The global economy – we hear how bad it is all the time. So, heading into the past Christmas season, retailers and suppliers weren’t extremely enthusiastic. And while it might not have been the greatest Festive Season ever, there were still results that were a little surprising. For example, consoles sales were better than many analysts predicted. This leads one to wonder exactly why.
There are a few factors that could come into it, not least of which is that gaming (despite inevitable bad press and a sometimes bad reputation) is becoming a more widespread, more acceptable activity.
But here’s an interesting idea that I came up with… the stimulation of the console market owes a lot to the release of the Wii U. Keep in mind that this is not a fact, but rather an interesting supposition. Here’s how it works: see, just before the release of the Wii U, Nintendo built up a fair degree of hype around the console. Initial sales were quite high globally, with territories like the US approaching sold-out status. But during the same period, sales on the Wii peaked as well. So maybe some people got it wrong and bought the incorrect console. But sales for the Xbox 360 and PS3 were also higher, and it’s pretty difficult to make
a mistake between Wii U and Xbox 360. So why did that happen?
In this little theory, these increases are directly related to the Wii U. See, the hype got people to go out and look at the console. But they were met with prices that were higher than they may have anticipated. Put a brand new Wii U next to a cut price Xbox or PS3, which comes with a couple of games and maybe an extra controller or two, and which sells for a similar price, and those that do not own an Xbox or PS3 may well have their heads turned by what appears to be a better offer.
Don’t get the wrong idea – the Wii U is a great console. But Nintendo does have a reputation, thanks to the specifications of the Wii, that will be tough to break. An ill-informed consumer may well be swayed quite easily by an older console – particularly if that console is bundled with a few games.
So the Wii U may have, quite possibly, driven sales across the whole console market, thanks to hype, pricing that was higher than it should have been, and extremely aggressive competition from Microsoft and Sony. Not a fact, once again, but an interesting thought none the less, and one that might indicate numerous
things about the future of consoles. The fact (and this is a fact) that catalogue titles are selling better, while day one sales are down, would support this shift, too. All this adds up to indicate that 2013 may be a very interesting year for console gaming.
Montgommery Paton
