What if the Wii didn't exist?

[Seraphis Cain]

Note that the following was NOT written by me. I happened to run across it and thought it was interesting, and I'd like to get EP's thoughts on it.

I think it's interesting to consider what this console market would look like, right now, if Nintendo hadn't created the Wii. Let's imagine that the Wii doesn't exist, and that Nintendo exited the console market after the Gamecube.

Is it possible that instead of all these magazine articles talking about how the gaming demographic is expanding rapidly, that instead we'd be seeing articles about the "great gaming crash?"

It's not unfair to argue that the 360 and the PS3 would have higher sales, to some degree, if the Wii didn't exist, but their price would still be an obstacle. Microsoft and Sony are doing everything they can to ignore the hard-wired fact that consoles are a $299 market. It doesn't matter if you include a microwave, a snowblower, and a Hemi--it's still a $299 market.

Take the Wii's seven million units in six months out of the console base, though, and you could make a serious argument that console gaming is floundering, at least in terms of the rate of adoption. Tell me this: how many people believed that the Wii would outsell the 360 and the PS3 combined?

Here's your answer: absolutely no one. I was tremendously positive after trying out the Wii at E3 (thanks Erik), and totally negative on the PS3 (price--that was dead solid obvious), but even I had no clue that the Wii could turn into such a craze.

Sure, some people now say "Well, of course it's selling like crazy--it's $249!" In a word: bullshit. None of those people were saying that before the console was released--almost everyone was questioning Nintendo's ability to survive in the console market.

So take out the Wii. Have a console at $399 and one at $599. Have them selling, combined, about 600,000 units worldwide in April. You know what the story would be?

Next-Gen is dead.

[Banned]

So many good games would go unpublished...

[MondayHopscotch]

i have yet to see a PS3 outside of the store.

what i find funny is that whenever i go to the store the wii's are either sold out or there is only one left -- then you see the bunches of unsold 360's and PS3's.

[Ahkei]

Tell me this: how many people believed that the Wii would outsell the 360 and the PS3 combined?

Here's your answer: Fucking me baby, me!

Dunno about you guys, but I certainly did.

[Inferno.]

It was obvious it was going to be a success, it appeals to everyone. Except me, it does nothing for me ; I'd much rather play an FPS on the 360, or something, than Red Steel on the Wii. The remote control idea does nothing for me, at all. Sorry guyz.

[Deach]

It was obvious it was going to be a success, it appeals to everyone. Except me, it does nothing for me ; I'd much rather play an FPS on the 360, or something, than Red Steel on the Wii. The remote control idea does nothing for me, at all. Sorry guyz.

What he said.

[kupo]

What he said.

Count me in too, but not because of the FPS bullshit. I would have been happiest if all the games just kept coming for PS2/Xbox/GC (ok, PS2 ). I don't need "good" graphics either by the way. Give me a good storyline or a balanced fighter and it's all good. And yeah, I want "old" gameplay. Not this new Wii thingie.

[Corey]

0I'll wait until SSBB to voice my opinion.

[Borman]

There wouldnt be any talk about a crash, just like to most kids the market never truely crashed in the 80s. Games went cheap, and then it was over with the NES being in stores. A crash just doesnt happen because a system doesnt come out. What ifs just dont work, and this article spews bullshit to try and get across one last sentence, and fails. And while the Wii may be outselling the 360, the attach rate for games isnt nearly what they had hoped it would be. And he seems to only cover one side of the story, saying that "None of those people were saying that". Open your eyes, thats what the other side used to counter all the asshats. Sure, people questioned there move, but they questioned Sony ten times that.

Get your facts straight, whomever you are that wrote that, and stop trying to portray a point based on your idea of what ifs, without looking at what was first.

[Jetsetlemming]

Fuck consoles.

[kupo]

Fuck...

.....Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3.

[Deach]

Fuck consoles.

More like fuck PS3 and Wii. Xbox 360 is OK with me.

[Cyberxion]

I hate everything you say, all the time, always.

Not that you're necessarily wrong, but you're the kind of guy who, rather than take this as the hypothetical situation it is, will wax on about how none of this shit is valid, which misses the point entirely. :eyeball:

There wouldnt be any talk about a crash, just like to most kids the market never truely crashed in the 80s. Games went cheap, and then it was over with the NES being in stores. A crash just doesnt happen because a system doesnt come out. What ifs just dont work, and this article spews bullshit to try and get across one last sentence, and fails. And while the Wii may be outselling the 360, the attach rate for games isnt nearly what they had hoped it would be. And he seems to only cover one side of the story, saying that "None of those people were saying that". Open your eyes, thats what the other side used to counter all the asshats. Sure, people questioned there move, but they questioned Sony ten times that.

Get your facts straight, whomever you are that wrote that, and stop trying to portray a point based on your idea of what ifs, without looking at what was first.

I think it's interesting to consider how it would've effected the market had Nintendo not brought a bit of innovation to the table.

I think that the Wii has the potential to be a breath of fresh air, potential that is by and large still unmet as of yet, but the only thing it's really doing for gaming is opening it up to whole new set of demographics, turning people who would otherwise not give gaming a bit of attention into gamers.
I'm not one of those 'hardcore gamers' who think that casual gamers are ruining the hobby, and in fact think that it's essential that in order to survive, the industry needs to appeal to more than that core crowd. I do think that without something like the Wii on the market, it's entirely possible that within a few console generations the market would've stagnated, much like it did back in the day, and even if all that the Wii is doing is keeping gaming fresh for another generation or two, I think it's doing us all a great service.

This is all just conjecture of course, and not really based on any hard numbers or anything, and while I don't represent the entirety of the gaming community, and more importantly the fanatics such as Borman, I've become so jaded over the years that I couldn't see myself being a gamer even one generation out from now, just because everything feels so stale. The Nintendo Wii has encouraged developers to think outside the box, and has even got Sony and Microsoft re-thinking their strategies, and that's a positive thing for the industry indeed.

[Fer!]

It was obvious it was going to be a success, it appeals to everyone. Except me, it does nothing for me ; I'd much rather play an FPS on the 360, or something, than Red Steel on the Wii. The remote control idea does nothing for me, at all. Sorry guyz.

What he said.

Count me in too, but not because of the FPS bullshit. I would have been happiest if all the games just kept coming for PS2/Xbox/GC (ok, PS2 ). I don't need "good" graphics either by the way. Give me a good storyline or a balanced fighter and it's all good. And yeah, I want "old" gameplay. Not this new Wii thingie.

0I'll wait until SSBB to voice my opinion.

Combine all of this, and that's pretty much my opinion, I have played Wii stuff, and frankly, the only one that I really liked was Wii Sports, other than that...eh, I don't know, that Wii thingie doesn't impress me too much. I'm not saying it's a POS, but...certainly isn't for me. Except SSBB, that and Wii Sports would be the only things I would like so far.

And for the original post...it was a little exaggerated, in my opinion.

[Deach]

Combine all of this, and that's pretty much my opinion, I have played Wii stuff, and frankly, the only one that I really liked was Wii Sports, other than that...eh, I don't know, that Wii thingie doesn't impress me too much. I'm not saying it's a POS, but...certainly isn't for me. Except SSBB, that and Wii Sports would be the only things I would like so far.

And for the original post...it was a little exaggerated, in my opinion.

I'd say it is a POS.