Sticks and Stones: Why Console Wars Should Not Matter

Boy, it has been a rough week for Microsoft. On Thursday, it was announced that the tech giant would be closing the doors to its Microsoft Entertainment Studios, a division of the company which aimed to tap the Microsoft brand into the television market through original programming. Microsoft has become as amorphous as Play Dough, constantly reorganizing its assets and priorities as a continuing response to its poorly received plans to focus on entertainment as a whole, instead of gaming, exclusively.

I’m hurt by this announcement. While some of the studio’s most-anticipated projects are still on-target for release, including a live-action Halo television series as well as Remedy’s television/game hybrid Quantum Break, I was a supporter for Microsoft’s decision to move into the television market. It goes without saying that I am in the minority for this opinion, but understand that my feelings are no different than finding out that your most-anticipated video game was just cancelled. As a TV junkie myself, I was truly eager to see Microsoft's TV plans come to fruition.




3. Because Games Are Not Going Away!

We argue that one corporation is better than another. Sony. Microsoft. Valve. Indie. Valve. Sony. Microsoft. Valve. We complain about prices. We negatively compare one exclusive to another. The arguments are irrelevant, because the intrinsic nature of the games industry is that there will always be games. These large corporations exist to feed its consumers entertainment, and that entertainment is not going away! So why waste time constantly belittling one company and praising another when both are making the products which some person out there wants to play? If only one thing was true about the video games industry, it would be that there will always be games to play.

The games industry is only growing – the number of people playing is growing with it. This notion of a “Console War” is harmful more than anything. It stunts progress. The chaos at Microsoft the past year is, arguably, the result of  consumers who refused to see that great things were coming, and Microsoft, out of a lack of conviction, and most likely for fear of losing money, compromised their visions to help the industry evolve.

I must not see the negatives that everyone else sees - I wouldn't even call this a war. But even if it is, that's okay, because the good thing about wars is that they always end.

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