Nintendo: Wii has really long legs, PS3 doesn't have a lifespan yet

Nintendo's vice president of sales and marketing Perrin Kaplan was recently asked by Wired whether she views the Wii as having a shorter lifespan than the PS3 or Xbox 360 - Kaplan took the easy route and replied by saying she didn't know whether the PS3 has a lifespan yet. Kaplan also insisted the Wii has 'really long legs' and we're just at the beginning of what should be a long life-cycle.

[CyberSentinel]

Your bubble will burst. The next gen war will be fought between M$ and Sony.

Nintendo isn't even in the same league as us.

It's a "children's toy", nothing more. Much the same as a V*smiles.

http://www.vsmileshop.com/i...

That's not to say theirs anything wrong with targeting that segment of consumers, just that it puts you into another sales category.

@1.1: The only good thing about the Nintendo Wii, is the fact that it has replenished Nintendo's vault, and therefore guarantees they will be in the next console race. (I love Nintendo, I really do.) I was worried that they might not of been able to do that on the strength of the Gameboy sales alone. I was concerned there might be some trepidation to re-enter the console market again if the Wii failed.

I'm glad its doing well, (I really am, heck, I own a Wii) but I don't feel it belongs in the Next Generation category.

[Phuck Sony BS3]

Ok, let's take a look at the Wii....,

1.) Surpassing the 360 and PS3,
2.) Making a profit from Launch
3.) Hardly no games (Except 1st party) and still selling worldwide.
4.) No 1080p, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, or DVD playback
5.) No Nex-Gen nothing!!
6.) Laughing at MS & Sony, drinking Congac and smoking fat cigars in Board meetings.

7.)AND IT'S STILL HARD AS HELL TO FIND!!!!

That's one Hellified "Children's Toy"!!

Sorry son, give credit where credit is due. Nobody can say anything about Nintendo, nobody!!

[unsunghero28]

Is that the second the Wii's sales get a little dull Nintendo will make a new, HD SKU (kind of like the DS -> DS lite evolution) and then it will once again transcend into sold-out-iness.

[Cpt Qwark]

How about the other way around

[TheWiseguy]

If you're casual.

[WilliamRLBaker]

its a pretty great kids toy for selling what 11.5 m so far?

and for casuals? thats a good thing casuals make up 80% of the gaming market.

[Ju]

Well, hopefully the Wii has longer legs then her career there. She's leaving Nintendo by December...so, she must be pretty convinced about this.

That's like my prev. manager saying "Don't use this as a jump gate."...a couple of month later he was gone...

[TheExodus]

The article states that Nintendo's marketing division is moving from "her native Seattle" to the San Francisco Bay Area in December. Now I took that to mean that she has chosen not to relocate, but I can see how it may have misinterpreted as "she's bailing before the bubble bursts" through hazy fanboy goggles. I know it's nearly a year after launch & retailers are still refusing to carry the Wii which is why you can't find them at retail, at least I think that's why. Could be wrong though!

[mistertwoturbo]

yeah the wii has a pretty long lifecycle once they introduce a 720p version. pretty much also screwing the 20 million plus wii owners in the process.

[unsunghero28]

Screwing them.

Early adopters on ANY console pay more for less features. That's the case with PS3 (60GB $600?), the 360 (20GB $400?) and, yes, if there's an HD Wii it will be the case with the Wii.

Or they could add some kind of booster pack (remember that N64 one?) that's actually just an upscaler and anti-aliaser.

[Bigmac573]

quickly wearing out its welcome. People are getting tired of losing big exclusives like Monster Hunter and Dragon Quest to last gen consoles.

[unsunghero28]

You're mad at Nintendo for getting GOOD games?

Jesus, some people are never happy...

[Rooftrellen]

Actually, those exclusives you "lose" (you don't really lose them, you choose not to get them because you refuse to get a Wii) will be played in a truely next gen way by Wii owners, while 360 and PS3 owners play a last gen way.

You seem to think better graphics define next gen, when they don't. Well, maybe to you they do...next week starts gen 1,026, though, if that's the case.

