| TRios_Zen said: Sorry for the failed math, I must have needed my meds that day. Regardless, I think you and I agree on a lot here, I think the perspectives we came from may have been different (I seem to always here "500 million - thats way too much M$ sucks" and you hear "500 million is nothing and spent across a whole year!") but I think we've arrived at the same place. As for Nintendo you are of course right that my quote was for 2008 vs 2010, but I think those are much more reasonable comparisons, as in 2008 the DS/Wii were newer products and would have required more marketing, just as the completely new Kinect would in 2010. I have a ton of Sony products that I really enjoy. I have bought an older PS3 (60 GB) and then sold that and bought a slim PS3, so I'm no stranger to the quality that Sony provides. However the "Sony is an altruistic company who loves their customers and would never do anything wrong" garbage that is often spouted on these boards turns my stomach. If anyone prefers the PS3 to the 360 or Wii, that is a perfectly reasonable, and rationale personal choice. When they try to back up that subjective preference with falsely created "objective" facts to try to rationalize it, well that is nonsense. Anyway, I apologize for the rant and please note, it was not aimed at you. |
Nintendo spent (I think the figure is $1.17 billion with the exchange rate at the time) pushing the Wii and DS in 2008. A few years after launch (3-4 years for the DS and 2 years for the Wii.) That's actually gigantic, and puts the $500m figure a bit into perspective. I guess what surprised me most about the figure was that it was spent pushing a peripheral, possibly over the course of only a few months, and that MS with one stroke had spent more with one campaign than Nintendo did in a year pushing two devices.
I guess my conclusion is the figure definitely isn't as outragous as some would lead you to believe, but it's by no means small either. I mean it's comparable to the spending of the industry leader during a period of massive growth- the heyday of the Wii and DS. Hats off to MS, they had confidence in their product and made sure it got a ton of exposure.
"Sony is an altruistic company who loves their customers and would never do anything wrong"
This unfortunetly is not a view shared by just Sony fans alone. Many Nintendo fans echo the same sentiment about their beloved company. MS fans actually don't seem to be in the same boat, probably because the history isn't there yet, many of the fanbase have been different console owners in the past or the image MS conveys is different. Your quote exists though because of the level of attachment many members of this website have with their consoles, and the companies behind them. I totally agree with you about the falsely created objective facts. I'd love to stomp out the propagation of misinformation. It seems to be everywhere these days.
Anyway, I fear I've ended up giving you and even longer rant to read. :P
