Originally Posted by
Rev. Link
@ petewhitley
Look here, it's real simple. We'd all be inclined to agree with you if the biggest selling systems were also the ones with the most horsepower, but that's just not the way it goes.
Graphical power alone simply doesn't move systems. If it did, the PS2 would have been a distant 3rd place in this generation.
I think you guys are on two different levels.
He's right, graphical prowess does push someone to buy a new system but as of this current generation and the upcoming generation there are far, far more variables that have major impacts on sales. The total sales of any given system are based on those variables, the total sales of a generation are largely (not all) due to a consumers desire for something that simply looks better. The difference in graphical quality between the competitors being one of those variables.
Theres no doubt the Xbox won many fanboys with it's "best performance" last generation, but when it comes down to actually purchasing a console even the most casual gamer will look at what games they do and don't want to play.
But now it's totally different. The price of the PS3 and the control scheme/lack of raw power in the Wii are two things the market has never encountered before and it'll be nigh impossible to predict "standings" among the big three in 2009.
What you can count on though is that Nintendo and Sony both have amazing marketing talents. Sony is a no brainer, they're the masters of spin as has been noted previously. They'll likely take the price point of the PS3 vs. the price of the 360 and make consumers think that it's literally TWICE as good because it's literally TWICE the price. And they've got enough trust in the mass market that people will believe it.
Nintendo has taken the DS from a niche market to really poking into the mass non-gamer market with games like Nintendogs and Brain Age. They're experienced in reaching that non-gamer market now and they'll use that to their full ability to push the Wii to a different level.
Nintendo will be the exception to the rule of graphical power, but even still it will be an enhancement over last gen and they'll likely get a LOT of sales at launch from users who simply want a better looking Zelda than they could get on the Cube.
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