Nintendo’s Wii — the impulse buy
Wednesday, January 31st, 2007 at 9:39pm by Staff
Today, having a product that is so good people cannot help themselves but buy it without thinking of their finances or well being became a bad thing. I’m talking about the term “impulse buy,” because today a Sony exec (see also: barking mad) said the Wii was an impulse buy.
“Wii could be considered an impulse buy more than anything else,” said David Karraker, SCEA’s senior director of corporate communication, suggesting PS3 and Wii shouldn’t be considered in the same category.”
You’re right, Mr. Karraker, they are in different categories. The Wii is a “runaway success” and the PS3 is a “doorstop.” As it stands today, “sitting on shelves unsold” is better for your bottom line than “impulse buy.” Glad to see the mail away for a degree program is still alive and kicking.
In closing, I leave you with this DS quote from Phil Harrison (with a few changes to make it more up to date):
“With the [Wii], it’s fair to say that Nintendo stepped out of the technical race and went for a feature differentiation with the [Wiimote],” Harrison says. “But I fear that it won’t have a lasting impact beyond that of a gimmick - so the long-lasting appeal of the platform is at peril as a direct result of that.”
Sony blows needs help.
February 1st, 2007 at 1:35 am
Everyone who has a Wii had to research release dates, get up at like 6AM, and wait hours in line. That’s a very unusual definition of ‘impulse’.
February 1st, 2007 at 3:37 am
All I can do is shake my head. I honestly can’t believe the continued arrogance - even the fanbois admit that the PS3 launch was pathetic, and these guys act like the PS3 is somehow on top of the industry.
The choice of the term “impulse buy” is really the limit, though. First, I guess this guy must not read very well, because there are untold numbers of articles talking about the lengths people have gone to in getting a Wii - and the many, many people who STILL don’t have one. Yes those PS3’s are everywhere collecting dust for over a month.
Second, he acts as if it’s an insult anyway, even if it was true (which anyone with one once of sense can tell you it is not). I’d rather have a product that’s an IMPULSE BUY than a NO ONE BUYS.
Sony gambled and lost with the PS3. Sure, in 2010 it might be worth picking up, but by then they’ll be pushing a PS4 with triple-Core quad-charged nipple clamps…Sony just doesn’t seem to learn it’s lesson and makes the same mistakes over and over.
I honestly don’t know how people like those Sony talking heads quoted in the article look themselves in a mirror every day and don’t cry out of shame - anyone that whores themself so much on a failing product by trying to dig on the winner really is a sad, pathetic soul.
February 1st, 2007 at 7:48 am
Well…
How many of you would’ve bought it when you did if it was $400 rather than $250?
I woulda still been waiting.
February 1st, 2007 at 9:25 am
owned
February 1st, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Personally, when I read this article I wanted to get insulted and the nI remembered that the PS3 ISN’T selling and this made sense. It’s the business equivilant of “yeah, well your mom!” So sad…
February 1st, 2007 at 2:45 pm
I think he uses the term “impulse buy” to try and say that customers see the Wii and buy it because it looks fun and interesting, not because they know it is- and don’t consider the price because it is so much cheaper than the PS3. You see it at the store and you just say “cool- I’ll buy that” hence an “impulse buy.” There’s just one snag:Something that can’t be found at any store and must be laboriously tracked down in order for it to be purchased is not an impulse buy.
Maybe one day it will be, but so will PS3 when its price reaches that of the current PS2 (which plenty of people randomly buy as an impulse purchase, by the way)
February 1st, 2007 at 4:20 pm
Anon, I disagree with your statement that “Sony just doesn’t seem to learn it’s lesson and makes the same mistakes over and over”:
This is actually the first time Sony releases a console with hardware power that surpasses anything else out there in the market right now… Previous consoles, like the PS and PS2, had the lowest specs of all the consoles of their generation, and they dominated sales.
It is more a case of Sony NOT learning from their past successes, I would say!
February 5th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Sony is conflicted. On one hand they are a consumer electronics company. As such, they want to provide the best gaming system for the consumer.
On the other hand they are an entertainment company. They want to sell their Blu Ray content and see the PS3 as leverage to do this. To Sony Entertainment, the PS3 is the Blu Ray Trojan Horse.
If they had concentrated on the game experience and cost engineered it to a more reasonable price, they would have likely been able to create a desirable box that ordinary consumers could afford.
Ironically, Nintendo, has done both. They have concentrated on building a great gaming system at a reasonable cost that happens to be useful for other stuff.