[Darkiewonder]

Yes you broadened the market by putting out your Wii for everyone yet you say you have kept the core and casual audiences balanced. The only balance is bringing games we knew from the NES, SNES, N64, GC to the Wii. Everything else relies on 3rd party developers. Smart? Sure, because in the end you'll make money regardless even if people whine :3

[Bonsai1214]

have to disagree with his comment. there were a slew of articles a few days ago about how Wii was not a vision of the future for most developers.

i saw it as a fad the moment it came out. partially because of a small experience when i was waiting in line at a circuit city to see if they had 60gb ps3's available. this stuck up little 8 year old brat was like, "i need a wii so badly. its the greatest new console. have you seen red steel and wii sports?" and he kept on using his size to cut in front of all these larger people.

then from that moment, i knew, i hated wii.. lol

[unsunghero28]

On N4G. Which, let's face it, doesn't exactly swing the Ninty way.

Not sure if you noticed, but the last few days have also been peppered with great news for the Wii (Brawl previews and Monster Hunter).

[MikeGdaGod]

the Wii is a piece of sh!t console.

over then pass three weeks, i've had time to really get a feel for the system and besides the motion controls its nothing there. i've seen better graphics and and gameplay on my PSP. 95% of all the games are mini-game orientated and everything is aimed towards kids.

now, don't get me wrong. the games that are good are really really good. Metroid and Zelda were alot of fun to play. but other games are horribly done. playing Madden on the Wii was the worst gaming experience i've ever had in my life, and i had a Virtual Boy so that says alot.

i like to game late at night, and the last thing i wanna do is swing my arms around while i'm scummy. kinda blows my buzz, and not in a good way.

[forum_crawler]

I have yet to see anyone swinging their arms like that when playing wii. Only those who have don't own one and have never played one can make these claims about how they "don't want to be waiving their arms around."

Please people, don't speculate about how the wii plays. Go to a store and find out how to play the thing before you start knocking it.

[Bloodmask]

to see Nintendo back where they belong. In front. They made console gaming what it is today. Saved the market from dying after Atari was done.

That's the thing about Nintendo. Gaming is about playability and "fun". Everything else is second. There is a reason why Tetris is still around today. And it is gameplay.

[Imalwaysright]

This so called "next gen war" didnt even begun. Just look at the number of consoles sold in the current gen and the number of consoles sold in the last gen that btw isnt over yet so please someone just shut her mouth. She is talking sh*t right out of her ass

[Rooftrellen]

Sony didn't say this, Nintendo did.

The PS1 and PS2, the only two consoles to go back to back weakest by a company making consoles, is Sony.

Edit: Oops, replied to the wrong thing. This is meant to be to the post below. Sorry about that.

[cheatmaster28]

Yeah coming from the company who intentionally made the weakest console twice in a row.

(im sorry but someone had to say it)

[Observer]

Why would anyone want to ask a Nintendo executive about PS3's performance ? :s

[aiphanes]

The wii interface is weak, the online gamming is non existant...

PSN and xbox live are way better...The wii has last gen graphics and sound...there is no harddrive...to be truly next gen you have to have HD,harddrive and at least 5.1 surround sound and dvd playback...and headset support and a online system. The wii has non of this...

The only thing that will save the wii in mario galaxy and I hate to say ut, the wii ballance board...and a wii sports 2.

[Ashira]

You are wrong. Nintendo consoles have has 5.1 surround since the N64. I agree online is a very crucial part which Nintendo is missing, I agree that a hard drive may be necessary in the future but I don't agree on dvd playback. We all have dvd players, don't we? And they take so much less electricity than X360/PS3.

But what I find rather annoying is that Nintendo once again dodge two vital questions (and they dodge the question about why the delay on SSBB):
- Will there be a hard drive? It's ridiculous to compare a refrigerator to a hard disk and storage. What if you are on dial-up? Internet is expensive? And hey, if your refrigerator is full, you can always get a second one! As for storage... should we get another console? Now THAT is ridiculous!
- Developers' unease about the console. Once more they prattle on about it's the same for every system crap. No, it isn't. Developers are SPECIFICALLY uneasy for the REVOLUTION, THEIR system. Sheesh.
- They can't even give us a why as to why they delayed SSBB. Sheesh.

