thx1139 said:
Actually no when will people learn that it is the library that sells systems not individual games at this stage. When you have 80 (Wii), 50 (360) 45 (PS3) million consoles sold and 100s of games available for each it isnt a single game that pushes console sales. It is simply the library and the knowledge that the console will continue to be supported by games. Wasnt the launch of GT5 enough to prove it. I am talking about real measurable hardware sales changes. Of course Move and Kinect are somewhat different. They took away the single biggest differentiator that Nintendo had with the Wii. |
Single games don't have much pull on their own maybe, but at this time in a consoles life they can easily be the tipping point along with a small handfull of other games. After all there are a lot of people who buy consoles and only get about 5 games for them ever, otherwise those of us with dozens of games would be able to pull the attach ratios up a bit more (which I think this generation is quite high compared to the past, but still remains around 9-10 games per system)
For example, before the Wii I was considering skipping this gen due to money reasons, perhaps topping up a few GC games then maybe getting a console for the following generation... if I had done that I could relatively easily have changed my mind with Zelda: Skyward Swords release.
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For avid gamers, it's all about the library (or given that they are early adopters: the anticipation of a library) for many more casual gamers it's about a small selection of games, perhaps even a single franchise... the last few years of the PS2 have likely had a big portion buying it just for the GTA games, or just for singstar or buzz. And in fact, another section of gaming is the sports sim... a lot of people will just buy a console and the odd madden or FIFA game (though I don't think they would generally be late adopters, and are more likely to buy the hardware with the first or second of their chosen sports game release)
