| torok said: They could, but I can't see it happening. Nintendo never evolved from their 80s mindset. They use old thinking to compete with aggressive adversaries. They damaged 3rd party relations, they associated their image with kids, they did everything possible to create a product that isn't desirable by teens and adults. |
I think they really relied on brand recognition for this generation. They thought that people would buy a WiiU because they got WII's.
Buyers however seem to be very very well informed and dedicated to getting the console that gives them the best value for the games they want this generation. Many users seem to be skipping this generation altogether.
Nintendo WII sales were like a steam roller last gen. I think they drove their own insanely high sales...as in people bought because so many other people bought. It was the "must have" for years. I have two neighbours who don't even play games that got one just in case. The price point was so nice that it was a no brainer to have one for those couple times people came over and did some dancing or such. Nintendo found a totally new market that nobody even knew was there...the casual gamer...and they murdered MS and Sony with it. Both companies have responded though and that niche is shared by all three.
The only thing that is going to make a runaway brand (sony, ms or nintendo) is if they somehow find another niche. I'm going to suggest that one of them is going to have to suppress their fear of being hacked because of opening up their hardware but a console allowing Apps might be that niche. One of them allowing Apps within a virtual machine would do it with the least amount of risk....
It would be interesting to see if Microsoft can manage to release a generation where they don't shoot themselves in the foot.(HD-DVD with 360 and the hardware lag/forcing of Kinect with XB1)
