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More "Wii-ing" on the Competition
Suddenly, coming up from the outside, here's Nintendo roaring back into the field:
Nintendo, which is trying to regain videogame market share from Microsoft and Sony, will likely sell its new Wii console for much less than its competitors' console prices. Merrill Lynch analyst Justin Post predicted Thursday that the new machine, which will be released this fall, will sell for $200, a move that could prompt software publishers to create more titles for the gaming system.
It would also appear Nintendo has finally made its development tools cheaper, and that this platform is easier to develop for than the others. The former was a legendary complaint about earlier Nintendo platforms which stunted their growth, and the latter addresses several complaints made by developers about the competitor's latest consoles.
Why are developers so important? Games don't write themselves! Couple that with an innovative controller and a price below, sometimes far below, the competition and you've got yourself a darned interesting market. For once.
Makes me wonder if they'll drop in time for the xbox II to see a cost reduction, at least prior to halo3 being released. That'd be a very good thing, indeed.
Posted by: ronaprhys on May 17, 2006 11:03 AMSome of the game sites are speculating that Microsoft will, indeed, drop the price of the XBox 360. The timing may be right before the PS3 launch, which already has a much bigger price tag than the rest.
Posted by: Jon on May 17, 2006 12:48 PMSweet - making it cheaper is just a good thing.
Posted by: ronaprhys on May 17, 2006 02:16 PMMaking it cheaper is good, going out of business because you made it too cheap (remember Sega?) is bad.
Which is why I played up the developer's angle. If they coddle them, the games will just happen, and the games is where all the money is.
Posted by: scott on May 17, 2006 08:35 PM