Jay said:If it were possible to log all the actual play hours of each console--not just sales--you'd find that most 360s and PS3s are powered on almost daily, while most Wiis see use on weekends only. Did Nintendo attract the masses and turn non-gamers into gamers? Absolutely. My dad bought my stepmom a Wii earlier this year. And like most other Wiis sold to this new generation of "gamers," it collects dust. You think my dad will buy Nintendo's next console? Not a chance in hell.
People keep saying this and I just think it's the biggest joke in the world. I know plenty of gamers that have Wii's and play them every single day. I'd play mine every day if I wasn't busy with my PC and my son (I manage to play it about once a week). The thing is, most of the people that are off playing their Wii's just aren't on gaming forums posting about how great their console is. They don't need to be because they're having a ton of fun playing their Wii.
Think about it for a second. If the Wii were really such a piece of crap that no one plays after a few weeks, they wouldn't still be selling like mad. The people who have them would be recommending against them to everyone they know and sales would have fallen shortly after launch. Hell, if that were the case, you'd be able to find them on craigslist and ebay for dirt cheap. Instead, 3 years after launch, Nintendo can still barely make them fast enough.
Nintendo did the same thing they always do, they released a console at a reasonable price point that parents and "hard-core" gamers alike can afford. That is their market and that hasn't changed.
I have no doubt Nintendo will release a hi-def console when they can do it at a reasonable price point. $200-$250 is reasonable. $400 is not. As PC users have known for a long time, graphics are nothing without gameplay. You can have the most beautiful game ever and if the gameplay sucks, people aren't going to buy it. Nintendo is not going to sacrifice gameplay in order to get stunning graphics. Sure, they aren't going to release something that looks like ass, but 480p doesn't even look that bad on an HDTV (my DVDs still look great!).