I'd forgot about the saturn 
as Sega admitted themselves the saturn was a mega flop of a console hence why the continued to add on to the mega drive with the 32x and the mega CD.
The PS2 had a strong initial market hold due to the runaway popularity of the PS1, being that the PS1 technologically surpassed the N64 and the Saturn, and even the dreamcast (despite the dreamcast boasting more power, it was a terrible console and they couldnt utilise it at all hense its quick death) Nintendo's biggest mistake at the point was still sticking the hindering catridges, although quicker loading they were still way behind in anything both the PS1 and Saturn could achieve, of the two the PS1 was definatley the stronger console and had more developers willing to work on titles for it.
The Xbox'es initial release of the Xbox was met with some sceptic remarks, the Xbox being Microsofts first venture onto the console market and people were worried about buying it due to the numberous reports of the console blue screening having even done so in a press unveiling, having many believe microsoft were just not ready. The gamecube was a victim of its extremely late release and lack of development and software publishers, of which by the point of its release, both the Xbox and PS2 had a strong foothold and were able to go online, The Gamecube was simply incapable of the same thing and was considered another flop. One of the major selling points of the PS2 was its backwards compatibility and it still sells well even today as its something microsoft chose to not bother with, a mistake in my honest opinion.
Microsoft then took the preverbial lead by releasing the 360 early, admittedly it was a weaker console than the in development PS3, but the early release saw them get a strong foothold in the market, and due to the numberous delays with the ps3 as they were trying to get the PSN network right, Microsoft enjoyed a period in which they were given an unhindered lead.
Fast forward to today and Microsofts lead is beginning to slip, as more people notice that the 360's technology simply can no longer match the ps3's as a drastic move, the 360 became a heck of a lot cheaper but the lack of quality is well known from the consoles infamous "Red ring of death", I still have a mk I 360 that is running perfectly fine even today, this lack of quality and constant breaking down has pushed a lot of people back to sony, simply because there unwilling to keep buying a new 360 every 3-6 months when they could have a console, albeit a little more expensive, they know it will last.
Now the PS3 has began to come down in price, slowly but surely and the Technology gap that Microsoft was initially worried about has begun to rear its ugly head. It's only a matter of time before the next Microsoft console is unveiled, last I heard it was in development so I dont think it will be too much longer now that the 360's market share is falling to the PS3.
as Sega admitted themselves the saturn was a mega flop of a console hence why the continued to add on to the mega drive with the 32x and the mega CD.The PS2 had a strong initial market hold due to the runaway popularity of the PS1, being that the PS1 technologically surpassed the N64 and the Saturn, and even the dreamcast (despite the dreamcast boasting more power, it was a terrible console and they couldnt utilise it at all hense its quick death) Nintendo's biggest mistake at the point was still sticking the hindering catridges, although quicker loading they were still way behind in anything both the PS1 and Saturn could achieve, of the two the PS1 was definatley the stronger console and had more developers willing to work on titles for it.
The Xbox'es initial release of the Xbox was met with some sceptic remarks, the Xbox being Microsofts first venture onto the console market and people were worried about buying it due to the numberous reports of the console blue screening having even done so in a press unveiling, having many believe microsoft were just not ready. The gamecube was a victim of its extremely late release and lack of development and software publishers, of which by the point of its release, both the Xbox and PS2 had a strong foothold and were able to go online, The Gamecube was simply incapable of the same thing and was considered another flop. One of the major selling points of the PS2 was its backwards compatibility and it still sells well even today as its something microsoft chose to not bother with, a mistake in my honest opinion.
Microsoft then took the preverbial lead by releasing the 360 early, admittedly it was a weaker console than the in development PS3, but the early release saw them get a strong foothold in the market, and due to the numberous delays with the ps3 as they were trying to get the PSN network right, Microsoft enjoyed a period in which they were given an unhindered lead.
Fast forward to today and Microsofts lead is beginning to slip, as more people notice that the 360's technology simply can no longer match the ps3's as a drastic move, the 360 became a heck of a lot cheaper but the lack of quality is well known from the consoles infamous "Red ring of death", I still have a mk I 360 that is running perfectly fine even today, this lack of quality and constant breaking down has pushed a lot of people back to sony, simply because there unwilling to keep buying a new 360 every 3-6 months when they could have a console, albeit a little more expensive, they know it will last.
Now the PS3 has began to come down in price, slowly but surely and the Technology gap that Microsoft was initially worried about has begun to rear its ugly head. It's only a matter of time before the next Microsoft console is unveiled, last I heard it was in development so I dont think it will be too much longer now that the 360's market share is falling to the PS3.
) and Halo would never be on ps3 though..
with a PS3, google etc its fun!