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Which console manufacturer has the best stable of IPs?

Best stable of IP

  • Nintendo

    Votes: 1,665 70.1%

  • Microsoft

    Votes: 66 2.8%

  • Sony

    Votes: 549 23.1%

  • Ouya

    Votes: 94 4.0%
  • Total voters
    2,374
Psychonaut

Psychonaut

Member
Jan 11, 2018
3,207
Nintendo has so many strong IPs that they literally cannot service all of them. Mother, F-Zero, Golden Sun, Advanced Wars... all strong IPs that are dead in the water because Nintendo just has

For me personally, Microsoft's IP stable is trash tier. Literally the only thing I care about is Banjo, and they murdered him.
 
BGBW

BGBW

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,284
No idea, IPs are a broad topic. Like if we consider patents for example:

Microsoft, I assume, has patents related to the cloud which will aid them in the future and we could see both Sony and Nintendo requiring them.

Nintendo's patents are more to prevent others copying them rather than hoping to profit off them.

I guess Sony has some patents related to storage mediums, but they share those and with the rise of digital gaming they're not quite as valuable as they once were. Plus MS released a discless console so that might be a sign of their future vision and Nintendo used their own format.
 

Deleted member 51306

User requested account closure
Banned
Dec 27, 2018
628
For me it's Nintendo, then Microsoft, then Sony. I don't think Sony's stable of ip is that great. I'm more interested in what there developers are doing next and not if it's a sequel to something.
 
SilverArrow20XX

SilverArrow20XX

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,498
Nintendo by far.
I prefer Sony, but a lot of that is 3rd party, and their 1st party stuff isn't nearly as long lasting. Regularly disappearing after a gen.
 
xinoart

xinoart

Member
Oct 27, 2017
506
I personally haven't cared for a single Nintendo IP since the N64 and I haven't felt the "need" to rush out and buy anything from them. Whereas with Sony, their IPs are across many more genres, so it's a no brainer to me.
 
Nanashrew

Nanashrew

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,328
I'd say just from demand, Nintendo wins with how often people demand for their back catalog compared to any other studio. They have a ton of IPs.
 
Asbsand

Asbsand

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
9,901
Denmark
Nintendo knows to celebrate their IP and sustain them with success much better than Sony. Sony is experiential and it's cool but after a couple of generations it's hard not to feel a little disconcerted that there is no true playstation icon. It's always just moving to the next phase of completely new things.
 
Sotha_Sil

Sotha_Sil

Member
Nov 4, 2017
5,104
It might be Microsoft for me when you take into account Age of Empires (one of my most-played IP ever).

Bethesda holds most of my other favorite IP (Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Dishonored, DOOM) and IO Interactive has the other "big" one, Hitman.

Obviously, Nintendo's is the one most critical to its brand. Looking beyond my personal interests, Nintendo is probably the vote.
 
tulpa

tulpa

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
3,878
I think they all have a really good stable of properties. Nintendo's obviously has the most cash value. Sony's perhaps more diverse in some ways. Microsoft has some very iconic properties but they've been allowed to stagnate and they've failed to create successful new IP recently in the way Sony has done with Horizon and Nintendo with Splatoon.
 

Deleted member 49438

User requested account closure
Banned
Nov 7, 2018
1,473
This is a tougher question than I first thought it was. If you're talking about the "stable" of IPs as opposed to your favorites, I think you have to give it to Nintendo based on quantity/diversity as well as consistency. Part of the consistency aspect though is that Sony has several IP that are kind of still in their infancy with The Last of Us getting it's second game, Days Gone & Horizon Zero Dawn possibly getting sequels down the road, and games like Ghosts of Tsushima where we don't know if that will be a one-off or what.

Another issue that Sony's IP run into is that a lot of them are more narrative driven than Nintendo IP. For Nintendo each IP has certain distinguishing features & structure, but don't necessarily have a plot or conclusion they're leading to. They can do whatever they want with the Mario IP, as long as it's a platformer (and of course obviously all sorts of spin-off games). Zelda games may have a plot within them, but the games are designed in such a way that they can exist separately from one another without the dev team needing to worry about a continuing plot line.

