The Seventh Generation: A Civil War, or a Schism?

[Kenny]

Akvod said:

Kenny said:

ll other things equal, better graphics will be more attractive to a prospective buyer (ignoring the uncanny valley), so yes, graphics will count for something no matter who you're selling to.  That said, the key to understanding the Wii's success comes from knowing at what point pouring resources into graphics cease to generate as big a return on investment as paying attention to other aspects of the game.  By capitalizing on these other aspects and rolling them into the Wii's successor at a hardware or firmware level, it's very possible for Nintendo to put out a new system and hold the lead in the Eighth Generation.  The literal million dollar question here is what other aspects will bring their new audience back for more, and what they can do to counter the inevitable copying of ideas from Microsoft and Sony.

Why didn't Grandpa and Granma buy PS2's last generation, and go for Xbox 360's or PS3's this generation when they clearly have better graphics than the Wii?

Because it's a pain in the ass for a person unaccustomed to dual analog sticks to use and control it, while anyone with some basic knowledge of tennis, golfing, etc can instantly play Wii sports.

I don' think those casual gamers would be interested in buying a more powerful Wii, because graphics aren't even an factor for them.

Graphics are always a factor to every audience.  They're just not the only one, which is why I included the "all other things equal" qualifier.  There are many, many things that the Wii's successor could do in addition to the requisite improvements in graphics, and those are the key to retaining and expanding their audience.  For example, they could improve their online gaming infrastructure, create something powerful but idiot proof while working within their constraints (we can all agree Friend Codes are a travesty of coding that should never have been, right?).  Or, they could branch out into user generated content a la Spore or LBP, and make it incredibly easy to share user generated content.  These are just examples, and probably aren't the exact answers, but the point is, there are probably many more avenues of focus that could make the Wii's successor a compelling buy, even if they were to keep their control scheme and make another marginal increase in processing power.