Sometimes Sony is wrong and on very rare occasions, Sony is right. This is one of those rare occasions. SCEA spokesman David Karraker revealed in an interview with the New York Times that the “Wii could be considered an impulse buy more than anything else.”
Think this is true? Let's consider this: The Wii carried a huge amount of hype into the holidays; The Wii is built for the short term; The PlayStation 3 costs a hefty $600 while the Wii comes in at $249; Niether system really has the game lineup to warrant a serious purchase, yet the hype is carrying the Wii through.
What's your take?
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Contest:
11:17 AM on 01.31.2007
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Also Summa, we all know your biased opinions of the Wii and PS3, so this article doesn't back up the OPINION, not fact but OPINION that Sony was right for stating this. It's just a flame war between companies.
Im suprised you'd support this Summa, then again, not so much.
But the difference is that Wii doesn't have a lot of Wii titles but they also have a good number of VC games that people WANT and it is apparent they want them cause people are BUYING them and have sold over a million VC games.
But I don't see 360 has a lineup of games to warrant a serious purchase.
But I could see it as a impulse buy cause it is $249, but it also ISN'T an impulse buy b/c to acquire one it requires you to get up early sunday mornings to rush to the store and get one...not just walk in and randomly buy one. So it takes more thought and planning to get a Wii, making it NOT an impulse buy.
I love Sony, but someone needs to slap the shit out of them.
My take.
sour grapes ftw
All we can say right now is that the PS3 isn't an impulse buy ;-)
Wii : Impulse buy for early birds
PS3 : Impulse buy for rich kids/people.
I bought a PS3 for Resistance...
...my Wii and 360 tag teamed my nut bag and now I can't sit down.
Ouch.
To me, $600 is still the price of a brand new electronic appliance that wouldn't require additional components (ie you still need games/hd tv to enjoy your PS3 purchase, where as $600 can get some people a tv/monitor/computer/kitchenware/etc,etc)
I'll always say that graphics are the true gimmicks, because they only last one generation. Good gameplay and controls, however, always keep going.
PS3 vs. Wii =
Wii wins. They can have a great big bag of suck for the next 6 months, but so long as 3rd parties want to continue developing games for the largest installed bases consoles, those consoles do well.
If you look at the release calendar for the PS2 and PS3 over the next 12 months, you'd think that the PS3 hasn't even launched yet. I mean, the highest profile game Sony's got coming in the next quarter is a PS2 game. Biggest seller last quarter? PS2 game.
Meanwhile, I guess the early death of the Gamecube allowed for them to move a lot faster for Nintendo. I dunno. But it was able to move directly to next-gen with very little drop off in development for the games. Paper Mario was originally supposed to drop in last October? And it'll be here in April on a different console. Metroid was supposed to be a Wii launch title, and it's now March/April. Zelda's perpetual delays got them a solid 75% penetration for console sales.
Sony will have resistance for a few more months as 3rd parties get their titles out.
If the Wii was 600$, would it still be selling out constantly. Even with Zelda, I don't think you would have people still lining up to get it.
More than the games, what makes the Wii so attractive is the low price point. If you want to get in to next-gen gaming, it's the quickest route. In that sense, it is a sort of impulse buy.
Neither console has a software lineup that is golden at this point.
Wii might be an impulse buy. Frankly, who cares? More buyers = more games = win.
If you aren’t as ignorant as you make yourself out to be try reading some of Linde’s posts turn essays.
You need to be more consistent Rob! At least one Wii bashing per day! You're falling behind!
impulse-buy definition "buy on impulse without proper reflection"
How can you impulse buy something you can't find? Most people have tons of reflection time while waiting for the Wii to be in stock.
I think that it is a fad more than anything else. Yeah he should have said "The Wii is a fad, nothing more" I would have bought that, and it sounds just as snotty.
In all honesty, if you buy a 360 and a Wii you will have all the Sony games and then some.
Sony = the guy that shows up as a party is winding down with no beer, eats the last of the chips, and wants you to hook him up with some ass.
During the holidays I wanted one since the Nintendo hype machine dragged me in.(I try not to buy hype but its just so hard, I fall for all these empty promises...wait enough about my love life) Then I played my cousin's Wii, it was fun, we got the whole family playing, even Grandma! However there really isn't anything to keep me entertained when being played solo except Zelda, and if you go into the Virtual Machine, I'll point you to my emus on the Xbox.
At this point I'm more about the 360... and I have no idea why... I feel dirty and used.
But the 360 and PS3(even though sony will probably stick to their "sixaxis" guns til its a moot point) are only a peripheral away from being able to make all those nifty Wii games cross-platform. It would be interesting to see if the "next gen" systems will decide to target the market that nintendo's been trying to build
Of course they will. Only they'll have more horsepower to create more immersive environments.
I look to 2008 for the competition to heat up in the control department.
And the Wii has a lot more going for it than the PS3, which to consumers and developers looks like an Xbox 360 wannabe.
I didn't consider this to be a negative Wii article. Just... opinions. He didn't call it fact or anything.
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I don't know if calling it an impulse buy is quite accurate, but certainly, people are more willing to spend $250 on a game console than $600.
Speaking as a gamer who has all three new-gen consoles, I can tell you that the PS3 is a vapid, overblown piece of tripe at this point. It's f'ing huge, it's unattractive and, oh yeah, the games for it suck. Ever play Genji? If not, go play it and tell me that it reeks of next-gen. We're playing it right now only because my wife has to review it, not out of love for the game or system. The OS is unweildly and confusing. Blu-ray isn't any better than HD DVD (in fact, the quality is lower when we did a side-by-side comparison, due to the improved VC-1 codec for HD DVD versus the MPEG-2 that's currently still used for Blu-ray). I won't say it's an abortion just yet - I reserve that statement for the PSP currently, which hasn't been turned on in months - but it's well on its way. Hell, they already had to drop the price in Japan by 100,000 yen within two months of release. What does that tell you?
(As proof that I'm not talking out my ass, I took a pic with my camera phone - sorry about the crap quality and the mess of cabling, I've been meaning to rewire everything - and it's viewable here: http://i5.tinypic.com/2lsv989.jpg)
(I apologize, as my little rant did come of a bit fanboyish. I love all systems equally, now can't we all just hug and forget all this foolishness?)
Luckily my roomate found one somewhere, allowing me some hands on reality.
There's nothing good for the Wii either! It sits in our living room gathering dust while I play 360 in my spare time. Sure Z:TP is cool, and Elebits, Trauma, Wario, they're all 15 minutes of fun too, but they really have nothing more substantial then the PS3 (beyond $350 in your pocket).
Mark me down as waiting on the Wii, the same list I put the PS3 on.
I agree with what most of you are saying about the games (or lack thereof in this case). But, let's face it Sony, you have one good game out for your PS3, Resistance. Wii has a few more, you both just came out, not many good games out yet, so let's cut each other some slack. I honestly don't see how the Wii would be anymore of an impulse buy than the PS3.