This blog post is the exact same as the first response in the talkback thread for the editorial Rick’s Rant - Episode 5: Powers Strikes Back.
This is a prime example of the wonderful discourse and chances to tear into fellow staffers and readers available on the NWR forums!.
Of course, it should go without saying that my opinions, and those of Mr. Powers, are our own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Nintendo World Report and its staff.
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Speaking of which, I clearly whiffed on my diatribe regarding the selection of “Wii” as a product name. Yes, it was non-sensical, and yes, Nintendo still faced all of the challenges I outlined. And as the title of my editorial suggested, we did indeed get over it and led Nintendo to where it is now, quite literally writing themselves blank checks.
If you were wrong about that, aren't you humbled to consider how wrong you might be on other things?
They make enough money on the console (and controllers, and peripherals, and licensing) that they really don’t care much about the attach rate.
The Wii is said to boast a 6.0 attach rate, higher than the PS3 and slowly catching up to the XBox360's attach rate. Why does the Wii have a lower attach rate than the XBox 360? Because the Wii hardware outsells the XBox 360 hardware so consistently that new owners constantly drag down the Wii's attach rate. High attach rates are a bad sign actually because they mark a niche product. New users, which you want, cause a lower attach rate... too bad the PS3's lower attach rate comes with lower install base too.
And that’s where their fatal flaw lies: Nintendo doesn’t know how to transform this casual market into consumers that will buy more software.
Nintendo has repeatedly stated that their intention is to do EXACTLY THIS. See: bridge titles.
Besides, did you see the recent December NPD numbers? Mario Kart Wii sold to TONS OF NEW OWNERS. Even the three-year old Mario Kart DS climbed back into the top 10 sales for December because the CASUAL DS owners bought up the Kart Racer, a beloved Nintendo franchise from the SNES, in droves.
Nintendo is quite happily boasting about being responsible for 99% of the industry’s growth, but were they really?
Yes. 49% of all software sold in 2008 was for Nintendo platforms.
Until Nintendo can prove that they can convince those people to buy more software, more GAME software, they’ll continue to get the same eye-rolling response they did when they made that statement.
Stop eye-rolling. See sales for 2008.
A rising tide is supposed to raise ALL the boats, not just the ones owned by Nintendo.
It's not Nintendo's fault if the other boats are hole-ridden. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.
Which leads me into my closing statement: I received some very disturbing news recently and turned to gaming as a way to ease the pain. With all the gaming systems I had access to and all the games I could play, I went back and spent time with my old friends Donald and Goofy. I loaded up Kingdom Hearts 2 (via my PS3), and enjoyed every moment with these childhood friends.
I agree, Kingdom Hearts needs to be on the Wii. I am holding out for KH3 being on the Wii.
Nintendo is slipping into the realm of being merely an expensive toy manufacturer, a purveyor of plastic and digital bits, the equivalent of gaming junk food.
Wow, so toys are digital junkfood? You really haven't followed Nintendo's, and even Miyamoto's, unifying theme throughout their history: entertainment for everyone, evoking emotions and smiles from regular people instead of evoking drool from cloistered gamers, and using innovation to surprise and expand, not dig themselves deeper into a hole.
I understand these are your opinions, but... this amounts to anecdotal evidence, personal dislike, and a lack of perspective. Just like Steven Kent's recent, and unfortunate, apology-not-apology about his being so utterly wrong about the Wii... which he didn't sound apologetic for by the way, I can't help but feel that this editorial is an artifact of a misguided, outmoded, and unenlightened viewpoint. You know, like clinging to the idea that the earth is flat.