Re: April NPD or Everyone Drinks except Nintendo
Thw Wii's attachment rate compared to its console sales are so disparate, I'm tempted to remove the Wii from the console wars entirely, as its not really the same animal. There are a coupkle of things that don;t bode well for the Wii and the the idea that motion control is the future.
1) The afforementioned attachement rate is not bad, its terrible. people are literally buying the console for for Nintendo franises and Wii sports alone. That's not really an open platform console... it more like a really popular NeoGeo.
2) The "it" factor could be its undoing. As was mentioned before, people grow tirted of it pretty quickly in many cases (not all or even the majority). I thinka good part of its appeal is that its "fashionable", not unlike I think a lot of the appeal of Mac is fashionable. I'd be curious to see any numbers on Wii resales...
3) The most damning evidence is the continued lack of serious third party support. Nintendo has got to feel like the US army did when the conquered Iraq... "Hey everyone, we won! Don't you love us now? What? Wait! Where are you going?" The Wii needs to win the hearts and minds of serious third party developers, and so far they've been resoundingly ignored.
And for the record, I have no rooting interest against the Wii (I'm planning on getting one as my next console in fact), I'm just trying to be as objective as possible, and I welcome any differing arguments and evidence.
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