amaral_slb said:
One thing I don´t understand is, if a new console is coming out in the last quarter of a certain year, why do gaming companies feel the need to confirm or show a console in action 1+ year before it comes out.
I have a hard time understanding why Nintendo (or any other company) confirmed and showed the WiiU so early (and out of the big 3, the "damage" they did on the Wii is reduced because their target audience is mainly casual), it makes no sense because you don´t show almost anything, the rumours and speculations can "kill" the hype, and in the end it will sell what it has to sell regardless of how early they start showing it.
I am not talking about show today and release tomorrow, but for example, why would Microsoft/Sony confirm/show anything in this year E3 if the console comes out in the fall of 2013 (for example), effecting current gen sales in a crucial time of the year?
You want to create the hype, but minimize the effect it has on the current sales, specially when current sales are growing every year, and you still have Holiday season in between, why not start hyping the machine in the beginning of 2013? Is the effect of showing it that early that big?
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As a guess, a large portion of the reason they release information when they do is because they can't keep it secret any further ...
When it is an internal project most of the information about the system can be distributed on a need to know basis and, since the information you want to keep private is (mostly) limited to a couple dozen employees, keeping secrets is fairly easy. When you start to attract development from third party publishers, and to get support from middleware companies, you can no longer keep any information about the system truly private; and the more you try to keep it private the less likely you will be to succeed.
