The Console Wars Are Over. Thank God.

It’s late. Your room is nearly pitch black save for the soft glow of your Gateway computer monitor. The room is nearly silent aside from the low whine of your computer’s fans. Linkin Park’s Faint blasts through your iPod. You’re tired, you’re hungry, those pizza bagels were satisfying, but not filling. Maybe Mom would make more? No, it’s two o clock in the morning and she needs sleep for her shift at the Cingular Wireless store.

You’re getting distracted.

You’ve been reading through a heated thread on NeoGaf concerning Sony latest gaming behemoth, the PlayStation 3. It was just announced today for five-hundred ninety nine US Dollars. It’s essentially a super computer packed into a sleek, minimalist black exterior. The cell processor is going to reshape gaming and possibly computing as a whole. It’s a revelation in consumer technology and some Luddite named “Zelda’sBFF420” fails to understand the weight of Sony’s announcement.

“LOL 599 DOLLARS? LOL THAT’S LIK 2 CARZ wtf lol”

That idiot. Doesn’t he understand that a car is vastly more expensive than the PlayStation 3? Much less two cars? Imbecile. Luckily “xXrAWrDaWg222” is in the thread, calmly refuting Zelda’s idiotic presumption.

“Dude, the PS3 is stronger than NASA computer. stfu.”

You read the “STFU” aloud, quietly of course. Also you make sure not to actually read out what “stfu” stands for, you’re not insane. You know your father is still half awake watching Law and Order reruns. If he hears you up and about he might not let you go to the Super Smash Brothers: Melee tournament Saturday. xXrAWrDaWg222 has the right intention however, even though his delivery could be a little more subtle. The Playstation 3 is the greatest electronic device ever invented by man. Based on Sony’s description of the console, it may have divine origins. How others refuse to bear witness is beyond your understanding.

As you continue through the thread, someone with the handle “MICROSAUCE” has written “dude, the 360 shits all over this thing. plus it don’t cost 600 dollars. lol. the thing doesn’t even have Halo. idiot lol”

The rage builds within you from the bottom of your chest. Your temples begin to bulge with cognitive energy. Your mind is constructing thousands of different responses to the sheer idiocy you’ve just read. “MIRCOSAUCE” is simply a shill for Microsoft and their clearly lesser gaming console: The Xbox 360. A ridiculous name for a silly console. That’s it! The response is so eloquent, so concise, so incisive! “MICROSAUCE” would never be able to respond to it. He may even delete his account! The world would be spared another non-believer. You click your cursor within the text field and compose your thought.

“Shut up MICROSLAVE. Ps3 haz cell proccess. No one carez about Halo idiot lolz.”

Absolute devastation. You’ve won. You’ve successfully defended Sony from the insurmountable threat of this NeoGaf user and his absurd opinion. You’ve won.

+ + +

Over a decade ago the internet was filled with the verbal madness you read above. With every new console release came the inevitable, incessant and ultimately meaningless flame wars between different factions of people whose lives would largely be unchanged no matter the outcome of the war. Gamers made their console selection an essential part of their identity, inseparable from their other interests, hates and loves. Due to this, those within slightly different opinions became mortal enemies. At least on the internet.

Comment sections became battlefields, forums became trenches, it never failed. People who were normally well adjusted turned into frothing-at-the-mouth soldiers for multinational corporations, engaging in free emotional warfare for a product that hadn’t even been released yet.

In one sense, these corporations could not have asked for a better marketing campaign. They spent nearly no money and they have legions of sycophants chomping at the bit to scream and degrade the loyal volunteer pawns of an opposing corporation. The spectacle of the console war was advertising in itself. At the risk of sounding cliched, no matter who won, the corporations ultimately took home the spoils of war. It was a strange, volitale time to be a video game enthusiast, but I think the war is coming to an end.

Microsoft announced recently that all first party exclusives will be available on Game Pass. This comes right after news that Microsoft purchased gaming behemoth Zenimax. Microsoft is establishing itself as more than a a console company, they seem to want to be a services company. Or a gaming “experience company.” The Xbox name is extending well beyond the restraints of a single console and transitioning into a platform encompassing the Xbox console, xCloud streaming, and Gamepass, Microsoft’s subscription gaming service. Microsoft is essentially conceding the console war to Sony and ascending to a drastically different format. Microsoft is looking beyond per unit Xbox sales and attempting to woo users into perpetual payment plans with “free” games and services. And it may just work.

Sony seems to be content with selling as many consoles as possible, which, if my desperate, vain attempts to purchase a PS5 are any indication, seems to be working for them. (Every site I’ve been on has crashed before I could even press “add to cart.” Why don’t they want me to have it? WHY?)

However, this trend could gradually be coming to an end as wallets become more bare and priorities shift, people are naturally going to shift away from spending five hundred dollars or more on a console and seek out cheaper (at least initially) options. Sony is attempting to combat Game Pass with their own “Playstaion Collection.” However, the game selection is far smaller, Sony still doesn’t offer a true xCloud competitor and there isn’t currently a way to purchase a Playstation console on a monthly basis. Sony has an excellent library of first party titles however, which will more than likely sustain the Playstation brand going forward. It’s possible that the only thing sustaining the Playstation brand will be a library of excellent first party titles. Since the Xbox is technically more powerful and the Nintendo Switch is a full console that you can take with you with it’s own library of excellent first party titles, there’s nothing particularly distinctive about the Playstation 5. In the way that every new smartphone or car is an iteration of the previous, the Playstation 5 simply refines on the Playstation 4 like the 4 did with the 3 and so on. Sony has never made attempts to trick people with some sort of gimmick or by propositioning the Playstation as something besides a very good game console in the way that others have.

What does all this mean? It means that each manufacturer has finally found their niche and are doing what they can to market to that specific niche. The major console manufacturers are no longer directly competing with each other in volume sales because they’ve discovered that it’s not really a winnable game anymore. Which is a great thing for everyone! It means a deeper focus on core audiences rather than desperate, ill-fated attempts to woo non-gamers or those who are deeply interested in another console. It means, hopefully, mercifully, an end to the eternal flame war.

But probably not.