Interesting article explaining the Wii's success.

[DeadlyNinja]

WII is the perfect consol for non games who want to be cool and say they play video games.

Duuuuuuuuude! It must be awesome living on your planet. On my planet, we gamers are viewed as illiterate murdering psychopathic morons. Please, take me to your planet!!! I want to live in paradise. I want to be viewed as cool for playing video games. I want the ladies to be impressed by my cool gaming skills.

 

[dobwal]

No, they overshot the price of mainstream gamers. The price that a console sells 20 million a year.

And why do you think they overshot mainstream pricing? Could it be those costly components. Name the last time a console sales leader in a market with full participation by all competitors was considered the console graphics leaders?

The Xbox or GC never sold at the rate of the PS2 at the same prices. The 360 and PS3 aren't going to magically start selling at Wii rates just because they fall the Wii current price range. Demand at any one price point is dependent on time. A $400 PS3 sold worsed than a $400 360 did the holiday before so a $250 PS3 should be expected to sell like a $250 Wii especially since a $250 PS3 won't be a possibility until 2009 almost three years into the generation.

It's not really ignored by Sony who already offer a mainstream priced PS2 console.

The PS2 console is a EOL product and isn't meant to be a serious competitor this generation especially against the Wii. Sony is using up its ultra low cost to eat up sales at the very bottom of the market. By the time the Wii hits the bottom end of the market, the PS2 will have faded.

The difference is Nintendo have revitalised that lower-priced market by offering a new gaming experience.

The lower-priced market has never needed revitalization as sales in this area has always done well. The difference was Nintendo targetting the part of the market that has been serviced at beginning of every generation launched but Sony and MS ignored by moving beyond the typical launch price of $199-$299 US range and releasing their prime products into the $399-$599 US range.

If they had released a Wii spec console at the Wii pricepoint without the novelty of new controls, despite no 'overshooting the needs of mainstream gamers' and not creating an expensive product, they wouldn't have sold because they wouldn't be offering over and above what mainstream gamers already experienced with GC/PS2/XB.

Even at $250, Sony could have released a console well beyond the specs of the Wii. Sony has already released a Wii spec console its called the PS2. If a PS3 capable of being launched at $250 would have been released by Sony, it would have chewed the 360 sales and been a serious competitor against the Wii by simply being the "Sony's Playstation 3".

Yes, but a competitor in the $200 console market, in which the other consoles aren't contenders.

Doesn't matter, as the longer your competitors can't compete in a segment the harder its is for them to make up ground once they do enter that segment of the market. Nintendo is at the upper end of the mainstream market (the most prominent and important segment) eating up sales and will likely to do so as they move down the market by lowering the price of the Wii.

That was true for all prior generations, but consoles are no longer just games machines. They all had the same approximate performance, games, and features. This gen the Wii stands apart as offering a discrete experience from the other machines. If the gamer market is a homogeneous lump of 'want to play games, don't care what they look like, don't care how the controls work' then yes, the Wii will be consuming potential customers, satisfying their game-playing desire and eliminating them from being potential buyers into PS360. But the real market consists of people with different tastes, desired functionality, and is ever changing.

Consoles aren't just gaming machine but they still are gaming machines. The primary function of the 360 and PS3 is to play games and no other features added to the consoles have changed usage of consoles amongst the majority of the market. Consoles are defined by their primary function just like automobiles are by their primary function. You may want something thats black with brown leather, an ipod hookup, GPS navigation, Onstar and satelite radio. But the most important function of your purchase is it ability to get you back and forth from work and home. Thats true for game console also, you may want BluRay, WiFi and PSN, but if you are part of the mainstream gamers market, playing games is a given.

Thus before, if you had a SNES, there was no reason for you to buy a Megadrive unless the exclusives attracted you. So for mainstream, single platform owners, you bought Nintendo and that sale was eternally lost for Sega. Same with PS1 - if you bought one, there was no point in getting an N64. Same with PS2 - why get a GC? Not so with Wii, as you can buy a Wii now and yet still want to play HD games, play media/BRD, or have decent online experiences, maybe in a year or two's time when you've bought a new HD set and the consoles are much cheaper. Where before all the consoles were remarkably similar, the differences now provide different choices for consumers and the PS360 options are still valid for existing Wii owners, and vice versa.

In my opinion there is no stronger motivator for a console purchase than its software offerings. Halo, GTA, GT, FF, MGS and other titles are better motivators for sales than BluRay, PSN, Home or Live. If the Wii offered no Nintendo software, the motion contol aspect would little to help sustain the Wii sales. If the PS3 offered no exclusive just as GT5, FF13, MGS4 or others, BluRay alone would do little to help sustain the PS3, the same is true for the 360 and Live. If it would have been Toshiba with the "TouchStation" that had motion control, BluRay and Live with no worthy first or third party support, how would you expect it to do against a PS3, Wii and 360 with traditional control schemes and DVD based with all the top first and third party franchises?

