| Rogerioandrade said: True. Actually, even the so-called videogame media (journalists, web and magazine editors, reviewers, etc etc etc) don´t understand basic concepts of marketing and economy then, don´t understand how this market really works. I´d say that the future of the videogame console industry depends today much more on those two things (marketing and economy) than ever before. Many people who played on consoles in the past are not interested in them anymore. Some are changing handhelds for tablets and smartphones, others are playing only on PC. What the industry can do in order to make people believe they actually need a dedicated gaming device ? What is the real competition of consoles right now? What can be done for this kind of product be profitable if the market is getting niche more and more? Those are not easy questions but it´s clear that the success of a console can´t be measured just by comparative numbers. A product may be a success if it can provide its manufacturer a reasonable profit, even if it´s not the best seller or it´s not aimed to a broad range of consumers. |
Well I'm sorry but I don't really agree with you. In fact I'm pretty much stating the opposite. Sure, marketing and new trends like smartphones or tablets are important but I think they are way too overrated. With 3DS we have here a great example that smartrphones haven't change that much this market. I think people talk too much about those aspects while they are marginally important in the success of a gaming machine. Games really represent probably something like 90% of what really matters for a console to sell well and when you have great and appealing ones it's really easy to make a good marketing campaign as well. This is exactly what guys like Pachter probably will never get : games are pretty much all that really matters, everything else is just a bonus.
So when it's about the future of a console like the WiiU people usually talk about things like the concept, about marketing, about power and so on... but when you have games like Mario 3D, Mario Kart, Wii Fit... to come those aspects are totally negligeable imo. Line-up and killer apps are what is really important and has to be taken into account way before considering any other point.
The same thing can be said about the installed base of a plateform in comparison to its main competitors to know if it's in good position or not. Looking just at the weekly charts, making comparison out of context with previous consoles, without taking into account what marketshare it already has in comparison to its main competitors is meaningless because again what matters the most at the end of the day for publishers is to know what are/is the platform(s) with the best installed base(s). So here again before considering any other aspect if you don't get this simple point which is by far the most important one you certainly can't really get this market imo and certainly won't be able to make a good analysis or prediction of what will happen.
