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[jts]

For the most part this. To an extent.

The Wii U and Dreamcast both have great libraries but were killed by factors other than their library or power. DC by Sega incompetence and Wii U by brand confusion

It’s easy to count the good games at the end of a console lifespan but that doesn’t tell the whole story. It doesn’t tell the pacing of releases, the right amount of games at the right time. I’d say even if Wii U has some great games, the size of its quality library is still relatively meager.

Let’s say, BoTW. One of the highest praised games ever. And it was on the Wii U so that’s a score for the Wii U’s library, right? Except that by the time came out on Wii U, the console was done and dusted and there was a new one with the same game, so it literally didn’t matter, hardware sales-wise. On a smaller scale, other good games that hit the Wii U, weren’t released fast enough to keep hw sales pumping either.

 

[Bankai]

Answer: 10.3 tflops

 

[Yoshi]

It is not irrelevant but the better tech does not make a console the automatic winner, as we know that in the weaker
- NES
- PS1
- PS2
- Wii
- Game Boy
- DS
- 3DS

beat the stronger
- Master System
- N64
- GCN / Xbox
- 360 / PS3
- Game Gear
- PSP
- PSV

Also I am fairly certain the weaker PS5 will beat the stronger XSX.

 

[GametimeUK]

I don't believe power necessarily dictates how successful a console will be, but damn the online community would have had you believe it was true when the PS4 specs were revealed originally.

 

[Jadsey]

Raw power is meaningless.

It's the speed of the SSD that defines a generation.

 

[Gormless Noodle]

SNES was less powerful? I certainly never gave that impression.

No it wasn't. The only thing the Megadrive/Genesis really had on the SNES was the processor speed, hence the blast processing marketing spin.

 

[TheAssist]

There is so much sanity in this thread. I'm amazed. Faith in NeoGaf restored. Thanks guys

 

[Kumomeme]

in the end..software matter..especially exclusives
gimmick come second, if it exist and utilized properly

original xbox is stronger than ps2..but ps2 remained the highest selling console ever
xbox 360 supposed to be devs friendlier than ps3..it even had a year head start but ps3 manages to catch up due to exclusives
Wii sales suprassed both ps3 and xbox 360 despite just bit more stronger than ps2..here it seems wiimote play important role other than exclusives
and here we get Switch, which is basically just a Wii U turbo that in 3 years suprassed 6 years of x1 sales ...botw even outsold the console itself as a launch title
there another example of 3ds sales against vita...well vita failure also due to lack of support from sony itself

Wii U failure due to lot of things, but it just odd case compared to other successfull one..and due to software exclusives also the console somehow alive bit longer than expected

in the end, people want to play games not to fiddle with the hardware
in the end, people want to play fun games not all is always everything about resolution, framerate and pretty visuals

but ofcourse, having those strong hardware is bonus ..it also important that it would not held back developers... paired with number 1 priority of great software, we had example like current gen ps4 output
and imagine if switch is bit stronger

 

[PlayStaytion]

It's not 100% accurate, sony's market share is bigger cause they support more countries and that's a fact whether ms and Nintendo like to share their opinion and make a real conversation about it or not , they just don't have different way to address this issue as simple as that.

 

[Moogle11]

It’s having the most popular games and nailing marketing that matters.

 

[fran.fernandez]

Raw power * game power.

12 raw power * 1 game = 12 Total power
9 raw power * 10 games = 90 Total power

 

[UltimateUnknown]

Just look at modern Nintendo for the answer. They are arguably some of the best selling consoles of all time in DS/Wii/3DS/Switch and none of them are even close to being the most powerful of the gen. Games are what drive sales, and a good pricing is also important, as well as marketing.