Wiiconmics -- The Crisis of the Old Order

Anyone who has passed Economics in High School knows this common knowledge -- consumers are not smart.

I'm tired of sheep rejoicing around their coveted sales figures. Take a bitter taste of reality: high sales does not mean a quality product. It only takes a superficial glance at the Wii's cheap price tag and kid-friendly waggle mechanics and parents are sold. Unfortunately, great games are not included.

While Nintendo may be rising from the slump that was the Gamecube, it is the sentiment that they have inadvertently induced is what should trouble gamers; the new aim for the 'casual' market. There is no lighter way of putting this, we gamers are a minority. Our interests are of little concern to the business leaders of X, whether it be Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft. Because of this, we will inevitability see a shift in general gaming. AAA titles that sport convoluted stories and old-school difficulty are not properties that cater to the casual audience. Instead we will see games change more into the Wii-esque games. Casual-friendly, Wii-wagglin', mini game overdosed games will flood the market.

Nintendo simply made a product that the consumer wanted. They read the market properly.

Sony and MS made a product that the consumer does not want. They read the market incorectly.

Nintendo is making all the money, MS and Sony are not.

That's how buisness works. You have to compete, and creating a product that does not speak to the consumer will fail. That's why bad companies with bad products go out of buisness.

If Sony and MS want to compete, they should make better products. Same goes for developers.

This is such a ridiculous notion. Gears of War - 5 million+ copies sold. OMG, people love Wii Sports, screw 5 million sales, we need the casuals! This "hardcore" crowd is the one spending the most money. There are a LOT of software sales to be made from them.yodariquo

I fail to see why games such as wii sports are a bad thing? Shouldn't there be a huge variety in the choices of our games we play.. I do not want to be playing Gears of War games every day just like I do not want to be playing Wii Sports every day.

When I play on my PC, I play numerous titles.. Alot of times I play simple shooters to relax, other times I'll play complicated RTS's or RPG's. I don't understand what the problem with this is.. Odviouslly this isn't true when games such as Paper mario, Zelda, Resident evil 4 are doing so well and they are pretty hardcore in alot of respects.

I agree though that mini games do need to shave off alittle, but it is far too early to say anything about it.. REMEMBER.. Many third party devs weren't really thinking about making exclusive games for the Wii till 3 or 4 months after release when they realized how popular it is.

Nintendo simply made a product that the consumer wanted. They read the market properly.

Sony and MS made a product that the consumer does not want. They read the market incorectly.

Nintendo is making all the money, MS and Sony are not.

That's how buisness works. You have to compete, and creating a product that does not speak to the consumer will fail. That's why bad companies with bad products go out of buisness.

If Sony and MS want to compete, they should make better products. Same goes for developers.

goblaa

Making gimmicks =/= reading the market and long term sales.

If Nintendo actually read the market, they would know of High Definitions rise in consumers' choice. They blatantly ignored the market.

we hardcore gamers by more games than casuals. spend more money than casuals. are the sole reason why playstation, nintendo, and microsoft are around to this day. do u think casuals will be 6 games a year. or 10. hardcore gamers will. do u honestly think all those casuals bought rayman, wii play,wiisports, mario party, and warioware, and will buy brain age, my sims, etc. no they bought the wii and did nothing. some bought more games. other said meh.

hardcore gamers keep the consoles going. not casuals. they may buy the hardware. but hardcore gamers by more games.jg4xchamp

How do you describe casuals.. Now adays more and more people are playing more games on the pc and console. Video games in the United States have become pop culture every where. Just because they won't buy the game doesn't mean friends and family won't either as gifts.

In areas such as Japan and Korea it has become deep ingrained culture where spending large sums of money and playing large sum of hours is completely normal.

[QUOTE="goblaa"]

Nintendo simply made a product that the consumer wanted. They read the market properly.

Sony and MS made a product that the consumer does not want. They read the market incorectly.

Nintendo is making all the money, MS and Sony are not.

That's how buisness works. You have to compete, and creating a product that does not speak to the consumer will fail. That's why bad companies with bad products go out of buisness.

If Sony and MS want to compete, they should make better products. Same goes for developers.

NobuoMusicMaker

Making gimmicks =/= reading the market and long term sales.

If Nintendo actually read the market, they would know of High Definitions rise in consumers' choice. They blatantly ignored the market.

Yeah, I guess that's why Sony and MS are doing sooooo welllll. :roll:

High slaes means the product offers what the consumer wants. Low sales means the opposite.

Anyone who has passed Economics in High School knows this common knowledge -- consumers are not smart.liquidShake

[QUOTE="jg4xchamp"]we hardcore gamers by more games than casuals. spend more money than casuals. are the sole reason why playstation, nintendo, and microsoft are around to this day. do u think casuals will be 6 games a year. or 10. hardcore gamers will. do u honestly think all those casuals bought rayman, wii play,wiisports, mario party, and warioware, and will buy brain age, my sims, etc. no they bought the wii and did nothing. some bought more games. other said meh.

hardcore gamers keep the consoles going. not casuals. they may buy the hardware. but hardcore gamers by more games.sSubZerOo

How do you describe casuals.. Now adays more and more people are playing more games on the pc and console. Video games in the United States have become pop culture every where. Just because they won't buy the game doesn't mean friends and family won't either as gifts.

In areas such as Japan and Korea it has become deep ingrained culture where spending large sums of money and playing large sum of hours is completely normal.

As a graduate of high school economics I can tell you about the theory of Supply and Demand! No wait... that's too advanced. I'll tell you about Demand! People demand a product and they go out and try to obtain it. Right now the demand for Wiis > PS3 & 360 combined.

