Microsoft is officially rudderless
Thursday, August 30th, 2007 at 8:22am by Jack
I’m going to add to what my new colleague Jake said in his post from earlier this morning. I’m not going to bash Microsoft in this post. I don’t have to. Taking a page from resident Infendo columnist-at-large Malstrom, I’m going to let the industry players speak for themselves.Xbox Marketing VP Jeff Bell in an interview published on Wednesday:
“I’d like to see the industry grow and be robust” Bell told Canada.com. “In many ways, I’m thankful the Wii has been as successful as it has. If the Wii does grow the market, it’s good for all of us.”
Bell remained skeptical, however, of the popular belief that Nintendo is expanding the market to players other than just core gamers. According to his findings, Wii owners are merely former GameCube owners and Nintendo enthusiasts, not legitimate non-gamers. “The data that I’ve seen has not suggested that in fact these are new gamers,” he said. “It looks like they’re GameCube owners and Nintendo fans.”
Um… Mr. Bell? I think there are a few hundred waggling, bowling grandmas out there who’d disagree with you. That is, if they cared one speck of an iota about your system. Thing is, I think they’re having too much fun to care.
We often talk about how the other console manufacturers are going through the stages of grief here at Infendo. Microsoft, it’s safe to say, has moved onto some weird bargaining/anger hybrid thing.
So, Infendo, where have you seen people who’ve never gamed before *not* playing the Wii? 
August 30th, 2007 at 8:54 am
The Wii is my first console ever and I love it.
I don’t know anyone who even had a Gamecube.
I haven’t played any Nintendo games before Wii (OK some Arcade Classics maybe).
And I know a few XBOX-Gamers as well that switched to Wii.
Oh my, Microsoft’s PR is so bad: negative, not once accepting their own faults or the competion’s archievements, always trying to spit into other people’s soups instead of improving their own products.
Microsoft got no class whatsoever, spoilt by piles of money.
August 30th, 2007 at 9:17 am
My sister beat me in Wii Sports… nuff said
August 30th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Wii was the first new console I bought since the Sega Genesis.
August 30th, 2007 at 10:32 am
I remember last Christmas when I was visiting my parents and be out on the town with my wife; we’d get back to my parents’ house and my dad, who was still recovering from major back surgery, would be standing there bowling (I had brought my Wii home with me to show everyone what it was all about) or fishing (he’d actually put in Zelda and managed to navigate himself to the fishing pond!). I couldn’t believe it. The same old man who’d always tried to keep me grounded from video games in vain efforts to get me to play outside or something as a child was there playing video games, and thoroughly enjoying himself. If Nintendo can break HIM, then I know they’ve expanded the market elsewhere….there’s no way in hell I’d ever get my old man to play Gears of War. And Microsoft’s strategy is so self-defeating anyway. If they had any brains, they wouldn’t have let Bioshock release simultaneously for PC and 360. Have you seen them side by side? They’re stealing their own business, not growing or expanding.
I still haven’t gotten to sit down and play Corruption….I picked it up release night, but I’ve been too tired from work to play it. Tomorrow’s Friday, though, so there’s some glimmer of hope in the near future…..
August 30th, 2007 at 10:52 am
I guess I am one of those people that believes that Nintendo has not grown the market as significantly as their console sale numbers seem to imply. I believe there are more Wii Sports gamers out there for sure, but are those same “new” gamers buying up additional software titles for Wii. I am not convinced they are yet.
Just look at the sales analysis per console of Madden 08. I know that is only one title, but it is a pretty big mainstream one. And it was Wii-ified for Nintendo’s console. But yet it was only able to muster up 57,000 copies sold in the first week compared to almost 900k sold on the 360.
Expanding console sales to the non-gamer is only the first step in expanding the audience. The real key is to expand the software sales to that same audience.
August 30th, 2007 at 11:01 am
cygnus, that’s an unfair example. Apples and oranges.
Nintendo isn’t trying to expand gaming so that new people will buy old, established games like Madden, it’s expanding gaming with new games and genres to serve all types of consumers.
