Looks like the popularity of the Wii might not be beneficial to just Nintendo, as industry insiders are beginning to think that it would be the one to pave the way for console manufacturers to adopt a similar strategy in the future. With the big fancy features of the PS3 and Xbox 360, Sony and Microsoft have been losing out on dough from sales since day one. But, the same cannot be said for Nintendo. They've been making profit since they sold their first Wii.And others may follow suit in the next generation of gaming. At least, analyst Billy Pidgeon with IDC thinks so, as he commented to Next-Gen that "the results of this cycle will have a strong influence on the next cycle, in that cheaper consoles will be expected." He goes on further to say "Microsoft and Sony will attain successful business on this generation, but catering to the early adopter hardcore gamers with a technology leader strategy will be difficult in 2011."
Any way you look at it, Nintendo proved playing is believing and showed that graphics aren't all there is to a successful game. No matter what we see come the next generation of gaming, we think Nintendo's success here, and now, is going to have a big impact on it. Until then, we'll just get back to playing No More Heroes.
[Via CVG]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-26-2008 @ 7:07PM
mian said...
If true, the best part will asking the 360 fanboys how they like their two 360's duct-tapped together.
Hey, nice xbox 540 there buddy.
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3-26-2008 @ 9:26PM
Sora267 said...
Isn't 360*2 720, though?
3-26-2008 @ 10:18PM
mian said...
There's two jokes present. One is the reversal of "2 gamecubes taped together" crack. The other is the reversal of the "gamecube 1.5" crack. 360 * 1.5 is 540.
The xbox 720 is a decent name. Not really subject to ridicule, and it wouldn't be the same as calling whatever it is two 360 taped together. I wouldn't be two surprised if that's what they chose to call it.
3-26-2008 @ 7:09PM
Mr Khan said...
I've been saying for a while, love it or hate it, gamers everywhere should at least partially cheer Wii on, if only to prevent the inevitable $1000 launch console
And don't say it wouldn't've happened. If PS3 was on top, Sony and MS would've cooked up something to smoke PC Rigs and burn savings all over
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3-26-2008 @ 7:39PM
TheOverlord#2 (will beat you with Toon Link!)(1461-5875-9923) said...
How can you still be playing No More Heroes when it's been out for two months? :P
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3-26-2008 @ 7:44PM
Brucie B said...
OK 480p... Lame
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3-26-2008 @ 7:45PM
TheOverlord#2 (will beat you with Toon Link!)(1461-5875-9923) said...
Nintendo has been making profit...but having bad experiences from it. Sure, they have casual gamers out there...but what about hardcore gamers who brought them to the Wii in the first place?
Also, downgrading online and other things doesn't make it the future where you should move forward...not back.
*Not intentional flamebait
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3-26-2008 @ 8:03PM
mian said...
The Wii is technically very capable in the online arena. The company and culture is the problem there, not the hardware.
As to 3rd party game selection, if all three consoles were closer together, as this 2011 prediction leans towards, you get more better ports, and a lot of the pain from the Wii being underpowered and losing out on some great games gets lost.
I feel your pain as far as Wii goes, in a lot of ways. But as far as the next generation goes, you have to keep in mind that a lot of Nintendo's problems aren't hardware related, and those that are are because of a hardware disparity between the big 3, not some intrinsic fault. So the problems Wii faces while going this new path alone won't necessarily be replicated if others follow a similar hardware path.
3-27-2008 @ 12:29PM
buzzbean said...
I agree, I loved my wii before I got my ps3, now it gathers dust. I break it out when a new nintendo game comes out or a great VC game, but it does not get the play that it used to. Plus 480 looks kinda crappy on an HDTv. Both Xbox and PS3 will make shitloads of money and will keep doing what they are doing. In this counsel generation, all players were proven correct more or less. This is good it will keep up the diversity
3-26-2008 @ 8:00PM
Joe Cart said...
Wii > Xbox, ps3
Gameplay > graphics
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3-26-2008 @ 8:36PM
Dustin said...
I would buy a Wii 2 (to complement my Wii 1) if it was exactly the current setup, but with HD output.
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3-26-2008 @ 8:37PM
Ethan said...
I think the Puu would still probably tank without HD, as that's in three years or so. Surround sound would also go a long way towards not looking stupid.
I think those 9GB shackles are bursting at the seams too. But all of this pales at the prospect of IMPROVED WAGGLE!
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3-26-2008 @ 8:54PM
Haohmaru said...
I honestly don't think the next "next gen" will be quite as large a leap, at least in terms of graphical power, as the PS3 and XBOX360 both were. I think we'll definitely see a new Wii with HD capabilities, and I also think we'll continue to see the "casual" market expand with support from Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. The DS and Wii's respective sales have certainly proven that such a market exists and is very profitable, so I think it's a given that rival companies will attempt to emulate Nintendo's success. If that proves to be the case, it's a win-win situation for gamers across all platforms, not to mention their wallets.
