Digital Journal — The way the media, bloggers and hardcore gamers have been talking lately, you’d almost think that the Nintendo Wii has already won the next-gen console war. Even the polls are showing it.
A post-E3 poll done by Famitsu — the leading gaming magazine in Japan — now shows Nintendo’s Wii tops both Sony PlayStation (PS3) and Xbox 360 in consumer preferences (that is not a typo, Wii is really beating out both Sony and Microsoft).
The question asked to gamers in Japan was “What gaming hardware are you looking forward to the most?” The Nintendo Wii did three times better than its nearest competition, with 68.8 per cent of votes. PS3 received 21 per cent of votes, Xbox 360 earned 7.2 per cent and Nintendo DS pulled in 3 per cent. The PlayStation Portable (PSP) didn’t even make it in the top percentile.
The news comes after Nintendo had an incredible showing at the E3 electronics expo earlier this year. The company also announced the pricing of the Wii last week — its price tag will not exceed $250 (US) — to a standing ovation from gamers.
Amazingly, a system that has not even been revealed to the public has received so much attention. “Great pricing”, “innovation” and “leading” are words that continue to follow Nintendo’s name in headlines across the world.
In fact, it’s pricing even has executives from competing companies talking about Wii. In a Washington Post article, Peter Moore, Vice President of Marketing for Microsoft’s Games Division, said “Tell me why you would buy a $600 PS3? People are going to buy two (machines.) They’re going to buy an Xbox and they’re going to buy a Wii…for the price of one PS3.”
Recently it seems like Sony is flopping like a limp, um, controller wire. As the current video game console leader, most experts believed the PS3 would be equally as successful. But, the Famitsu poll is showing people are noticing the bad more than the good; 88.4 per cent of respondents said the PS3 was too expensive. And imagine: This poll was done in one of the world’s wealthiest countries and the traditional homeland market for Sony PlayStation.
While Nintendo has been earning wide acclaim, it too has not been without its problems. The one-time king of the video game world, Nintendo has seen its market share slide to a mere 15 per cent (around the same level as Microsoft). But even with a sliding market share, what makes Nintendo stand out is the fact the company has remained quite profitable — it actually made more money in ’05 than market leader Sony.
A product of competitive pricing, a small but loyal customer base and a myriad of other little factors, Nintendo has turned the company around in the public eye in the past two years. Case in point: In 2004 when Nintendo released its DS (a portable gaming system with two screens) the world went crazy, snapping up the DS as if it were a one-of-a-kind classic. The device was nothing special, but it had two screens (which would imply it’s better than one) and it was promoted so heavily you would have thought it was running for presidency. The result: the DS has been totally outselling Sony’s PSP. Despite the PSP’s superior technology, the unit comes with a $200 price tag whereas the DS sells for only $130 (Note to Microsoft and Sony: There is a lot of money to be made in volume sales. Learn from Nintendo and don’t price yourself out of the market).
With its upcoming console, Nintendo hopes to create the same product pandemonium. And judging by the polls and feedback so far, it seems to be working.
Nintendo is now winning kudos all over the world, despite the fact that its next-gen console is named as though it was designed for a two-year-old — it has actually received wide criticism for the name, making Nintendo officials blush forty shades of red from embarrassment. Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo’s vice president of marketing, even said, “I’d like to thank everyone who wrote good things about the Wii name. All two of you.”
Officials at Nintendo say the name Wii was actually chosen because it sounds like the English word “We” and suggests a global community of gamers. At E3, the company said it thinks Wii will eventually earn a distinction among other strange but now well-received names like Google and Ikea. Previously called “Revolution”, many people would say the console is now living up to its old name.
And unlike competition from Sony and Microsoft who focus attention mainly on graphics, the Nintendo has been heavily promoted with trailers and ads that depict high-level action, fun and interaction. The company has also created different categories, including men, women, small children, elder, teens, etc. While this softer approach might not appeal to hardcore gamers, the mainstream public wants a console simply to play games for fun and not necessarily for competitive reasons. For that reason alone, Nintendo’s Wii could end up flying off the shelves.
So while the console wars continue to heat up, and people wait in anticipation for the holiday release of PS3 and Wii, it’s important to note that innovation — not hardware specs — seem to be winning the world’s approval.
And even if Nintendo fails to win the console supremacy race, many of its ventures down roads less travelled have paid off handsomely.
