Nintendo to offer Wii DLC and you have to pay for some online games X_X

[Bodhesatva]

Stever89 said:
^ Future is bring then, is what you're trying to say?

Seriously though, the PS3 (at least) and 360 (to an extent) are going to have to last 10 years because in 6 years they won't be able to make a system that is powerful enough to warrant an upgrade, but there's no way they're going to make another $400 and $600 systems. It just doesn't work.

Not that I disagree, but if they do so, this just gives Nintendo license to keep the Wii around for 10 years. Nintendo isn't upgrading when they're 1) market leader 2) making tons of money unless their hand is forced by a competitor.

It's a bit like the DS situation: the DS won't see a successor until the PSP does.

And if Sony and Microsoft keep the PS3/360 around for 10 years just so that they don't lose tons of money, Nintendo can go from "making tons of money" to "being the second largest company in Japan." And that doesn't really change the frame of reference, does it? If, on a scale of 1-10, the current PS3/360 economic strategy is a 1, then the Wii strategy is a 9. If we do manage to stretch this generation out 10 years, then perhaps Sony and/or MS will eek out a 3 on that rating scale, while Nintendo will eek out... an 11, or something. That shift makes the market as a whole look better, but it doesn't change the fact that the specific market strategy employed by MS/Sony is inferior.

Lastly, it's important to note that I'm not just talking about this particular generation, but long term. Even if they stretch this generation out to 10 years, what about next generation? And the generation after that? Profits have been shrinking generation after generation for Sony, year after year for third party developers. This isn't a PS3/360 problem, they're just specific and very relevant examples of it. It's an industry problem that has been building for over a decade, and will continue to get worse until a remedy is found.

I personally suspect that remedy will be "stop making such expensive games and live with lower end graphics and tech," but we'll see if the magic fairy dust does arrive some day.