The Gameboy is probably the single most dominant videogame system ever even though its hardware was very unimpressive when it was released, few third party developers ever produced worthwhile games, and it faced competition from more powerful consoles with better screens and more features. We continue to see the impact of this dominance today as people walk into stores buying PSP systems or Nintendo DS systems and call them "Gameboys" ...
How is it possible that Nintendo created and dominated a market when they really didn't have that much going for them? The answer is control ...
After the Gameboy became popular enough Nintendo controlled the bulk of third parties because the inexpensive development environment of the Gameboy ensured profits regardless of the quality of the game; companies would release third rate tie-ins to their SNES/Playstation game releases knowing they would turn a profit, and would not bother supporting another platform because they couldn't offer what Nintendo had.
Nintendo controlled the customers because they would walk into a store, see a wall of affordably priced Gameboy games, see a bin full of discount Gameboy games, and their child would be dying to play the latest Nintendo game. The system with the small library, no discount games, and few high profile games could not compete.
Nintendo controlled the retailers because every retailer knew that if they had the Gameboy in stock, and Gameboy games on their shelves, they would turn a profit whereas the other consoles were not that reliable.
...
How does this translate to the Wii?
Well, the truth is that if things continue as they have been this year throughout 2008 the Wii will be in a similar position to what the Gameboy was through out its life. Certainly the Wii will not be as dominant as the Gameboy was, but it will become nearly impossible for the PS3 or XBox 360 to "come back" and lead without negating Nintendo's massive advantages ...
