Sony Says Wii is Just "Impulse Purchase"

News Type: Event — Seeded on Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:38 PM EST

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Sony Computer Entertainment of America spokesperson Dave Karraker says Wii should not be directly compared to PS3. Interviewed by The New York Times today he said, "Wii could be considered an impulse buy more than anything else."

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Jason Coleman's Column, All of Newsvine
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9.1

{"commentId":504863,"authorDomain":"super-structure"}

Jason Coleman

A very short article, but so much to talk about. First of all, and only anecdotally, the only person I know who owns a PS3 said he bought it as an impulse buy (his exact words) where as everyone I know who has a Wii has had to literally camp out for one, myself included. If there's a place in the states that Sony is aware of that has some Wii's lying around waiting for people to just pick one up, they should be keeping it a secret because they'll sell out in a matter of minutes. The PS3? I'd be willing to bet there's a couple sitting at your nearest Best Buy right now, waiting for you to think long and hard about spending $500-600 for (unlike my friend, apparently).

Also, this gem:

Sony believes Wii is currently selling to casual gamers rather than committed gamers, who are likely to buy more games in the years ahead.

What does Sony not get? Nintendo turned a profit on the Wii console so they aren't entirely betting the farm on selling more games down the road (to recoup lost money on licensing fees, like Sony or Microsoft do). Also, of course Nintendo is marketing a system to the casual gamers. What Sony clearly doesn't get is just how huge an untapped market that is. Hardcore gamers are, by definition almost, a niche market. The casual gamers vastly outnumber them. That's why you can't find a Wii console hardly anywhere while the PS3 is sitting on the store shelf. Lastly, the most recent sales data I've seen is that the Wii has a much higher attach rate for games and peripherals than the PS3, kind of negating Sony's complaint anyway.

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4 votes

#1 - Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:46 PM EST

{"commentId":504884,"authorDomain":"stevencwatts"}

Steve Watts

He's got a point, in a negative way. Though I wouldn't call the Wii an "impulse purchase," per se, it's much easier to justify the purchase than the PS3. Why do they think the PS2 is still selling like gangbusters? It's cheap, so someone looking to blow a couple hundred bucks can do so without blinking. The PS3 is prohibitively expensive for a type of machine that most people still see as a toy, the Wii isn't.

So sure, Sony, the Wii is more of an impulse purchase; and that's precisely what's working against you.

{"commentId":504884,"threadId":"72575","contentId":"546295","authorDomain":"stevencwatts"}

4 votes

#2 - Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:57 PM EST

{"commentId":505090,"authorDomain":"stevencwatts"}

Steve Watts

I'd like to thank 1UP.com for pointing out delicious irony:

Then again, Sony's President of Worldwide Studios Phil Harrison said the same thing about Nintendo DS roughly 18 months ago, and that didn't exactly pan out.

"With the DS, it's fair to say that Nintendo stepped out of the technical race and went for a feature differentiation with the touch screen," Harrison says. "But I fear that it won't have a lasting impact beyond that of a gimmick - so the long-lasting appeal of the platform is at peril as a direct result of that."

Tasty.

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5 votes

#3 - Wed Jan 31, 2007 3:39 PM EST

{"commentId":505215,"authorDomain":"super-structure"}

Jason Coleman

Consumers love cool features. Who Knew?

Sony. That's who.

I'm fairly certain we've had this discussion before and I won't beat the dead horse that is my love-come-loathing of Sony Electronics. However, they continue to show nothing but disdain for both their customers as well as any other company that chooses to innovate. This goes way beyond their gaming division and has been a part of that company's culture for more than two decades now. I think it's no coincidence that the rise in consumer power which the new economy affords us is pacing as Sony's apparent decline. The early Playstation and to a point the PS2 helped to innovate and pick Sony up out of the dust for some time, but it's apparent they've chose to stay on a single track course and the lift garnered by their gaming division appears to be waning. That's not to say that Sony won't sell quite a few PS3s or games for it (it remains a great gaming platform and one of the cheapest Blu-Ray players on the market). However, Sony only continues to show that they simply do not understand what customers want and feel that they can dictate taste.

Of course, I did just recently buy a Sony Ericsson phone that I'm really happy with. Ironically (and I mean that given Sony's distaste for open platforms), it's relative ease with which I can get media on and off the phone that was a big selling point.

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1 vote

#3.1 - Wed Jan 31, 2007 4:39 PM EST

{"commentId":505621,"authorDomain":"faruk"}

Faruk Ates

Of course, I did just recently buy a Sony Ericsson phone that I'm really happy with.

