The Console of Mass Destruction

Heres an excerpt of a long and thought provoking article:

Earlier this year, analysts fantasized about the great ‘CONSOLE WAR’ to erupt between Sony and Microsoft. Imagining cannons firing and rockets shooting, the professional and unprofessional (game reporters and forum nerds) panted over the possibilities. Their words were colored with the ‘war’ context. “What feature would Sony FIRE back next?” they wondered. “Microsoft has a head start to SEIZE the market and has the potential to TAKE-OVER the market!”

Poor marketplace! You are to be treated like a battlefield by these bloody thoughts! War! War! War! And the executives of the console companies are talked about as if they were crazed generals all commanding their troops to steal as much “share” of booty as possible from the poor ‘assaulted’ marketplace! Like ‘King of the Mountain,’ a console will be declared ‘victor’ for this console cycle until the next ‘CONSOLE WAR’ breaks out again in 2011 where we drink the same delusions.

The reason why analysis is usually off on the so-called “console wars” is because the mental context by game reporters and, sadly, some professional analysts is ‘war’ instead of ‘business’. Tycho’s term, ‘Retard Rodeo’, aptly describes the fanboy feuds on message forums where people scream, “1080p OMG!!!” “But Microsoft stole it! LOL!!!” “But they aren’t using it well! LOLLERSKATES!” They have no interest in talking about the business strategies or even doing five minutes of research on them. So it is no surprise to hear, “The Wii? LOL, that controller is gimmick waggle wand! zOMG I AM SO FUNNY! HAR HAR HAR!!”

My last couple of articles have generated… interesting… feedback. Some were amazed that the previous article was nine pages long (and yet this article is longer. So what? Just because nine pages is difficult for you doesn’t mean it is so for everyone). A reporter was stunned by my salacious adjectives (and yes, I do intend the puns). But, mostly, the Retard Rodeo bucked wildly with the charge that I was a frothing at the mouth Nintendo fanboy complete with Pokemon toys. They charged that I was simply echoing Nintendo marketing and that the disruption business strategy does not really exist.

This means I failed in my duties of communication. So let me hold up a mirror to hopefully illustrate to you the essentials of the disruption business strategy and why it is at the heart of the so-called ‘Console War’.

Full Article