How many of us were wrong about the Wii?

[spider-prime]

This thread went in an interested direction that i didn't intend.

That's the internet!

[Mat001]

The entire concept of 'hardcore' gaming ala Skyrim is a recent aberration. Videogames got their start in the mainstream as 'party' games played by two or more people in bars.

I wouldn't say it was too recent. It was apparent long before Nintendo declared their intentions with the Wii, at the first presentation of the system. I'd say it started with the video game crash and the subsequent revival that did it. It was the hardcore gamers that were playing in arcades. Most places outside of that were tapering off in terms of people playing in bars and most restaurants. Teenagers were going into bars to play whatever they had on hand. And once home systems became more complex, the shift in dynamics changed. Once my Atari and NES went into my room, my mom and stepfather stopped playing. When I got the SNES, my mom never opted to play it. It went directly to my room. She did play with the Gameboy for a while, but that didn't last too long. Nowadays, even if she wanted to, she can't as she has problem with her hands. One of my best friends from my youth, his parents had played with the Apple 2E and later the NES and GB. But they never played with the SNES, the Sega Master System, the Game Gear and the Atari Jaguar. Nor with the PC games when he got into that. They did with the games that were pre-installed like poker and mine sweeper.

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

This thread went in an interested direction that i didn't intend.

you better not say you're surprised...

[cactusmaac]

I'm not sure I'd call it a bona fide success. It pushed Nintendo into the direction of casual gaming which meant they avoided competing with Sony and Microsoft but now they're competing with anyone who publishes games on smartphones. They posted a big loss for YE 2012 and were selling the 3DS for less than it cost them to make which is not typical for them.

Xbox is now making more revenue for MS than Windows sales.

[Mat001]

To be fair, no one anticipated the invention of the smart phone and the tablet, six years ago. Much less the game apps that have popped up. It wouldn't have mattered if the Wii had the power of the Wii U and could compete with the XBox 360 and PS3. People will go with the downloadable games since it doesn't cost a lot and they only need the one device for it. Worse, the newer games are starting to reach the level of graphics that the big three are capable of. That's going to hurt all three of them in the long run.