The question about casuals is simple. They don't buy videogames anymore like they did before. When Wii was launched, we didn't had smartphones. Wii drop on sales is sometime after the tablets rising on market. Smartphones and tablets have higher priorities than consoles for casuals, because they aren't just gaming machines. They are computers, they are portable and they represent a social status.
I think that Nintendo abandoned the core market with the Wii. What happened now is that the casual market abandoned Nintendo for tablets and smartphones with their Angry Birds, Where Is My Water and Fruit Ninjas. And the core market migrated for MS/Sony for better graphics, HD twins exclusive games and better online. Even with the big install base of Wii, the core battle is an uphill challenge against the twins and their sucessors. And the casual battle is against Apple and Samsung and it's already lost.
| NightDragon83 said: So Wii U at $299 today is too expensive but the PS1 at $299 and the Saturn at $399 way back in 1995 were just fine? |
US$ 299 is a good price point. US$ 399 was a mistake and Saturn was completely destroyed because of that. But PS1, Dreamcast, PS2 and oother consoles released wit this kind of price point were high-end at launch (PS1 vs. Snes is a huge difference), so people couls actually see the difference and justify the high price. When PS1 costed US$ 299, Snes was less than US$ 99 and with a huge library of amazing games. But PS2 graphics were in a completely different league. People aren't seeing why they should buy an U for US$ 299~350 if a PS3 is US$ 250 with Uncharted 3 bundled and have a much bigger library. Wii had outdated graphics, but the motion sensor was enough to make people understand the kind of jump it made.
What Nintendo has to do is show for everyone a reason why Wii U is a "jump", why it is better than PS360. Normally, what shows it is graphics, but motion sensors were enough too. Currently, the tablet controller isn't being enough to do that. They need a game that uses their unique controller in a way that impresses everyone (they didn't did that yet) and its better to do it before PS720 starts to amaze everyone with graphics or other techs (Kinect 2 is an example).
| Cleary397 said: uhh... figures show that is is currently ahead of PS3 and 360 were when those consoles were at the 3 month mark. Doomed? I dont think so! |
- Both PS3 and 360 were supply constrained.
- PS3 was launched months late on EU, so these numbers are just US and Japan.
- PS3 was a US$ 500 console.
- Launch numbers for Wii U are good, the problems is the drop on sales. Right now, it is selling in a level lower than anything that happened with PS3 or 360. Actually, Wii U is selling almost like Vita now. If Wii U is selling well, then Vita is too. And we know that it isn't the case.
