A blog or two ago, I mentioned that I was very much into video game industry news when I was younger. Since I have no stake in the upcoming release of the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4, I thought I’d take a look at the “console wars” phenomenon. Inspired by the following article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/11/16/xbox-one-vs-ps4-the-console-wars-are-just-getting-started/.

Photo Courtesy of Forbes

Some have said that the fact that different game consoles exist is rather pointless when looking at the video game industry as a whole. After all, new consoles are brought around every few years when a substantial change in technology necessitates the need for systems that can run more tech-demanding games. Every company in this industry is going to take advantage of the same technology, which more often than not is produced by third parties. If every new console is similar in terms of tech, why do we still have different consoles?

Because the manufacturers (Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo) each want to make a profit for themselves through selling their own individual console. Methinks the console war phenomenon is allowing this to continue. The consumers are allowing this inefficient system of enjoying games to continue by fervently declaring themselves to one console in an effort to convince themselves they have purchased the best product.

So in short the console wars are an example of the consumer allowing an inefficient product market to continue.