Because it was a selling point. DVD pushed PS2 more than the reverse, it was an already established industry wide supported format.

It's true that it's not like DVD won a format war because of the PS2 (whereas you can really make that argument with Blu Ray and PS3). But Sony has a vested interest in selling more DVDs in a way that Nintendo and Microsoft (and Sega) do not - precisely the reason that the PS2 was the only console of its generation to feature the supposedly easy option of DVD playback (not counting that bizarre and shitty Xbox dongle). Similarly, Microsoft has a vested interest in keeping developers and gamers using its software. These are big companies with their hands in a lot of pots: both of their agendas for video games go well beyond making profits directly off the machines and license fees.

Eh, DVD was largely seen as a 'loss' for Sony format wise after CD, the majority of technologies and specification used were from Toshiba and Matsushita.  That's (in part) why Sony went around the DVD-forum for Blu-ray, and started the ensuing format war.

The only reason Sega didn't include a DVD drive in Dreamcast was due to the high cost when it originally launched in 1998.  There was talk of refitting DC with DVD for the western launch in fall 1999, but Sega decided to go for affordability, and there was no way they'd meet the $199 price point SOA wanted with a DVD drive at that time.  In the press, the lack of DVD was seen as one of Sega's many stumbling blocks though.

Nintendo avoided DVD movies (and still does) because they see them as competitive, and would prefer pursuing support of formats which they directly can profit from.  Though Nintendo did allow Panasonic to release a DVD playable GameCube variant (Panasonic Q) in Japan (it was also planned for America, but that got canceled when the platform struggled at market).

Microsoft used the Xbox dongle/remote as a way of avoiding DVD license fees in the already overbudget, loss incurring Xbox.  It was a smart move imo, all license costs being offloaded to the peripheral then.  For 360 they just went ahead and included playback upfront, in part because license fees are next to nothing these days.

Wii will be back at #1 for Home consoles soon enough and at the latest this Holiday.

(Edit) Wii has sold 149K this week with no big games at all in 2010 besides for Super Mario Galaxy 2 and now the Wii is dead?

Please wait to make conclusions like this until it is needed... If the Wii is still selling bad later this year(You know when some big games finally come out) and its still being outsold by the H.D twins then this thread would be needed.

Heh, I disagree with you.  When I started gaming back in '84 gaming was not trendy or cool.  If you played video games you were seen as an anti-social nerdy outcast.  I started playing games because it seemed like pacman was fun and the flashy lights and noise intruiged me (I was 3, cut me some slack). When I got my NES a year later it is because I was a gamer at that point (thanks pacman and DK!) not because of any trend.

Sure I may not have started as a core gamer as my short attention span was drawn my beeps, boops and flashy lights, but after that passed in a few days all that was left was the game for me.

You can't make broad generalizations to counteract a broad generalization.

I also don't think he was saying Nintendo's approach is "wrong" just that he doesn't like it or find it appealing and he's assuming (based on sales) that less and less people are finding the Wii appealing.

It's quite telling in itself that a bad week for Nintendo isn't that far behind a great week for Sony or Microsoft.

I'd wait until we're seeing Sony or Microsoft style bad weeks (say a lot less than 100k) coming from Nintendo before being concerned, anything else is just pointless speculation (and dare I say it a bit of deliberate scare mongering) that is identical to the talk that we had around this time last year. Then December 09 happened.

We'll see what December 10 holds.

I definitely think the wii fad has worn off. If you go to ebay right now you can get the system cheaper than at the store. These last few months are the first time since the release of the system that I have seen this. Used wiis are cheaper on craigslist too, people used to sell them at or near retail price, not $50 cheaper. Wii fit plus and wii sports resort didn't do anything for the system. There was no sales bump due to mario galaxy 2 that we will see with black ops, halo 3, GT5, etc. I know more and more people tired of their wiis or buying used wiis nowadays.

Now, I'm not saying that wii sales are suddenly going to plummet, I still expect them to be #1 this holiday season except for one or two weeks when the ps360 has a major sale at a place like wal-mart. Heck, the ps2 still sells pretty well so there's no reason the wii won't be selling just as well in 5 years. However, there's no way they're going to get numbers anything like they were last year for new wiis.

Bobbert, the gray market price of the Wii has been below MSRP for over 2 years now.  That's not a recent trend at al.

Yes, the wii is doom. It's the only week of the year it was outsell by the Xbox360 and PS3, and this erase the 6 first month of the year which the wii outsell the Xbox360 and PS3 WW.

As more reasonable peoples say, let's see how holidays turns before judge. Because actually, the doomed wii is still ahead of the PS3 and Xbox360, and even more, the PS3 is likely to have its peak this year.

I am curious about the vitality sensor wild card for Nintendo. This still a big incertitude as we know nothing about it now but it can ended up to be huge and dismiss the motion control move taken by the competitor if it's played well.

I think Nintendo is loosing market share because as many said Nintendo's Wii was marketed to casual non-gamers. The Wii may have got some people into gaming I'd say about 5-10% but the others bought it as a fitness tool or as a quick game system for when they have guests, a quick game of bowling or Tennis every few months.

Is Wii past its prime (Yes) is Wii going to keep selling (Yes), will it sell alot less then in the past (Yes) will it loose marketshare to Microsoft's Kinect (Possible).

Fact is Nintendo has to make a choice and I believe they have. Try to target the core audience again like they used too, or try to create the next trend (Innovative product that takes the market by storm). Nintendo has chosen the latter, Iwata clearly said the next Nintendo console will revolutionalize the way we play games, it will do what the Wii can't it will be an entirely new and innovative product.

The problem with such an innovative and revolutionary product is that Nintendo is essentially gambling big time. They are neglecting their core demographic to target a non-existant new demographic. Sure they've hit the market twice in a row now (DS/Wii) but they shouldn't push their luck. If their next product fails to capture the minds and hearts of non-Gamers then Nintendo has nothing to fall back on, their core demographic just isn't what it used to be.

My predictions, Wii will push another 10-15 mill before it dissapears, I am including sales after the next generation begins. Why? I expect Nintendo to hit sales alittle higher or barely lower then the competition. I expect Kinect to fail miserably pushing Microsoft sales down and Move will be only minimally successful, Sony may rise to the leader position on a weekly or monthly basis but I suspect Nintendo will keep on fighting. So given their is still another 3 years at least left in the Wii's lifespan I think 5-mill a year is reasonable. Also I think price is a major reason Wii is slacking the new 360 model sells for 199.99$ and the Wii is supposed to also retail for 199.99$. I suspect Nintendo will have to drop the price radically probubly to about 99.99$ in order to maintain any form of dominance , it also needs a good mixture of hardcore and casuals games. Zelda alone won't save Wii's marketshare but neither will WiiFit:Extreme (Wiifit3). Or what ever new product they innovate with.

Nintendo needs a mixture of casual and hardcore software to maintain hardware superiority. But in the end I don't think Nintendo can be toppled entirely this generation they will still end with a larger marketshare then the competition but they will have a much smaller marketshare then if they succesfully targetr both casual and hardcore!