| DKII said: Before the generation there were lots of people predicting crazy things for all systems. Some of them have to be right by coincidence. John Lucas just happens to be one of those. ;> |
I'm sorry DKII but there's nothing coincidental about it. Now I may be bias because I was making those same predictions (but I don't always bother to post them to keep track of my posts when I do like JL does) long before the 7th generation began. It's simple really and just needs some long term and wide vision.
Back in the days of the Atari 2600, video games were simple and open to everyone. A stick and a button and a lot of fun. Didn't matter if you were 9 or 90, boy, girl, whatever, you could play Pac-man, Pong and Space Invaders and have a lot of fun. It was new but it was accessible to everyone.
However, with each generation, games became more complex, less accessible and attracted a smaller market. However, the industry got much better at attracting that market so numbers grew. Numbers also grew as kids playing became adults and Sony wisely targetted them too.
But by the 6th generation it was widely realized in the industry that is was suffering a slow death. The systems only appealled to 'gamers' (except the PS2 which had the largest variety of 'casual games'). But statisically, the number of people interested in purchasing games and systems was steadily decreasing. Game variety was decreasing. Sequels and games that more or less played the same as others were steadily rising, further dewindling the market.
MS initially only sought to increase it's market share of the current market with the 360. Sony hoped to pull in more people by addin Blu-ray and marketing it as a 'all in one' multi-media hub, must have for the living room. Nintendo took a step back, or two, and decided to increase market share games needed to become accessible to everyone from 9 to 90 again. Thus the Wiimote was created. To see that this would transform the industry and easily win this generation isn't luck. It's actually a no-brainer IMO.
