Matt Casamassina's thoughts on Wii's wins and losses thus far.

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Oops! I did it again.

CAGiversary!
http://wii.ign.com/articles/739/739662p1.html

He explains each one in detail, but I'll paste the individual wins and losses here.

Win: The Media's Reaction to Wii

Loss: Inability to Demonstrate Vastly Superior FPS Controls

Win: Wii Makes Toys "R" Us Hot List

Loss: Nintendo's Inability to Get Press Early Wii Hardware; Magazines Miss Deadlines

Win: 1 Million Wii Systems at Launch; 4 Million through December

Loss: Decidedly Un-Mainstream $250 Price Tag and Expensive Controllers

Win: Wii Sports in the Bundle

Loss: One Month Out: Where the Eff is the Advertising?

Win: Wii Channels Concept and Interface

Loss: Keeping Zelda a Secret

Win: The Launch Lineup

Loss: One Final Gripe, But Why Wasn't this Included? (An audio optical out.)
Click to expand...

Worth a read.
 
Pretty good read, but I still don't understand the arguement for the controllers raising the price of the console to the point of it being almost as costly as the other systems. Granted the Wii-mote and Nunchuk combo is expensive, but if you were going to own a Wii and a PS3, and you knew you'd be having friends coming over to play, you'd buy controllers for PS3 as well... right?
 
I would disagree with:

Win: The Launch Lineup

And co-sign on:

Loss: One Month Out: Where the Eff is the Advertising?

Mainstream "gamers" (mothers / parents, girls, casual gamers, etc.) are a part of their target audience... and a lot of them don't even know what the Wii is.
 
Yeah, no ads for PS3 yet either, which is weird. Even that commercial that was posted earlier in the week was apparently a Canadian commercial. Nothing in the US.

Of course they started advertising the Wii in Japan, where the release date is two weeks later.
 
Some interesting points. If nothing else, it's refreshing to see an IGN channel honestly weigh pros and cons of their designated section.

The lack of hardware available to the press is a bit confusing. 33 days out from launch and they can't even play Wii Sports on their own?
 
I've got a few to add, most of which have been discussed elsewhere:

Loss (Small) - No component cable included.
Loss (Medium) - No DVD or CD playback.
Loss (Huge) - No online multiplayer at launch.
Loss (Ginormous) - I can't play it yet.
 
Very interesting read. As a magazine editor, I suspect "Nintendo's Inability to Get Press Early Wii Hardware; Magazines Miss Deadlines" stems from Matt's personal frustration (panic) at knowing readers will be holding him responsible for a slate of reviews on launch day and he won't be able to provide them.

I think you're not seeing consoles going out yet because Nintendo (and Sony) are still doing a lot of polishing. Not to the hardware, which had to be finalized some time ago, but to things like the online architecture and OS/interface. That's what much of the news has focused on lately (especially for Sony, whose online strategy seems roughly cobbled together indeed).

I am personally flabbergasted by the lack of advertising. There is absolutely no good explanation for why we haven't seen a commercial for the Wii or PS3 in the middle of "Lost" or "Heroes" or "Friday Night Lights." I did see a commercial for Brain Age, however. :roll:
 
The majority of Matt's complaints seem to be that Nintendo hasn't let him in on their secret. Also his "unmainstream $250 price tag" seems to be following the logic "I need three controllers and nunchuks at launch even though the same could be said about the other consoles and that's not a knock against them". As usual, IGN Wii has been pretty disappointing in their coverage. Apparently though, that isn't their fault though because Nintendo hasn't given them their toys.
 
I think the main thing is that Nintendo seemed to lead everyone to believe that the console would be cheap. Cheap enough so a non-gaming market could pass by the Wii on shelves and buy it on impulse because theyve seen/heard/read about it. Also, with Nintendo's focus on getting people to play together and the mentality that "every family member will have theyre own wiimote," $40 wiimote and $20 nunchuck is a fair price (for gamers) but a bit high for non-gamers.

Personally I thought the Wii would be $200 as it is now or $250 with an extra set of wiimote and nunchuck (or at least the wiimote). I also thought the remote would be $30 and nunchuck to be $10. Does that deter me from getting a Wii? Well, I stood in 30 degree weather for 3 hours just to preorder the thing, so i guess not. But will it deter your grandparents, sister, uncle, dentist, teacher, hobo-friend? Probably.
 
