| Stever89 said: I would like to point out a few things... First - faster selling consoles have a harder time keeping their attach rates up, because people usually buy one game with the machine that they play for a while. Casuals are worse, because they play fewer games, or take longer to finish a game, and thus take longer to buy another game. The Wii probably makes this even worse because it comes bundled with a game, and then adds another game (WiiPlay) for cheap (and I was talking with some people today at work, and one of them loves the cow racing on WiiPlay... lol). Thus, the fact that the Wii can still maintain an decent attach rate shows that it can sell software... which moves to the second point... People buy the Wii for games... because the Wii doesn't do anything but games. Yes, you can check the weather, get some emails, vote on some unimportant questions... but no one would pay $250 to do any of those, since most have a computer that does it 100x better anyway. The PS3 and 360 are both marketed as more than just a gaming device. We all know Sony wanted the blu-ray to win, and Microsoft has wanted to invade the living room for years. Their consoles were for that - gaming was just a means to an end. The Wii is not only simply about games, that's all it really is meant for, with a few added additions (none of which are marketed), while Nintendo really is the only company that cares about the gaming industry, since they rely on it for >90% of their sales. Sony and Microsoft would drop the market if they didn't see any reason for it. Hint - the living market (streaming videos, digital distribution, etc) and blu-ray penetration are worth way more to Microsoft and Sony than the gaming division (you can tell by their willingness to lose money, no company would do that from the goodness of their hearts. Think about that the next time you (or anyone) say that "Nintendo is destroying the industry." Also, I'm not sure if the week after Christmas will show increased sales for the consoles, can't check last years because my internet is too darn slow. I think the PS3 will be close, but won't reach 20 million until the first full week of 2009. Back on topic - Will the DS ever stop selling? |
Awesome, well-thought out post. I totally agree. Talked to a couple Wii owners and they said the same exact thing. Most play WiiSports, WiiPlay and WiiFit. That's it. They aren't interested in buying more games ATM. That is why the argument '3rd parties should make the Wii the lead platform' is insane. I have been saying this - and just want a simple answer. What's the demographic breakdown on Wii owners? It's gotten much more press than the rest of the consoles, offers a new - for most folks - way to control a game - and isn't hard to learn. It's a cool device that plays games in a unique way.
Shoot, I was showing off the Wii on Sunday to my son's friend's mom and dad. They were like 'We've heard about it and think it's awesome.'
It's an argument for another day, I guess.
