The E3 2011 thread

[Absentia]

Re: The E3 2011 thread

Maybe I'm the only one, but when they were about to announce the name of Wii-U, they put an emphasis on saying "absolutely" in their statement, so I thought it would be called the Nintendo Absolute. >_> I mean, I guess it made sense considering they want this to reach 'absolutely' everyone. XD

[cidbahamut]

Re: The E3 2011 thread

You're right. That was a horribly flawed analogy.

[Icemage]

Re: The E3 2011 thread

(P.S.: Your bias glows with the intensity of a thousand suns. If console maintenance isn't as much of an issue for you, then why does the possibility of some idiot proving that the device isn't "foolproof" act as a negative selling point for you? Let Nintendo themselves worry about that, which I'm sure they have.)

It's not a negative selling point "for me". The Wii U has other properties that I don't particularly care for, but the fragility "for me" isn't a problem. That said, fragile + expensive is a bad combination in the electronics market, and that's what I'm pointing out.

It's possible that I'm wrong and people won't care, but I'd point out that something is making Wii hardware sales drop off a cliff face lately, and my read of the situation is that the "fad" part of the Wii has died, and it just doesn't have the substance to produce significant sales in any other way.

Hence me belaboring the point about the Wii U; Nintendo's trying to recapture lightning in a bottle, but unless they pull off something of a miracle, they're going to need more than what this device offers to rope people in for another generation.

You'll also note that I'm not particularly enthusiastic about the other pressers; if anything, I think Microsoft did the best job at E3 this year. That's saying a lot, considering they're the only ones without new hardware to show.


Icemage

[Raydeus]

Re: The E3 2011 thread

Looking forward to seeing the Wii U Lulz in 5 years from now.

[DakAttack]

Re: The E3 2011 thread

We'll see how lucky they were when they pull the inevitable repeat performance.

They wont, guaranteed. They're competing with every indie game app available on Apple and Android markets for the attention span of casuals.

[cidbahamut]

Re: The E3 2011 thread

It's possible that I'm wrong and people won't care, but I'd point out that something is making Wii hardware sales drop off a cliff face lately, and my read of the situation is that the "fad" part of the Wii has died, and it just doesn't have the substance to produce significant sales in any other way.

While I'd love to blindly agree with this wholesale, I can't help but wonder if maybe they've simply hit market saturation.

[Yellow Mage]

Re: The E3 2011 thread

You're right. That was a horribly flawed analogy.

Could you please point out exactly how the analogy is flawed, so that I may fix it?

Microsoft is managing to maintain a fanbase, while still keeping a visage of catering more "mature" material (read: shooters out the butt). This I made analog to the Boondocks, since it's a successful western cartoon, with a strong fanbase, that is nevertheless not quite for everybody.

Sony, to be honest, I just looked up crappy anime from Adult Swim to describe them, without being so obviously unfair as to use something like Blue Gender. Shin-Chan seemed like a good fit, particularly with its overused low comedy.

Nintendo, however, nevertheless will always look like something that is meant only for kids by its detractors who would never give it a chance. Rather than try to fight against it and become the same as everybody else, however, they went in a direction nobody even thought to go, and the aforementioned detractors thought they would be a waste of time to even go in that direction. Inevitably, however, they emerge with an enormous fanbase that everybody else tends to think is crazy (and with a new trail blazed for others to stumble with, to boot). In other words, they're deceptively awesome. How is that not like MLP:FiM, particularly for you, a clear fan of the show?

[Raydeus]

Re: The E3 2011 thread

Wait...

Why does this thread suddenly remind me of the Religion thread? o_O;

[Yellow Mage]

Re: The E3 2011 thread

By the way, I found this to be a humorous summary of Nintendo's current position.

[Malacite]

Re: The E3 2011 thread

It's possible that I'm wrong and people won't care, but I'd point out that something is making Wii hardware sales drop off a cliff face lately,

The fact that everyone and their cousin already has one?


Also: Inb4 PS4/new xbox offer fully immersive VR gameplay with life-like graphics for $1000 XD

[Raydeus]

Re: The E3 2011 thread

MS may need to release a Box720, but there's absolutely no reason for Sony to release a PS4 for a while. Even more so with Vita (I like NGP better) and dual gaming coming out relatively soon.

Now, once the uber HD displays hit the market (in 5-10 years from now) I'm expecting to see a PS4 with quantum processing (and more than 256MB ram/video) of course.





PS > People are still buying the PS2 even now. So the "Everyone has a Wii by now" argument is pretty weak, and should probably be "Everyone is tired of the gimmick by now" instead.

[cidbahamut]

Re: The E3 2011 thread

How is that not like MLP:FiM, particularly for you, a clear fan of the show?

MLP is a quality cartoon being marketed as a cartoon to a cartoon demographic and drawing in cartoon fans, whereas Nintendo is just going straight into left field and has left the stadium and possible the city to chase down a demographic that didn't even know Nintendo existed?

[Yellow Mage]

Re: The E3 2011 thread

whereas Nintendo is just going straight into left field and has left the stadium and possible the city to chase down a demographic that didn't even know Nintendo existed?

I'd humor this, except it's more like "Hey remember everything cool released in the last six years? Yeah we put those in our console."

[cidbahamut]

Re: The E3 2011 thread

Would you take all of your favorite foods, stick them all in a blender and call it the best meal ever?

[Icemage]

Re: The E3 2011 thread

The fact that everyone and their cousin already has one?

I've seen this excuse tossed around, and I don't believe it (depending on what your definition of market saturation is). The PS2 is over 120M units sold, the Wii's only around 70-80M. Even if you count replacement units purchased, the PS2 has a somewhat less broad demographic base of support than the Wii, so there's no reason to believe the Wii has reached market saturation.

Yes, the PS2 is much older, but it continued to sell well even in after the release of the PS3 because of the marketing position it held as the lowest-price console still in production.

Fact is, there's just not many good new reasons to buy a Wii these days. If you wanted one for Wii Fit or Wii Sports, you already bought one more likely than not. And there's certainly almost zero reasons for a hardcore gamer to buy a Wii these days, unless they're just dying to play one of the core Nintendo franchises.

My position is that the Wii is struggling because it no longer has enough appeal for non-owners, not because everyone already owns one. The Xbox 360 and PS3 continue to provide new reasons to buy them (Kinect, lots of games, Blu-ray, XBL/PSN, yadda yadda...). When is the last time you saw something compelling for the Wii?

The Wii U is interesting, to be sure, but unless Nintendo has some brilliant marketing strategy, they've got an uphill battle convincing those Wii Fit and Wii Sports owners to upgrade. I think they've already lost the battle with current Xbox 360 Kinect owners, and probably also for many PS3 owners as well.


Icemage