| OoSnap said: @ Jay What is mean by "hook" is a feature of the platform that appeals to the mass market. Clearly if Nintendo made Gamecube 2.0, that is just an upgraded hardware, it would have probably sold less than Gamecube. |
The reason the Gamecube failed was because Nintendo, up to that point, had a business structure in place that mandated direct competition. The SNES was a Genesis, only with more powerful specs. The N64 was a PS1, only with more powerful specs. The Gamecube was a PS2...well, you get the idea. When it got to the PS2 era, gaming had changed. Mario was considered "kiddy". Nintendo was considered "kiddy". They were viewed as a little kids company that made little kids games and sold purple toy like consoles. Core gamers rejected them almost entirely that gen for that reason alone. Nintendo realized this and figured out that they just couldn't compete anymore and released an entirely NEW product, aimed at an entirely NEW demograph...casuals (grandmother,sister,mother,grandfather etc.) and it worked. That's the ONLY reason the Wiimote exists. It's not because they wanted to change the industry, breath new life into it, or whatever else they told us. It was simply a smart way to stay in business.
If you look at the 360, it had no hooks. Regular hardware, regular controller etc. It outsold the first Xbox by more than 40 million units. Hooks aren't needed if the core is happy. Keep the core happy by releasing good, hard core games, with regular controllers, and you'll do fine.
