curl-6 on 02 February 2013
| Aielyn said: Now, since people seem to be forgetting something, I'm going to bring it back to the foreground, again. The Wii U is showing a lot of similarity to another console. This console launched first in its generation, it had a reasonable holiday, but sold just 1.6 million units to the 21st of January, after having launched in November. At that point in time, the system had sold 3.4 million units of software (the Wii U is at 5 million units of software). Many of the launch titles of this system were ports of games from the previous generation, and in its first full year, it sold a little over 5 million units. Almost exactly a year after launch, this system got a major game release. Sales increased markedly at this point, and more games began to come out, many being games shared with the other consoles of its generation, which had just released. And while one of those other two systems would go on to break records, this system would manage to stay ahead of the third system for the rest of its generation, despite that other system having brand recognition from the previous generation. The system was the Xbox 360. It is currently approaching 74 million units sold. Why am I drawing this connection? For one thing, when the Wii burst out of the gate so strongly, and the PS3 had stronger launch sales than the 360, people started to predict the failure of the 360, too. The popular view was that the PS3 was going to bring in all of the people who bought a PS2, while the Wii was going to be a hit with "teh cazualz", leaving the 360 with scraps. People mocked the fact that the 360 only managed 5 million sales in its first year. And the message is that you shouldn't be counting any of them out. Not the Wii U, not the Vita. The 3DS has already shown why counting a system out based on early sales is a bad idea. So, too, has the 360. Stop predicting doom. For ANY of the consoles currently on the market. It's childish, and it's almost certainly wrong. I will admit that, 6 years ago, I had a different mindset with regards to the Wii vs the other consoles. And I freely admit, I was wrong. It's time for gamers to grow up. This stupid "console war" mentality is getting in the way of a pastime that is supposed to be about fun. If you're a "Nintendo gamer", get positive about the Wii U and the 3DS, but don't get negative about the other systems. If you're a "Sony gamer", root for the Vita to grow and sell much better in the next few months, and hope for a great PS4 that makes a strong profit for Sony from launch while providing games that you couldn't have seen on the PS3... but also hope for the Wii U to see better success, simply because it'll mean more games for more systems, and a greater variety of systems to choose from. And if you're a "Microsoft gamer", by all means, put all your feeling into the desire to see the next MS console break records while bringing you incredible games including some great exclusives. But don't get all nasty about Vita's performance, or predict the Wii U's quick demise. This new generation has the potential to be the first one in which all three systems bring something distinctly different to the table. Microsoft is certainly pushing Kinect, and it's likely to be a significant part of their new console. Sony appear to be focusing more on traditional gameplay, with some Move worked in, while Nintendo is diversifying with their Upad. Let's celebrate the differences, and hope for all three to find great success, rather than seeking to knock each other down. |
Great post, but sadly I think you're asking for lot more maturity than a large proportion of gamers have. Honestly, it's no wonder gamers are still looked down on, the way so many of us behave. (Thinking of the knd of stuff you read in comments on sites like N4G, IGN, and gamefaqs) Hopefully one day we will grow up as a fanbase, and all this childish drivel will simmer down.
