Why did the console bit wars end? During the 32 bit era, PS1 and Saturn were 32 bit systems, and Nintendo was boasting about having a 64 bit system. The last time console makers boasted about bits in their system was the sixth generation, with the Dreamcast, GameCube, and PS2 being 128 bits.

Question

Why didn’t the bit war continue into the seventh generation? Why didn’t the amount of bits double to 256 bits like they did in past generations? Any insight into this would be appreciated.

In: 609

Answer 1

TL:DR – Sony blew everyone else away

Sega bailed after Saturn/Dreamcast, Nintendo tried to be different, and hold their niche market, MS threw money at the problem stubbornly with no soul, buoyed only by Halo.

It stopped being about bits a long time ago, or even the hardware itself. It’s became about platform exclusives, consumables, longer revenue tail and online play.

Which – really is saying the ecosystem with the most users wins. That’s why MS bought Activision – purely to buy traffic. Users you can sell other things too, and integrate as much of their entertainment, search and shopping data into a unified profile.

Sony won the user race 8 years ago. It’s not really been close since.