PS4 starts dominating - outsells WiiU and X1 combined (Read OP, please)

[el_gallo]

The reasons why people want to hate on the 3DS being brought into the discussion are multiple. First it makes money for Nintendo hand over fist and thus the "doomed" conclusions for the company will never turn out to be true because they've got plenty of cash coming in thanks to the 3DS.

Second, it should be considered because Sony and Microsoft have totally failed in that realm and it isn't just with handheld consoles. It is with handheld ANYTHING. They can't make money on smartphones, tablets anything. Their only semi-success has been in consoles and even that requires a delusional state because they were roundly outsold last generation by the Wii and DS and while doing much better this generation still haven't surpassed the WiiU. Increasingly it looks like Microsoft is too expensive and too similar to Sony and thus not only will they lose, but lose badly to Sony.

While Sony has had a very nice launch out the gate, they have proven themselves what it takes to turn around a console and have done that with the PS3 sales to some degree. Nintendo can do that too with Wii U.

Nintendo is clearly improving their online experience and on top of it, they are the only free online play this round. They have already done a good job of improving the value proposition of the WiiU with bundles and have much more room to compete on price. As a competitor they clearly offer something different than Sony and Microsoft who are offering more of the same but with slightly more polygons and claims of slightly higher resolution this round.

Finally they are fully backward compatible with both controllers and games and this allows them more of a slow burn with regard to success. Sony needs to grab those big dollars because their solution requires a massive up front investment. $400 for the console, perhaps $60 for a second controller, $50 for plus and $60 for a game.

$570 is massive. The WiiU is going to really get a second look once we are post the hard-core early adopters who have the most money this one time of the year.

We still have our old Wii around and let's look at getting something new for a birthday or Spring Break or whatever. So and so had good grades and deserves something nice. What is the cost if we go with the Wii U?

$300.

But what about more controllers?

$300, you can use your old controllers.

But what about online play?

$300, it is free to play online.

But what about games to start out with?

$300 because it comes bundled with Zelda or Mario and Luigi and you can still revisit all the old Wii games you have as well.

If someone at Nintendo is smart, they are finding a way to make the 3DS add value to the Wii U. If they manage to do this then all bets are off. I know people talk about streaming game play to the 3DS and that wouldn't work. However it it were used just like a sideways WiiMote and people could use the screens for some asynchronous information related to games, it could be very cool.

Example, picking maps or characters for the next round of a game. I remember in certain games you could make or accept challenges or wagers. Imagine a game where you can send a quick request to team up or gang up on the one person in the room who has been killing everyone or talking crap and it happens via the screen so no one has to talk out loud about what is happening. Imagine a "Take down the Leader" challenge. Accept it and win and everyone gets coins. If you lose, the leader, not knowing about it gets the coins. That could be awesome.

Just with left over Wii hardware and 3DS customers, they have a potential audience of 141 million customers if they figure out how to hit the marketing message right and tie all of it together the best. They just unified the online stores for 3DS and Wii U. Hopefully this means more cross-promotion and more ways to bring all of their strengths together.