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When it comes to game consoles, we have to mention the FC launched by Nintendo in 1983. Many people have heard of the FC and know that it can play Mario Brothers, but do you know what FC stands for? That's right. Family Computer, also abbreviated as Famicom, because of the classic red and white color scheme of the Japanese version, it is also known as the Red and White Machine.
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By the end of the 1980s, although the FC was popular worldwide, it was not officially introduced to China for various reasons, and only a small number of families could play the "gray market" FC. Originally, game consoles were supposed to be household appliances for family fun, but at that time, China was not so developed, and the cultural background and economic conditions made it difficult for most families to accept buying a dedicated gaming appliance for their children. Thus, the "Little Tyrant Learning Machine" emerged, which not only was compatible with FC cartridges but also allowed learning typing in addition to gaming.
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Duan Yongping from Guangdong successfully got millions of Chinese children to play FC game consoles under the guise of "learning," as who would have the heart to learn typing when Mario and Contra were so much fun? Plus, with Jackie Chan as the spokesperson, it was bound to be a hit.
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In 1986, Sony was still a supplier providing hardware technology for Nintendo's FC games. However, Nintendo, being the sole leader with the FC, became complacent and did not engage in the development of new consoles.
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Fragmentation of Power
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In 1987, SEGA took the lead by launching the MD (Mega Drive), known as Genesis in the United States. The MD expanded the game content, putting Nintendo's dominance, which relied on the old FC, in jeopardy. To make matters worse, that same year, NEC partnered with Hudson to launch the PC-Engine—the first game console capable of using CD-ROMs, which quickly took over the gaming market.
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Faced with pressure in 1988, Nintendo began developing an enhanced version of the Super Famicom (SFC), known as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in Europe and America, which was released in 1991.
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On the other hand, Nintendo also learned from NEC's model of finding technical partners for joint development and invited Sony to develop the then-advanced CD-ROM as the data carrier for the next-generation console, which was named SFC-CD, SNES-CD, or Play Station—corresponding to the workstation for computers.
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Sony and Nintendo grew closer and began to collaborate on developing the new console, with both parties agreeing to sell their respective parts under their own names once the new console was released.
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Nintendo wanted to leverage Sony's CD-ROM technology—because it knew that was the future—while Sony's ulterior motive was to create a new console to sell on its own, while also being compatible with Nintendo's new console, directly taking over the market and putting Nintendo down. Thus, six months later, after carefully reading the contract, Nintendo exclaimed, "Sony, you big trickster," and in 1991, Nintendo unilaterally and secretly canceled its cooperation with Sony, turning to Philips to develop a CD-ROM game console instead. Sony was still in the dark. Although Sony was cunning, Nintendo's unilateral breach of contract also left a stain, which has been criticized by the public to this day. In 1993, Sony believed that Nintendo's SFC hardware was outdated, so it abandoned the previously cooperative game prototype with Nintendo and started redesigning the "Play Station," perhaps to distance itself from its former partner, symbolically removing the space in the name, changing it to "PlayStation," becoming a game console completely independently developed by Sony. In 1994, Sony launched the PlayStation. The architecture of the original PlayStation was very close to high-end PCs of the same era, easily running 3D games. After laying a solid foundation, Sony attracted a large number of third-party developers, with both the quantity and quality of games rising sharply, defeating the slightly inferior Sega Saturn and Nintendo N64 in terms of hardware and ecosystem. Iconic IPs like Resident Evil, Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy, Crash Bandicoot, and Metal Gear Solid first rose to prominence on the original PlayStation.
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In the same year (1994), Sega also launched the SEGA Saturn (SS), commonly referred to as the Saturn in China, which also supported 3D games. To achieve stronger computing power, Sega equipped the Saturn with two CPUs, while its competitor Sony's PlayStation adopted a one CPU + one graphics acceleration chip architecture, which was superior in 3D performance, making the original PS more popular.
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In 1998, Sega launched the "DreamCast (DC)," using a unique GD-ROM, with a single disc capacity increased to 1.2GB.
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In 1999, PlayStation 2 was announced, using higher-capacity DVD-ROMs as the game carrier, with capacities of up to 4.7GB or 8.5GB for Blu-ray. It not only defeated Sega's DreamCast in terms of hardware but also further enhanced PlayStation's status by providing a good ecosystem and support for game developers. Sega's DreamCast, due to numerous hardware issues and a limited game lineup, failed to create a significant impact, leading to Sega's direct exit from the console hardware market, focusing instead on developing game software for Nintendo and Sony.
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Next, Nintendo released the Nintendo Game Cube (NGC), claiming its performance was superior to the PS2. However, because the NGC used small-capacity mini CDs as game carriers, many games could not be ported, and the hardware was not that strong, so it was ultimately defeated by the PS2.
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Sony's philosophy has always been simple—provide players with high-quality graphics and sound. Moreover, the PS2 came with a built-in DVD player, and at that time, buying a DVD player was a global trend. Purchasing a PS2 at a price cheaper than a DVD player, which could not only play games but also high-quality DVD movies, undoubtedly secured Sony's dominant position in this generation, and the PS2 made a huge profit.
