Hi, guys,
I've been on lurking here for a few months now, trying to find something intelligent to add for my first post that doesn't make me sound biased.
Let me get this out of the way first: I am a self-proclaimed Nintendo fanboy who also loves Xbox, and while I am against Sony as a company, I think the PS3 is a good piece of hardware. I own all 3 systems this gen, and owned all 4 last gen (Dreamcast included). I also own a NES, SNES, GB, N64, PS1, DS, and I had a PSP at one point. Just so everyone knows I'm not completely biased.
I was thinking today about what sells a console. Of course there are obvious things like price and game variety/quantity, but I was thinking there are other things too. Some of these may seem obvious, but please bear with me, as I think I present some interesting points and examples. Here are some things that I think have helped sell consoles since the beginning:
Mascot: Every company needs a mascot that personifies their philosophies about gaming. When Mario and
Nintendo brought gaming back from the brink of obscurity, they did it because they showed people the sheer 'fun' and sense of wonder that could come from games. Mario was the first game that really let you 'explore' and find secrets. That sense of discovery has permeated throughout the company's games for 20-odd years, and what kind of success has it brought? Just that whenever someone thinks of 'video games' they think of 'Mario'. Their other big franchises, like Zelda and Metroid, all play off of this feeling of immersion and discovery. If the player deviates from the path, they don't get killed, instead they get a piece of heart of 5 extra missile capacity.
Then Sega comes along. They are the new guy, and saleswise, Nintendo doesn't even know they are there. That is, until they break out Sonic! He's faster, edgier, and just plain more badass than Nintendo's portly plumber. This reflects the company's entire attitude of "Sega does what Nintendon't!" Because of Sonic, who was seen to be in direct competition with Mario, Sega effectively erupted the first true video game fanboy wars. Sonic allowed them to be Nintendo's first real competitor in the console market.
For the original Playstation, Sony had some great mascots that rivalled the best from the other two companies. I am not talking about games like Syphon Filter or MGS--great games in themselves--I am talking about Spyro and Crash Bandicoot. When I thought of PS, I thought of those two. They were Sony's 'Mario' and 'Sonic'. They were very laid-back and funny, and had great appeal. Of course, those two series new entries are laughable, but they used to be awesome.
I hope I don't need to mention what the Halo phenomenon did for Xbox.
When thinking about the 'war' going on right now, this theory applies greatly. Nintendo is still all about the sheer fun factor (as evidenced by the latest Mario release, which is absolutely 'stellar' :) ), MS is the "I'm a hardcore action fan" system, which is evidenced by Halo. Sony, on the other hand, has no idea what their intended image is for their console. Do they want it to be the 'cool' one, the 'fun' one, the 'hardcore' one, or something completely different? They do not have an 'image' associated with them right now, and it is hurting htem big-time. (I know that is not the only reason)
Markets: There are many different types of gamer, not just the 'casual' and 'hardcore'
Casual non-gamer: Mom who plays Wii Sports and Solitaire
Casual gamer: Buys Madden every year, along with licensed games based off favourite movies, GTA, and uber-hyped games like Halo. Usually plays the hell out of them.
Hardcore 1-gamer: Similar to the casual gamer, but they play one game religiously. Think WoW.
Hardcore general gamer: Someone who goes to the store every week or two, looks around, and buys something that looks good. If he ends up liking it, he likes it, otherwise 'meh, live and learn'
Hardcore gamer: People like us, who spend hours talking on forums, reading game previews and reviews, sometimes getting into pointless fanboy battles, and making ourselves heard online.
Here is how the console wars have gone so far, starting from 3rd-gen (NES). I'm going to list each system (that I know well enough) and which of these sub-types of gamer it captured.
NES: ALL 5 TYPES
For the most part, the NES had no competition. Everybody loved 'the Nintendo'. It satisfied fans of shooting stuff, fans of puzzles, fans of sports and racing, adventure, everybody. You could spend hours on the Nintendo help line getting all of the pieces of Heart, or you could own one to play Tetris or Mario for 10 minutes before work. As a result, the NES brought gaming from nerdity and made it a viable piece of entertainment. It sold 60 million units.
SNES: ALL TYPES OF HARDCORE, AND THE CASUAL NON-GAMER
The situation for the SNES was pretty much the same as the NES. It likely would have sold more htan the NES if it weren't for their first real competition. The SNES didn't have a high-quality series of sports games, which hurt it. They sold approximately 40 million units.
SEGA: HARDCORE GENERAL, HARDCORE GAMER, CASUAL GAMER
I am including all Sega systems up until the Dreamcast in this one. The new kid on the block was a mean, green, action machine. SEGA had hardcore games like Sonic, and they were a sport-gamer's dream come true with the SEGA Sports lineup. They split some of the hardcore gamers with Nintendo, and stole the casual gamer with the sports lineup. If we cound hardcore general and hardcore gamer as .5, Sega captured 2 markets in total from Nintendo. However, they still lost about 2:1 because Nintendo still had 3.
N64: ALL TYPES OF HARDCORE, PLUS CASUAL GAMER
The N64 managed to pull off games that were both highly casual AND good for the hardcore gamer (Mario 64, Star Fox, Goldeneye, Perfect Dark). It had some of the best of these games of all time. Unfortunately, Sony had a far greater quantiy of games in these genres, so the N64 lost approximately 5:1.
