ways, etc.), many players talked with their friends to make sure everyone bought the same console so they could all play together. That's still a concern, but less so now.
Then there's Nintendo, who, in the words of late-president Satoru Iwata, pulled out of the console wars nearly 20 years ago by doing its own thing to varying degrees of success. "We have not changed our strategy," Iwata told Gamasutra in the summer of 2012, months before the Wii U launched and over a year before PS4 and Xbox One. "In other words, we just do not care what kind of 'more beef' console Microsoft and Sony might produce in 2013. Our focus is on how we can make our new console different than [others]."
Wii U cratered, but before it, the Wii was an enormous success. Now, Nintendo is selling millions of Switches, and Switch isn't really a console. Several months after the Switch launched in 2017, data gathered by Nintendo showed that more players treated the Switch as a handheld than they do a console connected to their TV. That number evened out a year or so later. But Nintendo isn't really in direct competition with Xbox or PlayStation. It is in the sense that some consumers may have to choose between it or another platform, but Nintendo never meant for Switch to be pitted against Xbox Series X/S or PS5, or even this generation's hardware. The novelty of Switch lies in its functionality as a device on which you can play thousands of the best AAA and indie games from the past 10+ years on your TV, or in bed, or on public transportation (which I hope you're avoiding as much as is possible these days), or anywhere. PS5 and Xbox X/S can't do that.
More importantly, Nintendo is no longer just a video game company in the same way WWE is no longer just a wrestling company. Amiibo, action figures, LEGO sets, amusement parks, video games, clothing, movies… Buy any of these, and you're buying into the Brand with a capital B.
This December, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo will crow about how many units they've sold and how much money they've made. And there are bound to be consumers who brag about how their side is winning. But how can anyone win a war when the "teams" aren't fighting over the same thing? Sony, whose console outsold Microsoft's this generation, wants PS5 to take the lead early as it continues to experiment with expanding its IPs. Microsoft wants to move consoles, too, but it's as focused on selling Game Pass, if not more focused. Nintendo will move Switches in the tens of thousands thanks to the huge popularity of Animal Crossing: New Horizons and this week's Super Mario 3D All-Stars.
Three unique sets of priorities. Three manufacturers no longer fighting over one thing. That's not a war. That's progress, and it's bound to benefit everyone.