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Gamers Don't Know Their Own Consoles
deadmantyping writes "Ars Technica reports on a survey of 6,260 responses which indicates that only 40 percent of PS3 owners knew that their console included Bluray. Apparently a large portion of gamers aren't aware of the non-gaming capabilities of their systems. Ars speculates that this might help explain Nintendo's apparent dominance in the console market since their introduction of the Wii."
The mainstream isn't willing to pay over $300 for a game system. There's a price point at which people will consider buying, and Nintendo has set it. It is $250.
Add to that that the Wii has a novel set of controls to generate buzz, and you've got a runaway success.
That's why the 360 "core system" is coming down to $300. Microsoft finally gets it. They're serious about competing.
We hard-core gamers are a minority niche market. We're the only ones who care about all these "cool features." That shouldn't blind us to the fact that including all these features has been a marketing mistake. When the masses go to buy junior a 2nd-1/2 generation system for Christmas, it's going to be the Wii. It doesn't matter that the other two are 3rd gen. The Wii is cheap, it's small, and it lets poppa practice his golf swing.
The mass market is where consoles make money, not the niche. Installed base is everything. MS just figured this out when they set their new prices. We'll see how long it takes Sony.
There is no cause for snobbery towards those who don't know all the features of their Frankenstein box when all they wanted to buy was a game console. What we should be ridiculing them for is overpaying for what they believe is "just a game console."
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Toro