Rich people buy the cheaper video game console
Monday, July 30th, 2007 at 9:43am by Jack
If I were to tell you that the richer a person is, the more likely they are to have purchased a Wii over the obsidian superbox PS3, would you believe me?
After all, Ken Kuturagi informed us all in the early goings on of the 2006 calendar year that people would work second jobs to get their greasy paws on the fingerprint adverse PS3, so it would only make sense that the more money you had, the more apt you would be to not even consider price when purchasing a console, right?
O, if only it were true! And don’t worry, this is a post about Nintendo, I promise!
According to the latest Nielsen numbers (please note, I am not the Jack L. that heads the Nielsen marketing department), households with mad bank buy Wii’s and then prominently display their white facades next to expensive plasma televisions and Cristal-stocked wet bars.
To me, the humble reporter who currently has -$26 in his checking account, that means a few things. One, I always make it a point to joke with my girlfriend that we should “so buy that $250 bottle of Cristal” while we’re out canoodling in Boston’s North End. Then we just laugh and laugh and she pays for the bill because she’s more successful than I am. However, the second and more important point is that the Wii is officially the rich man’s new symbol of coolness; with which he will beat the dregs of society about the face and neck to remind them that he is unimportant. Not only was this system snatched up like a mistakenly delivered cake at a fat camp by the techno-savvy early adopters (me, most of you), it was also snatched up by Bentley driving Nantucket nannies, to deliver to the white-gloved hands of today’s elite!
More importantly, this is iPhone territory. Pardon another Apple comparison, but this is also iPod territory. Both devices were two things when they first arrived on the scene: damn expensive, and status symbols. And this is not Hypercolor t-shirt status symbol territory, or the artery slicing snap bracelet fad zone; this is a lasting brand that exists because of a combination of incredible marketing, solid design, ease of use, and fun factor. This is the feeling that millions of people got when they saw those white earbuds and cords in the subway. Envy. Sometimes they got mugged too, but that didn’t stop companies like Phillips and even Sony from manufacturing white ear buds and cords to mimic the very act of listening to an iPod.
The fact that the Wii is more apt to be purchased by today’s Richie Riches is also a great thing for the console because, like it or not, poor people want what rich people got. Aside from money, as is the case in my case, this means the Wii. It’s Chasing the Jones’s, but with a sleek little white box and a crazy remote that senses your movement instead of a new pool. At this point, people see that the wealthy folks on the corner have a Wii, and suddenly they don’t even know why they want one too. They just do. Good thing for them the system works, and if Dave’s post on upcoming games is any indication, you’d be getting in at the right time if you bought in today.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the DS Lite also falls in this category (although I’d modify it to affluent jetsetters, sted stuffy blue blood Kennebunkport types, because it’s officially super cool to be playing a DS Lite at the airport now). However, aside from online play there’s little we can do to monitor who’s playing portables right now. My uneducated guess on the matter: There are many, many more people playing DS Lite’s right now than there are playing PSP’s.
So, while you may despise rich people — I know I do, because I want their money — remember that this elite group of people is driving interest into your favorite system, and therefore is driving money to it on behalf of developers. More interest + more money = more games = more fun. Pretty simple.
Unrelated Nintendo note: The youngest sister got Mario Party 8 for her Wii this weekend. With a big group of people, this game could be pretty fun.
July 30th, 2007 at 11:49 am
You don’t have to convince me, I’m sure the stats are true: people with more money tend to choose Wii as their video game console. But not for the reason you might think: I think it is because they are more casual about their video game play, and they want a console they can display but only play once a week for a couple of hours, and show off to their guests the rest of the week!
Price has nothing to do with that…
July 30th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
i’m sure price does influence their decisions some what. not everyone who is rich spends wildly, most of the rich people i know are the cheapest bastards around. they tip less than i do and buy cheaper things. not all rich people care about status symbols (age also influences how much you spend on name brands). ten years ago it was all name brand with them and now with kids and new out looks on life they shop at target. basically rich people don’t get rich by spending all their money. i just wish they’d share with me more
July 30th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Actually, you there has to be a bar on how much you MUST spend, cuz if you, being rich, dont spend barely anything, you’ll be screwed by the taxes which would go up wildly.
Good post Jack!
Comparition: good, very proffessional
100% ps3: even stupid at some point (it’s infendo, NOT infsony)
July 30th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
How do you think they got/stayed rich?
July 30th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Really. Rich people don’t get rich by spending money willy-nilly.
July 30th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Thanks for such fine job, Jack.
Please, feel free to read, and comment if you’d like, my last comment on snowhite’s podcast!
July 30th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Exactly jholdaway, they are rich for a reason. Some day right some day. Since i got a wii first maybe im in the right direction
July 30th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Considering these people are the ones with the most HDTVs, That suck for the competition. Other than rich folks, hardcore nerds are the ones with HDTVS (and the blurays & hddvds) and kind of tells you who was right for not going with the 10% with money.
July 30th, 2007 at 11:30 pm
So, Jack,
How is it that you are so good at zero-ing in on the stories that will get the goat of the other camps so thoroughly? They stomp up and down claiming the wii only sells because it’s cheap, people buy it because they can’t AFFORD a PS3, anyone with and HDTV will never want a Wii, etc ad nauseum. And here you come with the truth hammer! I don’t know how you do it, but I always seem to enjoy it.
Also, I would have enjoyed a more provocative headline, something like: “People who buy a PS3 are less likely to be rich”. Get it? Double meaning? Less likely to be rich because rich people are buying the Wii and less likely to be rich because the PS3 is EXPENSIVE! Woot! I crack myself up.
July 31st, 2007 at 2:32 am
my thoughts are that rich people like the wii because its hard for them to be anything but casual gamers. think about it. how long do your salaried people work? in almost any job i have, salaried people work what us hourly people would consider overtime, because overtime doesnt apply to them, and some of them even bring work home.
when you are making $100,000+ a year, you are probably working alot, or have nice hobbies that dont fit in well with spending hours a day on the couch. you like to move around. how many rich people do you think are homebodies? unless they are hosting parties.
wii allows them to have fun in easy bursts, move around doing it, and have a blast with friends that anybody can get into, and they can laugh at each other playing also.
July 31st, 2007 at 1:16 pm
Rich people spend their money in a wise way
July 31st, 2007 at 4:54 pm
@ nuke em
no the taxes don’t screw you if you don’t spend it….are you serious? they tax their income just like yours before you spend it, so what would spending it amount to? the more money in the bank the more interest you acrew, hence the more money you make that’s not taxable. it’s interest. also even when the rich get taxed they have things called write offs, so in the end the rich pay a less amount of tax in comparison to their income than the middle class does. they still pay more in taxes, but compared to what they make it’s less. make sense?