According to cnet reviews, as of October 1, 2010 (http://reviews.cnet.com/best-video-game-consoles/?tag=centerColumnArea1.0;buyAdvice) the 5 top-rated home and portable video game consoles are as follows (based on user reviews):
According to Market Watch.com (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/video-game-firms-aim-to-stretch-consoles-lifespan-2010-06-11) the industry’s biggest players, Sony and Microsoft are making impressive progress in an effort to capture Nintendo Wii users. These two video game conglomerates are developing new motion-control systems that will integrate into their current consoles which means longer life spans and hopefully increased revenue.
If we were to apply the BCG Growth-Share Matrix to the above listed top 5 video games, our matrix would read as follows:
Stars = Nintendo Wii
Stars are high-growth, high-share businesses or products. They often need heavy investments to finance their rapid growth. Eventually their growth will slow down, and they will turn into cash cows.
Cash Cows = Sony Playstation3
Cash cows are low-growth, high-share businesses or products. These established and successful SBUs need less investment to hold their market share. Thus, they produce a lot of cash that the company uses to pay its bills and to support other SBUs that need investment.
Question Marks = Xbox 360
Question marks are low-share business units in high-growth markets. They require a lot of cash to hold their share, let alone increase it. Management has to think hard about which question marks it should try to build into stars and which should be phased out.
Dogs = Nintendo DS & Sony PSP
Dogs are low-growth, low-share businesses and products. They may generate enough cash to maintain themselves but do not promise to be large sources of cash.
The major push as we head into 2011 is focused toward motion based gaming. Nintendo is leading the industry in this regard with Sony Playstation and Microsofts Xbox 360 looking to take advantage of this growing market. Sony Playstation has done an incredible job of creating brand loyalty with the introduction of increasing popular games and of course the integrated Blueray player in each console.
Microsoft on the other hand has a bit more terrain to cover in an attempt to reclaim their previous position in the video game market. The Nintendo DS and Sony PSP are consider the “dogs” in this regard as much of the video game technology is pushing toward much more of an interactive gaming experience. While not mentioned in CNET's article, Apple's iPhone and Ipad are major contenders in the question mark category - as the potential for their gaming evolution continues to increase. It's also important to mention the decline in PC gaming as dog-worthy when ranked among these top video game systems.
