Console War IV – Part II October 13, 2010

The Xbox and the GameCube released within one week of each other in North America, the Xbox first and the GameCube second.  The Xbox launched with one of the best launch titles of all time, which became one of the biggest sellers of the console’s lifespan, Halo, made by newly Microsoft-Owned developer Bungie.  The Xbox would see fantastic initial sales and quick sellouts among retailers, all thanks to Halo.  Also, with the game’s support of Local Area Networks (LANs), it consequently became popular among college students who had them plugged into their network connections, as they were able to find anyone on the same local network (usually people in the same dorm) and play games against each other from their rooms.  The same thing that made the original Doom so popular on the PC was now happening on a console.

Nintendo released the GameCube with no first party Mario title, no CD or DVD playback, and no online support.  The GameCube would see immediate sales but they very quickly slowed down.  Without a first-party Mario title at launch for a Nintendo system, the GameCube slumped.  When that Mario game was finally released, it was no where near as good as their previous games like Mario 64 and the GameCube did not become the major system seller that Nintendo was hoping for.

Sony’s answer to the new competition was the release of the PS2’s original killer app, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, the sequel to the number one game of the original Playstation and the most anticipated game of 2001, even more anticipated than Microsoft’s Halo.

One year after the launch of the Xbox, Microsoft, to everyone (including retailers) surprise, launched Xbox Live, the first ever fully integrated premium console online multiplayer service.  All future Xbox games, if they supported Live functionality, would be able to use Xbox Live’s servers to have full cross-game voice chat (which was unheard of even on the PC), guaranteed broadband online speeds (since the Xbox would not support a dial-up modem).  The price to gamers was $50US per year, and the gamers happily paid it as they were getting more than just online play.  They were getting access to patches, and also for the first time on a console, downloadable content in the form of new levels, multiplayer maps, and skins.  All that could be downloaded either for no extra fee or a premium price.  It was so revolutionary, Sony and Nintendo never had a response to the service for the length of the generation.  The closest that generation had to it was Sega’s Dreamcast modem, but it was limited to dial up speeds (which were abysmal) had no integrated voice chat, games could not be patched, and without a hard drive DLC was impossible.

Being first out of the gate was still doing well for Sony, who finally started selling online adpaters for the Playstation 2 with both a dial up modem and network card.  All new PS2s started coming with the adapters at no extra cost, but the units by themselves were not really being bought by the people who already had PS2s.  Also the PS2’s Hard Drive released in the form of Final Fantasy XI, the newest Final Fantasy game, which required a persistent online connection and a monthly fee to play.  At $100 extra dollars and not many interested in playing this game, the Hard Drives mostly just collected dust, especially since Final Fantasy XI was already on the PC, which was much better suited to playing MMORPGs than the PS2 was.  They did become extremely popular to homebrew users however, who used the Hard Drives to back up their games and play them without the use of discs, not something Sony was hoping for.  The PS2s were still selling extremely well though, as it had the largest catalog of any of the other consoles and a lot of third party exclusives, like Grand Theft Auto 3 and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

The GameCube was still not doing well.  It wouldn’t be until later in the console’s lifespan when first party titles like Metroid Prime and a price drop would bring the GameCube back from obscurity.  Later releases like Mario Kart: Double Dash and Super Smash Bros: Melee would eventually become the killer apps for the console, but it was too late, the GameCube just did not sell the units Nintendo needed.  They would offer network and dial-up modem adapters for the GameCube, but without a killer app to support either, both just collected dust on retail shelves.  The few gamers who did buy them probably never used them.

While the PS2 was considered the clear winner of that generation of the console wars, Microsoft, a relative newcomer to the block was able to hold their own against the power of Sony.  The launch of Xbox Live could also take the crown as the most groundbreaking achievement in the history of consoles.  Finally there was a unified broadband multiplayer service, something that the PC didn’t even have, and it was costing gamers $50US a year, which they were happily paying.

However, the most disheartening news was Nintendo’s GameCube was a tremendous disappointment.  Unable to sell the amount of GameCube  units they needed, it was a major black eye for Nintendo, which to many was still considered the finest game studio in the world.  It was also a financial bust for them, as they still made a loss on every GameCube sold.

This was also the finest generation Sony would have.  Their decision to launch with a DVD player gave them early sales.  They also had a healthy release of extremely successful games like Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (the most anticipated PS2 game at launch), a huge exclusive third party support (Grand Theft Auto 3 launched on PS2 first and was a major system seller), and great first party exclusives like God of War.  Because of all of this, the PS2 is still considered to this day the most successful console of all time.

With Sega out for the count, the next generation of the console war would be fought by only Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft, and that story will be coming next time.