Wii Success May Lead to Cheaper Next-Gen

[vashivihan]

Analyst Billy Pidgeon with IDC tells Next-Gen that in the wake of the Wii's success and the explosion of casual, community gaming, the PlayStation 3 could be the last of the state-of-the-art consoles.
ImageAt launch, researchers estimated that Sony lost around $240 per 60GB PS3 sold. A pricey Blu-ray drive, state-of-the-art GPU and multicore Cell processor drove costs to new heights. Xbox 360's per-unit loss wasn't much better at launch at around $125 per console, according to estimates.

And then the Wii, with its cheap "GameCube 1.5" technology came along, albeit with motion sensing, showing that Nintendo could sell a console at no loss, attract a massive following and be profitable from the start.

"I think the results of this cycle will have a strong influence on the next cycle, in that cheaper consoles will be expected," Pidgeon says, alluding to the success of the $250 Wii. "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.

"...Third party publishers are already looking for ubiquitous platforms to reach the market increase achieved by Nintendo and Guitar Hero," Pidgeon says. "The platforms of the next cycle may not be a console at all, but software distributed by network to convergent devices like PCs, set top boxes and smart phones."

He adds, "I would have dismissed this idea as unachievable last cycle when only Xbox could provide a promising connected console experience, but it is entirely possible that the PS3 is the last bleeding edge console hardware we will see."

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[sremick]

In other words: fun > graphics

Users have been saying this for years. Just took Nintendo to prove it to the MSM.

 

[Bliss]

Great, i hope prices drop for the next gen....cause if this keeps up i think gaming just might take a back seat for me.

 

[Bigred]

Well its a possibility. I think that Microsoft and Sony are still going to dedicate alot of time to the graphics though.

 

[Budo]

I have a job, so I hope not.

 

[Dr Venkman]

cheap isnt what i want, that means cheap hardware, i want reasonably priced, good components

 

[Bliss]

cheap isnt what i want, that means cheap hardware, i want reasonably priced, good components

everyone wants that, the thing is how far are they gonna go with prices..they raise everytime and people arent goona pay 600 for a system. With the prices of basically EVERYTHING in this world going up i doubt people are gonna have video games as a top priority on there list.

 

[Douten]

Cheaper consoles would be much appreciated : )
I don't think I will be able to afford PS3 until another price drop : /

 

[Robotnik]

You could just chock it up to Nintendo having no competition though. The PS3 and the 360 are pretty much going for the exact same target market and are very similar products so are in more direct competition with eachother. However the wii is a little different and doesn't directly compete with anything which might attribute to its success. Somebody will probably follow in the wii's footsteps next gen, but to completely abandon the upper priced gaming market would be foolish, and I can't see it being altogether abandoned. What we might even see is, if somebody's big enough, the release of two consoles at the same time by one company to appeal to both demographics.

 

[sremick]

You could just chock it up to Nintendo having no competition though. The PS3 and the 360 are pretty much going for the exact same target market and are very similar products so are in more direct competition with eachother. However the wii is a little different and doesn't directly compete with anything which might attribute to its success.

Bingo. I've been saying the exact same thing for a while now.

People keep talking about the XBox360/PS3/Wii war. There is no such war. There's the XBox360/PS3 war, and then there's the Wii market, which the Wii is mopping up.

 

[Dr Venkman]

There's the XBox360/PS3 war, and then there's the Wii market, which the Wii is mopping up.

i should hope nintendo are mopping up the wii market!

seriously though i agree with the post you were responding to, it really isnt a competition, the only people who think it is are people with 360's who want to brag about graphics, i couldnt care less about what anyone else likes doing, i know how i like my video games

 

[Bliss]

Bingo. I've been saying the exact same thing for a while now.

People keep talking about the XBox360/PS3/Wii war. There is no such war. There's the XBox360/PS3 war, and then there's the Wii market, which the Wii is mopping up.

So the Wii is mopping itself up? :lol:

No i see what you guys are saying and i agree. Only thing is I dont see them coming out with 2 different consoles for different financial situations. Thats just stupid. Make one system but ok you got the PS3 at what 400 right now? Ok keep your product at that price. What i am saying stop upping the price on every console, the PS4 at this rate will be 600 - 800. Thats insane. Ofcourse consoles are gonna vary in price and im all for that, just keep it at a price where people can afford it.

 

[sremick]

Dorks... you read what I wrote wrong.

"Wii market" = "the market for which the Wii is the target and of-interest"

Actually, it's more "the Nintendo market", as Nintendo as really been the only one "getting it" while Microsoft and Sony have always targeted a different market with the Playstation and XBox. Just more-so now.

 

[Global War]

everyone i talk to has a ps3+wii or xbox360+wii, no one has xbox360+Ps3, there are some that have all three, but everyone wants a wii!

 

[Sovieto]

In other words: fun > graphics

Users have been saying this for years. Just took Nintendo to prove it to the MSM.

theres not many games that have amazing graphics and not-fun gameplay. think before you post, or at least be prepared to back it up like for right now.

**** i dont want a cheaper next gen. i hope nintendo stays at its market, ps3 attempts to flock for that market as well, then xbox stays back and continues to tend to the real hardcore gamers and gamers alike. if everything goes casual ill just give up on gaming cause obviously itd mean it wasnt for me anymore... its for 12 year olds and soccer moms.

everyone i talk to has a ps3+wii or xbox360+wii, no one has xbox360+Ps3, there are some that have all three, but everyone wants a wii!

considering a lot of games coming out on ps3 and xbox but not wii and wii is uber cheap... id say its more of a "what else would i get?" situation. its been stated before wii makes the perfect second console.

i should hope nintendo are mopping up the wii market!

seriously though i agree with the post you were responding to, it really isnt a competition, the only people who think it is are people with 360's who want to brag about graphics, i couldnt care less about what anyone else likes doing, i know how i like my video games

seriously kid, how many people do you see brag about graphics. the wii's graphics are made fun of cause they look like last gen and a lot of the games are last gen and just have motion controls. if you stood still for a second and broke down your wii wall, youd realize the ps3 and 360's graphics arent the only thing they offer. lets take a second to analyze it all.

whats that thing wii owners constantly cry about and what a better of? oh yes, a better online, seems like 360 and ps3 got a monster online and a pretty good online respectively.

whats that other thing wii owners want for their games? oh yes, DLC. the thing gh3 doesnt have and rock band might not have. but ps3 and 360 carry them...

theres 1 more thing wii owners want, well since most love nintendo so much, they dont realllllly want it but its been that thing cursing nintendo consoles for the past decade.. good third party support! looks like ps3 and 360 have that in the bag too.

so whats this all about graphics?


so, please conflict me on this for a healthy debate, im bored atm and this keeps me entertained.