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Consoles lifespan: Long or short?


tapedeck

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Sorry but what you just said is totally wrong.

 

No it isn't MS was the only company in the Videogame market (considering SCE, MS and Nintendo) that lost money.

 

Mainly, the consumer will determine if a console will be short lived or not. Certainly at point blank range it seems that Wii won't be able to last many years, because of its "weak" but it's not necessarily like that. First, as soon as developers start using the hardware right we'll see great looking games, second if it sells 3rd parties will make games, just look at PS2! I remember Iwata saying he wanted GC to last 8 years, but clearly there was no chance, if Wii keeps selling like this it will live a long time. Also, the investment wasn't as big as Sony's and Microsoft's, so they can bail if anything goes wrong and no harm done. Sony and Microsoft on the other hand will need to keep PS3 and 360 on the market for a looong time to make money, specially Sony.

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Theres nothing to explain, MS make money on i think the exact figure is something like 84% of games published, and there annual figures show they make profit overall.

 

I remember seeing charts and numbers about last gen, MS was the only one in the red.

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I think MS made it's first profit on the original xbox around the halo 2 peroid. That's about when people really started taking it seriously but then they pretty much killed it off by releasing the 360 early.

Looking back though it's an excellent move now. The 360 has the best games because of being out first.

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They haven't made alot of money this gen, if any. Alot of the costs are from things which should really apply to both consoles, the setting up and maintenance of Xbox live, the developement of hardware, the total advertising costs, the costs of setting up first party developement teams, the cost for market research etc. I don't think people realise how much it cost Microsoft to start up, and that they're not going to have recouped that yet.

 

The games will be making money but the high developement costs mean that it's not as much as you think. A game needs to sell about 400000 to break even, and when top tier first party games from Microsoft are struggling to reach that mark the profit isn't really that high.

 

Microsoft made money off Windows cause of their long term strategy, and it's much like their 360 strategy. Thing is, the console market is completely different to the Operating System market and at the moment things look like to me Microsoft would be better off bailing out (although they most likely won't).

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consoles used to live 5 to 7 years easy. but it seems that life span has shortened over the years do to the higher graphical demand of the evredge gamer. and now we push more poly's and have better textures but the rest is something most don't see. if the wii had only better textures it would do a lot better than it does now. be coarse there is a huge lack on reflective textures and bump mapped textures. i can even remember better textures being used on the cube. so why not do even better on the wii it would have reduced a load of bad comments on the wii like it did under the ps3 and 360 fans.

 

back to the reason why the life span of a console is getting shorter and shorter it is be coarse many gamers want more and more in a short time. and instead of getting the best out of a console they just make a new one. i think i can say that the cube had only 2 games that pushed it a bit to its max and the same goes for the first x-box. and now we see it on the wii and 360 to both machines are not even on 75% of there actual power

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I see the lifespan of this generation of consoles being longer because:

 

Producers and devs need longer to recoup money.

 

Developers try to chase and build consumer bases through their online communities.

 

Technology is at a comfortable level for developers to realise ideas.

 

Everyone launched in (roughly) the same window.

 

All consumers covered, old and new gamers. (Currently something for everyone)

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Theres nothing to explain, MS make money on i think the exact figure is something like 84% of games published, and there annual figures show they make profit overall.

 

That's true, however they loose like 2000 SEK (about 200 euro) on each console they sell. For Sony that number is about 3000 SEK. In Japan, many bought the PS2 purelly to use as a DVD player. I think it's more or less the same with the PS3. Sony have invested so much into the PS3 that if they don't sell enough software, or get enough subscribers for internet play, they won't be able to invest into developing a new system. Of course there'll be a slimline PS3, with cheaper, smaller and more energy efficient components, that'll actually bring a profit directly from each sold unit maybe a year or two before the PS4 is planned to get released. I think Sony are in a bit of a pickle...

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A large portion of the Wii's market is the more "casual" crowd, the people who don't post on forums, who don't research what games are coming out or even current game reviews. I can't see these people willing to spend more money on an "upgraded" Wii. These are the "what's HD?" people, the ones that care about only the low price and the fun controller. I think the Wii will need to have at least a moderately long lifespan, to the very least to make these people feel they got their money's worth and until substantial upgrades to the controller are made, all while being able to improve graphics significantly enough without increasing costs beyond $250. It's off to a great start, and I think Nintendo can and will ride off that for a long time.

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  • 1 year later...

Wow, old thread *wipes tear from eye* (saves me starting anew!)

 

Anyway, I was thinking that with the recent motion plus (M+) launch coming alongside EA's franchise machine (Tiger Woods as well as the potentially huge, new IP Grand Slam Tennis), perhaps this is a re-birth of sorts for the software market/image of Wii.

Historically the industry has never really taken to add-ons but if M+ is adopted (I have faith in Nintendo's advertising for the first time in, ever!) I feel we could be seeing another instance of 'Wii Fit' where huge percentages of consumers have an accessory at hand (or foot, chortle). Although, in reality Wii Fit's Balance Board hasn't dictated software like M+ could.

 

Perhaps M+ could diversify the Wii much more, presenting (dare I say it...'hardcore') control-heavy titles, whilst non-M+ titles could be similar to what we have now - offering motion control in simpler forms. I'd personally like to see a line where M+ control indicates a more robust controlling, time-to-master title (look at Red Steel 2 as a barometer perhaps). This stance comes from experience of way too many waggle-fests where controls are mastered almost instantly with little depth. (Perhaps I am jaded somewhat as this isn't always a bad thing and is a strength of the gesture-based motion control we currently have.)

