Weekly global 21 June: XBOX ONE increase again

[binary solo]

RolStoppable said:

binary solo said:

Ahem! 80 million consoles thank you. Nintendo was probably going to sell 20 million Wii's without the fad factor. A one generation wonder is the very definition of a fad. The fact that motion controls are now passe is also the definition of a fad. 4 years of amazing sales in the context of console history is a fad. When the history of gaming consoles is written in 20 years fad is the word the historians will use to describe the Wii phenomenon. When you can't carry over your install based to the next generation your success the previous generation is a fad. The fact that Wii tailed off terribly long before Wii U launched means it was a fad. The fact that PS3 and 360 both outsold Wii in 2011 and 2012 means it was a fad.

I think the actual definition of a fad is something that is shortlived and doing the same thing again won't work for a second time. Since the Wii lasted several years (in other words, an entire generation) and its successor is nothing like it, it fails to fulfill the conditions of a fad on both accounts. Of course, the jury is still out on the second time part, because in order to know for sure Nintendo actually has to make another console like the Wii.

The definition of fad differs based on the context of the discussion. The fact that people only cared about motion controls for a single generation, and that motion controls are not helping to drive sales the following generation pretty much puts Wii in particular and motion controls in general into the fad category.

Technically the Wii phenomenon didn't really last an entire generation. It lasted 4 years, and then rapidly tailed off to make Wii the worst selling console of on an anual basis for it's final 2 years of being the current Nintendo home console.