Because these aren't PCs. Gaming consoles aren't just a sum of the parts. They are a consumer products, which aren't priced simply by their components.

Innovation isn't always about having the most sophisticated technolgy. You can also innovate by making things simpler so that more people can use something.

 Again wow just wow...

If anything they should raise the price.

It is called supply and demand. The reason the Wii is selling out it because it is a fixed price that is below the equalibrium point. That is why it is one of the few items that sells for MORE in the after market.

Nintendo would be as stupid as the western devs to lower the price while the Wii is outselling the hd consoles combined.... Since the Wii has been launch it has outsold all HD consoel by around 2 million, or like a 53-55% market share. The only reason it has yet to reach 50% is the 1 year head start the 360 had.

I don't think nintendo needs to justify charging as much for their console. I mean, this whole scenario of - lose money on a console, make it on software- doesnt really work for smaller hardware company like nintendo.

While I do think it would have been better for everyone if they had something that was atleast comparible in spec to 360 as then most of the ports would be downscaled 360 ports rather than upscaled ps2 ports.

Does not seem to be working too well for Sony or MS right now either.

bigjon, I asked for anyone to provide examples of 'big budget Wii exclusives' because I really can't think of a whole lot outside of the ones I mentioned that are non-Nintendo.

How is CoD a bad example? World at War isn't the first CoD game on the Wii. Also, your assuming that every Wii owner has a PS3 or X360 to get World at War on. Any survey I've seen puts multi-console ownership at under 10%...So it's very far fetched to say that multi-console ownership has big effects on Wii games (if that was true, then why do multi-plat games that are rated E do the exact opposite like Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and Lego?)

Here are the quotes for Red Steel and Gears of War:

Red Steel: $10-12.5 million US Dollars. Here, Here and Here.

Gears of War: $10 million US Dollars. Here, Here, and Here.

Development budgets are exactly whatever the company wants/needs them to be. You get the same amount of output for a $5 million dollar Wii game as you would on the X360. The issue comes into the fact that with the X360, it has a much higher threshold for abilities than a Wii does, which costs more money (potentially). Braid cost around $300,000 to make. N+ was under $300,000. Those are very low budget games...Both for the X360. Weapon of Choice (a Community Game on XBL) looks to of cost around $50,000 for an XNA game. So you can't argue that budgets have to be higher. It's the issue that developers are stupidly trying to churn out every game to look like an uber-title rather than focus on what creates a good game. Do you think Beautiful Katamari or Culdcept Saga cost $10 million to make on the X360? Because I sure as heck don't.

What the Wii has done is extend the last generation and capture a market that probably would not of been tapped into by this true Next generation. Is that a bad thing? Hell no I think Sony probably made the biggest mistake by giving market share away with its ill thought out behemoth.

Lets just imagine for a moment that the Wii market domination was to fall away as you suggested the SUV market has done in the US. It is the very Wii customers who are probably its Achilles heal and why I think this is inevitable.

HD content will slowly begin to be appreciated by the masses and new exciting console tweaks will appear. I expect the usual slim versions but also from Microsoft at least that the Elite will be value added and will see Wi Fi and Blu Ray (would be nice if that was HDDVD/Blu Ray to warm the cockles of the HD USB addon folks) being added to the range.

The Wii may start to tail off with this year being its peak with Microsoft and to a lesser extent Sony starting to pick up the pace with more titles to be cross platform AKA Call of Duty.

I do not see them trying to concentrate on one platform including the Wii. The only fly in the ointment is the Sony PS3 which seems to eat development cash for breakfast and will probably continue to be punished in that regard or probably more likely only rarely glimpse its often talked about but seldom seen potential.

This post was powered by the "Speculation 2000" available on most bulletin boards now!

You are missing the point of your own topic.

The argument is that nintendo is part of the cause the industry is struggling as it doesn't offer easy porting for games across all 3 platforms due to much worse specs, yet Wii doesn't sell enough software to justify primary development for the big budget titles.

Look at how long its taking Capcom to port Dead Rising to the Wii...and look at the results.

If they had included better specs in their system and were charging the same as they are now, decreasing their massive hardware profits by a small margin...the ports would be much easier, more common and Wii primary development with upscaled HD ports would make sense.

Last I checked, consumers were getting the developed games on the X360/PS3 and the Wii was getting crappy, inferior ports that Wii fans are always clamoring about. Disolitude is 100% right in his argument: If the Wii had a bit more horsepower, Wii fans would be getting something close to the X360, but instead they're getting something close to the PS2.

mrstickball, isn't the Wii version of The Force Unleashed outselling both of the other versions on a weekly basis and is, in fact, about to pass up the PS3 version in lifetime sales?

Just to point that out.

And no, Zack and Wiki and No More Heroes were not big-budget. They were anything but. They also made tidy profits.

I at one point thought 08 would be the peak... but, some recent revelation have me to believe next year will be.

Also, I think a 149.99 wii would work wonders. There are still alot of blue oceanites not willing to shell out 249 for a videogame machine.