if all the systems were the same price which one would sell the most?

[mrstickball]

donathos said:

mrstickball said:
The Wii.

Why? It's selling more, revenue wise, than the Playstation 3 is by massively wide margins. It's passed the Rubicon in terms of "dominant console".

Even the Playstation 3 at a $250 price point would not topple the Wii, because the Wii is the go-to console. Microsoft proved that even though a $200 price point can certainly boost sales, that even having the superior console doesn't matter - consumers at large made their choice. And Word of Mouth will drive sales since the Wii is so prevalent in the consumer's eye.

Now, if all consoles were equal today, I am sure the PS3/X360 would sell much closer to the Wii, but they would not overtake the Wii. Maybe 2 years ago, when this started, the Playstation 3 would sell the most - but of course, your asking the dumbest question in the book - "What would sell better - a Porche at a Kia price, or a Kia at a Kia price?"

Except for this: I don't agree that PS3 is to Wii as Porsche is to Kia.

The Wii doesn't offer lower-quality entertainment than the PS3; it offers different-quality entertainment than the PS3. That's what accounts for the sales differential, not the cost. Once, a long time ago, I sold newspapers door-to-door. I was trying to figure out how to pitch them, and kept coming back to the fact that the paper was cheap. A sales manager pulled me aside at one point and told me that people don't decide to buy something based on price -- they decide to buy something because it answers their needs. Once someone believes that a product will answer their needs, price becomes a secondary consideration.

Look: as this generation approached, I had to decide which console to buy. I could've afforded either the PS3 or the Wii. My then console was the PS2. I love Final Fantasy, and the prospect of the next in that series & other series that I love (like Metal Gear) made me pencil in PS3. I even set aside money in an envelope marked PS3, I'm not kidding.

However, one night a friend & I were talking about videogames and he told me about how the Wii would operate (I was very out of the loop with video game news at the time). When he described the remote, etc., I just couldn't believe it. For the first time in a long time, video games had captured my imagination.

I was sold on the Wii (& didn't buy a PS3), not because of its cost, but because of the product itself.

I don't think you understand why I made the porsche-kia comparison.

Both are cars - they, in effect, do the exact same thing. The difference is that the Porsche costs about 4x as much thanks to the needless (some say) bells & whistles associated with what the Porsche "is".

And like you said, people buy based on needs, rather than cost. The Kia is the type of vehicle (as many compacts and sub $20k cars are) that works, gets you where you need to go, and does it affordably. The Porsche does the same thing - but has a bigger engine, and more features - some may care about, but most don't. Your still going to drive ~65MPH in either vehicle, so there's a limit to how 'good' the Porsche is. Both cars have their target audience, and features to win over that category. Personally? I'd take a sub-$20k car over a Porsche, but that's just me.