 

Therefore I really think that with the sales numbers behind Wii coupled with the ability of the console to constantly engage, re-engage and surprise the industry through both adopting peripherals (Mario Kart/Wii Fit) and gaining continued support from major 3rd parties (EA/CAPCOM/SEGA in particular) - I feel we are perhaps now entering a golden age of possibility for Wii, an age where, more importantly, the consoles lifespan for the gamer will be truly dictated.

 

Any thoughts?

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Perhaps M+ could diversify the Wii much more, presenting (dare I say it...'hardcore') control-heavy titles, whilst non-M+ titles could be similar to what we have now

 

I'd like to think this is what we'll see. However, with M+ launching- sorry bundled with- WiiSports Resort, I suspect Nintendo have other plans.

 

Admittedly, with E3 just round the corner, Nintendo could have plenty of core titles utilising M+ and prove me wrong, but i'm doubting it- they've such a lucrative market sewn up.

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For me, MotionPlus is a 2nd wave. A very welcome one, but I wouldn't want it to last too long. It's arriving with Wii Sports Resort, but I'd rather the genuine Wii Sports 2 arrived with the Wii 2. Same with Wii Fit. I'm expecting Wii Fit Plus to be this "clear the shelves" game, but I wouldn't want Wii Fit 2 until the Wii 2.

 

Nintendo have done Mario, Metroid, Smash Bros and Mario Kart this generation. All I really want from them now is Zelda. It would also be nice to see Kid Icarus, Star Fox and a few others.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm very positive about MotionPlus. It should give us some very good games over the next few years, but I really hope Nintendo are cracking on with their next console now. Anything later than 2012 would be a bit too late, in my opinion.

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2011 would be the traditional 5 year cycle. And they haven't strayed from that for quite some time.

 

Personally, I don't see how Resort isn't Wii Sports 2. I have a feeling the Dog Frisbee game is putting people off, But I'm sure there will be a few more games in it like the Jet Ski game.

 

I'm not sure how much the M+ will add this generation. I think it will take until next generation to really catch on. Then everyone will have it by default and developers won't be a weary about using it.

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Personally, I don't see how Resort isn't Wii Sports 2. I have a feeling the Dog Frisbee game is putting people off, But I'm sure there will be a few more games in it like the Jet Ski game.

 

It looks good and I'm greatly looking forward to it, but I imagine the actual "Wii Sports 2" would be the traditional sports again (ie. tennis etc) but with better graphics, better control and in HD. Purely from a marketing point of view, I think a game like that on the Wii 2 would sell the machine.

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I think the traditional cycle, particularly with NIntendo is gone forever. The ipod/ds will be the way forward for the Wii. What I mean, is that I think Nintendo (relatively soon) will release a next generation of Wii, with full HD. But that games will still be made available for Wii and only SOME games available in HD - similar to how SOME games use the balance board and some games will use the wiimotionplus, and how some games use the dsi functions and some future games will start to use the dsi extra power.

 

I can really see it happening, so it's not a "perceived" new console, just a generation up - do you want it? You don't need it? But it's great? Is pretty much how it will be marketted. And (like ipods and ds's) people will undoubtedly get the new version - because it will be in a choice of colours, because it will be HD, because it will have a more extensive online set up etc etc. And then developers/publishers will decide what features to use of the new Wii; and maybe even do software that is slightly different depending on which machine you put it in....

 

As for wiimotionplus, I think it'll be incredible, I think it will sell INSANE amounts and will be part of some incredible gaming experiences.

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I think the traditional cycle, particularly with NIntendo is gone forever. The ipod/ds will be the way forward for the Wii. What I mean, is that I think Nintendo (relatively soon) will release a next generation of Wii, with full HD. But that games will still be made available for Wii and only SOME games available in HD - similar to how SOME games use the balance board and some games will use the wiimotionplus, and how some games use the dsi functions and some future games will start to use the dsi extra power.

 

I can really see it happening, so it's not a "perceived" new console, just a generation up - do you want it? You don't need it? But it's great? Is pretty much how it will be marketted. And (like ipods and ds's) people will undoubtedly get the new version - because it will be in a choice of colours, because it will be HD, because it will have a more extensive online set up etc etc. And then developers/publishers will decide what features to use of the new Wii; and maybe even do software that is slightly different depending on which machine you put it in....

 

As for wiimotionplus, I think it'll be incredible, I think it will sell INSANE amounts and will be part of some incredible gaming experiences.

 

I totally agree.

 

Michael Pachter said something along the same lines a while back and I certainly think it will be true for this generation. Sony have said they want at least 10 years out of the PS3, Microsoft are constantly updating SKUs and Live, Nintendo, as Dazzy said, could easily release a HD version and more colours etc.

 

As for the Wiimotion+ I think it will give the Wii a big boost in sales again, especially in Japan where it has been pretty slack as of late. I can see Nintendo doing stupid numbers with the whole Wii Sports Resort bundle, especially if they market it aswell as they have with Wii Fit.

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generation of Wii, with full HD. But that games will still be made available for Wii and only SOME games available in HD - similar to how SOME games use the balance board and some games will use the wiimotionplus, and how some games use the dsi functions and some future games will start to use the dsi extra power.

 

Wow...bloody crazy idea that actually makes perfect, perfect sense Dazzy me old chum.

 

It's not like Nintendo have ever feared over-filling the market place. I'd feel a loss of 'closeness' to Nintendo though. Kinda like I feel like I'm missing out (ala the DSi) I don't know if I can see Nintendo making more games considering they really don't put out much for one console and are perfectionists.

 

We will see. Makes sense in some ways - but seems to feed to a tech audience when new hardware gets updated. Would Nintendo even do that with the Wii? - A device with simplicity at it's core.

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