| vivster said: In that case it doesn't matter how big the actual fanbase is if they just make them buy multiple things :) |
This touches on something that's been bothering me a lot lately. There are two ways for a company to grow its profits: attract new customers, or make more money off existing customers.
The most successful consoles (in terms of install base, by nature of attracting a larger market) targeted the former strategy. The NES, PS1, PS2, Wii, DS, they all aimed to broaden their target market. The latter strategy could be related to DLC and paid services like Xbox Live. Granted, at first Xbox Live was far superior to online services on other consoles, so it did attract a larger userbase thanks to that. But over time, as Sony caught up with Microsoft in that regard, Xbox Live Gold shifted from a reason to own the console to another expense of owning it.
This latter strategy is not necessarily a bad thing. For instance, one reason the Wii is treated so dismissively in certain circles is because Nintendo didn't target enough money from each owner. Gamers want to play games, they want to buy more games. Having fewer games you want to buy is not a selling point for a console. Every time someone says they "won't buy a console for one game" they are suggesting that the console in question would be more appealing to them if there were more opportunities for them to spend money on it.
But now it feels like every company in the industry is just trying to get more money from their existing customers, and is not trying to expand their target market, save for the "aim for the COD crowd" mentality that has taken hold of a lot of publishers. More series being annualized, more DLC for finished games, more spin-offs and merchandise.
As a Nintendo customer, this is frustrating for me. Nintendo has been in the red for a couple of years, and I can plainly see that their strategy to get back in black is to make more money from me (and other existing Nintendo customers like me). New 3DS, themes & face plates, Amiibo, Mario Kart DLC, even Hyrule Warriors. This isn't always bad -- Mario Kart 8 DLC is a lot of content for a low price, there's nothing wrong with that at all. But Nintendo can only make so much profit from me; I can't buy everything they make, nor would I want to if I could. I really hope the New 3DS attracts some new 3DS owners, and isn't just a reason for current 3DS owners to spend more money on hardware. Because so far, it being bundled with Monster Hunter in Japan and the only announced exclusive being Xenoblade has me doubtful that this product will appeal to many gamers who weren't already interested enough in the 3DS to have bought one.
