In late 1990, Sega released the Sega Game Gear, a direct competitor to the Nintendo Game Boy. While at the time the Game Boy was still in black and white, the Game Gear was in color! I still remember one of the Game Gear TV ads: the ad was in black and white and showed a number of people wandering around aimlessly playing their Game Boys. The ad turns to color when someone shows up with a Game Gear and the crowed in drawn to it like moths to a flame. I thought the ad was great! It basically said, “Sure, you can get an old black and white Game Boy. Or you can get the new, high-tech, full-color Game Gear!
Now, here we are 17 years later and the battle is on again. In one corner you’ve got the Sony Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360! In the other corner you’ve got the Nintendo Wii. The former are high-priced, high-powered, high-tech, high-definition gaming monsters. The latter is a seemingly low-powered remake of the Nintendo Game Cube. Unlike the Playstation and Xbox, the Wii does not display high-definition graphics, does not play DVD’s, does not have a big, built-in hard drive, and does not have the latest and greatest processors. The first one seems to be a killer. We’re living in an HD age! Everything right now is HD! I can just picture TV ads in black and white showing people half-heartedly swinging the Wii remote while playing on an old, tube TV…until someone shows up with a big, bright LCD HD TV and an Xbox 360, taking full advantage of Gears of War in full 1080i!
With all this power, why then is the Wii dominating the competition? In my opinion, it all comes down to accessibility.
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The Wii is family friendly, with many of the games being party games. Sure, you’ve got games like Call of Duty with a bit of violence, but most of the games are based on cartoon/comic characters or old staples like Link, Mario, and Sonic.
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The Wii is fun! Instead of button-mashing, you’re swinging a remote like a sword, or a golf club, or a tennis racket! I have yet to experience sore thumb syndrome after an extended Wii playing period. And while the Wii Remote seems great right now, imagine how much better it will be when games like Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix comes out and you’re literally swishing and flicking to cast spells!
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The Wii is cheap, both to make and to sell. While the PS3 and 360 go for $600 and $400 respectively, the Wii sells a mere $250, and that includes a game! In addition, while PS3 and 360 games are pushing into the $60-$70 range, the Wii games are holding steady at $50. Not just that, but the Wii is the only system that actually turns a profit!
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The Wii is available! This, to me, is the most important aspect of it’s success. You can actually go to the store and find the Wii. I got mine the day after Christmas at the first store I checked (Best Buy). Not just that, but Nintendo is actually increasing production to accommodate increasing demand!
So why aren’t Sony and Microsoft running the type of ads I described above? Probably because they wouldn’t be accurate. The Wii is new and revolutionary. Sure it doesn’t play in HD, but who cares? It’s just fun to play. And it’s winning in sales and profits. Hardly something that can be easily mocked. I love my Wii. It’s the best game system I’ve ever owned and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back to the old button-mashing systems.
