I have heard a lot of complaints about the Wii And I don't get as much use out of mine as I would like to but it outsold the Xbox 360 and the Playstiation 3 combined. How did nintendo do it? I think it was the marketing and the expectation of gameplay innovation instead of just glistening graphics and Havoc physics.

Well, the Wii hasn't won yet

but if it does win (and it may), it's because it catered to the absolutely lowest common denominator.

Sony looked at who the 360 were selling to and were like "Idiot fratboys! Screw that! We're catering to the elites!"

then they both saw who the Wii was selling too and laughed "Old men and housewives? You can have them! LULULUL"

Then the Wii started outselling them and they're like "OH SHIT! MAKE SOME SHITTY GAMES LIKE NINTENDO DID FOR THE WIVES AND OLD MEN TO PLAY! Hey! Nintendo Fans! We have crappy games too! Just like Nintendo!"

but it was too late.

I'd imagine because the games were family-friendly, and because it was cheap.

1) the Wiimote
2) Zelda & Mario & Metroid
3) the price
4) GC backward compatibility & Virtual Console
5) pre-Christmas launch and good advertising

In short, they tapped into a demographic that was completely untouched by the other companies.

But I wouldn't say they've won yet. The second part of their plan (and yes, this is their plan, they haven't been quiet about it if you've been listening to them) is to bring that new demographic into real gaming, with games like Animal Crossing, and then bring them up even higher, and then start stealing some of the other companies players.

But if they don't succeed in that, they won't win just by selling housewives housewife games. They need to make housewives more interested in better games, games that the regular gaming public enjoy as well

Won is a relative term, and depends on what you call a 'win'.

In sales, certainly, but in sales to actual 'gamers'? Well, i haven't seen the statistics to make a call on that.

But if they don't succeed in that, they won't win just by selling housewives housewife games. They need to make housewives more interested in better games, games that the regular gaming public enjoy as well

Housewives are hot

In sales, certainly, but in sales to actual 'gamers'? Well, i haven't seen the statistics to make a call on that.

[sarcasm]Yeah because everyone knows real, true, 'hardcore' gamers buy Xbox 360s and PS3s...[/sarcasm]

EzraPound:

But if they don't succeed in that, they won't win just by selling housewives housewife games. They need to make housewives more interested in better games, games that the regular gaming public enjoy as well

Housewives are hot

They sure can be..

They shhhhure can be..

Birdman article explains it.

http://malstrom.50webs.com/birdman.html

The basic gist is... They tapped a demographic that had been left alone for years by making high quality lower stream games to disrupt the current trend of high stream, high end value games. They're quite simply, NOT making games for the "hardcore gamer", they're making games like they made them back before gaming was a big deal. This isn't to say all of their games are lowstream- all of their established IP's (Mario, Metroid, Zelda) all cater to higher stream tastes.

There are people who play games, and there are gamers. Nintendo is producing for people who play games. Microsoft, for Gamers. Sony, for Entertainment buffs. It falls into a neat tier system.

Nintendo: Less complex, focus on simple easy to grasp mechanics with solid gameplay. This reaches out to those who would usually never play games/lack the desire for experiance the suspension of belief most games require. Volkswagon Beetle.

Microsoft: More complex, focus's on those who enjoy/follow games or are willing to play online/at lan parties/for several hours. This demographic includes hardcore gamers and yes, Fratboys. Toyota Camry.

Sony: More complex, focus's on those looking for the next big thing and the maximum experiance. Adiophiles, visualphiles, technophiles. People who want the high end premium experiance. This demographic encompasses mostly the uppermiddle class or higher, those with the disposable income to care and afford the very best in tv's or entertainment. Also snatches movie buffs with the whole Blu-ray thing. Rolls Royce.

I think I'm missing out.

The Wii won?

The thing is, I've talked to 'hardcore' PS3 and 360 owners about this, and they say "They catered to the lowest common denominator" like it's a truly bad and horrible thing. Then they go on about how PS3 and 360 are the best consoles evar and condemn me because I like the Wii. Until I told them I'm a major PC gamer anyway and everyone knows PC > consoles.

I think it's great to see a console trying to pull in some new gamers. Look at the other two. They're just bringing out the same shit they had last generation, just with glossier graphics and new physics engines, catering mainly to the hardcore gamer, not really suitable for anyone knew to gaming to get in particularly easily.

