Reading this
BBC news story I started thinking of the similarities between the story of games consoles and the two party political system (under first past the post systems, multiple parties only seem to proliferate in proportional representation).
The Xbox is now beating the Gamecube on sales, which if the trend continues will force Nintendo out of business just like Sega. Similar to the way the Sony dug Sega’s grave by jumping into the game console market.
In the late 80s and early 90s it was all Sega and Nintendo, all the other systems were also-rans. Sega and Nintendo had the market sown up between them. Then Sony came along and revolutionised things, made them have to fight. This led to the eventual end of Sega, it’s last 2 machines merely a desperate clawing at the edge of the abyss.
Back to the two parties of Nintendo and Sony… with a new challenger waiting in the wings. The Xbox.
Maybe with Microsoft’s backing and judicious (and well funded) marketing it will be able to break the back of Nintendo. Revert back to a two machine game.
On the other hand maybe it’s 3 players. As there were always other game systems… there are also the liberal democrats.
I wonder if there is some kind of game theory/mathematical model for 2 party systems, or 2 product markets??
February 20th, 2005 at 8:58 pm
texas hold’em
If one man offers you democracy and another offers you a bag of grain, at what stage of starvation will you prefer the grain to the vote? by