Lastly, the single greatest issue that I think people fail to take into account is the natural generational divide and the aging of the marketplace. Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, the "MTV Generation" is all grown up and has money to burn. The significance here is that today's 30-somethings with the wads of disposable cash all have one thing in common -- they grew up on Nintendo. The generation behind them, the so-called "Generation Y," which grew up on Sony's platforms does not have the general purchasing power (yet), but more importantly, does not have that same sense of brand loyalty. This is the distinguishing characteristic that has decided this console war so far. Nintendo has produced a cheap console that not only appeals to the same core of gamers that launched Nintendo-mania in the 80s, but that cores' parents as well -- the Baby Boomers. Sony has produced a console targeted squarely at the market segment least equipped to afford it, the technophiles of Generation Y. Sadly, quality of games really has nothing to do with it. |
/agree with you on the first points, but not on this one.
The Nintendo Generation hasen't any specific brand loyalty. Otherwise, they woulden't have shifted to PS1 like they did.
Same goes for revenu. I'm 32 and I have less money and time to spend in video games than during the previous decade because I now have a house to pay, a baby to take care of and so on.
IMO, the Wii success is not really a matter of old fans coming back to Nintendo (otherwise, Zelda would have had a far bigger success, instead of these relatvily low sales). I really believe Nintendo is conquering a new market of ppl that never really played video game.
Wiisport is really fun but in term of concept, it's mostly going back to the Pong era, to the stuff gamers loved a long time ago. Newcomers are discovering them today thanks to the wiimote, and that's what's making its success.