A series like the Last of Us doesn't really have this luxury because the fans are invested in finding out what happens to Joel & Ellie. Eventually those plot lines will need a conclusion. They could revive it by covering the outbreak from a different perspective / setting, but it's nothing like Nintendo with a franchise like Fire Emblem. For FE more often than not they have a new setting every 1-2 games & the only things connecting them are the mechanics & a random plot object that is known as the Fire Emblem. But maybe some of Sony's IP could take advantage of this kind of IP fluidity so to speak?

What Sony is absolutely consistent in, is delivering quality production values, and lately, bringing in sales. Now obviously Switch software is doing great, but Sony hasn't had much in the way of misses lately either. So the question is how will Sony sustain their IP over the long term, and will their catalog of IP continue to grow. They have the quality of IP & quality studios to go head to head with Nintendo, but I think Nintendo currently has the edge because of the variety of IP as well as how they're able to leverage them. But who knows, 5-10 years from now when some of their franchises are on their 3rd & 4th installments, Sony may have a stronger claim.
 
Gnorman

Gnorman

Banned
Jan 14, 2018
2,945
On a general level it's obviously Nintendo. On a personal level I'd take Sony IP's over any Nintendo ip.
 
Dragon1893

Dragon1893

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,452
Gotta go with the one whose games speak to me more and that's sony by a huge margin, but when leaving personal taste aside and being objective it's Nintendo.
They specialize in different things and both are great at what they do, but Nintendo are the masters of game design.
 
Manmademan

Manmademan

Election Thread Watcher
Member
Aug 6, 2018
16,114
Obviously Sony here. Nintendo's stable of IP has barely changed in generations.

Zelda
Smash
Mario Kart
Wii (X) [dead IP]
Donkey Kong
Mario
Metroid
Pokemon
Punch Out!!
Starfox
Animal Crossing
Kirby
Fire Emblem
Splatoon

I may be missing one or two, but most of these (Sans Wii whatever) have been around since the NES or SNES. Nintendo has consistently been pumping these titles out for decades. But do they move consoles?

Nes: about 64 million
SNES: about 49 million
N64: about 32 million
Gamecube: about 21 million
Wii: about 102 million
Wii U: about 14 million
Switch: about 36 million (and counting)

This is....incredibly inconsistent. Despite a steady stream of first party titles, nintendo's console sales are all over the place. There's a dedicated audience that buys them but they are not pushing systems to the broader audience. There's a very good argument to be made that it's the hardware that's been selling systems for Nintendo and not the software since at least the Wii.

Sony's IP on the other hand?

Gran Turismo
Twisted Metal
Wipeout
MLB: The Show
MediEvil
Ratchet and Clank
Killzone
Siren
Sly Cooper
God of War
Little Big Planet
Demon's Souls
Bloodborne
Infamous
Ico/SOTC/Last Guardian
Uncharted
The Last of Us
Knack
Driveclub
Until Dawn
Everybody's Golf/Hot Shots Golf
Astro Bot
Days Gone
Dreams
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Death Stranding
Ghosts of Tsushima

This ignores long dormant franchises Sony hasn't done anything with in a long time, such as Dark Cloud, Jak & Daxter, PaRappa, The Getaway, Mark of Kri, Frequency/Amplitude, Everquest, SOCOM, Ape Escape, Singstar, Syphon Filter, Motorstorm, Resistance, Heavenly Sword, or Warhawk/Starhawk.

Nintendo doesn't have the breadth or depth of IP to compete with this.


That stable of IP hits a broader audience than nintendo does, one that's more in line with the titles that third parties like to produce (which encourages third parties to produce titles for the system) and most recent titles have a multiplayer component that's in line with where the market's been for the past two generations.
 
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Ryuelli

Ryuelli

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,209
How the hell is this even a question? Nintendo for sure, it's managed to keep a good chunk of them going for 20-30+ years now.

Your mom and grandma don't know who Master Chief or Nathan Drake are. They probably know Mario and Pikachu.
 
Mashy

Mashy

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,184
Nintendo, but only just. I think Mario and Zelda are over rated though and have really only enjoyed Mario Kart extensively. However, Fire Emblem, Pokémon, Xenoblade, Bayo, etc are all incredibly top notch.

Sony is really really close with their single player game selection though.

It's really hard deciding between the two honestly.
 
monmagman

monmagman

Member
Dec 6, 2018
4,126
England,UK
Sony's games certainly resonate with me more than the others.
Nintendo make great games but it's hard for me to say they have the best when I've zero interest in them.
 
