[QUOTE="Iyethar"]No. For it to be an inferior good, its utility would have to be completely replaceable by a normal good in the same market. As a unique product with its own specific appeal, it is a normal good.AmyMizuno
I would disagree. Under those terms, anything that is unique is irreplacable; however, when comparing different games, for example, you compare similar games in similar price ranges. Of course, you can argue that nothing is similar to the Wii, but again, I would disagree. Only a few games use the Wiimote... maybe I'm wrong, but I hope people aren't buying the Wii to just play Wii Sports...Now that I think about it, maybe I am wrong.
Would we be able to come to an agreement that the PS2 is an inferior good?
I really don't think that any major game console can really be considered an inferior good in an economic sense. An example of inferior goods in the gaming industry would be more along the lines of single-game LCD portables - they are clearly an inferior good with respect to normal goods like Game Boy and other full handheld consoles. Another example of inferior goods in the game industry would be true shovelware like Phoenix Games produces, or even more appropriately the $10 crap PC game collections you see at Target and Walmart.
As far as the Wii is concerned, more than a just a few games use the features of the remote that differentiate the product to its audience. Not all of them use all the features of the remote, but the vast majority use more than enough to create an experience that isn't replaceable by other products. Now, maybe you don't value the unique qualities of the experience, but that's a simple matter of preference that isn't relevant to the question you asked.
With regards to the PS2, even now that it is of the prior generation of hardware it would be stretching definitions to the breaking point to categorize it as an inferior good. It has a larger and more diverse game library than any of the current generation consoles, and those games are still in very heavy new and used distribution.
Perhaps this will make things more clear: people do not usually choose inferior goods by preference. They settle for them because they are the most they can afford or because they offer a much greater price or quantity than normal goods. People do not generally buy the Wii or the PS2 because they wanted a 360 or PS3 and couldn't afford one, they buy them because that's what they wanted to get. The BC on some of the PS3 models does call the PS2's status into question very slightly, but this is mostly abrogated by the fact that not all PS3s have BC and the fact that PS2s don't play PS3 games. If the consumer wants to play a PS3 game, he will save up for a PS3, not go "oh well, guess I'll just get a PS2 instead".
It would be insane to argue that any significant portion of the people buying Wiis really want a 360, PS3 or high-end gaming PC and are settling for a Wii instead. Also, the fact that people are still paying above market value for the Wii is ironclad, irrefutable proof that the Wii cannot be considered anywhere approaching being an inferior good. No-one ever pays a premium for an inferior good - if an inferior good becomes scarce then people unable to purchase it because of the scarcity will always buy a suitable normal good instead rather than pay a premium.
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