Nintendo claimed that it would have “5 to 10 times” as many Wii units for launch as compared to Sony’s measly 400,000 PlayStation 3s released in North American stores on Friday. But most stores quickly sold out regardless. Nintendo is making a gutsy move by releasing the Wii just two days after the PlayStation (why on a Sunday of all days?). The gaming console isn’t trying to compete on a technical level (i.e. game graphics, etc.). Instead, Nintendo is hoping to convert non-gamers
with “intuitive game play.” The controller it comes with is a wireless, motion-sensitive
wand-like device that gamers wave around in the air perhaps as a sword, gun, steering wheel, tennis
racket, or whatever a particular game calls for.
The price is another way Nintendo hopes to draw in would-be gamers. Only game fanatics are willing to pay the outrageous price of the Sony PlaySation 3, which sells for
$600 with no game. The Wii costs only $250 and includes one game.
John Broady from GameSpot.com says the following about Nintendo’s strategy: “They obviously are
confident that they can go head-to-head with Sony…It was a very, very gutsy move. The big question is, when you get past this set of
people who are really into games, how deep does this buzz go in the
general population? I think everybody in America
yesterday knew that the PlayStation 3 was launching and knew what it
was. In most homes around the country, I think most people wouldn’t
know what a Nintendo Wii was at this particular moment.”