Manmademan

Manmademan

Election Thread Watcher
Member
Aug 6, 2018
16,114
Mashy said:
Nintendo, but only just. I think Mario and Zelda are over rated though and have really only enjoyed Mario Kart extensively. However, Fire Emblem, Pokémon, Xenoblade, Bayo, etc are all incredibly top notch.
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Bayonetta isn't first party, nintendo doesn't own that. Xenoblade is, however.

Ryuelli said:
How the hell is this even a question? Nintendo for sure, it's managed to keep a good chunk of them going for 20-30+ years now.

Your mom and grandma don't know who Master Chief or Nathan Drake are. They probably know Mario and Pikachu.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Name recognition and strength of IP are two completely different things. My grandmother knows what Pac-man is, but has never heard of Fortnite. Which one is the more valuable IP?
 
Ultima_5

Ultima_5

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,678
Nintendo. Nothing else comes close

MS only has a few and seems to have trouble keeping them relevant

Sony does better but I️ dislike how same feeling their games have gotten this generation
 
Nanashrew

Nanashrew

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,328
Manmademan said:
Obviously Sony here. Nintendo's stable of IP has barely changed in generations.

Zelda
Smash
Mario Kart
Wii (X) [dead IP]
Donkey Kong
Mario
Metroid
Pokemon
Punch Out!!
Starfox
Animal Crossing
Kirby
Fire Emblem

I may be missing one or two, but most of these (Sans Wii whatever) have been around since the NES or SNES. Nintendo has consistently been pumping these titles out for decades. But do they move consoles?

Nes: about 64 million
SNES: about 49 million
N64: about 32 million
Gamecube: about 21 million
Wii: about 102 million
Wii U: about 14 million
Switch: about 36 million (and counting)

This is....incredibly inconsistent. Despite a steady stream of first party titles, nintendo's console sales are all over the place. There's a dedicated audience that buys them but they are not pushing systems to the broader audience. There's a very good argument to be made that it's the hardware that's been selling systems for Nintendo and not the software since at least the Wii.

Sony's IP on the other hand hits a broader audience than nintendo does, one that's more in line with the titles that third parties like to produce (which encourages third parties to produce titles for the system) and most have a multiplayer component that's in line with where the market's been for the past two generations.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
This neglects the handheld side of Nintendo which has had consistent sales and consistent high levels of 3rd party support unlike their home console side which varies. Nintendo also supports their handhelds heavily, even to a point of detriment. I would argue that by the time of the 3DS, most fans had already shifted to full handheld for Nintendo devices because you still got a ton of Nintendo first party titles, but also a ton of 3rd party titles, and the 3DS and games were also cheaper to afford.
 
Sheng Long

Sheng Long

Moderator
Oct 27, 2017
7,595
Earth
Nintendo would be the most popular, but I don't really care for most of their IPs for some reason. They just never really resonated with me much.

Sony for me.
 
Manmademan

Manmademan

Election Thread Watcher
Member
Aug 6, 2018
16,114
Nanashrew said:
This neglects the handheld side of Nintendo which has had consistent sales and consistent high levels of 3rd party support unlike their home console side which varies. Nintendo also supports their handhelds heavily, even to a point of detriment. I would argue that by the time of the 3DS, most fans had already shifted to full handheld for Nintendo devices because you still got a ton of Nintendo first party titles, but also a ton of 3rd party titles, and the 3DS and games were also cheaper to afford.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It doesn't, because the handheld side has had no viable competition outside of the Sony PSP. Token efforts were put forth by Atari, Bandai, SEGA, NEC, and SNK, but it was never anywhere near as competitive as console-land. Nintendo owned that space by default, not through strength of IP.
 
capnjazz

capnjazz

Banned
Nov 11, 2017
991
Byrgenwerth
I'm not huge on Nintendo's IPs, but they're definitely the most iconic and recognizable, followed by Sony. Also, what IPs does Microsoft even have outside of Halo?
 
