Video game consoles as media centers are a failed strategy
Wednesday, April 25th, 2007 at 12:44pm by Staff
Information Arbitrage has a few questions this morning:
The runaway success of the Wii, the introduction of AppleTV and the problems encountered by both Microsoft and Sony raises more than a few questions:
- Does the grand “media center” vision really have legs?
- Are the high-priced Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles viewed as inaccessible by the casual gamer?
- Can you get to 100 million in console sales without the casual gamer?
- Does the casual gamer value the added features and functionality of the Microsoft and Sony consoles?
- Will the Nintendo beach head with both the DS and the Wii keep it ahead of the pack for the next few generations as it innovates over an increasingly large installed base?
Roger Ehrenberg, the author of Information Arbitrage, then goes on to detail the utter failure of the PSX, which no one played or wanted, and the PS3, which no one plays or wants. It leads to the question: Do the majority of gamers really care about huge hard drives and “extra features?” My answer, obvious to you if you’ve read me in the past, is no.
Hard-core gamers seem willing to pay for the high-end graphics and extra functionality, but what about the casual gamer? They seem to be much more in tune with the features, functionality, usability - and price - of the Wii. Nintendo has clearly struck a chord with the everyman, someone who just wants to step to the plate, bowl a game, smash that serve or share with their friends. Nintendo is about accessibility, ease of use, value and fun. Theirs is not a holy war against a competitor, but a quest for understanding and acceptance from their market. THE market. The market where you can sell 100 million consoles. The market that provides you with the foundation to layer on additional features as technology costs continue to drop and even more games are developed for the platform. Microsoft and Sony are battling it out in the trenches. Nintendo isn’t playing their game. Interestingly enough, they are clearly winning. Just look at the stock price.
“Hardcore gaming” is destroying my video game experience. I want it back. That’s why I root for Nintendo, as silly as that sounds. I’m totally softcore.
[Thanks, Robert]
April 25th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
I pretty much agree, as I don’t care about the PS3 being a Blu-Ray player or anything like that. But at the same time, Nintendo is somewhat doing this as well, with all the useless channels they have. Seriously, does anyone honestly use their Wii to get the weather or the news or even to really surf the internet? I know I’ve only used them each once, when I first got the Wii. And the Everyone Votes channel is beyond useless.
So I think Nintendo needs to pay attention to everyone else’s failures at trying to make a console a media center, even though their attempts are on a much smaller scale. I don’t mind the Channel setup as long as the channels are game-related.
April 25th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
I don’t think you can say these alleged hard-core gamers are destroying your expierience because without them you wouldnt have zelda or mario or anything else for that matter, perhaps some electronic card games or something like that, but no innovation or exciting new games because my mom (I’m using her as an example of the casual gamer) wouldn’t want to play any of them, she just wants wii sports over and over again, and if there was a poker game on the wii she’d play that too. But I doubt she would even consider buying trauma center or Mario.. So called “hard-core” games are mostly the ones that push the envelope and innovate gameplay, but I have to admit in Wii games it seems like it is the other way round since the minigame games have more accurate and innovative controls than the hard-core games…
And game companies would be doomed if only casual players played games
because they only boy 1-3 games per year, I can easily see people buing a Wii to play Wii sports and perhaps they’ll buy wario ware for christmas. How do you think the games market would survive without the avid consumer, the “hard core” one? PS2 has sold 115 million systems, and it didn’t really attract my mom…
Neither the 360 or the PS3 have anything to worry about on the games side, they both have great, innovative games coming out for them, but those systems don’t have any incredibly easy to pick up and play games like Wii sports.
One thing i don’t like about the media is how it paints Wii as the “Fun” system, what the hell am I having with my 360, am i bored when i play games on it? no I’m having fun as I have with ALL video game systems.. jeebus, it seems like since the wii came out all other games on all other systems should be labeled boring and un-innovative just because they aren’t on the wii with waggle control, dont get me wrong I love waggle…
And perhaps the psx failed because the ps2 had been out for a while before it launched, just a thought. You do know that the psx was just a ps2 with a hard drive, right…?
April 25th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
why does he call the 360 “high-priced”? Where I live (sweden) the 360 premium (HD and 2 controllers) is cheaper than a Wii + an extra wiimote and nunchuck. Everyone says Wii is the cheapest console but its only true if you compare it to the launch price of the 360 and if you’re satisfied with just one wiimote.
April 25th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
I think the real reason the more powerful systems are not being picked up by most casual gamers is not because they are not interested in the extra features… I think it is more a matter of the available spare time they have!
A casual gamer will crave probably great graphics, or fun games, or just watching High Def movies, but rarely will he/she will be able to enjoy all of them on a regular basis. Therefore, to ask he or she to commit to using the full potential of a more powerful system is not just asking for a bigger investment in money, but in time. THAT’s why I think the other systems are not attracting as many customers.