[quote name='Lan_Zer0']I think the main thing is that Nintendo seemed to lead everyone to believe that the console would be cheap. Cheap enough so a non-gaming market could pass by the Wii on shelves and buy it on impulse because theyve seen/heard/read about it. Also, with Nintendo's focus on getting people to play together and the mentality that "every family member will have theyre own wiimote," $40 wiimote and $20 nunchuck is a fair price (for gamers) but a bit high for non-gamers.

Personally I thought the Wii would be $200 as it is now or $250 with an extra set of wiimote and nunchuck (or at least the wiimote). I also thought the remote would be $30 and nunchuck to be $10. Does that deter me from getting a Wii? Well, I stood in 30 degree weather for 3 hours just to preorder the thing, so i guess not. But will it deter your grandparents, sister, uncle, dentist, teacher, hobo-friend? Probably.[/QUOTE]

You see, Nintendo never led anyone to believing the console would be cheap. They consistently said, "under $250." It was people on the internet who kept on saying $150-200. They also heard that from 3rd party developers. Nintendo NEVER said it would be that low, or led anyone to believe it would be. Perhaps they could have disspelled some of those rumors by announcing the price earlier, but that's not what we are talking about here.
 
I think $250 is a very mainstream price, especially when you consider how many people are willing to buy an iPod on impulse at that price point. They sell the things in fricking vending machines now, for God's sake.
 
I don't understand how $250 isn't mainstream? It is much cheaper than the competition, and it includes WiiSports.

Finally, Matt C. comes out of Nintendo's ass already...
 
[quote name='hufferstl']Finally, Matt C. comes out of Nintendo's ass already...[/QUOTE]

...and shoves his head firmly into his own ass.
 
A good, mostly fair article. I disagree about the pricepoint; yes $60 is $10 more than what's now the standard, but that's if you buy both the nunchuck AND a Wiimote. What people don't factor in is that most multiplayer games probably won't use the nunchuck at all. Hell, we already know that Wii-Sports doesn't use it.

I honestly don't plan on using standard multiplayer, so $60 controllers never bothered me. Never mind the fact that most of the launch titles only support the Wii-Mote & are only 2-player.
 
[quote name='guessed']I've got a few to add, most of which have been discussed elsewhere:

Loss (Small) - No component cable included.
Loss (Medium) - No DVD or CD playback.
Loss (Huge) - No online multiplayer at launch.
Loss (Ginormous) - I can't play it yet.
[/QUOTE]

The 360 core doesnt come with component either, its not a big deal if the majority of the audience cant use those cables. So Nintendo would either have to include two sets of cables or force the larger part of their audience to buy composite. I know its a small loss for HD fans, but arent they already used to paying for their extra quality?

As for the DVD or CD playback, I too was annoyed until it was pointed out that players are under $50 these days. I would rather wear out a DVD palyer than the Wii if I watch a lot of movies. I of course expect Nintendo to maintain their current high quality standards, but moving parts do wear out. I dont think the combined DVD VHS players (or the iMac) are a good deal for the same reason...

I'm with you on the Online Multiplayer, but I understand that Xbox Live didnt launch with the Xbox either. Nintendo is wisely keeping it held back until they can launch it right.

As for not being able to play it yet... Well lets hope some stores cant read launch dates and start leaking them early on the 30th.
 
[quote name='iufoltzie']The 360 core doesnt come with component either, its not a big deal if the majority of the audience cant use those cables.[/quote]
I guess I would disagree with that. A TV need not be HD to take advantage of Progressive Scan (480p). Most decent sized / featured TVs sold in the last 8 years or so have component inputs.

HD penetration isn't very deep yet; component is.
 
Loss: Nintendo's Inability to Get Press Early Wii Hardware; Magazines Miss Deadlines
Click to expand...

Nintendo is indeed loosing out on some free PR for the SMARCH issues of the gaming magazines, but in all honesty arent the readers of those magazines either already sold on the Wii concept or going to need to demo the system in person before they make the jump? Heck I thought I just read here on CAG that OPM just got to see a PS3 and that Sony took it back at the end of the day and would deliver their demo systems soon.

Loss: Decidedly Un-Mainstream $250 Price Tag and Expensive Controllers
Click to expand...

As already pointed out on this thread, the iPod Video now sells for this price and it is most definitely mainstream. I would love a cheaper system, but dont doubt for a second that Nintendo doesnt have a stack of marketing data showing $250 as acceptable to enough people to sell out the first several batches of the Wii. Sony is also sitting on this data for the PS3, even at $700 those units are going to stay sold out until well after Christmas.

