Rpruett said:
While software is ALWAYS an important factor to selling a system, you are mistaken if you believe that the inclusion of Wii Sports sold the Wii to people. People would have gladly bought Wii Sports as a standalone game had Nintendo made it as such. Nintendo had a lot different reception to the Wii than they did Gamecube (From the beginning). Wii was going to be more successful just by premise than the Gamecube. I agree that Nintendo games have been the driving force on all of their consoles (I won't speak about handhelds as I don't have a specific interest in them) for a good while now. Atleast for me, I can say that Nintendo games are the sole piece of software I am looking to purchase on a Nintendo console.
As for the Gamecube being dominant last gen because of price? It's a totally different story. And I think you're missing the point if you don't understand what I am saying.
The Wii when it released this generation came with a small game/controller and hit the market at $250. The Xbox 360 when it released this generation came with a controller and hit the market at $400. (I'm not counting the core because even for that system to become viable you needed an expensive after market HDD). The PS3 when it released this generation came with a controller and hit the market at $600.
$150 price difference over the 360 and $350 price difference over the PS3. A total price difference over competition of $500 dollars!! It's astounding when you see that price difference.
You can't even begin to compare it to the previous generation. Price wasn't NEARLY the factor. First and foremost the world economy as a whole was healthier but even moreso all the pricing was practically identical last generation or atleast reasonably close. PS2 initially marketed at $300 (Released Fall 2000) / Xbox initially marketed at $300 (Released Fall 2001) / Gamecube marketed at $200 (Released Fall 2001). A total price difference over competition (A year later nonetheless of a paltry $100 dollars combined). It's not even close. Gamecube was marginally ahead in price compared to how ridiculously ahead in price the Nintendo Wii was. The funniest thing about this generation is that it was ENTIRELY sold on price IMHO. Looking back at it, I don't even know why people thought this would be a competition in terms of sales. The pricing of these high end consoles was just too high from the very beginning. |
The genius to bundling Wii Sports was that it was the platform's proof of concept. I agree it was a game that tens of millions would have bought anyway, but it's a game that really sold the hardware to casuals and non-gamers, through word of mouth and first hand experience chiefly rather than how the industry usually works. Making sure that it came with every Wii, that it was always there to "hook" someone trying the platform for the first time, was one of smartest decisions Nintendo's made this generation... honestly, I'd say you're very much undervaluing the game's impact. Price, by comparison, was a total non-issue.
And I don't think you can discount the $299 Core 360 out of hand, when it was basically the same setup as what PS2 offered for $299 five years previously (barebones console, wired controller, need to buy a HDD or memory card), nor the $499 PS3 (missing only WiFi and some HDD GBs). Price was never a selling point for Wii considering it routinely went for over MSRP 2nd hand for it's first couple years, and indeed the $249 launch price was deemed overpriced by most within the industry when it was first announced. If you think pricepoints are the real driving factor behind Wii's overwhelming success and social phenomena, then I'd say you haven't really been paying attention this generation... there's a reason Nintendo's only needed to give Wii one actual price drop in four years...
