How long do you think Nintendo has been thinking about the Wii U? 4 years? 5? More like since they began development on the DS. In fact, its an idea that organically could be created from the DS and existing technology. Now think about the Wii's consideration of making a console in HD. During the time of the Wii's development it was an obvious choice to make an HD console, all their competitors were doing it...then why didn't they do it? Cause they're f'ing money making geniuses.
Nintendo understood Sony and Microsoft's plans to make consoles that doubled the typical console lifespan (from 5yrs to 10yrs). For Sony and Microsoft it made sense because the cost of production would slowly decrease while consumption would slowly increase, making a longterm plan for steady profit. Nintendo had to clearly see this plan and decide to cut it in half in an attempt to outsell their competitors. Instead of making an HD console at high cost and waiting for longterm profits, i.e. the profits that Sony is only NOW beginning to see, they decided to hold off on an HD console until it was definitely profitable to produce, once again, RIGHT NOW. So basically what Nintendo did for the Wii was use technology from the last generation (GameCube) to produce a system with an innovative peripheral (Wiimote), which lets be honest, has been in development since Duckhunt, and they created a system that was at a very low cost to produce. Meanwhile, Microsoft and Sony put a lot of money into current gen technology and basically had to sit on their hands waiting for profits. Meanwhile Nintendo saw profits immediately as they marketed an "innovative" and inexpensive console for the whole family.
And now Nintendo is doing it again, introducing technology from the generation of 5 years ago with a new peripheral. But this time its gonna really hurt Sony and Microsoft. Because chances are, Nintendo is still going to develop at a 5 year cycle, and Sony and Microsoft are probably still dedicated to their initial 10 year lifecycle plan. How could they not? PC games are basically using the cutting edge of processing and graphics power nowadays and they're not significantly different from the current generation. So Microsoft and Sony don't really have anywhere dramatic to go as far as the next generation goes. And even if they did, they'd be in the same situation as 5 years ago: they'd be pouring money into cutting edge technologies and would be forced to sit around and wait 5 years for significant profits. At which time Nintendo jumps in again taking advantage of that generation's technology but with a different peripheral! Can Nintendo be stopped?
Log in to comment