August 30th, 2007 at 11:20 am
“But yet it was only able to muster up 57,000 copies sold in the first week compared to almost 900k sold on the 360.”
That’s because we’re all busy playing Strikers: Charged.
And many of us simply don’t care about boring “realistic” sports simulations, whereas that type of gaming is a staple on the 360.
Let’s see how many copies Mario Galaxy sells, hmmm?
August 30th, 2007 at 11:21 am
Maybe the Madden example is not perfect, but that title was updated to incorporate more user-friendly gameplay. Wii-ified as they say. It may just not have been marketed well enough.
But my last point still stands. Expanding software sales is part 2 of the market expansion initiative (and a very important part for all publishers).
And new genres would be great, but so far what have we seen? Brain games (which aren’t exactly new). And now fitness games (which are really just re-marketed DDR-like games).
If the plan is to expand the market into the non-gaming population, and then not hope to introduce those same people to established genres, that is not very ambitious. The market can only sustain so many brain games.
August 30th, 2007 at 11:23 am
“That’s because we’re all busy playing Strikers: Charged.”
I wonder how many grandmas were playing Strikers, hmmm.
August 30th, 2007 at 11:51 am
In terms of bringing new gamers to the field, yes, the Wii did it. My grandma beat me at Wii Bowling, my cousins bought their first console in a Wii (3 families of cousins), and if the numbers at vgchartz.com can be trusted even a little, it seems like there’s going to be more Wii’s out there than 360’s (if not now, soon), so therefore it’s at least bringing in people who don’t own a 360.
cygnus has a very good point, though; what additional games are these new comers looking for? Obviously it’s not Madden, but is it more quick play games, such as Wii Play? Is it more puzzle games, or the type of thing you don’t have to invest 40hrs to get the full effect of, or worry about losing a game and tarnishing your season record? I think, at least for these “new gamers,” companies are going to need to do a strategy shift. I mean, think about it; they weren’t buying consoles and games when you WERE doing things the old way, were they? This “new stuff” is what attracts “new gamers.”
To argue against cygnus, however; Madden has been going on for ages. It wasn’t a selling point to the ‘new gamers’ before, there’s no reason it should be of interest to them now. I’m not going to mention any games these folks were buying because, honestly, you’re right: they probably weren’t buying any.
I won’t be surprised if someone makes Wii Slingo, develops a proprietary log-in scheme so that you don’t need 1,000,000 friend codes and all the “casual gamers” can get their mini-fixes with the WiMote
August 30th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
Perhaps we’re looking at this all wrong, for which I am partly to blame. What I mean is, maybe grandmas ARE playing Madden.
The Wii doesn’t necessarily INVENT new games (but it does do this), it makes ALL games more accessible to EVERYONE.
This is why I don’t believe in “casual gamers” — are there people who play games casually? Sure. But what Nintendo is doing is trying to get the core gamer back into the fold. Today, the market is defined by niche, fringe players, or “the hardcore”
The critics love to try and pigeon hole the Wii as a casual system. What they’re really saying, even though they don’t know it yet, is that the Wii is an ACCESSIBLE system.
What Nintendo has done, with all genres and for all types of people, is make video gaming more appealing.
August 30th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Half the people I know who bought a Wii around here (these are family and friends) made Wii their first console ever, or at least their first console in over a decade.
Having said that, I’ve noticed that most of these “new gamers” bought the Wii with Wii Sports as a complete package: they don’t really see Wii as a game console, but as a Wii Sports machine. They are not thinking about buying new games for it, or at least they are not looking at the game adverts in magazines or TV.
For Nintendo to really expand the market they need to start selling new games to these newcomers. And another Wii Sports won’t cut it, they need to expand the experience. Something like a Yoga or fitness game package, with a new interface controller would do the trick, I think.
Oh, wait… never mind…
August 30th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Now InvisibleMan said something I’ve been thinking: are other companies advertising games in non-gaming media? Because EA will not sell Maden if the ads are in gaming magazines/websites only. As far as I know, Nintendo has lots os ads on non-game magazines, tv shows, etc. Maybe more than they do in gaming media.
