Grand finale of our three-part series analyzing the advantages of each system coming up.  In case you missed it, here’s what Sony has done great and here’s what Microsoft has done brilliantly.  Here are the six reasons Nintendo is the industry leader at the moment, and wiping the floor with Sony and Microsoft.

1. Great Marketing Strategy

Without a doubt, Nintendo’s marketing team has done the best work of the three companies.  Unlike the darker Xbox 360 or PS3 commercials, Nintendo’s advertisements are light-hearted, happy things that are instantly recognizable and very memorable.  After all, who doesn’t remember smiling at the Japanese man saying “We would like to play”?

2. Control of the Supply and Demand

This hasn’t been a great strategy for consumers, but since it was a brilliant business move by Nintendo, it deserves to be on this list.  Although it has never been confirmed, there have been many, many reports that Nintendo has been restricting the supply of Wii’s in order to keep demand for the consoles up.  Knowing that these things are a hot commodity, you’re much more likely to grab the first Wii you see on a shelf than you would if they were available everywhere.

3. Appeal to a Wide Userbase (AKA Focus on Casuals)

Another controversial move by Nintendo this generation was their decision to pretty much shun the hardcore and focus instead on the casual market.  This may have turned many of the hardcore away from the Wii but their place (and ten places behind them) was filled with casual, first-time gamers who were looking for a way to jump into the gaming market.  And Nintendo provided it to them.

4. Pricing Structure

Nintendo may not have the cheapest console at the moment, but for over two years it did.  This, along with its casual focus, made it the most wanted console for the average consumer.  Normal people don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on video game consoles, which is why, historically, most console sales take place after the console has dropped to $199 or less.  Nintendo really capitalized on a lot of sales by starting off their console very close to that price.

5. Loyal Fanbase

Nintendo is one of the strongest brands in the world.  In fact has become the “Kleenex” of gaming.  Let me explain: you have probably heard non-gamers refer to their video game console as “a Nintendo” even when you clearly see that it’s a PS2.  They call it a Nintendo because that’s what they or their parents grew up with and that type of childhood memory is hard to reverse.  Because of situations like these, Nintendo has the biggest, most loyal, and oldest fanbase of any of the three consoles.  That kind of root support almost gives Nintendo the Midas touch: anything they touch turns to gold.

6. Mascot Characters

There’s no question: Mario is not only an icon for Nintendo, but he is also an icon for gaming in general.  The character is associated with video games by millions around the globe and since he only appears on one console, which console do you think those people will choose?  Microsoft has attempted to make a mascot out of Master Chief and has somewhat succeeded, but Master Chief is nowhere near the level of Mario and pals.

http://secondstorygamer.com/2009/01/reasons-nintendo-edge-over-sony-microsoft/

No mention of innovative controls or unique peripherals?

of couse not, they rather just make crap up than really point out why the Wii is doing so good.

2) complete crap. Nintendo is putting more out the door today than they were 2 years ago and they are still sold out. Shows how much controlling supply helps. If they could have been putting out this many last year they would have been quite happy. Everyone said they would fail, they believed they would fail, so they didn't produce very many. It is as simple as that.

3) this is the same lame old argument they always put out. Nintendo is doing the same thing they've been doing for years. They still love the core gamers and still make the metroids/marios/zeldas that are just as good as the ones they made years ago. So they didn't abandon the core, they just decided to add extra workforce to handle the more casual players.

4) the ps2 sold more at <=199 than >200 because it has been on the market at that price much much longer. Also, popularity of the system didn't take off till after it had been on the market for a while. The GC was always <=199 and it didn't help the GC

5) sure they had a loyal fanbase, but it isn't this big. Also, I knew plenty of people who called their nintendo systems playstations. And it wouldn't be learned from their parents, it would be learned from the people that owned the systems.

So in the end, it looks like they pointed out 2 reasons that aren't crap.

Those are some very excellent reasons why the Gamecube is so huge...

I love how (5) and (6) both tiptoe around the fact without ever admitting that Nintendo has some of the greatest and most legendary franchises ever.

But no, it's "loyal fanbase" and "Mario the mascot".

Well, I agree with reason 1, so it could be worse I guess.

Actually, I took me quite a while to convince my parents that the Wii is not "a new Playstation". Admittedly a rather un-cool lecturer at my university tends to exclaim "you've been playing too much Gameboy!" whenever someone offers a violent interpretation in literary criticism. ^^

i recall a conversation with someone...he referred to a playstation game as a nintendo game. when i corrected his error, he then went on a rant trying to convince me that all video games are actually called nintendo games. despite my best efforts he refused to listen to reason.

1) I can mostly agree that Nintendo has had decent marketing

2) How can you heavily limit supply and still be the fastest selling console worldwide?

3) I wouldn't say that Nintendo abandoned the "Hardcore" as much as Sony and Microsoft abandoned everyone except for the "Hardcore"

4) While the price did not prevent people from buying the Wii, you can't really say that the lower price of a console has ever attracted gamers to the console; if it did, the Gamecube would have been far more popular in the previous generation.

5+6) Nintendo had these things on the N64 and Gamecube and it didn't really help them then

Personally, I always find it interesting that people never mention backwards-compatibility and the virtual console (which provide great value to many gamers), or Nintendo's focus on social gaming (which allowed the Wii to have viral growth).

I've certainly been there!  The uninformed over 30 crowd calls video games "Nintendo".  The uninformed younger crowd calls video games "Playstation".

This especially sucks when the console we're actually talking about is the Xbox 360!!!