System Sellers - Fact or fiction?

Games Fiends follows up yesterdays open discussion about system sellers with todays article on the subject.

They say:

"“System seller”. It’s a phrase we’ve all heard. It’s a phrase I’ve used scores of time when writing about new consoles. System Seller is often bandied about during the lead up to a consoles release or in the following months after until said console is deemed to be established. But what exactly are we talking about? Is there such a mythical beastie and if so how does one quantify one? Also, should we really care?"

[DivineAssault]

I miss pack in system sellers w consoles.. These days its rare for a system seller to launch with a console let alone a pack in..When i have to cough up extra money for a good game, it starts to get really expensive..

Vita set me back around $400 for the system, a decent memory card, & a game.. Wii U will eventually set me back around $500 the day i get it having to buy the console, HDD, a game, a headset, & a pro controller.. Same goes for when Orbis drops & that sh*t hurts.. Even worse if there arent any system sellers to buy & having to settle for something that isnt exclusive or thats mediocre.. I remember geting a N64 & not having enough money for a game (only 2 to choose from at launch lol) but when i got mario 64, it was pure bliss

[admiralvic]

I honestly don't see whats to debate here. With the exception of the PS3 (which was at the time the cheapest / one of the cheapest bluray players), you would be a complete moron to buy a system just in hopes down the road good games would come. I mean, look at the 3DS. Pokemon is certainly a system seller, but it's already got a huge price drop without a new Pokemon releasing for the 3DS. Realistically, I would feel stupid if I didn't wait for the game I wanted to come out. Hence why the concept exists in the first place.

[tweet75]

all the way back to the NES days without a doubt the system would not have been as huge as it was without super mario brothers. Super mario was the system seller That opened the window for zelda metroid etc in the next few years. With out super mario the system might have been dead before those franchises came to be .

[jmc8888]

I know, it's funny he didn't mention Super Mario Bros.

It's stupid he said, Wii Sports was a fluke. Ummm...did it get people to buy the system? Yeah.

But he also errors in his logic that, there can only be one, and that everyone has to agree it's the same one.

The thing is, for each console, whether it's a packed in game, whether it's at launch or later, it's irrelevant, each person can view a game as a system seller.

You see it all the time, oh I'll wait until Zelda comes out someone says....well then....Zelda to HIM is THE system seller. Or Halo 3. Whatever it is, I've read hundreds of people's messages over the years where people say when X game comes out, that's when they'll buy.

So the whole premise of the article is flawed to the extreme.

Whatever game gets you to buy the system, is a system seller to you. It's not like everybody that buys a system, buys it at launch.

Those that did usually buy it, because either a game packed in or a game they could buy with it, got them to buy it.

So the author created a false, limited premise, recreated the universe to fit his viewpoint, and then deduced he was correct.

[TheDivine]

Hell yea it exists. I bought (my parents bought) a n64 after playing Mario 64 in Toys R Us. I got a ps2 after seeing Gta3. Got a gamecube after seeing Metroid Prime/Wind Waker. Got a 360 after seeing Gears and Bioshock. Got a ps3 for Mgs4 and Demons Souls. Got a wii again for Xenoblade and The Last Story. Got a 3ds for RE Revelations. Got a Vita for Uncharted. Got a psp for Crisis Core and Portable Ops. Il get a Wii-u for whatever amazing game it gets. Most likely Metroid, Bayonetta 2, or a new Mistwalker or Xeno game. Im the type to say F it and grab a system for one game if its good enough. Every system winds up having at least 4 to 5 must play games. I might wait till its cheaper but il def get it eventually.

[moosehound]

But you, like me, are in the minority here I think. Most "Joe public" consumers will not be straight on to a system for launch. :)

You kind of summarise the point of the article in the last part of your post "Every system winds up having at least 4 to 5 must play games. I might wait till its cheaper but il def get it eventually."

At some point the build-up of great games, mixed with a lowering price point makes a sale to the larger buying public :)