I'm still waiting to pick up a next-gen system; when there's some games worth playing for me. The price is an important part, but I think "Mom" is more gaming savvy than we give her credit for. The Wii offers something that no other next-gen system offers... a throw back to the glory days with the virtual console. My wife loved Donkey Kong Country. You know, back when a pixel had a more significant role to play; maybe it was half an eyebrow or maybe even a hand... or, or even a whole arm. Now they're just a bunch of cogs in the machine. Today, if they're lucky, they might get a chance to be 0.5% of Lara Croft's left ass cheek. It's sad really. | |
Having worked in video game retail I gotta say that "mom" is definitely NOT more savvy than we give her credit for. There are some exceptions of course and lots of parents are plenty smart enough to know whats going on. But as a general rule, mums have no clue about the videogameses. | |
It's interesting to contrast this with Microsoft's prior statements that the Wii and XBox 360 were chasing entirely different audiences and so on. | |
Extra Punctuation
MovieBob: Intermission
Experienced Points
First Person
Exploding Barrels
Miracle of Sound: Encore
Loading Time
Special Attack
Backchat
Drinking Games
Escape to the Movies
Escapecraft
Escapist News Wrap - Premium
Escapist Podcast
Feed Dump
GinxTV
Jimquisition
LoadingReadyRun
Mahalo
Meatbag and Co
Media Sandwich
Miracle of Sound
No Right Answer
Pro-Gamer Gauntlet
Reviews
Space Janitors
Tales from the Table
The Big Picture
The Escapist Presents
The Retro Show
Trailers
Unskippable
Zero Punctuation
Max Payne 3 Review
Company of Heroes 2
XCOM Enemy Unknown
Black Ops 2
Diablo 3 Review
TERA Review
Firefall Beta Preview
Starhawk Review
Critical Miss
Name Game
Microsoft: $199 Is Console "Sweet Spot"
Microsoft will make an aggressive push to expand its Xbox 360 user base and appeal with a broader range of games and, quite likely, a price cut to the console, according to a recent Bloomberg report.
Peter Moore, a Microsoft official who oversees the console's progress, told the financial news outlet, "If we don't make that move, make it early and expand our demographic, we will wind up in the same place as with Xbox 1, a solid business with 25 million people. What I need is a solid business with 90 million people."
In a clear attempt to win over existing and potential customers enamored by Nintendo's hot-selling Wii console, Microsoft has started to absorb lessons of its success.
David Hufford, a Microsoft director, said the Wii has struck the right notes with consumers. "We are well aware that the sweet spot of the market is really 199 bucks," he said, adding that the Wii is "a strong value proposition" because, "When mom walks into the store and sees she can get a console with a game for $250, she sees it as a $300 value. They've done a good job."
The basic version of the 360 console retails for $299, with the premium version coming in at $399 and the Elite costing $80 more. Microsoft has not lowered the price of any of the variations since launch, though most analysts are predicting one for this holiday season.
Permalink