The Console Wars: How PlayStation and Xbox Fought for Dominance (And Nintendo Changed the Rules Twice)
The battle between PlayStation and Xbox has been one of gaming's greatest rivalries for over two decades. But just when everyone thought it was a straight fight between Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo kept doing the most unexpected thing - completely changing the game.
This is the story of how two tech giants spent billions trying to beat each other, how Nintendo nearly disappeared from the conversation, then shocked everyone by winning in a way nobody saw coming. Twice.
The Beginning: PlayStation Arrives and Changes Everything
Before we get to the war between PlayStation and Xbox, we need to understand how PlayStation even became a thing in the first place.
In the early 90s, Nintendo absolutely dominated gaming. The Super Nintendo was everywhere, and Sega was their only real competition. Sony? They made Walkmans and tellies. They had nothing to do with gaming.
But then Nintendo did something spectacularly stupid.
They were working with Sony to develop a CD-ROM add-on for the Super Nintendo. At the last minute, Nintendo backed out of the deal and partnered with Philips instead, basically humiliating Sony publicly at the 1991 Consumer Electronics Show.
Sony's response? "Right then, we'll make our own console. And it'll be better than yours."
The PlayStation launched in 1994 (1995 in the West), and it absolutely demolished the competition. The CD format meant bigger games, better graphics, and lower production costs. Games like Final Fantasy VII, Metal Gear Solid, and Gran Turismo weren't just good - they were revolutionary.
By the time the PlayStation era ended, Sony had sold over 100 million consoles. Nintendo's N64? About 33 million. Sega's Saturn? Dead in the water.
Sony had won. Gaming had a new king.
Enter Microsoft: The Unlikely Challenger
So why did Microsoft, a software company that made Windows and Office, decide to build a games console?
The official story is they wanted to prevent Sony from dominating the living room. The PlayStation 2 was launching in 2000, and Microsoft worried it might become more than just a games console - it could be the entertainment hub that replaced PCs.
The unofficial story is that a bunch of Microsoft engineers basically went rogue, built a prototype using PC parts, and convinced Bill Gates it was a good idea.
The original Xbox launched in 2001, and it was... fine. Powerful specs, brilliant online service (Xbox Live), but it looked like a VCR, the controller was massive, and it didn't have the games PlayStation had.
Except for one game: Halo.
Halo: Combat Evolved single-handedly justified the Xbox's existence. It became the game that convinced people to buy the console, the same way Mario had for Nintendo and Final Fantasy VII had for PlayStation.
The original Xbox sold about 24 million units. Not terrible, but nowhere near the PS2's 155 million. Microsoft had lost round one, but they'd learned a lot.
The Proper War Begins: Xbox 360 vs PlayStation 3
This is where things got interesting. Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 in November 2005, a full year before the PS3. That head start mattered.
The 360 was brilliant. Sleek design (ignoring the red ring of death issues), Xbox Live was now mature and popular, and they had games. Gears of War, Forza, and Halo 3 were system sellers.
Sony, meanwhile, got cocky.
The PlayStation 3 launched in November 2006 at £425. That's mental money for 2006. It had a Blu-ray player (which nobody really wanted for gaming) and was harder to develop games for than the 360.
Early on, the 360 was winning. Better games, cheaper price, better online service. Sony was in trouble.
But Sony did two things that saved them:
- They dropped the price
- They released incredible exclusive games - Uncharted, The Last of Us, God of War
By the end of that generation, they'd basically drawn. The 360 sold about 84 million units, the PS3 about 87 million. Both companies spent billions fighting each other to a standstill.
Meanwhile, Nintendo Was Dying
While Sony and Microsoft were locked in their expensive war over graphics and processing power, Nintendo released the GameCube in 2001.
It was a good console. Solid games like Super Smash Bros. Melee, Metroid Prime, and Wind Zelda. But it sold only 22 million units. The PS2 sold seven times that.
By 2005, gaming magazines were writing Nintendo's obituary. They'd lost two console generations in a row. They couldn't compete with Sony and Microsoft's graphics. Their games were seen as "kiddie." Third-party developers were abandoning them.
Nintendo looked finished as a console maker. Everyone assumed they'd eventually just make games for PlayStation and Xbox, like Sega had done.
Everyone was spectacularly wrong.
