Healthy and a non-monopolistic business is inherently competitive. There is no doubt that until recently there has been a war of sorts in the video game industry between Sony, Nintendo, and relative newcomer, Microsoft. There is also no doubt, that on occasion, very serious blows have been dealt during this “War”. But unlike in the past, now, when such a blow is struck, it tends to be something that further evens the playing field.

Indeed, while competition still exists (which it most certainly should) and if any war exists still, it is a “cold war” of positioning rather than the constant bombs of exclusivity of generations past. Though surely it was unintended on the part of former dominator Sony, it appears that many major occurrences of this “New Gen” of gaming have led the three to relative equality with major prosperity and growth on the horizon for all three companies due to a growing video gaming market.

Microsoft’s XBox 360 appeared on the market a full year before the up-and-coming consoles of their competitors. They wanted to capitalize on being first. They wanted to expand their market so that they had more strength beyond the borders of North America, and they did. Yet still, they didn’t clean house as they probably could have due to a large percentage of critical problems with hardware, and lingering Eastern resistance to the XBox franchise.

Sony’s Playstation 3 looked to reconnect with the success that the PS2 had in bringing the DVD into mainstream with their High Definition Blu-Ray disk. In addition to that strategy, they also packed the console with the power to center a home’s entire entertainment experience around it. Though it was not intended, the inherent cost of such a product combined with less of a focus on gaming than in the past, not to mention the year handicap given to their closest thing to a head to head opponent, saw Sony forfeiting the majority of market share. While it is more than safe to assume that the Playstation franchise will continue to be a force for years to come, it is also safe to assume that Sony’s next few major 3rd party exclusives will for the most part be the last we see of that degree of exclusivity.

Nintendo’s Wii did come out a year after the XBox 360, but with its lower price, it targeted those who were put off by the cost of HD gaming. Nintendo’s banking on the popularity of the point and click, motion controlled interface on the console, has also paid off. Some would say that Nintendo, due to its astronomical sales so far has the clear advantage. There is no doubt that they currently have the majority of the gaming market share. However, continued 3rd party support and sales problems due to past mistakes make Nintendo’s advantage a small one so far, as the consoles with fewer in home numbers tend to sell more games. While Nintendo is undoubtedly and justifiably ecstatic about their success, they’d be foolish to assume that this success will continue long-term on the backs of Mario, Link, and mini-games alone.