HappySqurriel said:
No, I think you clearly did not understand my point. Consumers are not super rational beings who hold the exact same values for long periods of times. Looking outside of the videogame market, the early iPods faced competition from multi-media players (devices that played videos and not just music) and PDAs (which provided videos, applications and MP3s) and people saw no value in these features; when Apple started providing multimedia functionality with the iPod, and then incorporated PDA functionality with the iPod Touch/iPhone, suddenly these features became massively important to the public. Part of the reason for the change in opinions is in how Apple delivered these features, another part is that people’s exposure to an earlier iPod demonstrated the value of these features, and part of it is just that the timing of Apple’s focus on these features was better for external reasons.
Using higher resolution screen output to enable 6 player split-screen Mario-Kart may be a more meaningful way of showing the importance of higher resolution output than better looking games in a single-player or online videogame for many customers; for some social gamers this could be the killer feature to sell a console and, while it would be possible on the PS3 or XBox 360, Sony and Microsoft (for the most part) have not seen value in offering games with more than 2 player split-screen. Gamers may not care about shiny and bumpy space-marine armour at high resolutions, but they might see value in high resolution output. On top of this, we’re now in the middle of 2010 and only about half of all households have HDTVs. The value of pushing HD graphics to an individual who doesn’t own a HDTV, doesn’t have a high quality source of HD signals yet (no HD Cable or Blu-Ray player), or has not become accustomed to HD visuals is fairly minimal. From what I have seen of most of my friends, it usually takes at least 18 months of steady exposure to HD video before they become HD snobs; and if HD growth continues at its steady pace, a large portion (potentially most) consumers in the next generation will demand better visuals. Finally there is the exposure factor. Many people probably own a Wii, enjoy playing it, and still look at the visuals from HD console games with envy. While they might not be willing to spend $300 on a HD console set-up to get these visuals when they have a Wii and it suits their current gaming needs, a new generation of consoles might be the reason they need to upgrade to more advanced visuals; especially if it comes with other enhancements.
Basically, your argument could have been used to claim that there was no reason for people to upgrade from a NES to a SNES, Gameboy to a GBA, GBA to a Nintendo DS, Playstation to a PS2, or PS2 to a PS3 because people demonstrated their lack of interest in graphics by buying these systems rather than their more advanced competition. |
Granted consumer taste does change, but a big issue with the ipod etc back in the early days was compatibility, something which has been ironed out, and with the iphone having a touch screen etc it is affordable and easier to use than it's predecessors.
HD being in 50% of all homes is outstanding considering not all homes will have a television. People who own a wii however do not care about HD because they own a wii - not a HD console. It's like someone who just owns a gameboy. They care about portablt gaming, not console gaming.
Your final point is just wrong. The difference with the NES, GBA, PS1 etc are that the people who owned them were gamers - people who found an intrinsic value in game features such as graphics, level design and so on. The graphical leap from the ps1 to ps2 and to the ps3 are huge. Anyone who wanted bigger games which looked better, better AI and essentially are the product of better hardware would buy the next gen console. The graphics and hardware of the wii is so dated that it isn't a slight difference in power (eg xbox and ps2), but a giant chasm between what the wii is capable of and the 360 and PS3.
These people are happy with BAD graphics, a laggy pad and medicore quality games. Why would they pay more money to have a better exeperience when they are happy with medicority? They bought the wii for simple fun, not hardcore titles, meaning that they will probably be on the same games for years to come as they do not care about graphics. This is where Nintendo have found an unsustainable market and is the flaw of selling something on a gimmick.
