Analysis of the Rivalry between Video Games(Playstation, Wii and Xbox) Essay

Analysis of the Rivalry between Video Games(Playstation, Wii and Xbox) - Essay Example Previously, Sega was a prominent player in the industry, however, in current times, the three leaders in the industry; namely, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft, have always been neck-to-neck against each other. Throughout the course of time, Atari began the industry with its 4-bit games and then, Nintendo’s rivalry with Sega spanned throughout the 1980’s and until the middle of 1990’s. Then, Sony launched its Playstation and it took the industry by surprise. Since then Sega stopped its game race while Microsoft entered the market with its Xbox 360. The inclination of the video game companies in the last century circled around the basic factors of competition such as the edge over technology, better diversity of gaming experience and a connection with consumers’ imagination. However, since the last decade, companies have switched their focus to a changing scenario and diverse consumer preferences. Focus has been on wireless and network-enabling features, along with better graphics. The companies claim their products’ value-proposition to be a complete entertainment package and not just a gaming console.The video game industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. With early analogue game inventions in the mid 1900s, the video gaming industry has picked up on pace by the end of 1990s. Since then, the industry has never looked back. Various multinational companies and massive customer bases have developed this business into a multi-billion dollar industry. Buyers are literate and in all ages - predominantly preteens, teens and young adults. The game player’s age has increased to 33 and 25% of buyers are over age 50 (Izushi and Aoyama, 2006). Game console is the largest segment in the industry, but online, mobile, PC software and broadband are some of the fastest growing segments. In the past decade, the video gaming industry has been growing sharply and is expected continue to grow in the future. The growth ra te of global video games has been very healthy especially since 2000; the market size increased from 24,352 million in 2000 to 51,292 million in 2010 (Competition in the Video Game Console Industry: Nintendo, Sony, And Microsoft Battle For Supremacy, 2009).   The industry comprises of numerous game developers, however, the top companies are only a handful, while others are niche players. According to a research mentioned in the article ‘Competition in the Video Game Console Industry: Nintendo, Sony, And Microsoft Battle For Supremacy’, there are only 3 major players; Sony, Xbox and Nintendo. Broadly speaking, research found 6 leading video game consoles appeal to generate large-volume sales of new units in 2007: namely, Microsoft’s Xbox 360; Sony PlayStation 3 and hand-held PSP; and Nintendo’s Wii, Game Boy Advance, and DS/DS Lite. The major markets for these companies for business is the US and Asia market. The report discusses the business rivalry pers istent in the video game industry worldwide. Through the course of this report, the reader can find brief cases of each major game developer and the nature of rivalries