RolStoppable said:
Before the 3DS launch, he said that Nintendo is making a mistake by charging only $250 for it, because the device will see huge demand. Essentially, it's a basic troll tactic. You set the expectations very high in order to call even a good, but not great, performance a failure. The Xbox 360 was only sold out during the launch holiday in the USA, mainly because of production shortages (only 1.3m consoles shipped worldwide by December 31st, 2005). But also because Microsoft expected to do somewhat well in Japan and allocated much more stock than needed to the land of the rising sun. Sold out in America, sufficient in Europe and overstocked in Japan. I am quite sure the supply issues in the USA were solved by February 2006, because the demand for the system wasn't particularly high to begin with. Remember, first year sellthrough was only 5.5m worldwide. |
Largely I think your analysis and facts are correct. But I do think Patcher was sincere when he spoke about the launch price of the 3DS. Most people expected it to sell like hot cakes and be supply constrained for at least 6 months at $250 (patcher spoke at length about this on Pach-Attack back then and it sounded logical and sincere).
I do agree he is trolling the Wii U now though just as you say. It opened my eyes. That must be the simple reason. Patcher is setting expections so high that they automatically fail.
Because realistically I don't think the Wii U has a "chance" at becoming supply constrained for 5 months. I mean, except for perhaps the controller, the system is not exceptional tech and should be able to be manufactured at a rate of +1 million per month.
Patcher is funny. I like him very much, but I don't like all things he says. I think one explanation for his Nintendo hate has to do with publisher relations, but I also think Patcher loves the attention and fame, and therefore he tries to be cool in front of the "hardcore" gamers, namely the HD gamers.
