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MDMAlliance on 20 June 2013
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TheLastStarFighter said:
MDMAlliance said:
TheLastStarFighter said:
Actually, you could argue that it did work for 3DS as it helped to kill Vita momentum, but the handheld and console markets are very different.


No offense, but I hate when people say this.  It ignores the fact that they are also very similar as well.  Many of the basics remain the same between the markets, and that is exactly what a price cut targets.  

I would also say that the Wii U isn't priced nearly as high as the 3DS was when launched.  The Wii U, for what you're getting (hardware wise), is not that expensive like the 3DS.  Wii U was priced with the 3DS in mind.  

I'm not quite sure what the point of this statement is.  Yes, console and handhelds are both different and similar.  I was talking about the differences.  In the console market there are three players, and Sony is very significant and has lots of software support and key titles from first and third parties.  In the handheld sector, Sony is a much smaller player with virtually no high-profile first party titles.  Vita's non-game features are readily available from other, more attractive options.  To win in the handheld segment all Nintendo had to do was drop the price and secure Sony's single biggest exclusive title, Monster Hunter, to come to 3DS.  Boom.  Battle over.  On the console side, dropping the price and getting say... MGSV to be exclusive... would have impact, but would hardly kill the PS4.  Because, yes, the console and handheld markets are very different.


However that's not true.  Assuming that Nintendo won only because of a price drop and Monster Hunter is not even close to true.  The price drop didn't increase sales to where it is today.  If you look back at the sales record, the price drop helped the 3DS about as much as it helped the Vita.  Sure it may be a relatively big increase, but nonetheless it is not nearly enough to make it "acceptable" sales.  Also, Monster Hunter is only Japan.  The handheld market cannot be sustained just with Japan's sales.  Also, the 3DS got a Monster Hunter game that has been remade quite a few times and the new one coming out isn't even out yet.  The PS Vita also got a game similar to Monster Hunter but that didn't save it either.

Also, the console side you're talking about has just about the same amount of impact as it does on handhelds.  The only difference REALLY here is that there are only two major players in the handheld market, which makes the difference SEEM bigger for things like this, but it isn't really.  

The REAL market differences for handhelds and consoles come with how they are priced, what games they should get, what genres are good for it to sell the consoles, and advertising strategies.  There may be a few more but these are the big ones.