This is VERY interesting. The console business is living proof for all entrepreneurs that past success DOES NOT dictate FUTURE success. And consumers are NOT as

This is VERY interesting. The console business is living proof for all entrepreneurs that past success DOES NOT dictate FUTURE success. And consumers are NOT as loyal to your brand as you think they are. It's anyone's game and you have to win over your customers each and every decade. === SONY === [Gen1] Playstation (1st place) 102 million units [Gen2] Playstation 2 (1st place) 154 million units [Gen3] Playstation S3 (Last place) 70 million units Sony slipped from being 1st to nearly last. The original lack of online support & multi-media online content of the X360, The "Cell Processor" mistake, high $600 price really hit the PS3 hard, it made up for it by including a blu-ray player though and later free online multiplayer. === Nintendo === [Gen1] N64 (2nd Place) 33 million units [Gen2] GameCube (3rd Place) 22 million units [Gen3] Wii (1st Place) 100 million units Things were getting bad for Nintendo until they tapped into an unknown market known to us now as "Casual Gamers". Before 2004 (much before FarmVille and other casual games) I had honestly never even heard the term at all throughout my life. Well done at discovering a new market. === Microsoft === [Gen1] n/a [Gen2] Xbox (2nd Place) 24 million units [Gen3] Xbox 360 (2nd Place) 77 million units Out of no-where Microsoft (one of the most hated companies in America at the time which inspired Google's original "Don't be evil" moto ) got itself up to 2nd place consistently by catering to "Gun-Bros" and hard core gamers (the type that go to a lan party to play Halo Matches) and delivering online content near perfectly (except for the price tag of Xbox Live). It revived an old idea (playing online with strangers, something that Sega tried and failed at twice) and made it work. It also helps that internet penetration rates were much higher than the days of Sega. It also introduced the standard "achievements" and "gamertag" that we now see all over the place. And it was the 1st to launch during the Gen3 console wars. === Moral of the Story === Last year's winners are this year's losers and last year's losers are now at the top. How differently will things change in the Gen4 console wars? So far the "Wii U" is doing terribly. PS4 looks the most innovative, and Xbone looks like Microsoft's attempt of control and conquering everything in the living room without asking the consumer for input (M$ as usual).