To me access to exclusive first party or third games are more important than watching a movie in a higher resolution or having access to gamer tags and top score lists. If I want BluRay I can buy a standalone machine, if all I owned was a 360 or Wii. But if I owned a Xbox box my option for Metroid/Gran Turismo/Final Fantasy/SuperMario standalone box were called the PS2 and/or GameCube.

 

[fearsomepirate]

It seems to me that the author's use of the word 'disruption' is kind what everyone means by 'casual game' under a different name. Games with simpler controls and dynamics.

It's like you didn't even read the article. That's the precise opposite of the point he was making, which was that everyone seems to think that "disruption" means "casual games," but it actually means something different entirely. Thus, companies trying to glut the market with "casual games," aka "games for retards," aren't seeing much success, while Nintendo's disruptive titles, which don't treat their target audience like retards, are selling in buckets.

 

[dobwal]

It's like you didn't even read the article. That's the precise opposite of the point he was making, which was that everyone seems to think that "disruption" means "casual games," but it actually means something different entirely. Thus, companies trying to glut the market with "casual games," aka "games for retards," aren't seeing much success, while Nintendo's disruptive titles, which don't treat their target audience like retards, are selling in buckets.

I agree. People look at Wii Sports and believe thats Nintendo's strategy for its whole library. There is nothing that has fundamentally changed about Nintendo development towards their console. Yes, the motion control gives a whole new way of interaction but one could envision a large number of these titles making there way to a Nintendo console even with a traditional control scheme.

Nintendo has always produced diverse libraries that are well represented with quirky games that have mainstream appeal. Motion control just allows Nintendo to extend that quirk to a new level, but what it hasn't done is revolutionize Nintendo's take on games.

Nintendo strategy of disprution revolves around breaking the cycle of competing techwise to produce similar visuals as its competitors and introducing the new revolutionary control scheme all at a price range that targetting mainstream gamers while MS and Sony are stuck providing costly consoles to the highend crowd. Nintendo didn't make up the term "strategy of disruption", "disruptive innovation" or "disruptive technology". They are terms that have been around awhile now.

 

[Readykilowatt]

HOLD ON A SECOND!!!

A disruptive technology or disruptive innovation is a marketing term describing a technological innovation, product, or service that uses a "disruptive" strategy, rather than a "revolutionary" or "sustaining" strategy, to overturn the existing dominant technologies or status quo products in a market. Disruptive innovations can be broadly classified into low-end and new-market disruptive innovations. A new-market disruptive innovation is often aimed at non-consumption, whereas a lower-end disruptive innovation is aimed at mainstream customers who were ignored by established companies. It has been systematically shown to the research community that most disruptive innovations are in a minority compared to revolutionary innovations which introduce an innovation of higher performance to the market. Examples of true disruptive innovations, ie. innovations that are lower in performance and lower cost, succeeding are rare. Occasionally, a disruptive technology comes to dominate an existing market by either filling a role in a new market that the older technology could not fill (as cheaper, lower capacity but smaller-sized flash memory is doing for personal data storage in the 2000s) or by successively moving up-market through performance improvements until finally displacing the market incumbents (as digital photography has begun to replace film photography).


By contrast, a "revolutionary technology" introduces products with highly improved new features into the market. This is the innovation that most often replaces the incumbent. In addition, a "sustaining technology or innovation" improves product performance of established products. Sustaining technologies are often incremental; however, they can also be radical or discontinuous.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_technology

Is it just me or is the Wii Console (Wii minus the controller) a "disruptive technology" while the Wiimote/Balance Board is a "revolutionary technology", i.e. the Wii as a whole is a combination of both disruptive and revolutionary products?

 

[Freak'n Big Panda]

I'd say the Wii including the Wiimote and balance board are all grouped under the disruptive technology label. Neither the Wiimote or the balance board bring any new technology to the market and don't really improve upon what we had before, rather they add to the disruptive nature of the Wii by helping the Wii capture the new market (non-gamers) and the low end.

 

[acaeus]

I'd say the Wii including the Wiimote and balance board are all grouped under the disruptive technology label. Neither the Wiimote or the balance board bring any new technology to the market and don't really improve upon what we had before, rather they add to the disruptive nature of the Wii by helping the Wii capture the new market (non-gamers) and the low end.

Perhaps the Wii merely addresses the extreme lack of diversity in the Xbox 360 and PS3 game libraries? OK, I should not talk about the 360 cause I don't own one, but *to me* motorstorm is the only *great* game on the platform, the only one that gave me some unique aspects of gameplay that I had not experienced before. I also like SuperDust HD and everyday Shooter.

And I think the PS3 is a fantastic media center (including BR player), but until LBP and other - unorthodox - games hit the market, it's pretty much just a lot of the the same thing, game wise.

BTW, I wouldn't consider myself a non-gamer since I've been gaming since...since before Atari. And I do enjoy the Wii and its unique gameplay.

 

[eastmen]

the wii is a great system. I just wish there were more games that I enjoy. I have zelda , mario and smash and will own mario kart but what else is there ? My 360 gets far more play than my wii will ever get.

