I sell to a lot a college kids, but there is a fair number of older gamers that have bought it. There are also some parents or grandparents looking for the system to get for kids. I have yet to see a senior citizen purchase it for themselves. Overall I am betting the demographic does skew above the age of 20.

Really the same could be said for the Ps3s and 360s I have sold. College plus seems to be the typical age of customer.

I have heard of that Nielsen study, but wasn't really sure how to take it. Honestly, I am not sure how they drew that conclusion. I guess if a few non-games picked it up and they were from a higher economic class that could do funny things to the statistics. Say a few board members bought it for Tiger Woods 07 or something like that.


I haven't really cared for Nielsen for years.

Other then the stats showing it?  That's just sometimes how the market breaks.  It's actually quite common.

One reason might be that Wii's are supply constrained in a lot of areas.  To get one you have to have the free time to say... call around, and wait outside places to get one, or come in at very specific times.  Poorer people arn't going to have the time to call EB games, then in the store at noon or wait outside before a store opens.

Another reason might be that the gamecube got last place last generation.  Brand Loyalty is stronger among poorer people.

Or perhaps "casual" style play and "Wi-mote style play" might appeal more to those who have more money, while FPS games like Halo and Kilzone 2 might appeal more to those who have less money.  Afterall there are cultural differences between those with more money and those with less.

It's most likely a case of what "Higher Middle class" and "Lower Middle Class" people buy since any decent study would use Median income and not some average where a weird outlier would screw with everything.

 People with more money often are more involved parents as well.  Perhaps they see the wii as more kid friendly? 

Or perhaps it's just considered the better buy to rich people because it's cheap.  Richer people have a lot of stuff because they can afford it but I still haven't met a rich guy who wasn't cheap in some way or another. 

Poorer people are more likely to fall into the mindset "More Expensive=Better" as well.

 All of those might be reasons consumer psychology wise.

Do we have any studies relating income and PC gamers, because I have a feeling the results could be like that because richer families are going to be more likely to afford a high end PC, but when something like the Wii comes out that appeals to everyone, it's going to attract these well off PC gamers. Of course this is just speculation but it seems right to me.

 Some of those make snese, others don't to me. But I gues you're right, it's not like were comparing minimum wage household with millionaires, it likely it's just the difference between upper and lower middle class.

the poor sales of madden nfl 08, proves the the Wii is still made up of the nintendo hardcore(at least in the U.S) because, the GC never had good madden sales, as the average nintendo fan isn't into buying yearly updates of EA games... a casual gamer however, is the sort of person that buys the new madden, the new need for speed...etc.

That seems unlikely to be entirely true, or terribly useful. If it's selling to the Nintendo hardcore, then the Nintendo hardcore is, conservatively, several times the size of the Gamecube's base.

Perhaps it's simply selling more to people who don't want to play a sports game - women and families, say - or perhaps the idea of Madden on the Wii just isn't that appealing to Madden fans.

And less wealthy children ending up with the more expensive consoles doesn't surprise me. Brand loyalty and conspicuous consumption are both stronger in that demographic (compared to wealthier children), and poorer people in general are less likely to do all that much research into what accounts for price differences.

 Or maybe Madden on the Wii just isn't that good. The Wii is the only system I own, and I would love to own a Madden game for it, but so far the versions of Madden for the Wii have gotten pretty poor reviews. Considering that a new Madden game comes out every year, I figure I can wait until next year's version to see if it's improved at all. Maybe other Wii owners feel the same way? I have no idea. It's just speculation based on my personal experience.

Conspicuous consumption... knew i left out a big one.

As for why Madden wouldn't sell well on the Wii... well for one, reviewers bashed it bad, so it sounds like the controls arn't there as well as they are for the 360 and PS3. One big thing about Madden is you want to win against you friends, it's easier to just press a button to throw a pass, happens easier then fake throwing your wii remote.

Football, Soccer and Basketball games in general i think will be better off with traditional controls honestly.

Baseball, Tennis and Golf (When done well) are likely ones that will support the Wiimote more.

Anyone who's buying a system just for Madden or sports is just getting the 360 because that's Madden's official system more or less, with the best framerates, online, it's had a year ahead already AND it's what they use in the Madden nation show on ESPN. Man is that a weird yet somewhat compelling show. It's interesting to see a bunch of way overcompetitive 1 game players ride around on a bus and trash talk to each other. Videogame trash talking always makes me laugh.

 Well the Nielsen statistics say that the average income of households that have Wiis is higher than the average income of households that have PS3s and 360s.

 I think part of this is that poorer people tend to view expensive items as status symbols regardless of their actual worth. Furthermore, the people with the most spending money aren't neccessarily the richest. People who don't save any of their money may end up with more spending money than they know what to do with even though they don't make that much.

Ok, seriously, why the hell would a Mod have to warn me about anything? Kind of missing that one, unless making jokes and having fun is not allowed in your world, b/c that's pretty much all I've done on this thread. Are Nintendo fans not allowed to post on Nintendo threads now? I'm a little confused by your sillyness.