Loss: One Month Out: Where the Eff is the Advertising?
Click to expand...

I waver back and forth on this... But they could start their ad blitz the same weekend of launch and still capture plenty of attention for parents in time for Black Friday. Apple doesnt start advertising products until they launch and seem to do fine with their iPod lines.

Loss: Keeping Zelda a Secret
Click to expand...

The change of Wii controls has probably led to some serious new testing before going Gold. But if you dont have a the demo unit, you couldnt play it anyway. Heck, Nintendo has Matt salivating on two demo levels. If it aint broke...

This sounds like a trashing of Matt, but I just dont think he thinks about things from a business perspective. Several of his Losses can be HUGE Wins for Nitnendo.
 
[quote name='daroga']I guess I would disagree with that. A TV need not be HD to take advantage of Progressive Scan (480p). Most decent sized / featured TVs sold in the last 8 years or so have component inputs.

HD penetration isn't very deep yet; component is.[/QUOTE]

I'm welcome to be corrected, but I dont recall seeing component TVs at Wal-Mart or Target until the last or maybe last two Christmas seasons. I loathe to admit it, but my 27inch TV is 8 years old and S-Video wasnt even included.
 
My problem is that TVs last too long. I have a 32" Toshiba that is at least 10 years old. It has S-video, but that's it. I want an HD set, but there is way too much confusion right now(at least to me), and I am fine with waiting a while longer.

Also, prices just keep coming down, so every three months I wait, the better set I can get...
 
[quote name='iufoltzie']The 360 core doesnt come with component either, its not a big deal if the majority of the audience cant use those cables. So Nintendo would either have to include two sets of cables or force the larger part of their audience to buy composite. I know its a small loss for HD fans, but arent they already used to paying for their extra quality?

As for the DVD or CD playback, I too was annoyed until it was pointed out that players are under $50 these days. I would rather wear out a DVD palyer than the Wii if I watch a lot of movies. I of course expect Nintendo to maintain their current high quality standards, but moving parts do wear out. I dont think the combined DVD VHS players (or the iMac) are a good deal for the same reason...

I'm with you on the Online Multiplayer, but I understand that Xbox Live didnt launch with the Xbox either. Nintendo is wisely keeping it held back until they can launch it right.

As for not being able to play it yet... Well lets hope some stores cant read launch dates and start leaking them early on the 30th.[/quote]
I didn't expect it to come with component, but it seems many people are upset by the fact that it doesn't. Hopefully the US price for the cable will be in line with the Japanese price.

The lack of DVD playback, while seemingly minor, is, well, ok, it is minor. No one was going to use this as their main DVD player, but the more of that type of functionality they throw in there, the easier it is for a non-gamer to justify the purchase price. It is more of a perceived loss than an actual loss. Still, it would have been nice for trips to be able to pack it up and know that it could handle all your entertainment needs.

The thing about online multiplayer is that there are so many cross-platform games, that have online multiplayer on other systems, coming to the Wii. COD3, Madden, Marvel:UA, etc. If it were a straight choice between the graphics of the 360 and the new control mechanics of the Wii, the Wii would stand a fighting chance, but add online multiplayer to the 360 camp (or take it away from the Wii camp, if you prefer), and the Wii version becomes a much tougher sell. When the third parties see the Wii versions of their games do poorly compared to the other ports, there is a chance that they will slow down support for the system. There has been discussion that online multiplayer could be added to some of the launch titles later on via a download, but, even if that happens, it will be too late to significantly boost the sales of those titles.

Some stores might sell early, but not EB, where I have my pre-order. I'll at least be able to try the Wii out at the kiosks pretty soon, though.


[quote name='-Never4ever-']A good, mostly fair article. I disagree about the pricepoint; yes $60 is $10 more than what's now the standard, but that's if you buy both the nunchuck AND a Wiimote. What people don't factor in is that most multiplayer games probably won't use the nunchuck at all. Hell, we already know that Wii-Sports doesn't use it.

I honestly don't plan on using standard multiplayer, so $60 controllers never bothered me. Never mind the fact that most of the launch titles only support the Wii-Mote & are only 2-player.[/quote]
Doesn't Wii-sports boxing use the nunchuck and Wiimote?
 
[quote name='guessed'] Doesn't Wii-sports boxing use the nunchuck and Wiimote?[/QUOTE]

Yes, its only two players max so you'll need at least one extra nunchuck.
 
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