| burninmylight said: Uh, I think you took my comment about Sony making Nintendo's marketing campaign a little too literally... But since we're here, I notice that in none of the ads you posted do we see the price being advertised front and center. All of the graphics and the classic "Wii would like to pay" commercial you've posted all just echo what I'm already saying: Wii sold because of Wii Sports, Wii Fit and the potential of motion controls. The GameCube was constantly $50-100 cheaper than its competition throughout its lifespan, possibly even $150 because I can't remember the price of the original Xbox in 2004 and 2005. How come that extra $50-100 wasn't a psychological barrier in that generation? I have already said this, but no one has addressed it. Now I want you to imagine those same graphics above, only replace the SD screenshots and jagged polygons of those games with your imagination of them running in 720p widescreen and looking crisper, sharper and more vibrant. Imagine how much more of "hardcore" (I don't miss the days where that term was thrown around ad nauseum) gamers would have been on board from the start if Twilight Princess launches in HD with better visuals, and Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart and Metroid Prime are built from the ground up for a beefier console that was true generational leap that made jaws hit the floor the same way every new Nintendo console used to. Imagine Capcom thinking that it not only has to get Resident Evil 4 with pointer controls on this box that people are headlocking each other in stores to get, but it also now gets Resi 5 and 6 with pointer controls. Imagine GTA 4 and 5, the Arkham games, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Final Fantasy and more all being possible for this console to handle if their respective publishers see its success and decide to get a piece of the pie. Do you think that's not worth an extra $100-150 to people? If you think not, then why were the other two consoles worth their price tags yet still sold 46+ 80+ million consoles respectively? I think you people are looking at the 100+ million Wiis sold and thinking that's the be all, end all, forgetting how hollow that number really is when third parties struggled to sell most exclusives that weren't casual party games, and the last couple years of the Wii's life were relatively comatose. |
Not to the blue ocean Nintendo was addressing with the Wii. It wasn't marketed at early adopters, hence no HD capabilities.
Plenty ads with price as well
And it was impossible to get one at release
Sure $199 is better than $249, yet $249 feels far better than $299 and $349 the WiiU launched at.
XBox launched at $299 same as PS2. Gamecube launched at $199.
The lesson learned from that generation was marketing. The PS2 had all the hype, the thing is a super computer, emotion engine and all that nonsense. XBox put everything on Halo and it paid off.
The GameCube quickly got labeled a lunch box and already looked dated at release. The Wii looked sleek, futuristic next to he bulky foreman grill and 360 tower. Marketing was so good the Wii was sold out into 2008.
True, it wasn't great not even good for the hardcore gamer crowd, yet they snuffed Nintendo with the GC and moved to PS2/XBox, so Nintendo directed their attention elsewhere and watched MS and Sony lose billions on 360 and PS3, while Wii and DS were printing money...
Sony: Total Loss around $3.3 billion by June 2008 on the PS3.
MS: lost over $4 billion in its gaming division through the first Xbox and Xbox 360 generations, infamous Red Ring of Death (RRoD) repairs alone costing at least $1.15 billion
Nintendo sold the most, made the most profit, even had Dr Phil promoting the Wii, seems they made the right choice.
And in the end, the hardcore crowd still bought it for Zelda and Mario. I haven't heard anyone say, if only Super Mario Galaxy had HD graphics... Plus Nintendo repeated it again with the Switch, 720p while ps4 and XOne were going 4K...
