If one of the Big Three had to close up shop and get out of the console business, which would you choose?

None. I think choosing one of the 3 is a bit dumb.

The fact that we have all three strikes some sort of balance that, I would argue, the industry needs. You don't want a monopoly or duopoly in the console business.

If we are talking a complete bow out. No more console hardware, no more making games. Then MS. Just sell the IP and be done with it. I just don't like what they are doing and where they are going. Games as a service SUCKS...properly sucks. Their ability to release great games has also been pretty meh. They are far removed from the 360 days. A lot of the IP they own would probably benefit from a change in developer at this stage. At the moment their schtick is "GAMEPASS!!! SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE GAMES!!".....not good.

^^^^I hope this comment does age like milk though and, over the next few years, they do start releasing proper belters again. Hi Fi Rush looks good (On my backlog)....more surprises like that please.

If we are just talking getting out of the console hardware business but still making games: Nintendo. I would certainly love to see Nintendos games on the PC in a legit capacity. Set up their own store if they feel the need. I doubt they would have the financial clout to really push the state of the art mind.....but even if they just ended up making higher resolution and higher FPS switch games....grand. Just get the pricing sorted. But many games like that still sell like hotcakes on the PC.

Though if Nintendo did come to PC they would probably do it in a very Nintendo way. Their games on PC hardware ...exclusive to Nintendo OS (A fork of some obscure BSD based OS they saw running on a gambling machine...in the 80s)....which only works with a nintendo controller as do their games (not even a KB+M). Better be careful with that hardware selection :P.

@osan0: The 360 days were terrible for consumers. I don't get this blind love for a time when MS was exceptionally anti-consumer. I guess gamers just prefer anti-consumer practices.🤷🏽‍♀️

Apple needs to stay out.

Sony, they steal too many exclusives and I do not really like how casual movie game focused they are.

I agree until the “goodbye Xbox” part. PlayStation never had the highs Xbox had and their current state is even worse than Xbox‘s in their decline. PlayStation can go and it would almost have no impact on my gaming habits. Interactive movies do nothing for me these days. And everything else is multiplat, so there’s nothing of value lost. PSVR 2, just the hardware, is the only thing that’s unique about the PlayStation brand at this point. And they seemingly don’t even care about that…

Why?

Seriously, they won't add any competition. They'll just come in, charge a ridiculous amount of money for their hardware and all of their games will be on their Arcade subscription. So basically MS but two to three times the price.

@Zero_epyon said:

@hardwenzen said:

@Zero_epyon said:

@hardwenzen said:

I don't want this to ever happen. Instead, can we have Samsung or Apple get into the mix? I would love that.

Apple needs to stay out.

Why?

Seriously, they won't add any competition. They'll just come in, charge a ridiculous amount of money for their hardware and all of their games will be on their Arcade subscription. So basically MS but two to three times the price.

And if they're getting all the hype and the attention, Sony will be forced at delivering instead of doing absolutely nothing, and don't even bother announcing anything for the years to come.

@hardwenzen said:

@Zero_epyon said:

@hardwenzen said:

@Zero_epyon said:

@hardwenzen said:

I don't want this to ever happen. Instead, can we have Samsung or Apple get into the mix? I would love that.

Apple needs to stay out.

Why?

Seriously, they won't add any competition. They'll just come in, charge a ridiculous amount of money for their hardware and all of their games will be on their Arcade subscription. So basically MS but two to three times the price.

And if they're getting all the hype and the attention, Sony will be forced at delivering instead of doing absolutely nothing, and don't even bother announcing anything for the years to come.

there is no focus on games with Apple. they don't know a thing about gaming, and don't care to know. they just care about new flashy tech. if they got into the console race, it would achieve nothing but expensive pieces of worthless plastic, and a shit ton of shovelware to play on it.

@nod_calypse said:

@hardwenzen said:

@Zero_epyon said:

@hardwenzen said:

@Zero_epyon said:

Apple needs to stay out.

Why?

Seriously, they won't add any competition. They'll just come in, charge a ridiculous amount of money for their hardware and all of their games will be on their Arcade subscription. So basically MS but two to three times the price.

And if they're getting all the hype and the attention, Sony will be forced at delivering instead of doing absolutely nothing, and don't even bother announcing anything for the years to come.

there is no focus on games with Apple. they don't know a thing about gaming, and don't care to know. they just care about new flashy tech. if they got into the console race, it would achieve nothing but expensive pieces of worthless plastic, and a shit ton of shovelware to play on it.

Gaming is the perfect space for them to enter. They can be making these flashy tech consoles and peripherals made for their console, and make bank. With money they have, even if they know nothing, its not difficult to "learn", you just need to be serious about it, and not be like google.

@hardwenzen said:

@Zero_epyon said:

@hardwenzen said:

@Zero_epyon said:

@hardwenzen said:

I don't want this to ever happen. Instead, can we have Samsung or Apple get into the mix? I would love that.

