jarrod said:
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Rpruett said:
Absolutely. Which is especially why 'Game quality' is such a subjective term in this discussion. Price (Being lower than the competition) and Motion Controls (Being unique within either of the three companies) are not subjective values here though.
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Who's arguing game quality? Let's use an objective measure, like game sales, to prove out which console has the most appealing software from a massmarket perspective.
And again, there's zero indication that Wii's sold due to it's (initially) lower pricepoint. And as I said before, most context surrounding the price (2nd hand prices, length of time w/o a price drop, historical pricepoints of Nintendo systems relative to performance, etc) more indicate the opposite. I've yet to see anyone bring up a single thing that really indicates being a whopping $50 cheaper than a HD system for it's first two years (and then $50 more expensive it's next year) was the driving factor in sales here. The argument there seems to be it was cheaper, so that must've been why it sold, without a shred of supporting evidence as that...
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We have no idea what market Nintendo has tapped with their games sales this time around. It won't be evident for years what market they hit. Did they hit the fitness market? If so, will this market keep buying future video game consoles? Are they repeat buyers? Will they purchase essentially exercise peripherals every generation?
Game sales can be related console sales (Especially ones entirely bundled with console sales like Wii Sports). That is a crucial slap in the face to my core point. Which is the inclusion of motion controls / low entry price has created a scenario where it's intriguing and different to try a Wii and it's cheap enough that everyone jump in and do it. The games were after thoughts after the initial jump in purchase. This is also why I think the Wii has sold a ton of shovelware. (Not meant to be offensive) and why Third Party Developers have continued to push the shovelware. Sure, some quality games have sold very well due to a myriad of reasons like looking good / nostalgia / etc /etc. (Like NSMB).
People who went in head first and bought a Wii really did so because Motion controls were fun (Either from personal or second hand experience) and the price was cheap enough for a person of any income level. You didn't need 18 jobs to buy a Wii on Day one.
And how in the world is there zero indication? The Wii had outsold the 360/PS3 on day one of it's lifespan. Look by the end of it's first year? Price is DIRECTLY related in every single purchase. I love how people keep mentioning the $300 barebones horrible 360 and the $500 barebones horrible PS3. The 360's barebones SKU needed so much additional stuff to function in it's intended capacity that you ended up spending over $400 to begin with and the PS3s barebones SKU was so horrendous that they discontinued it.
I mean 360 (Had a yearly subscription fee for online if that interested you in the slightest bit), the core came with a 'wired' controller, composite cables, and no hard drive and no wireless? My lord, that's a lot of accessories just to have a truly functional 360.
In that context, it was tremendously cheaper than a fully functional 360 and/or PS3 (To get the package you were believing in when you bought a PS3/360 you had to spend $400 / $600 respectively compared to the Wii at $250. No console has ever been priced higher than $300 and won a generation. Food for thought.
Price relative to the competition is what matters. Consumers aren't stupid, they saw right through MS / Sony seling them barebones systems and knew full well they would have to spend a nice chunk of coin to get the system.