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Tripartite Balance
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The following year, in 2001, Microsoft, seeing Sony's success, couldn't sit still. In November, it released the Xbox game console, which had more powerful hardware capabilities than the PS2 but was priced very low. At this time, the PS2 had already sold over 20 million units.
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As a newcomer, to capture the market, Xbox had to sell the console at a loss, reportedly losing $125 for each Xbox sold. Although the Xbox received a good market response in Europe and America due to its low price, its initial version was not considered successful because Microsoft's gaming ecosystem was still not rich. In 2005, Microsoft hurriedly launched a new model, the Xbox 360, infamous for the "three red lights" warning that rendered the console inoperable, with the only solution being to return it for a motherboard replacement. The Xbox 360 had a failure rate of 68%. However, as the most advanced gaming console at the time, it was the only place to experience the highest graphics quality, making this problematic machine very popular among many players. Playing Halo online on the Xbox 360 became a popular entertainment method for people in Europe and America. Additionally, Microsoft's philosophy was to position the Xbox as a living room entertainment center, allowing users to not only play games but also purchase movies and music online for direct playback in the living room, making the Xbox 360 more popular than the original Xbox.
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In 2006, Sony launched the PlayStation 3, triggering a buying frenzy. The PS3 continued the high-quality graphics and high-fidelity sound route, but the hardware costs became too high due to the hardware pile-up, leading to a higher selling price. Moreover, Sony developed many unique instructions, making it very difficult for developers to create games for the PS3, thus extending the development cycle and nearly leading to the PS3's demise. After realizing the problem, Sony began to gradually adjust its strategy, and with the loyal user base accumulated from the PS1 and PS2, it managed to maintain its market share.
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In 2006, Nintendo launched the Wii, with a very unique approach. The Wii's hardware performance was weaker than that of the PS3 and Xbox 360 of the same generation, but its highlight was supporting motion sensing, allowing players to dance and play games in a way that people had never seen before. Not only did it achieve the lowest cost among the three, but it also attracted many people who had never played games before, who couldn't resist the curiosity to wave the motion-sensing remote, thus achieving success. Nintendo achieved its strategic goal of low-cost family-friendly gaming.
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In 2012, Nintendo released the Wii U, which was compatible with Wii games. It can be seen as the predecessor of the Nintendo Switch, consisting of two parts: a "handheld-like remote" and a console connected to the TV, which communicate wirelessly. The handheld can serve as both a motion-sensing remote and a touchpad, but it cannot operate independently from the console.
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In November 2013, Sony released the PlayStation 4, which sparked a buying frenzy. Sony learned from the lessons of the PS3 and adopted a traditional PC architecture for the PS4, maximizing compatibility, making it easy for developers to start developing, leading to a surge in the number of games. The concurrently launched handheld PS Vita could stream PS4 games, allowing players to enjoy next-generation games while lying in bed, which was extremely advanced at the time.
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In the same year, Microsoft also released the next generation Xbox, called Xbox One (Microsoft's naming is quite unconventional). Xbox One learned from Nintendo's motion-sensing gaming approach, bundling a multifunctional camera called Kinect 2.0 to detect player movements for motion-sensing gameplay. However, due to its high price and mandatory bundling of accessories, it faced criticism.
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In 2016, Microsoft released the Xbox One S, removing the Kinect bundle and reducing the size, but there was not much improvement in hardware performance. At this time, Sony launched the PlayStation 4 Pro, which significantly improved hardware performance, and most developers created higher-quality, higher-frame-rate Pro version games for the PS4 Pro, leading to a superior game lineup and quality compared to its competitors. In 2017, Microsoft launched the Xbox One X (Scorpio), which had hardware performance exceeding that of the PS4 Pro. However, due to Microsoft's strategy of having most games launch simultaneously on both console and PC, many games also had similar or even better performance on PC, leading to lower-than-expected sales for Scorpio. The PS4 era also established the glory of Sony's game consoles, temporarily making it the best-selling game console.
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In 2017, Nintendo released the Nintendo Switch, successfully solving the ultimate question of "handheld or console?" The Switch has two versions, the regular version can connect to the TV through a dock and can also be carried as a handheld, while the Lite version can only be used as a handheld.
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Nintendo once again ignited the market with creativity rather than hardware. The Switch achieved tremendous success with its extremely low hardware cost, novel design, and a large number of family-friendly games, avoiding direct competition with Microsoft and Sony in hardware and continuing the innovative gameplay style of the Wii to open up new markets. This also directly led to Nintendo lying low for another six years, as the underpowered Switch remains Nintendo's "latest" console to this day (2023). In 2020, Microsoft launched the latest Xbox products of this generation, the high-performance Xbox Series X, and the smaller, lower-spec Xbox Series S, targeting hardcore and casual gamers, with the price difference indicating Microsoft's desire to capture a larger market share.
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In the same year, Sony launched the PlayStation 5, which is backward compatible with almost 99% of PS4 games, with performance slightly weaker than the Xbox Series X, available in both disc and digital versions.
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Since 2001, the game console market has remained a tripartite balance among Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft, with no signs of breaking this pattern. However, as the saying goes, "what is united will be divided, and what is divided will be united." Whether there will be disruptive forces like the unconventional Steam Deck to break this tripartite situation remains to be seen. We will wait and see.
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