Apple needs to stay out.

Why?

Seriously, they won't add any competition. They'll just come in, charge a ridiculous amount of money for their hardware and all of their games will be on their Arcade subscription. So basically MS but two to three times the price.

And if they're getting all the hype and the attention, Sony will be forced at delivering instead of doing absolutely nothing, and don't even bother announcing anything for the years to come.

Sony will only be forced to deliver if they start losing money and market share. The console space isn't a market that Apple can just charge whatever it wants. If they come in with an $899 console that plays games on a subscription it'll be DOA and Sony knows that.

@hardwenzen: Reminder that Playstation almost went bankrupt because they made a fancy, overcomplicated system and tried to sell it for $700.

Nothing will happen to Apple lol. They have over a 1B fans brainlessly buying anything Apple related, including $20 screen wipes branded by Apple.

@Zero_epyon said:

@hardwenzen said:

@Zero_epyon said:

@hardwenzen said:

@Zero_epyon said:

Apple needs to stay out.

Why?

Seriously, they won't add any competition. They'll just come in, charge a ridiculous amount of money for their hardware and all of their games will be on their Arcade subscription. So basically MS but two to three times the price.

And if they're getting all the hype and the attention, Sony will be forced at delivering instead of doing absolutely nothing, and don't even bother announcing anything for the years to come.

Sony will only be forced to deliver if they start losing money and market share. The console space isn't a market that Apple can just charge whatever it wants. If they come in with an $899 console that plays games on a subscription it'll be DOA and Sony knows that.

How about releasing an attractive system to lure in all the casuals, charge $899-999, brand their system as this "premium experience", and actually deliver in games (exclusives) AND performance. Create an echo system with itunes and whatever else they have, and it'll be the system to own for every hipster on this planet. Gamers are extremely easy to milk. Add all their existing fans, and they'll be printing more cash than with their damn phones.

I don't want any of them to go. But if I had to choose, then bye sony. Mostly turd games, aside from tlou, spiderman, and uncharted. Everything else is just meh. They somehow secure 3rd party deals from excellent studios, and get exclusivity. This is a shame, and literally the only thing keeping them afloat. This has been sonys playbook for the last 20 years...abuse their market position and secure exclusive 3rd party games. Their first party games are literally close to barren. Ps5 is a good example of this, literally nothing worth playing aside from a few titles.

The good thing about Sony is they do make good hardware, innovate on that front at least. The dual sense controller is fantastic and even the psvr2 is solid tech.

Yeah, I definitely don’t want Apple entering the fray that’s for sure. Would rather just have the current three remain. Don’t want a fourth participant either. Three is more then enough already.

Just one?

Can't the Grim Reaper take them all? Surely their demise is long overdue.

I can only imagine Apple getting into this...

*fancy hipster walks on stage*

Hello everyone. Apple is getting into the console business. Now, for only $1300 you can get into an exclusive, curated biosphere of gaming that exists as a walled garden that looks really cool and clean, but is extremely limited and we control it all and only allow games that are rated for kids.

*crowd goes wild*

And we also include a power cord that self-destructs after a year and costs $100 to replace

*crowd just goes crazy in excitement*

...and you can only play with a subscription.

*crowd collectively jizzes their pants*

Wow I didn’t know Xbox was this hated , I guess that would explain why it’s leading in this poll.

I know this is largely going to come down to opinion of course since you may be a big fan of MSs games but: Games. They made better games during the 360 era and before (many dam fine PC games before Xbox was even a thing). They promoted them better. They pushed the state of the art more. They haven't really had a hit since Gears of War. Seriously what system seller do they have? I mean i could seriously go on a nasty rant on the state of MSs first party efforts but thats a different topic really.

They can be the most consumer friendly company with the purest of intentions in the world....but what good is that if they don't have the content? The reality is if MS jumped ship now, i wouldn't really be affected. I'm not a fan of gamepass as a business model. Games wise i do want to pick up Hi Fi rush....and that's about it. We are 3 years into the gen and MS have 1 game that interests me.....that's pretty rough. I have no reason to pick up an Xbox. My PC currently isn't even running Windows and i'm not getting an urge to install it to play an MS game that will only run on Windows.

If they don't have the content, what good are their pro-consumer practices? I play games. I buy content. I don't subscribe to philosophies or business practices...content is king.

So you are half right...if I have to hold my nose and put up with the stink of BS from a company (looking at you nintendo) to get at games that interest me then so be it. I would prefer Nintendo took MSs approach of course but if its a choice between great games from a prick or meh games from a sweetheart...i'll be giving my money to the prick.

Imagine Sony, MS and Nintendo going away and being replaced by

Apple, Amazon, Facebook

💀

It's coming.

@onesiphorus: Yeah because Hermits never do any of that.

/sarcasm.