The Wii: Nintendo Flips the Table
In 2006, while Sony and Microsoft were spending fortunes on cutting-edge graphics and processor speeds, Nintendo asked a different question:
"What if we just... don't compete on graphics at all?"
The Wii launched in November 2006 at £179. It had graphics barely better than the GameCube. No HD output. Online service was rubbish. By every traditional metric, it should have been destroyed.
But Nintendo had done something clever. The motion controls weren't a gimmick - they were the entire point. Suddenly, your nan could play tennis by waving a remote. Your dad who'd never touched a game controller could play bowling. Kids could actually swing a sword in Zelda.
Wii Sports came bundled with the console, and it became a social phenomenon. Retirement homes bought Wiis. Families gathered around to play together. Fitness games like Wii Fit sold millions.
The hardcore gaming press hated it. "This isn't proper gaming," they said. "The graphics are rubbish," they complained.
Nobody cared. The Wii sold over 101 million units, outselling both the PS3 and 360.
Nintendo had won that generation by refusing to fight the war everyone else was fighting. They'd changed the rules.
The Disaster: Wii U and Nintendo's Collapse
Fresh off the Wii's success, Nintendo should have dominated the next generation.
Instead, they released the Wii U in 2012, and it was a catastrophic failure.
The problems were obvious from the start:
- The name was confusing (people thought it was a Wii add-on, not a new console)
- The tablet controller was pointless
- Nintendo's online service was still terrible
- Third-party developers abandoned it immediately
- The marketing was baffling
The Wii U sold only 13.5 million units over its entire lifespan. The PlayStation 4? 117 million. The Xbox One? About 58 million.
This wasn't just losing - this was getting absolutely destroyed.
By 2016, Nintendo was in crisis mode. The Wii U had bombed. Their handheld 3DS was doing okay but declining. Mobile gaming was eating into their market. Investors were suggesting Nintendo should just make mobile games and forget about consoles.
For the second time in a decade, people were writing Nintendo's obituary.
For the second time, they were wrong.
The Switch: Nintendo Does It Again
When Nintendo announced the Switch in October 2016, the reaction was skeptical. A hybrid console that worked as both home console and handheld? That sounded like a compromise that would do neither well.
The early footage showed people playing Zelda on a train, then sliding the console into a dock to play on the TV. It looked gimmicky.
Then something extraordinary happened.
The Switch launched in March 2017 with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and it was immediately obvious Nintendo had created something special.
The hybrid concept wasn't a compromise - it was genius. You could play proper AAA games on your commute, then continue them on the big screen at home. Parents could hand it to kids in the car. Students could play in their dorm rooms without needing a TV.
Unlike the Wii's motion controls, which were initially popular but quickly felt gimmicky, the Switch's core concept had staying power. It solved real problems people actually had.
The games helped too. Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, Animal Crossing, Pokémon, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Nintendo pumped out hit after hit. Plus, because the Switch was portable, it got loads of indie games that worked brilliantly on the smaller screen.
The Switch has now sold over 140 million units, making it the third best-selling console of all time (behind the PS2 and Nintendo DS). It's outsold the PlayStation 4, demolished the Xbox One, and proved Nintendo could come back from the dead twice in a decade.
Meanwhile, the PlayStation vs Xbox War Continued
While Nintendo was having its Switch success, Sony and Microsoft kept fighting their expensive war.
The PlayStation 4 (2013) and PlayStation 5 (2020) were commercial successes. Sony stuck to their formula - powerful hardware, incredible exclusive games like Spider-Man, God of War, and The Last of Us Part II, and steady improvements to their online service.
Microsoft, however, did something interesting with the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.
They realized they couldn't beat Sony on exclusive games. Sony had too many talented studios making too many brilliant games. So Microsoft changed strategy:
Game Pass happened.
Instead of fighting for console sales, Microsoft focused on getting people into their subscription ecosystem. Game Pass became "Netflix for games" - hundreds of games for £10.99 a month. They bought studios (including Bethesda and Activision Blizzard for billions), not to make exclusive games, but to fill Game Pass with content.
Now you can play Xbox games on PC, tablets, phones, even TVs without an Xbox. Microsoft stopped caring if you bought their console - they just wanted you subscribing to Game Pass.
It's too early to say if this strategy will work long-term, but it's a radical departure from the traditional console war.