So also, why is the lowest common denominator those people who don't already game? Because the group of people mentioned in the second paragraph are a bunch of elitist arseholes (I REFUSE TO CORRECT MY WORSE TO ASSHOLES, FIREFOX!!!) who are unable to accept the concept of new gamers entering their territory. Surely the whole point of a console, specifically one that brings people together (Man, that sounded tacky...) to play games, is to have fun with friends and family. The idea I get when I hear the words 'hardcore gamer' or the phrase "I'm a hardcore gamer" is someone locked up in his basement, secluded from society apart from his XFire/360/PS3 buddy list twitching while not playing CS:S/Halo 3/(Insert a standard PS3 game here) and twitching even worse when doing so, especially when he/she gets killed. The kind of person who says on forums:
"I'm better at this game so my penis > Your penis."

I'd prefer to be of the first description myself.

To say "The Wii only did well because of its gimmicky controller" is ignorant in both the fact they're properly advertising their product this generation, the gimmicky controller has got a whole host of people old and young into gaming, and they had a bunch of fans from the last two generations. Yes, to us 'hardcore' gamers, the games are crap. But they're suitable for people getting into the swing of video games these days, considering the complexity of most current hardcore games we need some games to teach new gamers the subtle art of being twitchy button mashers!

(Lemme just say, I could probably be considered a hardcore gamer with my current interest in games. I just refuse to use the term on myself, because it's a stupid phrase to use on gamers.)

Eggo:

Ultrajoe:
Won is a relative term, and depends on what you call a 'win'.

In sales, certainly, but in sales to actual 'gamers'? Well, i haven't seen the statistics to make a call on that.

Yeah, actual gamers build their PCs and buy and play on Steam.

Apparently i've gotten fat sitting inside and playing videogames for well over a decade for nothing, i'm not an actual gamer! Fie and fiddlesticks, I shall now go and play this shooty hoops game everyone seems so witherdither about.

I just got me a Wii because I like Nintendo, but that has all changed now! Damn them and their crappy games, I would say it was because of the upgrade to make everything like the wave bird. And I also wanted it because I could buy points to get classic games I could no longer get my hands on.

I would of sold it by now if I couldn't buy the classic games, guess you can't always win. Oh, I also cannot forgive Brawl for letting me down, 2 years waiting in excitement like a 10 year old kid and then I felt like I turned 40 in one day!

If I could swap it for another I would get the Xbox 360, their games are improving now!

I think you rather missed the point of my comment. I have a rather expansive view of what constitutes a gamer.

I inserted the quotation marks to highlight the dubiousness of the claim, i think i went over some heads.

Altorin:
In short, they tapped into a demographic that was completely untouched by the other companies.

But I wouldn't say they've won yet. The second part of their plan (and yes, this is their plan, they haven't been quiet about it if you've been listening to them) is to bring that new demographic into real gaming, with games like Animal Crossing, and then bring them up even higher, and then start stealing some of the other companies players.

But if they don't succeed in that, they won't win just by selling housewives housewife games. They need to make housewives more interested in better games, games that the regular gaming public enjoy as well

Best and most spot on story ever. That goes into the gaming bible.

The different approach to controls.

Eggo:
Yep! It's just like how Wii gamers aren't actual gamers; it's rather ironic how most of the people who say that are also on platforms which aren't for actual gamers.

icwatudidthere

Well last i read Xbox 360 had a 10:1 games to console attachment ratio while the wii had a 1:10 ratio, in my books the Wii is a failure as a gamesconsole.

And everyone knows wii gamers aren't real gamers hell just look at what they bought a gimmicky console with the worst load of trollop ever served as games i've ever seen in a consoles line up, but hey thats my opinion. Still i am yet to find a real or "hardcore" gamer who thinks the wii is actually a decent purchase and they can't be the only ones (with that opinion) with an attach rate like that....

KingPotato:
Well last i read Xbox 360 had a 10:1 games to console attachment ratio while the wii had a 1:10 ratio, in my books the Wii is a failure as a gamesconsole.

So only every 10th Wii console owners has a game?

Nintendo have managed to get alot of people hooked into the nintendard syndrome, essentially since they grew up playing mario, zelda and the other franchises they now seem to think that nintendo can do nothing wrong and all the games it releases are excellent. Im not going to argue with that, if thats what they think then good on them.

The wii is a console to have at a party, ever played it when drunk? Some of the best times ever.

Likewise its good with friends, wii sports and the other mii orientated games are all fun but SSB Brawl and other slightly more serious games are also entertaining.

Now, I dont own a wii so my comments are all based off playing on my friends but I cant imagine playing it on you're own, its just that sort of thing.

Also, Im not so sure that the cost argument applies. The wii controllers are 40 quid each and you only get 1 with it? Add 120 pounds to the cost and I think its about the same a 360 was

Nazulu:
I just got me a Wii because I like Nintendo, but that has all changed now! Damn them and their crappy games, I would say it was because of the upgrade to make everything like the wave bird. And I also wanted it because I could buy points to get classic games I could no longer get my hands on.

