In response to remarks from Steven Kent to USA Today predicting an upcoming Wii bubble burst-- an end to its massive popularity, brought on by a high price relative to its power, Game|Life's Chris Kohler wrote a brilliant editorial looking at what he sees as the four different kinds of gamers (in terms of casual-to-hardcore) and how such a bubble burst would affect them.Most interestingly, Kohler defines the "casual gamer" not as we do now (non-gamers who enjoy some Bejeweled) but as the majority of the gaming public who buys systems following price drops and owns two or three games. The grandmas and such fit into the "expanded audience." The other two categories, "hardcore gamer" and "kid" are much easier to define.
In Kohler's view, the only audience whose interest in the Wii would be affected by a "bubble burst" would be the casual gamers, who may be more willing to respond to an Xbox 360 price drop than an underpowered Wii. Unless, of course, the Wii gets a bunch of mass-market games.













Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-11-2007 @ 4:15PM
seth said...
The buble is already starting to burst. You should see all of the Wii's put up for sale or trade on craigslist lately. The chronic lack of quality new games and online game play is a real threat that is causing many enthusiastic early adopters and "hardcore" gamers to regret their purchases and abandon the Wii for other, more powerful consoles. I am one of them.
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6-11-2007 @ 4:25PM
B-Ry said...
I say once the wiis game library increases in both size and quality and the online system begins the wii will be fine and said bubble will be fine
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6-11-2007 @ 4:47PM
student said...
seth... You might want to look into Mario Strikers Charged then which is supposed to be awesome and has online play. Also, Pokemon Battle Revolution starts the online rumblings in the US THIS MONTH.
But of course, you're right.. online play is what everyone hates about the wii...
Let's go onto the games
No new games and those that do, suck.
That's why Scarface is considered to be best played on the Wii, MK:A has innovative new controls that are supposed to work great, RE4 got a 38 from Famitsu, Godfather had a great revamping treatment, likewise with SSX Blur.
Ports aren't what you meant?
Solid new games on the wii since launch: Zelda, Elebits, Trauma Center, Excite Truck, Warioware, Super Paper Mario, Cooking Mama, Big Brain Academy.
Coming soon we've got:
Pokemon Battle Revolution, Manhunt 2, Mario Strikers Charged, Alien Syndrome, Boogie, MP3. And that's just this summer.
Really, it's not the quality of games, it's a question of the time to play them all.
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6-11-2007 @ 5:40PM
Squashua said...
I have a Wii and am planning on getting a 360 once I get a HDTV.
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6-11-2007 @ 6:41PM
Joshua said...
That was an absolutely excellent editorial. It definitely clarified and exactly defined the four possible types of gamers, and is definitely right about who will be affected by a potential "bubble burst".
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6-11-2007 @ 10:05PM
seth said...
Student,
A long list of 2 year old ports and unreleased games is hardly a good reason to be content with a system. Most of good released games you listed, I own and have beaten. Judging by the way you wrote that fanboy rant, I'm guessing that's more than you can say. The wii does have several fun games. But outside of Zelda and Wii sports I wouldn't call any of them great. I'll be picking up Scarface tomorrow and have high hopes for it. But that does not change the fact that Nintendo will need more than a few decent games and graphically inferior ports to maintain its momentum. They need more 3rd party support and online. I sincerely hope nintendo succeeds(i've dumped a lot of money into my system). But what they've released thus far is simply not enough to keep me and many non-fanboy purchasers happy. flame on.
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6-12-2007 @ 12:17AM
Mario said...
Seth,
How much money have you invested in your system? If the system is so weak I doubt you bought a new HDTV for it. I doubt you went out and got a 7.1 surround system to support it's high end sound processing.
Basically you spent the price of the console and what? A couple games, an extra wii-mote and nunchuk?
For that price what are you expecting? You knew it wasn't the most powerful system, but you bought it for the innovative style of play and Nintendo's ability to make a great game. You mentioned Zelda and Wii Sports. In the same time since release what has the 360 and PS3 produced?
Call me a fanboy if you like, but reviewers are saying that the Wii takes old ports, and redinfes the gameplay. Godfather and Scarface are just the beginning. Where will Wii take sports games?
We're entering the second half of the first year of release and we have EA's second round of sports games on the horizon, Metroid and Mario Galaxy still to come.
I think you're jumping the gun in getting rid of a system that is just scratching the surface of it's potential.
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6-12-2007 @ 3:06AM
seth said...
ROFL! Sony 60 inch kds-60a2000 (full 1080p)all HDMI and components. 7.1 surround (only running Bose 5.1). Elebits, Godfather, Paper Mario, Zelda, Wii Sports, Wario, Excite Truck, Rayman, and DBZ tenchu plus 8 VC games, Everbody votes, and opera browser...and a massive wang. I'm pretty sure my set up is more than adequate. What I was expecting is original game play that is as innovative as the conrolls are. I was expecting Mario Galaxy, Metroid prime, Smash Bros, and strikers in Q4 2006 or Q1 2007 as announced with battalion wars and others to follow. and I was expecting all of these(minus mario) to be online without anything remotely resembling friend codes. Why should I not be dissapointed with delays and let downs. So far Wii=browser/bowling.
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6-12-2007 @ 8:55AM
Cam said...
yeah, there havent been alot of good games lately, but I think it's probably a little slow on every console right now, i mean, it is summer. VC games are holding me over fine, though.
Hopefully said bubble will not burst, because less interest in the system would mean even less games from 3rd parties. I think alot of 3rd party developers are scrambling to release on Wii, and people will buy what they put out, even if it is crap. so, yeah, I dont see the wii "failing" or whatever. Again, come Q4, We'll see games.
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6-13-2007 @ 3:32AM
boradley said...
hot piffle and damn, seth. you think nintendo would blow their entire gameswad within six months of release? i remember the days when there wouldn't more than one decent game on a console until at least the 2nd year of lifecycle.
realise that the dev companies actually need to take time to develope the games, they don't just pop out of thin air - and given that a lot of 3rd parties wrote off the wii to begin with they are now being forced to play catch-up.
regarding online gameplay my personal opinion is it can be fun as long as i don't have to deal with 14year old ftards or in fact talk to anybody at all, then hey i'm all for it... but it won't make or break a game for me. i'm much more interested in Local multiplayer so i can hang out with my actual real life friends and play.
anyhoo, you should try living in australia- no trauma centre, no super paper mario - not even any vague release dates, just a TBC on the nintendo.com.au site.
am i going to cry about it, sell my wii and buy an xbox/ps3? heck no. i have both patience and a life outside to keep me occupied. and a PC for S.T.A.L.K.E.R goodness ;)
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