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3-26-2008 @ 9:08PM
Haohmaru said...
Puu.. very clever. ;) If you think that the next iteration of Wii will only focus on providing improved motion control, I don't think you're quite thinking "big" enough. By the time a Wii successor comes, predictably within a few years' time frame, HD will almost certainly be the standard - if not in the US, then at the very least in Nintendoland, Japan. Families will be more likely to spend big cash for new toys and doodads for their brand new plasma TV sets, but they'll expect more from a new system than what the PS3 and 360 offer currently.
Enter the Wii 2.
Of course, then Sony and Microsoft will have to follow suit in order to keep up. I'm honestly looking forward to seeing real competition between the consoles in a few years.
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3-26-2008 @ 9:53PM
Brendon said...
Microsoft: "Yay! Our Xbox has grabbed a huge piece of the pie! Let's expand our services to include a user-friendly online experience!"
Sony: "Yay! Our Playstation has grabbed a huge piece of the pie! Let's make a technologically advanced console that will double as a media hub!"
Nintendo: "Let's keep making consoles that are devoted to playing videogames."
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3-27-2008 @ 11:14PM
Rollin said...
Hey, the comment system bit off the rest of your post. I recovered it for you.
Nintendo (cont.): "...Videogames that provide fan service in the form of fitting every Nintendo character possible in every single game we publish. Let's keep ignoring the trivial stuff like consistent online gaming, a sufficient storage solution, cultivating new development studios and (serious) franchises, and getting other devs to support us with original content on a regular basis like the other two do (we only need one or two 3rd party titles come Xmas time). Heighten focus on training games, release more irrelevant channels, and eradicate all potential from Wii Ware and we'll be set. Oh!, and maximize profit by cutting hardware costs without dropping retail price. Yay!"
3-27-2008 @ 12:35AM
padgon said...
cheaper next-gen?
maybe, but there’s always a place for expensive consoles.
Even when Nintendo proved is that not all the gamers are willing to pay high prices.
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3-27-2008 @ 6:37AM
Nigeria: Cody ChesnuTT Defense Force said...
I hope they'll be cheaper consoles in the next cycle. This graphics arms race has to stop soon. It's too expensive and frankly redundant for most people.
But am I the only one who thinks that the Wii isn't that cheap. I mean, if you add up the price of wiimotes, nunchucks, and the odd classic controller, it soon becomes much closer to 360 range. I couldn't afford to get the whole set of controllers - 2 wiimotes, classic - but even if I could, I don't think I would. It's a little decadent.
The Wii is cheaper, but not by much.
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3-27-2008 @ 7:12AM
Synergistic said...
I really don't think it will lead to a cheaper next-gen in relative terms to most generations, granted I don't think we'll see another $600 machine for a while and that will be inflationary.
What I do think it will lead to is less stratum of models. No three different kinds of 360s and PS3s with or without backwards compatibility. The Wii is straightforward and obvious, you're getting a machine that will play all the games, no question.
I do think the Wii will lead to a longer generation than most, similar to what Sony is hoping for.
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3-27-2008 @ 8:20AM
raindog said...
I don't know about "9gb shackles". If the move toward online content is really happening, unless broadband improves a great deal in the next 5 years, games will tend to get smaller, not bigger.
And the fact that there's never been a significantly better (nor better-reviewed) game than Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which was all of 32 megabytes, makes me think that may actually be a good thing. Sure, as resolutions get higher data sizes will increase, but after that, you can only add so many cut scenes before you've failed as a game designer.
I personally don't think the shift to online content, to the point where console games aren't shipped on physical media anymore, will happen all that soon when over half the country still doesn't have broadband and many still don't have Internet access at all. It took decades for phones to reach 90% of the country and consumer broadband has been around for only one. So I'm pretty sure all three of the next consoles will still have an optical drive and it would have to be Blu-Ray. Even Nintendo will have to go there. Smash Bros. Brawl apparently almost fills 9gb, and just going from 480p to 1080p would immediately multiply texture sizes by 6. But if shipping on standard DVD is an option in the next generation, I bet most publishers will use it. Maybe most will use DL by then, since games that are far bigger than what we see now but still smaller than 4gb might be profitable to sell as downloads.
What I do expect to happen, unfortunately, is management at Nintendo seeing their newfound market position as a free pass to go back to their old arrogant 90's ways. They got back on top for this generation, but if you make a habit of telling your customers (and developers) what they want rather than listening to them, you're all set up for a Gamecube-style epic fail the next time out.
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