At some point, the entertainment industry bet on people investing more time watching movies, playing games, browsing, etc., and people just didn’t respond that way. Nintendo kind of “cheated”: they just offered people to get them to enjoy video games faster and easier, without the heavy time commitment. And I imagine that’s why many hardcore gamers, not all, don’t like Wii!
April 25th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Oh, and, residentialevil, I do check out the news on Wii’s News Channel every other day!
April 25th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
And the PS3 is just an Xbox 360 with Blu-Ray.
“So called “hard-core” games are mostly the ones that push the envelope and innovate gameplay, but I have to admit in Wii games it seems like it is the other way round since the minigame games have more accurate and innovative controls than the hard-core games…”
I’m not so sure. Did Gears innovate gameplay? Will it’s two confirmed sequels innovate gameplay? Once upon a time you were right — hardcore gaming drove the industry and those games were gospel. But not anymore. Now they’re just games with the number 3 after the title and huge publishers with no spine (but huge pockets) behind them.
Also, don’t confuse the casual gamer with a non-traditional one like your mom (or mine or anyone else’s). Casual gamers play everything, but in smaller doses. It’s my opinion all of this hardcore stuff is alienating both them and the non-trads. With that scenario, the only people winning are these publishers who charge $60 for a Madden with in-game advertising.
April 25th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
well, i don’t think the “trads” are exactly being alienated by hard core games, what have they been playing for years now? but I agree that the endless trilogies and sports game series has to stop, it’s not really compelling to buy a game when you know that a new version is out in 6 months…
April 25th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
stalis, you don’t think my attempt at using the abbreviated “trads” is going to take off in the mainstream? I’m hurt.
April 25th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
oh, I actually thought trads was a pretty cool abbreviation. Sorry if it seemed otherwise.
April 25th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
I would also add that I still believe the “hardcore” gamer is what ultimately drives the market. I don’t mind Nintendo reaching out to the non-traditional gamer, however it appears to me, at least right now, that Nintendo is doing TOO much of that and not enough gaming geared at the traditional gamer. Too many of the Wii’s games right now are “minigame” games. I don’t really care for that. Give me more traditional.
And I don’t agree that 360 should be lumped with the PS3, it’s really not that expensive.
April 25th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
Speaking from personal experience, I’d say the casual gamer isn’t that interested in these high end gaming systems.
When the Wii released, I got in line and snapped it up the first chance I could. When the Xbox 360 came out, I was turned off by the price. I only finally justified spending $399 on the console when Gears of War came out and I felt I simply had to play it (in essence, the hardcore in me made me buy it for Gears).
I once spoke to my sister-in-law (not a gamer by any means) about getting a video game console for her son. I described the merits of each system in laymen’s terms. Having played the Wii, she was most excited about getting that (note, for herself almost as much as for her kid). The Xbox 360 was “okay” though a bit pricey, but buying that was still not entirely out of the question.
When I told her about the PS3 (specifically, the $599 price tag) she reacted with an emphatic “Hell no!”
Not exactly a scientific survey, but I’ve seen similar reactions from several non-gamers and casual gamers I’ve spoken with.
I’ve had relatives over, most of whom non-gamers, hooked up my Wii, popped in Wii sports, and good times were had by all. Later they expressed interest in getting their own Wii. I’ve never seen that kind of a reaction for any other video game system. The Xbox 360 mystified them.
Clearly none of these people seem at all concerned with the Wii’s pedestrian graphics, lack of HD, missing online play, small hard drive, or the lack of this or that technical graphics processing feature that only geeks who read tech blogs on a daily basis seem to either know about or can even pronounce.
What they do seem to care about is how FUN the games are and how easy it is to pick up and play.
And in the end, shouldn’t games be more about fun than about normal mapping, pixel shading, and bump mapping?
April 25th, 2007 at 10:58 pm
Here’s a bit of a wakeup call for those of you who think the hardcore gamer drives the market. If you look at any form of entertainment, whether it’s movies, television or literature, the things that sell the most aren’t necessarily what hardcore enthusiasts like, but what taps into the imagination of the most people possible. Wii Sports and hopefully other Wii games in the future are part of the same club as Harry Potter books, Spiderman movies and episodes of the Simpsons… It might not be the best the medium has to offer but it resonates with the most people of differing walks of life.
April 26th, 2007 at 9:30 am
I have always considered a game console for only one purpose, to play video games. I have never wanted to use it for anything else and cannot conceive of using one for anything else. The extra bells and whistles that they are putting on modern day consoles are not changing the way I view my game systems. This concept, I guess, was burned into my brain from the early days of gaming. I view my DVDs on my DVD player. I play my CDs on my CD player. I go online with my PC. I have yet to entered the next generation of gaming. I do not have an HD TV and I do not even know any one that has one. So that part does not appeal. So I, personally, have a hard time with the high price tag of the PS3 or the 360. Looking at my pockets, I would say that the easiest one for me go for would be the Wii. It looks as if it does bring home that arcade feel and fun. To me the arcade always had that appeal for the casual and hardcore gamer. I will keep an eye on it to see if that is the direction that it is developing into before I take the plunge.