Just curious is all. I got to thinking about why it might very well be impossible for PS3 to catch the 360/Wii this gen even with a price cut, and one idea stood out in my mind. Regardless of how powerful a console is, or how much of a price cut they eventually give it, there is something else that drives consumers when purchasing a console more than any marketing or hype...
People like to play video games with their friends. Period. If there are a 100 million Wii/360/Ps3's in circulation as we speak, and only 21 million of those 100 million are PS3's and mainstream/casual gamers that don't yet own a current gen console want to be able to play with their friends then how many of them will buy a PS3 even if it was $299? Are these potential buyers not more likely to purchase the system that most of their friends have?
Am I completely wrong, or is it safe to assume that getting a fast start for a particular generation is very important, and almost essential to long-term success? Has any console ever started out way behind after 2 years and then turned it around over the next 2-3 years? Is it due to my above mentioned theory of console sales snow-balling due to mainstream gamers wanting to own what their friends own?
Also, I realize that most of the people that visit this forum are hardcores, so what drives you to purchase a console is surely much different than what entices Timmy from down the street to buy a console.
What are your thoughts?
