Sony: Wii Didn't Bring Gaming Into the Mainstream, PS2 Did

[Keane Ng]

Sony: Wii Didn't Bring Gaming Into the Mainstream, PS2 Did

Sony's Kaz Hirai refuted the popular claim that Nintendo's Wii broke gaming into the mainstream marketplace, claiming that the PS2 was the first console to really take off in the mass market.

It's common enough wisdom nowadays to say that Nintendo was the first company to achieve crossover success with the Wii and DS and their extreme popularity beyond typical gamer crowds and mainstream love. But Sony's Kaz Hirai doesn't agree [http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article6808050.ece] with that sentiment. For him, Nintendo might have big success today, but Sony were the original pioneers.

"It's a very astute observation, but it doesn't take in history," said Hirai of the idea that the Wii broke the mainstream barrier. "The most successful console is still the PS2 and it's still going strong."

"I think that's the console that really broke the barrier from video games being just for video gamers into more of a mass market on a global basis," Hirai said. "Nintendo's obviously done a great job in following that mass acceptance."

So Nintendo's just following along in the PS2's footsteps. Okay, well you can read history however you want. I mean, you can ignore the other systems that had mainstream success in the decades before either the PS2 or Wii as well. It's all really subjective, and the numbers don't lie for either the PS2 or the Wii. So it just depends on who you ask.

[Via CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=222028]]

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[MetaKnight19]

i agree, i suppose. but in the end, who really cares about who brought gaming into the mainstream. the important thing is that it happened.

 

[Armored Prayer]

I thought Arcades brought gaming into mainstream.

 

[TaborMallory]

...I've lost all hope for Sony. Are they stupid? Gaming has been deep in the mainstream even before the first Gameboy.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Sony did have the first successful casual games like Singstar and Buzz.

 

[bodyklok]

Well it's still the best selling console in history so I'm inclined to agree, but it really depends on how you define mainstream.

EDIT:

I thought Arcades brought gaming into mainstream.

Arcades were used mainly by children, that's hardly what I'd call mainstream. But I'm not even sure what is and isn't mainstream, so I find his clam to be silly, and a little fanboyish, what I mean is, he's being really petty. Who fucking cares which console brought more people into gaming (It way PS2, btw).

 

[pipboy2010]

I thought the idea of the wii was not to appeal to the mainstream but to casual gamers. A very different thing.

 

[internetzealot1]

Says the company in dead last

 

[level250geek]

The PC bought gaming into the mainstream.

What the Wii was spread gaming as far into the corners that it had yet to reach as it possibly could. Gaming was mainstream before the Wii (before the PS2), but now it's downright ubiquitous.

 

[Sparrow]

Wow.

Arrogance, even staring at their sales figures? I don't want to provoke any flames but, seriously?

 

[SharedProphet]

Is that so? [http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2009/08/25/kaz-on-the-wii/]

 

[Chaossebba]

And in the game industry, flame wars continue

 

[syndicated44]

PS2 deffinatly was probably the most popular console ever. Everyone I know has or had one at some point in time. Although many of them also had a N64. But the wii is a gimmick, a coffin for Nintendo to bury their integrity in.

 

[Crimsane]

Is that so? [http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2009/08/25/kaz-on-the-wii/]

"PS1 and PS2?s sales didn?t come so much as making console gaming more popular, so much as selling in many new territories."

Aka making it more mainstream for a broader audience...

 

[Jumplion]

I'd say the PS2 did break the barrier the first time around, before then it was mostly an "in" thing to be playing games, though I do think the Wii has capitalized on it more.

...I've lost all hope for Sony. Are they stupid? Gaming has been deep in the mainstream even before the first Gameboy.

Oh my god, a company representative saying something good about their company, oh the humanity of it all!

Besides, the handhelds have definitely been more into the "mainstream" but I'm just being a Technical sue there.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

THANK YOU.

For fuck's sake. I've been saying this since day one. That thing had scores of shovelware, it's one of the most mainstream console to date. Though if you want to get pedantic, PS1 was even more mainstream than the PS2, and a lot of people weren't happy with the crowd that the PS1 was bringing to gaming.

Deja Vu, anyone?

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

Is that so? [http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2009/08/25/kaz-on-the-wii/]

Jesus Malstrom works fast...

But considering the NES practically saved gaming, I guess he's right.

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

Gonna throw my two cents on the DS. 120 million units and still rising. They have games to help you practice the SAT on the DS. And Spanish. Or Math. That's as mainstream as an electronic device is going to get.

 

[Bob_F_It]

Fair point made by Kaz. I guess this would religate the Wii to tidying up those who can't handle a joypad.