Wyrdness said:
More platforms doesn't really mean more consumers it just means more choice for the consumers already around, what brings in more consumers are blue ocean like strategies not more platforms. Have you not been reading the posts you're replying to I've been flat out pointing out that GBA was a monopoly in other words one platform generation, I assume you didn't understand what is meant by monopoly. 3DS cost £220 at launch and was that price for 7 or so months, to put things in perspective the Wii cost £180 and the Wii U Basic cost around £250 at launch, Gamecube was £140 at launch and N64 was £240, 3DS was not only almost 100 quid more than the GBA and DS it was essentially going into console territory for pricing because the hardware wasn't the usual cheap basic approach of the GBA. After the price cut 7 months later it was being sold at a slight loss, GBA however was being sold at a decent profit despite being almost 100 quid cheaper that is what's meant by cheap hardware as they could price GBA easier. Even at 170 quid 3DS was still as pricey as the (at the time) two previous Nintendo home platforms at launch or in the case of the GC more pricey. This is a key reason why Switch is marketed as a home console in the west. Read the third part of your post again it sums up the GBA and what I'm pointing out the second other platforms turned up it dropped off so in other words had the GBA had to deal with what the portables that came after had to it would have sold much less and at a slower pace. You know no 3DS replacement came out 4-5 years later? Because unlike GBA the 3DS is actually a platform designed for a competitive market and not a monopoly while GBA had to be put away because it would have failed to fight any competent competition. The final part of your post makes no sense Nintendo struggle to support 2 platforms now you're arguing supporting 3 platforms is possible? Are you having a laugh here as it's almost like you're ignoring the reality of the market here where it has shown that more than one platform can't be supported effectively and has resulted in the opposite of what you're painting, that part of your post is a what if fantasy at this point because both Sony and Nintendo have shown only one platform can be properly supported. The Switch cleveryl got around the problem of abandoning one market by having a hybrid form factor to operate in both markets as one device. |
More platforms can absolutely mean more consumers, or do you believe that everyone has the same tastes?
GBA had a monopoly. True.
The 3DS pretty much had a monopoly, with the exception of Japan, where, despite not having a monopoly, it still outsold the GBA. Which means that, not having a monopoly doesn't automatically mean you'll have less sales.
If it outsold GBA in Japan, why couldn't it do it in the US and Europe, where Vita was less competitive?
Why do you bring up profits and mix it with price points?
What matters is what consumers pay. And a few months after launch the big price gap became a low price cup and a year or so after, the price gap was null because of the 2DS.
So, if price was THE biggest issue, when 2DS appeared sales should have soared and they didn't.
So, Nintendo designed 3DS the compete but forgot to do it with Wii U and strangely did that with the first GB (lasted a ton of years and it's "real" competition only came out later)?
The biggest reason why 3DS hasn't been replaced is because it never had serious competition and won't have. Or do you think Nintendo would let 3DS be if Sony had a success with Vita and was planning a Vita 2?
They don't make a move because there's no need.
The second reason being that it was a life saver for Nintendo (given Wii U's bad sales) and they couldn't just start from zero at any time.
It doesn't make sense because you didn't understand me.
At first, i defended that Nintendo did want DS to be a third pillar.
Business wise it would make sense seeing as it could make them more money - assuming it would work - by attracting a different crowd.
Then, you said that Nintendo already had 2 platforms at once. To which i replied that i was only talking about handhelds, but, given that, it would mean that they would have 3.
I ended that that idea was more of a dream than a reality.