I would of sold it by now if I couldn't buy the classic games, guess you can't always win. Oh, I also cannot forgive Brawl for letting me down, 2 years waiting in excitement like a 10 year old kid and then I felt like I turned 40 in one day!

If I could swap it for another I would get the Xbox 360, their games are improving now!

i suggest you download an emulator on your pc for the classic games.

the wii is lossing horibbly in my book, i haven't touched mine since mario galaxy came out. There are just so many better games for 360.

I don't know if you can count it as won.

The current generation is far from over, and Sony, for example, have been saying all along (and actually all along, not just 'being-a-sore-loser-we-meant-this-all-along') that they would have been surprised if the PS3 took the lead in sales early on, because the marketing strategy for the PS3 is very long term and based around staying power.

The Wii is 'winning' in terms of sales at the moment because it is cheap, easy to play, catering to a wider audience, and innovative play style. The challenge for Nintendo will be to keep the lead, once the gimmick of waving a stick around gets old they'll want to have something new.

Armitage Shanks:
I don't know if you can count it as won.

The current generation is far from over, and Sony, for example, have been saying all along (and actually all along, not just 'being-a-sore-loser-we-meant-this-all-along') that they would have been surprised if the PS3 took the lead in sales early on, because the marketing strategy for the PS3 is very long term and based around staying power.

The Wii is 'winning' in terms of sales at the moment because it is cheap, easy to play, catering to a wider audience, and innovative play style. The challenge for Nintendo will be to keep the lead, once the gimmick of waving a stick around gets old they'll want to have something new.

and if they've been watching Johnny Lee's reverse engineering tricks with the WiiMote, which we know at least EA has been doing, so Nintendo is sure to have seen it, then that something new could blow everything else out of the water.

RYjet911:
I think it's great to see a console trying to pull in some new gamers. Look at the other two. They're just bringing out the same shit they had last generation, just with glossier graphics and new physics engines, catering mainly to the hardcore gamer, not really suitable for anyone knew to gaming to get in particularly easily.

Getting people into gaming is great. Getting people into gaming where they soon become a majority and affect the decisions of game companies into making shittier games is not great.

RYjet911:
So also, why is the lowest common denominator those people who don't already game? Because the group of people mentioned in the second paragraph are a bunch of elitist arseholes (I REFUSE TO CORRECT MY WORSE TO ASSHOLES, FIREFOX!!!) who are unable to accept the concept of new gamers entering their territory. Surely the whole point of a console, specifically one that brings people together (Man, that sounded tacky...) to play games, is to have fun with friends and family. The idea I get when I hear the words 'hardcore gamer' or the phrase "I'm a hardcore gamer" is someone locked up in his basement, secluded from society apart from his XFire/360/PS3 buddy list twitching while not playing CS:S/Halo 3/(Insert a standard PS3 game here) and twitching even worse when doing so, especially when he/she gets killed. The kind of person who says on forums:
"I'm better at this game so my penis > Your penis."

Sadly, your views are extremely narrow minded and incorrect. The reason why the Wii appeals to the lowest-common denominator is because that's what appeals to the casual gamer. The casual gamer usually doesn't want meaningful and quality gameplay. They want something that can easily be consumed without regard to it's quality (see McDonalds menu). That's why you see shit like "Pretty Ponies Adventures" and "Super Dupper Boogie Groove" on the Wii and DS section at Best Buy. The problem isn't that this stuff is new, the problem is that 99% of these games are utter shit. Sure you occasionally get a gem like Boom Blox, but they are few and far between.

Also, consoles aren't just used "to bring people together". They are used to play a video game. Extremely narrow minded view of gaming you have there.

RYjet911:
To say "The Wii only did well because of its gimmicky controller" is ignorant in both the fact they're properly advertising their product this generation, the gimmicky controller has got a whole host of people old and young into gaming, and they had a bunch of fans from the last two generations. Yes, to us 'hardcore' gamers, the games are crap. But they're suitable for people getting into the swing of video games these days, considering the complexity of most current hardcore games we need some games to teach new gamers the subtle art of being twitchy button mashers!

So what? That doesn't change that a majority of these new games for new gamers are largely shit games.

It wasn't a fluke when Ubisoft basically said that they weren't releasing quality games on the Wii because they knew they would sell for shit.

Basicaly, the reason the wii is winning is because it has:

Motion controls rather than the usuall button-mashing, analog stick waggling gamepad.