I am not a big fan of MS games. What games do they really have to talk about? Forza, Halo and Gears? During the 360 era they had, those three games with Fable. Now what in those games push the state of the art more? Halo was the only first party that was excelling, the rest were second party and third party games that for some reason MS is getting credit for. People got to stop with this false idea that MS had a period of stella first party games. They never did.

Most of the games I play are not made by MS, Sony or Nintendo. I guess I can make the anecdotal claim that none of them have content because I am not interested in their offerings. 🤷🏽‍♀️

And thanks for confirming my conclusion.😊

I wouldnt want any company go out the sink. More competition means good for us gamers. But if i would pick a console i least interested with its xbox. I have only purchase one xbox console in the past and thats 360.

Xbox for sure. It doesn't offer any unique experiences like its competitors.

@Pedro: Your welcome :). What can i say? I'm a content wh*(e. :P.

We will have to agree to disagree on the games front. At the very least they were doing better than they are doing now. Sure it was Halo Gears Forza but Halo was still exciting (they probably should have stopped at 3...maybe reach), Gears was new and stunning at the time (Yes it was Epic of course so not MS first party but it was funded by MS as far as I know) and Forza was getting into its groove. I think they also partly bankrolled the first mass effect. That was really exciting at the time. It was certainly more effort on the content front than they were doing up to the acquisitions. They tried more to make compelling reasons to buy an xbox back then.

If MS bowed out now what would really be lost? Xbox live and gamepass. Are these really valuable in and of themselves? Worth keeping MS around and losing Nintendo and/or Sony as content creators (the question posed in the topic)?

Anyway hopefully this question becomes a lot more difficult to answer over the next few years. I have my fingers crossed for Starfield and the next Forza Motorsport. Hopefully Obsidians next game is also great and they get Activision in shape (Looks like that whole deal is going through now). Fingers crossed.

@R4gn4r0k: Not like two Big Tech conglomerates don't already rule the games industry anyway.

@osan0: The expectations with these acquisitions should be that they would be releasing more first party content rather than relying on third party deals. We would definitely have to agree to disagree with their first party being great on the 360 but at least we can agree that they had better third party support in the exclusives side of things. The shift to most third party games being multiplatform has skewed the landscape for the better in my opinion because it reduces the hardware locking of games. The value of gamepass and Xbox varies depending on the gamer.

Microsoft, to me ever since they entered the video game industry they been clueless on what video games are. To me the best thing they brought to the video game scene was the creation of Xbox live and a perfect direction to what online gaming can do and go to. Nintendo is still creative with their consoles as is Sony, Microsoft leaving wouldn't do anything to the industry. If Sony or Nintendo left there would be huge shifts to what would be of video games in general. There would have to be new company's just doing what Nintendo and Sony is already doing.

@eni232: How is Sony creative? All they do is copy.

@mesome713:

Copy what? theyve been in the industry since PS1 and have a long history of being innovative console wise and video game wise. Nintendo has been innovative as well but unfortunately for them them it didn't always turn out great as far as video games go and had failing consoles.

I would like them all to stop making systems and focus on games. I honestly see no value in 3 competing boxes. They are just boxes they do nothing for me. (of course this would free them all up to be on my PC.)

@mojito1988: well presumably we are told all are making the boxes for developers to make games on, whether it's a studio owned or independent. There should be unique consoles out there but Sony and Microsoft are cought in the game where they need to have same specs so developers can make games on both consoles. Nintendo last 3 gens has been doing there own thing. I don't think there is room for Sony and Microsoft to both exist. One will have to become what sega is and just make games.

The day that consoles go out of business is the day I quit gaming.

Can I choose both Sony and Microsoft? They're both cancer.

I wouldn't want anyone to fail. I would like them to move to providing their highly lucrative services on one unified peice of hardware though. Tired of buying multiple consoles. It's so unnecessary.

Actually, based on the poll, more people want PlayStation and Nintendo to close up shop (51%) than Xbox (49%).

I have a Series X, but I wouldn't mind all that much if Microsoft were to bail out of the console business. On the condition that they be replaced by someone else. Having someone to compete directly with Sony is a good thing, but Microsoft doesn't seem to bring much to the table in terms of first party properties. It's kind of just a 3rd party box for me that plays it really safe in terms of its features.

I voted not based on a want, but just who I think would be most likely to leave the console business. With that said I voted for Microsoft.

I don't think Microsoft is even counting on the console market for many years longer, hence why they're pushing through with subscription services as that's the market they see taking a lead on.

Gaming+Microsoft is the next Mixer. How do i know? Look at how much effort was put into their flagship title. This is how serious they're taking their gaming division.

As soon as AI becomes their big money maker, forget gaming, they'll exit this shit within a year. All n all, we're seeing Xbox on its last legs.

lol :P

@SecretPolice: Indeed. I couldn’t agree more. LOL

This fakeboy is faking so hard that he looks like he is faking.😂

None. I want Sony and MS to mix up their hardware, though, because these AMD Box parity generations have dang-well bored the crud out of me!