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crumas2 on 26 January 2008
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Bodhesatva said:
Blakjak said:

SG: You mention that your number one, which is a fantastic achievement however with the Wii’s sales beating yours this holiday season- does that show your simply in second place.

RB: At Microsoft we think of the Wii in a different bracket of gaming so its hard to compare the two consoles. The Wii has a very small life cycle and doesn’t compare to the Xbox 360 feature wise. And while it is taking plausible 360 sales its important to notice that Nintendo has created a revolutionary device and Microsoft expected it to sell decent, and the system can afford to sell decent because its very similar to a childs toy. It would be like comparing the 360 to the PSP which wouldn’t be a good comparison. Regardless to all this, overall sales is what counts.

 

I lol'ed. Don't like losing much, Microsoft?


Yes, the Wii is clobbering everyone, and I'm also incredibly annoyed at the "lol kids" remarks which are now clearly untrue (but can you blame them? They're PR guys, that's their job).


However, I do feel that this may be the right approach, all PR spin aside. The boat has sailed, the Wii has won the mass market, and I don't think there is a ton of use in trying to peel off users from the Wii at this point. I think the better approach -- at least for this generation -- is to establish the 360 as the "hardcore" gamer's console (not PC) of choice, and then perhaps flesh out from there in the future.

It's actually very similar to the way the Wii rose to power, Blakjak. Nintendo said: "MS/Sony are going left, why don't we go right?" And now, Nintendo is the one on top -- Microsoft can say: "Nintendo is gobbling up the mainstream market, why don't we go after the core gaming audience?"

It's not as profitable, at least short term: I agree with that. But keeping a portion of the market (an important part) as your corner of the world is a lot better than having no corner at all, which is a situation I think the PS3 may be approaching.


The Wii is doing great, but it doesn't seem to be "clobbering" anyone.  Almost everyone I know (including myself) who owns a Wii also owns a 360 or PS3.  The Wii seems to compliment the other two consoles in many cases instead of supplanting them.  This probably isn't true in families where the kids are < 8 and the dad doesn't game, but it seems to be true in many other situations.