[bootsielon]

Last gen and minigames don't cut it for me. I do have the money, I don't hate Nintendo (I love Nintendo DS), I'm just repelled by the Wii.

Edit:

Who disagrees with facts and with what I like? I didn't state an opinion you morons.

[forum_crawler]

People are disagreeing with you because you seem to believe the wii has no full feature games ("Last gen and minigames don't cut it for me").

Zelda: TP, and RE4 are not minigames.

Also, if you want the best experience, why are you playing games on a console? I play my "next gen" games on my PC for best results.

PC > PS3, 360, Wii.

[Gahigiddy]

This is the way they fell before, and it will be the way they fall now.

F***ers set gaming back for a quick buck.

Sony made the industry what it was today. It would be a basement nerd market unless Sony swooped in and created the new 18-30 market which we see most game sales go to. Damn it Nintendo, just roll over and die. No one thinks you're cool.

[Vizion26]

One Sony executive said the PS3 should have been priced even higher (I know WTH!). Sony thought that that PS2 and PS1 gamers would blindly follow to the PS3 with the exceedingly high price point just because it has the word Playstation on it. Sony stole the motion sensing idea from Nintendo then denied it. Sony first ridicules motion sensing when Nintendo unveiled it then a month later Sony adds motion sensing to their six axis. Not only are they arrogant but they are liars and unorginal.

Oh, by the way, every corporation is trying to make a quick buck. That's the goal of big business. And Nintendo never fell, they have always made a profit, even for the N64 and Gamecube, unlike Sony and Microsoft which are losing billions on their "next gen" consoles.

But I guess it's inevitable to get arrogant when it has dominated for 10 years. But it looks like the Sony video game reign is over.

[Ashira]

The only problem is that all companies who grows big and mighty and leads the industry, heck in any area (just look at Microsoft!) gets arrogant and becomes a bully.
And Nintendo certainly didn't set gaming back. It's because they took it a step forward that they succeeded. When you're the underdog, you have to be clever and do something new to get back on top.
And Sony did not shape the market. They simply did what Nintendo was doing - they released consoles with more horsepower. Had Sony not existed, Nintendo would have shaped the market.

[forum_crawler]

"No one thinks you're cool."

I think Nintendo is cool. They always bring innovation to the gaming industry, and hopefully they always will. Just look at what they are doing with the "underpowered" hardware they are selling right now. They are proving that you don't need the most horsepower to be original, just like you don't need to be the tallest guy to be the best basketball player.

Just take a little time to think what Nintendo will come up with next when they release their full HD console.

[Vizion26]

Still laughing that the Wii has outsold 360 and PS3 combined for most of the year. And the Wii has totally destroyed 360 and PS3 in Japan. All the while people say the Wii is just a fad or gimmick and will die soon. HAHAHA funny. Some people are so irrational.

Anyone in here willing to bet me that the Wii will outsell the 360 and PS3 by a huge margin this Christmas season?

[bootsielon]

They sell through the roof for their first run and eventually they gather dust. You'd expect Metroid Prime 3, a sequel to one of the most popular nintendo franchises ever, to have sold a lot more than it did. That can only mean that Wii is not a game buyers console. Wii has sold to Nintendo fanboys (about 5 million), Zelda fans that aren't nintendo fanboys (like a million), and those lured by the low price or fad or both (the other half).

I find it funny how Ninty fanboys see the Wii as a sales juggernaut when it still has a long way to go to reach PS2 sales. And at the current pace, even if it started better than PS2, it wouldn't reach PS2 sales in the same timeframe. Nintendo would have to find ways to produce it faster (and somehow they can't with a last gen machine), and to keep interest in such fad.

[forum_crawler]

It only needs to sell more than the PS3 and 360 to prove its point. Horsepower is nothing if the content isn't there.

Think Tetris. Photorealism is never going to make the game any better, it will always be addictive because it is fun and simple.

[Maddens Raiders]

is a troll. He has clearly remade himself quicker than Shane from Haze. Look at his history and comments. It's either BS3 or maybe even thugbot187. This nonsense has to stop. Where are the MODS N4G??????