Competition

Nintendo will win the console war, say Gamepro and IDC

Through a terrifyingly complex algorithm, Gamepro has reached the conclusion that the consoles that sell more units ultimately will have sold more units than others. Huh! This conclusion was reached via hard data and line graphs, so think twice before you question their logic. To me, predicting the Wii’s success this late in the game is like calling a horse race after one of the competitors ...

The Blue Ocean is deep

I worry this morning that the table has been set for a repeat of the early 1990’s. The industry is healthy, with two of the three console makers selling their wares briskly, and the slow trickle of software that was the first six months of the “next generation” is set to increase as we head into and out of the summer doldrums. Well, it’s set to increase in the Nintendo corn...

Kutaragi stepping down as PlayStation chief this June

The father of the PlayStation Ken Kutaragi will “retire” on June 15 in light of a dismal PS3 launch. Kaz Hirai will take the helm effective this summer. The AP reports: “Although Kutaragi will remain an adviser, some U.S. gaming experts said the retirement may have been a face-saving firing and an effort by Stringer to recover from the botched PS3 launch.” Video games owe a...

Analyst: "Gaming has been a disastrous endeavor for Microsoft"

“Particularly from an investment perspective,” says Wall Streeter Roger Ehrenberg. Note, this doesn’t mean the Xbox has been a disaster for gamers — far from it (cough, cough Halo) — but Ehrenberg makes a strong case that the Xbox has failed investors by hemorrhaging Microsoft’s Home & Electronics profits. He also believes that when a console fails in Japan,...