To sell games for non-gamers, you must advertise where non-gamers will look.
By the way, I do not think “casual gamers” would buy a gaming system. When they do, they crossed the bridge to the “gamers” side.
Best!
August 30th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Yes, some of the people are new to video games. But I think it’s just as important how many people have returned because of it.
I know many families that haven’t owned a console since the SNES (or even NES) that have bought a Wii. People that totally missed the N64 and GCN. These are the people that are just now marveling at Mario64.
The problem has been the continued unavailability of hardware in getting to the casual market. Do you know how many Wii’s would have been sold last Christmas with all the buzz, how many people would have bought it as a $250 “impulse” gift just for playing Wii Sports at holiday parties.
However, at this point where we are nearing the end of the first year, and now finally all accessories are in-stores and plentiful, I have a feeling this was intentional on Nintendo’s part to make this Xmas season a true second launch. The Wii has grown an incredible library - and a half-dozen blockbuster, system-selling games are due before the Xmas season begins. The kinks have been largely worked out, and if they can get the hardware on the shelves the Wii will have a record season. I hope they’ve been stockpiling the suckers…
August 30th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
My friends agree with me, Wii was fun while it lasted, we have 360’s as well and still think that it is the superior system over the other consoles.
Sure wii has sold alot of console’s and fast, but where is the software?
Until smash bro’s and super mario come out I doubt i will be purchasing any new games for my wii…even playing my wii for that matter.
August 30th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Jamaces: as others here have suggested, I highly recommend that you get Mario Strikers Charged and Metroid Prime 3. Those two games are more fun than anything I’ve played on the 360 yet, and I do agree that the 360 has some pretty good games.
August 30th, 2007 at 9:00 pm
I agree- I mostly see casual gamers buying it. Like my neighbors who only owned a ps2 for karaoke. Now they can sing and bowl.
But who here has seen any data? He’s talking about surveys, we’re talking about people we know. Personally, I’m not ready to change my perception because of his comment, but I’m not writing him off just yet.
As for MS being rudderless. Yeah- I totally agree. They have a great piece of hardware (when it works) and their strategy is ‘wait till Halo 3 & release lame Scene It controller for casual gamers’. Good lord. They’ve pretty much wasted the last 8 months in terms of branding.
August 30th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
I think it’s safe to say that Microsoft is still in denial. They’ll continue to be in denial for some time, because they are going to own the market in September and possibly October due to Halo 3. As many non-gamers as I know who are into the Wii, I know almost as many people who don’t own any current console who plan on going to EB or whatever for the Halo midnight launch, and buying a 360 and Halo 3.
Couldn’t care less about it myself, but it’s looking to me like that’s what’s gonna happen.
Sony, as long as we’re talking about the other two, has gotten past the denial phase. I don’t know what phase they’re in, but a shiny white PS2 bundled with Singstar and four mics for $150? That’s not denial anymore. Anger (as in cynicism) maybe, or bargaining (as in “if we pretend to make a Wii will you buy us?”), but not denial.
August 31st, 2007 at 12:01 pm
I work at a video store, and I’d reckon %50 of our video game rentals are Wii games. Probably %80 of those Wii owners are “normal people,” non-gamers, yuppies, etc. They usually come in with a bunch of friends asking for the best party games because they just got a new Wiimote, or for a good sports game for their dad, who loves Wii Sports golf, but doesn’t feel like it offers a deep enough experience.
I’d say Nintendo is doing a great job at nabbing new gamers.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:20 pm
Flare, you got to remember that wii has been out less than year. the wii is definitely following in the footsteps of the DS in expanding the market. currently there are not that many titles for the new players. wii sports and wii play being a few, making cooking mama with wii music, blue ocean and wii fit on the horizon. if you remember it took DS a few years to get the stellar lineup it has. there is just so much variety in the DS’ lineup that there’s something for everyone. give wii another year.
August 31st, 2007 at 2:05 pm
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