What This Means for You as a Buyer
Right now, in 2025, the gaming landscape looks like this:
PlayStation 5 - The powerhouse. Best graphics, incredible exclusive games, traditional gaming experience. If you want cutting-edge AAA games, this is your console.
Xbox Series X/S - Powerful hardware, brilliant backwards compatibility, and Game Pass is genuinely excellent value if you play loads of games. Less focused on exclusives, more on the service.
Nintendo Switch - Portable, versatile, brilliant first-party games. Graphics are dated compared to PS5/Xbox, but nobody cares because you can play Tears of the Kingdom on a train.
Here's the interesting bit: unlike the PS3/360 era where choosing one console meant missing out on the other's exclusives, now you can get a Switch and a PlayStation, or a Switch and an Xbox, and have completely different gaming experiences.
Nintendo's not competing with Sony and Microsoft anymore. They're in their own lane, doing their own thing, and it's working brilliantly.
The Best Time to Buy Refurbished
Here's where this gets relevant to your wallet.
We're now several years into the current console generation. That means:
PlayStation 4 consoles are dirt cheap refurbished and have an absolutely massive library of incredible games. You can play God of War, Spider-Man, The Last of Us, Uncharted, Horizon Zero Dawn, and hundreds more. Is it worth paying £400+ for a PS5 when you can get a refurbished PS4 for under £100 and play basically the same games?
Xbox One consoles are similarly cheap, and here's the clever bit - you can get Game Pass on an Xbox One. You don't need the Series X to access hundreds of games. A refurbished Xbox One for under £100 plus Game Pass is absolutely brilliant value.
Nintendo Switch is still the current console, but refurbished units are significantly cheaper than new ones. Same games, same experience, much better price. The OLED Switch has a nicer screen, but the original Switch plays every single game just as well.
The console wars taught us something important: the "newest" doesn't always mean "best value." The PS4 was the best-selling console of its generation and it's still brilliant today. The Switch is from 2017 and it's still Nintendo's main console.
Buying refurbished means getting hardware that's been proven, tested over time, and is now available at sensible prices. You're not paying the "new console premium" for incremental improvements.
What's Next: The Future of the Console Wars
The traditional console war is basically over. Sony won on hardware sales and exclusive games. Microsoft gave up on winning that war and pivoted to services. Nintendo stopped fighting that war entirely and created their own category.
The next battlefield is probably cloud gaming and subscriptions. Microsoft's already there with Game Pass and xCloud. PlayStation has PS Plus. Nintendo's... well, Nintendo's probably off doing their own weird thing that'll somehow work brilliantly.
But here's the thing about console wars - they've always been great for consumers. Competition forced Microsoft to create Xbox Live. Competition forced Sony to improve their online services. Competition forced Nintendo to innovate with motion controls and hybrid designs.
The "war" gave us better games, better services, and more choice.
Which Should You Buy?
If you asked us in our shop, here's what we'd honestly say:
Want the best graphics and AAA exclusives? PlayStation (4 or 5 depending on budget)
Want the best value for money? Refurbished Xbox One with Game Pass
Want portable gaming and Nintendo exclusives? Switch (original or OLED depending on budget)
Want everything? Get a refurbished Switch for portable gaming and Nintendo stuff, then either a refurbished PS4 for exclusives or Xbox One for Game Pass. That's under £400 total for two consoles and access to basically everything.
The console wars were fought so consumers would pick one side. But now? You don't have to. The hardware's cheap enough (especially refurbished) that you can have multiple consoles and get the best of everything.
The Real Winner: Us
PlayStation and Xbox spent billions fighting each other for market dominance. Nintendo spent considerably less creating unique gaming experiences. Microsoft pivoted to services when hardware sales weren't enough.
But the actual winner of the console wars? Gamers.
We've got more choice than ever. More games than we could ever play. Hardware that's powerful and affordable (especially when bought refurbished). Services that give us access to hundreds of games.
The console war created incredible competition that resulted in better products for everyone. And now that the war's mostly over, we're in a golden age where you can pick whichever console suits your gaming style and budget.
And if you're smart, you'll buy it refurbished, save a pile of money, and spend the difference on games.
Because at the end of the day, it's not about which console "won." It's about whether you're having fun playing games. And you can do that on any of them.
Ready to pick your side (or multiple sides) in the console wars? Browse our range of refurbished PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo consoles - all tested, cleaned, and backed by our 6-month warranty. Shop all gaming consoles →