| Metallicube said: Call me crazy, but I still feel Nintendo is in better shape than its competitors. Yes, the HD consoles are finally starting to BAAARELY outsell the Wii, but let's look at all that it took in order for it to happen.. -SEVERAL price drops, especially for the PS3. PS3 has dropped 50% of its initial value after only 3 years, which is pretty unheard of. And it's still struggling in America, the biggest gaming market. - Multiple bundles and console skews, again, particularly for the PS3. - Redesigns for BOTH consoles, which in part act as a fresh new launch, as many people run out and rebuy their console. Look at what the redesign did to the DS after all.. So it's almost as if Wii is going up against 4 consoles. - Universal support of third parties, like 90% of the support as opposed to like 10% for the Wii. More support means more, and better games, which means more sales, and more longevity. - Motion control devices for BOTH consoles. Kinect in particular has been treated almost like an entirely new console launch for MS. -The added value of Blu Ray on the PS3, which seems to be having an effect in Japan particularly, as PS3 console sales are high there but game sales are pretty low. Clearly MS and Sony are more reliant on hardware features to maintain momentum. But you only have so many of these cards. Wii on the other hand simply needs more games to thrive. Right now it doesn't have them. NSMB, the biggest hardware mover, is now over a year old. If Wii just gets more games that can sell, it easilly negates all of these marketing moves (and yes, a price drop couldn't hurt at this point either ;)). This to me is more sustainable than relying more on hardware features and marketing. |
So, basically, the Wii crowd has turned 180 degrees in their reasoing now. Where Blu-ray, HD graphics, price, hardware revisions and motion controls had no significant effect on their battle against the Wii (you know, since it targets the Blue Ocean) they are now the crucial factors in managing to outsell it?
In the last months (counting from October 1st 2010 in this case), as an example, these are significant exclusives and multiplats released for the Wii and PS3 (removed multiplats and exclusives with trivial sales since these will have no impact on hardware sales at any rate):
Wii Exclusive:
Kirby's Epic Yarn
Wii Party
Goldeneye
Epic Mickey
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Super Mario Allstars 25th Anniversary
Wii Multiplats:
Call of Duty: Black Ops
DJ Hero 2
Rock Band 3
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
Tony Hawk: Shred
WWE Smackdown vs RAW
EA Sport Active 2
Harry Potter and the Deathy Hallows pt1
NFS: Hot Pursuit
Michael Jackson: The Experience
NBA Jam
Monopoly Streets
PS3 Exclusives:
Gran Turismo 5
Little Big Planet 2
PS3 Multiplats:
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Medal of Honor
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Storm Ninja 2
DJ Hero 2
Fallout: New Vegas
Vanquish
The Sims 3
Rock Band 3
Star Wars The Force Unleashed II
James Bond 007 Bloodstone
WWE Smackdown vs RAW 2011
CoD: Black Ops
AC: Brotherhood
EA Sports Active 2
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
DC Universe Online
Dead Space 2
The PS3 has more multiplats but the Wii has more exclusives so the tally should be very similar in terms of impact (also, on this very page, you state that Wii AAA games move more hardware than HD AAA games). Arguably, AC: Brotherhood, Medal of Honor and Dead Space 2 are big games but, as mentioned, the Wii has more significant exclusives by far within the same time period so this is pretty much equal. The PS3 has had no price cut (then again; price doesn't matter...) in a long time, the Slim launch is old news and revisions only cause short term boosts anyway according to some (especially the Wii crowd subscribes to this belief, I'm not saying its wrong either mind you). Lastly, as is apparent from the above lists, the PS3 has had no advantage when it comes to software either lately and it still costs 50% more as well. Then why is it outselling the Wii now? What's the reason? Move?
Let's summarize; a while back you had this stance: motion controls for HD consoles are tacked on nonsense that will have no impact on the Wii, price doesn't matter, hardware revisions only cause short term boosts, Blu-ray and other nonsense has no impact on the Wii since it appeals to a different segment of the market.
Now the tune has changed somewhat: Motion controls are now a major factor and are hurting Wii sales, price matters after all (allthough, you lot are back and forth on that point, may change again tomorrow for all I know), hardware revisions cause longterm hardware sales to rise, Blu-ray and other features are now key in defeating the Wii.
The Wii does have games it can sell and brushing off marketing as something best to be avoided in any market and any form of business model is really silly. There is no good reason for the PS3 to be outselling the Wii right now.
Unless; the market and the percieved value of the consoles themselves have changed in this smartphone and tab-crazed society and multimedia, online connectivity, extra features, proper storage and higher output capability are more important than ever to succeed (or keep on succeeding in Nintendo's case) and "future proofing" your product might not be bad at all. Oh, and marketing, one of the cornerstones of any commodity or service is pretty damn important and not to be ignored and perhaps even seen as paramount.