Next time we can talk about Suppy!

[QUOTE="goblaa"]

Nintendo simply made a product that the consumer wanted. They read the market properly.

Sony and MS made a product that the consumer does not want. They read the market incorectly.

Nintendo is making all the money, MS and Sony are not.

That's how buisness works. You have to compete, and creating a product that does not speak to the consumer will fail. That's why bad companies with bad products go out of buisness.

If Sony and MS want to compete, they should make better products. Same goes for developers.

NobuoMusicMaker

Making gimmicks =/= reading the market and long term sales.

If Nintendo actually read the market, they would know of High Definitions rise in consumers' choice. They blatantly ignored the market.

The Wii is a great example of Nintendo reading markettrends,just look at the price compared to the competition. In Canada you can buy two Wiis (about $280)for aboutthe price of a 360 and a game ($560). As I said before, graphics aren't a huge factor, certainly not as important as price. Nintendo made the tradeoff of graphics for a lower price, and not only is it working, but they managed to sell for a profit from day one and still be immensly successful.

[QUOTE="sSubZerOo"]

[QUOTE="jg4xchamp"]we hardcore gamers by more games than casuals. spend more money than casuals. are the sole reason why playstation, nintendo, and microsoft are around to this day. do u think casuals will be 6 games a year. or 10. hardcore gamers will. do u honestly think all those casuals bought rayman, wii play,wiisports, mario party, and warioware, and will buy brain age, my sims, etc. no they bought the wii and did nothing. some bought more games. other said meh.

hardcore gamers keep the consoles going. not casuals. they may buy the hardware. but hardcore gamers by more games.jg4xchamp

How do you describe casuals.. Now adays more and more people are playing more games on the pc and console. Video games in the United States have become pop culture every where. Just because they won't buy the game doesn't mean friends and family won't either as gifts.

In areas such as Japan and Korea it has become deep ingrained culture where spending large sums of money and playing large sum of hours is completely normal.

Actually, I don't think the 360 sales are really that hot when compared to the Wii's. Considering there is still a couple of million difference between the two, the Wii software sales have been pretty good. In fact, if you go by attach rate, they're pretty similar with the 360 being around 5.4 games and the Wii at 4.9 games. So you don't even have that argument to lean on.

You people have to at least admit how bad ass it would have been if you used Wii controls for a game like Condemned.sSubZerOo

[QUOTE="sSubZerOo"] You people have to at least admit how bad ass it would have been if you used Wii controls for a game like Condemned.PBSnipes

I suppose but isn't manhunt 2 a third person game?

[QUOTE="PBSnipes"][QUOTE="sSubZerOo"] You people have to at least admit how bad ass it would have been if you used Wii controls for a game like Condemned.sSubZerOo

I suppose but isn't manhunt 2 a third person game?

I kind of agree with you OP. The WII is very low quality. Nintendo makes a butt load of $$ on each console because there is nothing expensive about the console yet it costs $250. I'm convinced consumers are buying this thing for two reasons... one of which- it's different. Nothing like this has been made by a big named video game company (excluding DS). The second reason consumers love it is because of the simplicity. There ain't anything complicated about the system at all. Even the design is simple. You put in a disk and point the wii mote at what you want to do. Then you use the wiimote to do it.

Though I think the system is ultimately inferior to the other two... I'm glad it's getting praise and high sales. Nintendo needed this shot in the arm after the n64 and cube's low sales. Competetion is good for the market. What did it get us just recently? A nice $100 ps3 price drop. And whats going to come after that? Undoubtly a nice 360 price drop. Can't wait.

You people have to at least admit how bad ass it would have been if you used Wii controls for a game like Condemned.sSubZerOo

[QUOTE="liquidShake"]Anyone who has passed Economics in High School knows this common knowledge -- consumers are not smart.Hoffgod

Thank-you. This pretty much sums up what's going on in video games right now. Developers are actually letting other people enjoy video games, God forbid. How dare they!

Hardcore gamers need to calm down and stop acting so selfish. Instead of 100% hardcore games and 0% casual games being made, it's getting closer to 50/50. Were getting more players and more variety.

Anyone who has passed Economics in High School knows this common knowledge -- consumers are not smart.

I'm tired of sheep rejoicing around their coveted sales figures. Take a bitter taste of reality: high sales does not mean a quality product. It only takes a superficial glance at the Wii's cheap price tag and kid-friendly waggle mechanics and parents are sold. Unfortunately, great games are not included.

While Nintendo may be rising from the slump that was the Gamecube, it is the sentiment that they have inadvertently induced is what should trouble gamers; the new aim for the 'casual' market. There is no lighter way of putting this, we gamers are a minority. Our interests are of little concern to the business leaders of X, whether it be Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft. Because of this, we will inevitability see a shift in general gaming. AAA titles that sport convoluted stories and old-school difficulty are not properties that cater to the casual audience. Instead we will see games change more into the Wii-esque games. Casual-friendly, Wii-wagglin', mini game overdosed games will flood the market.

liquidShake

I picture the casual consumer to be like floaties. The more they buy the less likely Nintendo is to sink. People seem to foget that the GameCube had many solid 1st party titles. The Hardcore audience who bought the GC bought those 1st party titles. The luxury that Wii has now is the prospect of possibly gaining more solid AAA titles. Never the less if that fails to happen, we still are expecting the great AAA Nintendo titles. Thats why diehard Nintendo fans buy the console in the first place!

I personally believe that many 3rd party games are showing promise however, the Wii certainly is in a good position this time around.

As for the lack of quality games by 3rd parties, its common knowledge that 3rd parties weren't ready for the Wii. I expect to see great 3rd party titles coming up in 2008.