SourMilk said:
OP of this thread sounds like a Sony fanboy.
OP of this thread was very much in Yahtzee's 'consoles are dead this generation is going to rot' camp. After repeatedly being shown record breaking Sony sales figures, he's tried to readjust his sights.
See
Next Gen is now out and its a massive 'meh' for both consoles [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.834868-Next-Gen-is-now-out-and-its-a-massive-meh-for-both-consoles?page=1]
Is This The Ugliest Console Generation? [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.819635-Is-this-the-ugliest-console-generation?page=1]
Do gamers have the balls to force a crash??? [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.835457-Do-gamers-have-the-balls-to-force-a-crash?page=1]
Poll: Why are you pre-ordering the Xbox one or PS4?? [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.824100-Poll-Why-are-you-pre-ordering-the-Xbox-one-or-PS4#19963503]
and so on...
To be fair the OP is super passionate and a lot of his ideas have a pretty good foundation. Fonejackerjon is really pro innovation, pro new less exploitative pricing schemes etc which is all good stuff
Gorfias said:
But Wii U is held aloft by Nintendo, which is still doing well with its handheld market. Dreamcast had no such support. The longer Wii U survives, the more consoles it will ultimately sell over the next 5 years. My guess... and it's only a guess, is that if even fraction of owners buy Nintendos main titles, that means a number of first party multi-million games sold. Personally, I'll get Mario Kart 8 and Smash Brother, Mario 3d and Pikmin 3 ASAP.
I wonder if PS4 and XB1 sales are as high as they are due to pent up demand? Will they slow down a lot over the coming year? Will most PS3 and 360 owners just hang on to that stuff till it dies? When it does die, will they seek to buy a replacement or move into gen 8?
Part of what I think is going on: Wii owners are growing up. They are replacing their Wii's with PS3 or PS4. But I think a lot of 360 owners are going Sony as well.
I'd never really thought about how the lack of third-party titles might make Nintendo financially successful even if their console isn't successful. And it's not like their games
aren't amazing, so if you have a Wii U plus a second gaming device then you're still going to be a happy customer. I feel like they lose some of their fanbase every time they fail to get third-party support though, because not everyone is going to have two gaming devices, so it's probably not a sustainable business model for the generation after this. Still I hope it works out here, the people who bought a Wii U deserve to be well-supported by first party titles at least.
I think it's less about Wii owners growing up though. Wii sales really began to tail off towards the end and I think there were a lot of people who bought a Wii in the beginning and over time realised it didn't offer what they need. I've got a die-hard Nintendo friend who ended up buying an 360 too because that was the sort of game he was after. Those people weren't going to buy a second Wii and probably switched to Microsoft and Sony this generation.
And the people who did want a Wii for the party stuff... I still think the Wii is a better party console than the Wii U. The asymmetric gameplay is cool, but not so much in the kind of party environment that the Wii excelled in. It's essentially a Wii where one less person looks stupid. I don't think the people who bought a Wii for those reasons would like the Wii U in the same way.
I bet PS4 and Xbox One games are definitely making money off that pent up demand. It probably was a huge boost to Tomb Raider. This is why it's meant to be a good time to launch new IPs, because the game selection at the launch of a new generation always means that people basically have no choice but to play your game. The cross-generation porting might be lessening that effect though.