You are? I have an SE via work but I can't wait to throw this thing away and buy an iPhone once it's available. I just am not impressed with SE phones at all, really, and I already wasn't before the iPhone was announced.

Imagine my disdain for it, now :-)

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#3.2 - Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:14 PM EST

{"commentId":506448,"authorDomain":"super-structure"}

Jason Coleman

I previously had a vTech clamshell. I can assure you, the S-E phone is light-years better. I'm excited about the iPhone, but I don't plan to purchase one anytime soon. My wife loves the idea of replacing her Motorola phone, iPod nano, and Palm. However, the closed platform is a deal-killer for her, so unless they allow third-party apps to be installed, she's not getting on either.

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#3.3 - Thu Feb 1, 2007 10:15 AM EST

{"commentId":506139,"authorDomain":"zerok"}

Horst Gutmann

At least it is possible to see the Wii as an impulse purchase thanks to its price point. I don't see anything negative about this.

On the other hand:

Sony believes Wii is currently selling to casual gamers rather than committed gamers, who are likely to buy more games in the years ahead.

They definitely have a point there. Nintendo really has to show people that they can keep a console living not only by their own titles but also by support 3rd parties enough to make the platform interesting in the long run. People who bought the Gamecube on day 1 definitely don't want to see that same tragic story over and over again, right?

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#4 - Thu Feb 1, 2007 5:17 AM EST

{"commentId":506260,"authorDomain":"stevencwatts"}

Steve Watts

Agreed, in a way, Horst. The casual gamer who buys a Wii because they see their nephew enjoying Wii Sports is likely to buy a couple of games per year and be happy with that. This would skew their attach rate statistics (which for the moment are very high), similar to how the PSP system's sales aren't doing bad but the game sales are very poor in comparison.

On the other hand, the casual games market is much bigger, and untapped at that, so we can logically expect statistics to turn out differently than they have in the past. If Nintendo develops an install base higher than its competitors, profiting on every system, but doesn't sell too much software, I don't think they'll be crying in their stacks of money. Sony (and Microsoft) need heavy software sales, and Nintendo can do just fine without it.

Nintendo sold about 20 million Gamecubes worldwide in the years of its release. In two months, the Wii has reached over a fifth of that, and they're making money on every system sold.

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1 vote

#4.1 - Thu Feb 1, 2007 8:17 AM EST

{"commentId":506270,"authorDomain":"stevencwatts"}

Steve Watts

CRAP, post hasted.

Relating to third parties, yes, Nintendo needs their support. It would be a shame to see another lack of really good killer apps. But sales drive everything, and third-parties go where the money leads. Square couldn't commit their next Dragon Quest to the Playstation 3 because it won't have a large enough install base to recoup costs, so they took it to the biggest thing in Japan: the DS. The 360 and PS3 both are losing a lot of so-called exclusive titles to recoup money with ports.

Meanwhile, the Wii is growing its install base quickly with quite a bit of momentum. If they match or surpass the 360 in sales, even if temporarily, it will be impossible for developers to ignore it, and it will be appealing due to the likelihood of a return on their devcosts, since development is cheap. Then, theoretically, they get killer apps, which drives more system sales, which drives more development.

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1 vote

#4.2 - Thu Feb 1, 2007 8:23 AM EST

{"commentId":506463,"authorDomain":"super-structure"}

Jason Coleman

If Nintendo develops an install base higher than its competitors, profiting on every system, but doesn't sell too much software, I don't think they'll be crying in their stacks of money. Sony (and Microsoft) need heavy software sales, and Nintendo can do just fine without it.

I think that really just needs to be highlighted. I was trying to make the same point, but Steve did so more succinctly. What percentage of the population are hardcore gamers and how many games do they buy? What percentage of the population are casual gamers and how many games do they buy? Nintendo seems confident that the latter multiplies out to be a larger number and I can only say that it makes perfect sense. Gaming is, so far, a huge industry that has relegated itself to a relatively small niche. What Nintendo has done is opened it up to a much larger audience. When you make money on every item you're selling (console, controllers, games, third-party licenses), expanding to a larger market is such a overwhelmingly obvious to do we should all be asking ourselves: how come Microsoft or Sony didn't do this first?

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#4.3 - Thu Feb 1, 2007 10:22 AM EST

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JASON COLEMAN

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Sony Says Wii is Just "Impulse Purchase"

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