PS1 and 2: ALL TYPES OF GAMER
I am lumping these two together because they were basically the same in this respect. The first two Playstations were (still are) the jack of all trades systems. Do you want RPG's? Get Playstation. Do you want solid action and sports games? Playstation. What's that? You just want a system with a lot of lighthearted, licensed distractions for your kid? Get a Playstation, for all your Spongebob needs. The first sold over 100 million, and the second is currently at about 125 million, and will likely sell another 7 to 10.
DREAMCAST: ALL
What a terrible way to go... by rights, the Dreamcast should have kicked the crap out of the PS2 in sales, and Sony should have gone out of the console market instead. They had Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, Power Stone, Virtua Figher, Soul Calibur, Crazy Taxi, Resident Evil, Quake 3 Arena (which could be played against people playing the game on a computer), and many other gems. The beautiful thing about it was that most of these games could be enjoyed just as much by either hardcore or casual games. This is an anomaly here, as the only reason it failed was Sony's lying propaganda (Wait for PS2! IT's 2X AS POWERFUL!). Honestly, I was too young to be into the 'politics' of games at the time, but I was sad when they stopped supporting Dreamcast.
GC: HARDCORE 1-GAMER, HARDCORE GENERAL GAMER, AND CASUAL NON-GAMER
Rightly so, the Gamecube was seen as the 'kiddy' system, and therefore was only adopted by three types of people:
-hardcore Nintendo fans like myself who must have their Mario and Zelda.
-parents of the implied 'little kids'
-people who bought it for only a single game or series, either Smash Bros, Metroid Prime, or Resident Evils 0 and 4
The 'Cube sold approximately 22 million, and Nintendo came in third place.
XBOX: ALL TYPES OF HARDCORE GAMER, NO CASUALS NEED APPLY
Thanks to Halo, the newcomer, Xbox was seen as the only system for hardcore gamers. I don't think this really needs an explanation--true, you could buy games like Spongebob for the system, but it was really all about the shooters. Halo was like the Goldeneye of the generation, where a bunch of 15-35-year-olds guys could just crowd around a tv (or several tvs) have some laughs, and shoot each other a lot. Most of the popular games for the system were shooters, despite the best online system for a console, a pair of excellent RPGs (Kotor, Jade Empire), and other niche games like Conker, it never shook the hardcore-only vibe, and only sold 24 million, just edging out the 'Cube.
Which brings us to the current generation, which I'll sum up briefly because it's pretty well-known.
Wii: All types of gamer except for Hardcore 1-gamer and Casual 'Madden and Halo' gamer, though this is starting to change.
Nintendo still has Mario, the face of all video games, helping to bring about the casual revolution. Wii is by far the most popular system, salewise, because Nintendo is digging deeper into the casual market than any company ever has before. They are also making 'some' of the hardcores happy by releasing Mario, Zelda, Smash, Metroid, Mario Kart, etc. These games are also very appealing for any kind of casual. Little kids are quite happy with the licensed stuff and mini-game fests like Mario Party 8. Even the hardcore FPS fans, who originally laughed at Wii, are beginning to see some high-quality stuff like MOH:H2 and Manhunt. It is currently at 15.16 million after 1 year, and before christmas.
Xbox 360: All types except for casual non-gamer, which they are trying to address.
The 360 has come leaps and bounds with regards to it's public image since the Xbox. While the Master Chief's success shows that shooters are still the main draw, it has a large selection of racers, RPGS (Japanese and Western), and Sports games. They are seen as the 'cool' system to have, and you are not a real gamer if you do not have a 360, according to some. MS is even trying (with slight success) to bring in the little kids and the casuals, with games like Viva Pinata, Scene It?, and especially Xbox Live Arcade. After 2 years, they are at 13.82 million sold.
PS3: Hardcore Gamer and Hardcore General Gamer
As it stands, Sony has lost it's previously sparkly clean reputation as the fun system for everyone to own. They no longer have a mascot that stands for their gaming philosophy (maybe it's because they don't know what their philosophy is right now?) They do have some fun games, like R&C, Ratchet, Uncharted, and Warhawk. They've lost the casual gamer to Nintendo in a big way, and the hardcore to MS, and the variety of games that made the first two so popular is now found on the other two systems. What's more? Not only has its' high price tag alienated any possible 'casual' consumers, but it has done something the industry has never seen before--a lot of people actually feel SEETHING HATRED toward Sony. After 1 year, they have sold 6.55 million. Yes, they sold more than the 360 did in its' first year, but it is a far cry from the complete domination the company has come to expect. Also, they sold a fair chunk of them with scare tactics, saying 'If you don't buy the best version of the console right now, you'll never get a chance because we're not making them anymore! MWA HA HA!' They also had essentially a $200 price drop recently, whereas MS only had to drop $50 to stay comfortably ahead. So I wouldn't expect sales to stay as high as they are right now.
Okay, I'm sorry for the long wall of text. I hope I didn't sound like a fanboy at any point. If I did, I'm sorry, and if you point out where I sounded like one, I will edit that part of the post.
That said, does anyone agree with me? Disagree? Have anything to add?
I will post more as I think of them.
