Ok, we all have heard all these lies or more properly, disinformation about the Wii from wii haters, video game media and even developers. So how about if we start debunking one by one? I'll start with a very common one:
Myth: The Wii demands more physical movement from gamers than the others console, which makes it more difficult for relax.
Fact: Only Wii sports, Fit, and in some extent Music and Play are games that demand more physical movement. The rest of the games can be played while sitting. Also most of the games only demand pointing and clicking or just swinging the remote, which is enough with a move in the wrists.
Fact: A myth is a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, esp. one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature. (noun)
Myth: We will one day be lavished with a wonderful slew of release every monday just like Japan. Fact: Nintendo get's sick pleasure out of constantly disappointing it's fans.
Sony warned for 2009 that its games division was on track to lose $337 million. Microsoft's games division ran at a loss of 1.89 BILLION in '07. I doubt they've recovered enough by now to achieve current profitability, never mind make up for the past shortfall. Ouch, right? Good thing both companies have other massive revenue streams to support their gameworks.
Fact: a tech demo is an incomplete work. WS and WSR are complete, well polished games. Something that a tech demos isn't.
Myth - Nintendo sold out to da 'casuals!'
Fact: Nintendo is aiming to everyone bring new and lapsed gamers as well as the older ones, which is not the same. Besides if one counts the number of games released by Nintendo, one can find more "core" games than "expanded" ones.
Total - profit or loss since 1998 Sony + $1,584,340,380 Nintendo + $20,302,764,330 MS Game Console Division - $6,786,000,000 (loss) MS Corporation Total + l$12,389,829,985
Full Yearly Average Sony + $173,482,066 Nintendo + $1,378,333,888 MS Game Console Division - $1,012,000,000 (loss) MS Coproation Total + $907,815,953
These are the profit or losses of the 3 console makers sincce 1998. So the 'MS Tota'l #'s are from '98, The XBOX/360 #'s started in 2002. Be interesting to see how MS is currently doing with their warranty troubles and also VERY interesting to see how much they are pouring into R and D and acquiring companies for Project Natal.
My point is a lot of people say 'support everyone', fine - but look at how SEGA was forced out by PS and MS has sealed their fate. How can they get back in when MS can just sit there and lose a billion a year while Windows floats their boat?
This also shows how pathetic it was for the media to predict that Sony/MS would force Nintendo out of console making ala SEGA - they have more profit since '98 then does the whole of MS coporation.
Another interesting tangent is the important role of portables for Nintendo - they have ruled it since the original Gameboy . PSP has had very good consoles sales, but Nintendo completly eclipses them with software. It is not even close. Nintendo has it made right now - their software promotes the Wii, and when people buy a Wii theybuy overwhelmingly Nintendo software. What can derail them?
When you say console division, does that mean just from console hardware sales, or all Xbox related stuff (games, controllers, etc)? I just don't get big business. How they can ride losses like this in hopes of edging out the competition eventually is beyond me.
From what I remember, Microsoft has actually made money off the 360, but they lost so much on the original Xbox that the division is still in the negative.
That was their plan, though - they knew they'd lose a lot on the Xbox, but they wanted in on the console market so they could profit off it in the future. Since they have so ridiculously much money, they're able to take the temporary loss.
Yeah, everthing XBOX. To be fair - they did make some money last year for the first time, and this year they have a chance again - like I say, depending on how RROD warranty and Natal is going. But their gains are not nearly approaching their losses as of yet (even this gen), and maybe will not this genertaion, I doubt it.
MS has been quoted as saying they got into the game console business as a defense action - fear that the uber popular PS2 would eventually start hedging into the PC market. This has been a common myth in game consoles since the origional NES - the trojan horse game console replacing the pc. Its right up there in the overrated department with mulitmedia - consoles playing music, movies , etc. For example, before HD DVD folded the 360 HD DVD drive had an attach rate under 3%.
Bill Gates calls the losses for BOX an 'investment' and that could come true, but they really shot themselves in the foot by rushing out 360's, the intital batch had an incredibly poor work rate but they sent them out anyway. They saw Sony as their sole competition and thought the year 'head start' was crucial.
Sony has lost a ton of money on PS3 as well, they overreached I guess. They had it made as well as they could with PS2, they had a ton of exclusive 3rd party franchises that are now almost all shared with MS. The HD revolution has been a business disaster for Sony or MS, Sony has won the HD format war, but it is small potaotes compared to DVD's. Also it is amaziing to see how little momentum the PSP has, it is being pulled off of 'big'retail' shops now. Apple could very well squeeze Sony out of the portable market even further.
Interesting to see that while XBOX was a thorn in the side of GC, (even though GC was profitable,) now 360 is an albatross to PS3, they have really killed Sony by splitting the 'core' audience, and fighting it out Bluray vs HDDVD.
ANd Nintendos 'games only' policy, often criticised, has been highly effective, to say the least.
It's amazing how far the Xbox has come, though. Prior to, and directly following it's release, it was considered a complete joke. Microsoft wasn't a particularly popular company at the time, and having a third console on the market that far into the generation seemed very unnessecary. Even after Halo came out, the standard response to someone mentioning their Xbox was "Wait, there are people who actually BOUGHT that thing?" Owning an Xbox was such a completely ridiculous concept in those days.
Granted, the 360 had the fortune of being the first console on the market, rather than the last, but it's still fascinating.
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Topic: Wii: Myths and Facts
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