In Theory: Nintendo's next-gen hardware - and the strategy behind it

[zorg1000]

spemanig said:

zorg1000 said:

So basically if games like Tropical Freeze/Mario Kart/Smash Bros were on PS4 level hardware, people would be willing to spend more money on that console?

I don't think power has much to do with Wii U sales, it's because of its price+software output+advertising/marketing. If Wii U were the price of 3DS, along with the software output of 3DS than it would be selling more. If Wii U had more power but the same games it currently has, sales wouldn't improve.

My theory makes just as much sense as urs, it just comes down to preference. But if people really choose power over price, than why did Xbox One sell better than PS4 in the most recent NPD despite losing the previous 10 months? Power has literally never been the major selling point of Nintendo consoles, even when they were as powerful as the competition, it was still software that caused them to sell what they did.

Make them the same price and the only thing comes down to preference. Do u enjoy playing on a handheld or a console, if u make one significantly more powerful/expensive than ur stealing sales from one because ur overstating home much power moves Nintendo devices.

Power has absolutely everything to do with the Wii U's sales. If the Wii U were the price of the 3DS, it would barely be more powerful than the 3DS and would sell less. The Wii U would have more games than it currently has if it were more powerful.

It has nothing to do with preference. PS4 and XBO have different games that make them sell differently to different audiences. The Nintendo platform doesn't have that. It has specs and form factor. Nintendo's consoles have been selling less and less every gen for being less powerful, and everytime their power was competitive, they bottle necked it with something else whether that was carts on the N64 or miniCDs on the GCN. Selling weaker console hardware only harms Nintendo. Selling hardware as weak as you're suggesting is literally suicide. Never before has there been a console weaker than a console a generation before it, which is what you're suggestion. Not even Nintendo is stupid enough to release a 9th gen console that's not even stronger than the weakest 8th gen console.

Making them the same small price only makes the console look cheap and underpowered, and the entire platform will sell less. Consoles are bought for power and consoles are bought for portability. People spend the extra money willingly to get the most out of their system.

Wii is $99 and more powerful than 3DS, 360 is $179 and much more powerful than 3DS, PS3 is $199 and much more powerful than 3DS. So no I'm not buying ur argument that a 3DS priced console would only be as powerful as 3DS. I'm saying a Nintendo console with the price of a 3DS along with the software library comparable to 3DS would sell much more than Wii U because it would be cheaper and have 100's of games not currently available on Wii U.

U are completely wrong about why Nintendo consoles have sold less than the predeccessors. Most of the decline from NES to SNES was in America, this is due to giving Genesis a 2 year head start and letting it get it's killer app out before the SNES launched. Also an effective ad campaign slandering Nintendo by calling it a kids system, which Nintendo kinda went along with by censoring Mortal Kombat, hurt Nintendo's image.

The majority of the decline from SNES to N64 came in Japan, this is due to losing the RPG/Fighting fanbase, PS1 now had Final Fantasy & Dragon Quest as exclusives and the 2D Fighting crowd had now moved onto 3D Fighters like Tekken which was another PS1 exclusive. Going with carts is why these games ended up on PS1 but consumers did not care about CD vs carts, they cared about the games, if those games were on N64 it would have won regardless of using carts.

The majority of the decline from N64 to GC was once again in America, this is due to losing the strong FPS crowd they had with games like Goldeneye, this crowd went to Xbox because of Halo and the fact that Nintendo no longer had a big FPS exclusive.

Just because a console has never been weaker than a previous gen console, doesn't mean it can never happen. 10 years ago u could say there has never been a console with such a small increase in power over previous gen consoles, then came the Wii which was basically a redesigned, rebranded GC with a faster CPU and more RAM. So just because something has never happened does not mean it can't or never will.

If Wii U had the specs/price of PS4 but the same library that Wii U currently has, would it sell better? Probably not, because people don't care to spend an extra $100 to play 3D World, MK8, Smash U but with improved visuals.

If Wii U had the price of 3DS along with the entire 3DS library but lower specs, would it sell better? Most likely, because it would be $100+ cheaper and have 100's of extra games it currently doesn't have.