 

[fearsomepirate]

Wii Fit is definitely disruptive software. It's not targeted at habitual gamers who are mainly looking out for the next big FPS or RPG. It's targeted at the low end and the non-gamer.

I don't really see LBP as disruptive. It's mainly targeting existing gamers and is for a high-end game platform. That would make it "innovative," but not "disruptive," not if being "disruptive" involves all the marketing strategies discussed earlier.

 

[Mobius1aic]

Well from Nintendo's perspective, I think Wii fit is a great idea because they automatically can convince "casual gamer" Wii owners like families and such to buy into the product now that they have their attention, money, and trust as the Wii seems to be such a great product to them. From the perspective of a gamer-consumer like myself, I think it's a great idea. Nintendo is on a roll and because of the break out success of the Wii they will get plenty of people to buy into Wii Fit. I have no need for Wii Fit, but I honestly think that it'll be a complete hit here in the states thanks to the penetration of Wii consoles.

However from a the perspective of someone who likes to exercise like myself though, I think Wii Fit is pretty dumb because I think plenty of people will tend to believe that Wii Fit is some kind of substitute for real exercise (even though Miyamoto says it isn't a substitute at all) and either plenty of people will think they'll lose weight or people will become obsessive with it trying to lose weight all while sitting indoors in their own homes, and I find this disturbing because they'll lose any real affinity for real exercise which is going to require real effort. Now if Wii Fit makes people more aware of their body and makes them exercise in various ways more,which is Miyamoto's claimed aim, then I think it'll be a very positive success. Trends are changing but America is still pretty famous for having so many fat people and Wii Fit could motivate alot of Americans to get off their fat asses and go exercise.

 

[dobwal]

Well from Nintendo's perspective, I think Wii fit is a great idea because they automatically can convince "casual gamer" Wii owners like families and such to buy into the product now that they have their attention, money, and trust as the Wii seems to be such a great product to them. From the perspective of a gamer-consumer like myself, I think it's a great idea. Nintendo is on a roll and because of the break out success of the Wii they will get plenty of people to buy into Wii Fit. I have no need for Wii Fit, but I honestly think that it'll be a complete hit here in the states thanks to the penetration of Wii consoles.

However from a the perspective of someone who likes to exercise like myself though, I think Wii Fit is pretty dumb because I think plenty of people will tend to believe that Wii Fit is some kind of substitute for real exercise (even though Miyamoto says it isn't a substitute at all) and either plenty of people will think they'll lose weight or people will become obsessive with it trying to lose weight all while sitting indoors in their own homes, and I find this disturbing because they'll lose any real affinity for real exercise which is going to require real effort. Now if Wii Fit makes people more aware of their body and makes them exercise in various ways more,which is Miyamoto's claimed aim, then I think it'll be a very positive success. Trends are changing but America is still pretty famous for having so many fat people and Wii Fit could motivate alot of Americans to get off their fat asses and go exercise.

Wii Fit is not a substitute for real exercise because it is real exercise. Fin Fin is a substitute for real exercise. The home is often not the best place to exercise because it requires level of dedication and motivation that often makes it ineffectual. The home, other than workplace, is the largest source of distraction for an individual and makes it hard for the average person to effectively engage in a workout.

Home exercising restricts you to limited exercises that require more reps to remain challenging or investing in more equipment or upgrades which requires a higher level of investment per transactions versus the gym. Exercisng at home provides little support and can be extremely boring and provides little of the motivators that a gym or a track can offer (no eye candy, lol).

A gym or a park offers a place to exercise away from everyday distractions while placing you within an enviroment where everyone has similar goals which acts as a motivator. Also using a gym is seen as a cheaper investment as you get access to a wide range of equipments and programs for a nominmal monthly fee. The wide array of equipment and program help present new challenges and variety which help motivates by allowing you to keep a fresh experience. There is also plenty of eye candy at most of the highly populated gyms and tracks.

However, A full body workout doesn't require a gym, track or expensive equipment and if the Wii can eliminate some of disadvantages of exercising at home by keeping you highly motivated and removes the ability to become easily distracted it can be just effective as going to the gym or doing cardio at a track or a park.

 

[Mobius1aic]

It still worries me somewhat, especially with a console with as much penetration as the Wii. As of late and during many parts of my youth as it's coming to a close (I'm almost 20 years old), I've come and gone about manic laziness that can be attributed to our love of technology, namely games and computers. I just recently rediscovered my love for running thanks to one of my local parks with plenty of woods and dirt trails to run on as well as rediscovered some of my appreciation of nature especially after seeing a red cardinal for the first time in years a couple days ago. Be it exercise or not things like Nintendo Wiis, computers and other pieces of electronics can be very distracting to the idea that there is a real world out there to be explored just like virtual worlds to be explored, stories in movies, books, games, etc to experience and share as well as people to love and cherish, and it somewhat kills me at times. Call me insane if you want but it still worries me just like TV worried Ray Bradbury and his prediction of TV becoming an American obsession, and now it's games and internet as well.