Chumunga64

Chumunga64

Member
Jun 22, 2018
14,364
in what universe is anything but Nintendo the right choice

as an unabashed Sony fan, I don't think Sony is good at getting the nostalgia bucks. Ratchet 2016 was a remake yes, but it featured barely anything that as great from the original. and who could forget that monumental moment when Ratchet, Sly Cooper, and Jak teamed up

...in a fucking move game
 
Manmademan

Manmademan

Election Thread Watcher
Member
Aug 6, 2018
16,114
Chumunga64 said:
Microsoft being one of them
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I get those that prefer what Nintendo is doing and feel they have better first party IP, but I'm struggling to imagine the mental gymnastics it takes to make the claim that Microsoft has a broader and more valuable first party stable than Sony does. That shit is bewildering
 
Necromorph

Necromorph

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,536
Sony, i'm a huge fan of their singleplayer IP and most of them resonate with my tastes. Nintendo can be the second only for Mario and Pokemon, the rest of their games are irrelevant for me and i can't care less about the Microsoft's IP since this generation.


Shpeshal Ed said:
It's between Nintendo and Microsoft

I think people really do forget the dormant IPs Microsoft is sitting on.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Microsoft is part of that people.
 
skullwaker

skullwaker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,267
Manmademan said:
Obviously Sony here. Nintendo's stable of IP has barely changed in generations.

Zelda
Smash
Mario Kart
Wii (X) [dead IP]
Donkey Kong
Mario
Metroid
Pokemon
Punch Out!!
Starfox
Animal Crossing
Kirby
Fire Emblem
Splatoon

I may be missing one or two, but most of these (Sans Wii whatever) have been around since the NES or SNES. Nintendo has consistently been pumping these titles out for decades. But do they move consoles?

Nes: about 64 million
SNES: about 49 million
N64: about 32 million
Gamecube: about 21 million
Wii: about 102 million
Wii U: about 14 million
Switch: about 36 million (and counting)

This is....incredibly inconsistent. Despite a steady stream of first party titles, nintendo's console sales are all over the place. There's a dedicated audience that buys them but they are not pushing systems to the broader audience. There's a very good argument to be made that it's the hardware that's been selling systems for Nintendo and not the software since at least the Wii.

Sony's IP on the other hand?

Gran Turismo
Twisted Metal
Wipeout
MLB: The Show
MediEvil
Ratchet and Clank
Killzone
Siren
Sly Cooper
God of War
Little Big Planet
Demon's Souls
Bloodborne
Infamous
Ico/SOTC/Last Guardian
Uncharted
The Last of Us
Knack
Driveclub
Until Dawn
Everybody's Golf/Hot Shots Golf
Astro Bot
Days Gone
Dreams
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Death Stranding
Ghosts of Tsushima

This ignores long dormant franchises Sony hasn't done anything with in a long time, such as Dark Cloud, Jak & Daxter, PaRappa, The Getaway, Mark of Kri, Frequency/Amplitude, Everquest, SOCOM, Ape Escape, Singstar, Syphon Filter, Motorstorm, Resistance, Heavenly Sword, or Warhawk/Starhawk.

Nintendo doesn't have the breadth or depth of IP to compete with this.


That stable of IP hits a broader audience than nintendo does, one that's more in line with the titles that third parties like to produce (which encourages third parties to produce titles for the system) and most recent titles have a multiplayer component that's in line with where the market's been for the past two generations.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Those lists are incredibly disingenuous.
 
Manmademan

Manmademan

Election Thread Watcher
Member
Aug 6, 2018
16,114
skullwaker said:
Those lists are incredibly disingenuous.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

They really aren't. I left out everything second party Sony publishes but doesn't actually own, like Spider Man/Heavy Rain/Beyond, Stuff that didn't sell well and was one and done like The Order: 1886, Folklore, Omega Boost, War of the Monsters, and Lair, anything that required a crazy peripheral like the VR stuff, Sports Champions, or Eyetoy games as well as Smaller indie and PSN only stuff like Journey, Resogun, Flower, Flow, etc.

I also inexplicably left out Gravity Rush and Wild Arms for some reason.

Sony publishes Way, WAY more stuff than Nintendo does and it is not close at all.
 
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skullwaker

skullwaker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,267
Manmademan said:
They really aren't. I left out everything second party Sony publishes but doesn't actually own, like Spider Man/Heavy Rain/Beyond, as well as Smaller indie and PSN only stuff like Journey, Resogun, Flower, Flow, etc.

Sony publishes Way, WAY more stuff than Nintendo does and it is not close at all.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

You included everything and the kitchen sink for Sony and literally only included the basics for Nintendo. If you want to make your argument seem genuine at least bother to do a little research.
 
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