Mario, Zelda, metroid, and all the other charecters that have so many games to they name they could cure cancer with all the money they make.

Marketing, I have only seen 1 360 add just recently, and even then it was for gituar hero.

Family friendly games and settings.

Local knowlage, when all the 7th gen consoles came out, 5 of my friends had wiis, 3 had 360s and 1 had a PS3.

Low cost, no need to pay for online gaming and no overpriced extras (The 360's wireless network adaptor for example).

From my point of view, The wii is winning with the 360 in a close 2nd with the PS3 dying in a gutter somewhere.

EzraPound:

But if they don't succeed in that, they won't win just by selling housewives housewife games. They need to make housewives more interested in better games, games that the regular gaming public enjoy as well

Housewives are hot

In sales, certainly, but in sales to actual 'gamers'? Well, i haven't seen the statistics to make a call on that.

[sarcasm]Yeah because everyone knows real, true, 'hardcore' gamers buy Xbox 360s and PS3s...[/sarcasm]

The Wii has the lowest attach rate for games. It's really not securing an audience - only casual palyers who bought into it because of the low price point compared to the 360 and PS3 at launch. This holiday period should be quite different to the last two years now that the 360 is the cheapest console on the market and has the better catalogue of games.

fuzzypenguin:

Nazulu:
I just got me a Wii because I like Nintendo, but that has all changed now! Damn them and their crappy games, I would say it was because of the upgrade to make everything like the wave bird. And I also wanted it because I could buy points to get classic games I could no longer get my hands on.

I would of sold it by now if I couldn't buy the classic games, guess you can't always win. Oh, I also cannot forgive Brawl for letting me down, 2 years waiting in excitement like a 10 year old kid and then I felt like I turned 40 in one day!

If I could swap it for another I would get the Xbox 360, their games are improving now!

i suggest you download an emulator on your pc for the classic games.

the wii is lossing horibbly in my book, i haven't touched mine since mario galaxy came out. There are just so many better games for 360.

I do actually, it's called NeoGeo and it works with most games however most of them don't work very well on my computer. It sometimes freezes or restarts my computer and I don't know if it is my computer or not but it's not worth it.

And some of the old games are multiplayer aswell so it is easier to play on the Wii plus I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I play classic games on TV. To be honest I even prefer the classic Nintendo games over the latest games on Xbox aswell, those games would be better on my computer.

There's no real question about this. nintendo stated that the wii wasn't going to run against the 360 and ps3. And that's exactly what it did. tapping into a market that wouldn't usually buy a gaming system. That and the japanese can't get enough of nintendo. See the DSi sales for proof.

Is it just me, or are a lot of 360 and PS3 owners really sensitive about the Wii outselling their precious consoles? I'm a Wii owner, and I still think the 360 and the PS3 are good consoles, they just aren't for me.

On topic, everyone knows why the Wii is winning (winning, it hasn't won). It is winning because it appeals to non-gamers as well as gamers, because its designed to be simple, cheap and fun.

TsunamiWombat:
Birdman article explains it.

http://malstrom.50webs.com/birdman.html

Thanks for sharing such a great article!

The Stabilo Boss:
Is it just me, or are a lot of 360 and PS3 owners really sensitive about the Wii outselling their precious consoles? I'm a Wii owner, and I still think the 360 and the PS3 are good consoles, they just aren't for me.

On topic, everyone knows why the Wii is winning (winning, it hasn't won). It is winning because it appeals to non-gamers as well as gamers, because its designed to be simple, cheap and fun.

I'm a 360 Owner, and I honestly can't wait for Nintendo to pull the rabbit out of their hat.

I'm often left defending Wii, even though I don't own one, and hardly have even played one.. but I have faith in Nintendo. They knew the Virtual Boy was bad. They say the Wii is good, and they have a plan for it? I am all ears to hear it, and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

A lot of the Wii's success I feel comes down to marketing. Look at the Wii ads - it shows the Wii's target audiences (families, casual gamers etc) actually PLAYING the console and having fun. Yes, the Wii has a substantial hardcore audience, but these are the people who know the stuff like Mario Galaxy s going to be excellent and will buy it anyway.

Microsoft only recently cottoned on to the idea that they should maybe show people having fun with the console, far too little far too late to make an impact on the Wii. The ads play to the consoles' strengths though - good graphics and a more mature audience, with a little something for everyone.

Sony seems content to showcase the most powerful console's assets through the clever use of helium balloons and hideous plastic babies. There was one ad where some gravelly voiced bloke just reeled off loads of stats about the PS3's power, in a dreadfully boring way which sold it to no one. Nice one, Sony.