MS: people buying Wii's for novelty value, not for the games

[Zeus]

Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, suggested in a recent interview that Wii owners are "going to want to graduate to an Xbox 360 experience" in the future. Greenberg also seemed to question the longevity of the Wii saying "They're buying it, it's like something they break out when people come over, and it's maybe a fun thing, but it's almost like the same people that buy a karaoke machine, you know? They're not really buying it for games, they're just buying it as a novelty."


When asked about Nintendo's de-emphasizing of hardware power with the Wii, with Gamasutra's interviewer suggesting that "...if they keep going down this path, they don't really need to make a Wii 2", Microsoft's Greenberg pointedly suggested:

"Everyone says that eventually the novelty will wear off, right? I think that a lot of the people that are buying that console today are not people that have generally bought consoles in the past, right?

You see they're not buying games on it, right? They're buying it, it's like something they break out when people come over, and it's maybe a fun thing, but it's almost like the same people that buy a karaoke machine, you know? They're not really buying it for games, they're just buying it as a novelty."


News Source: <a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=19266" target=_blank">.gamasutra.com</a>

[DaFireStarter]

I couldn't agree anymore with you...

[Aeond]

he is absolutely right.

[mannyman789]

Wow, thats about the truest(wtf thats a word) thing that anyone has said about the wii so far.

[agantai]

FU<K OFF,we use our Wii twice everyday while we only use the xbox360 once every 1 or 2 weeks because games for it are simply shite.

i'm sure he meant Wii owners downgrading to xbox360's senseless BOOM HEADSHOT experience.

[NexusBurst]

if this was microsoft's view why would they be intent on a rumored wiimote style device? there's a wider audience that actively plays the wii every day, as much as the rest of us use our 360s and PS3s.

tbh i dont want a game 80% based on a motion controller. i prefer hideo's vision of the sixaxis, shake it to remove camo and use it in one fight.

[ShadyGT]

going to want to graduate to an Xbox 360 experience
no its a PS3 and not a 360

[switchg3ar]

In the end it doesn't matter what they are buying them for, they are still selling like crazy. I love how MS bashes others. It doesn't matter which side is doing it, MS, Sony or Nintendo they all cut each other up.

If they are looking for more customer because wii is stealing their thunder (or the economy which is more likely), I suggest a bigger price cut. I used to consider myself a hardcore gamer buying the latest HW playing all the time. Decking out my computer sli 280's, kw power supplies, liquid cooling 4 rads, 8 Gbs of ram the typical stuff. There is something about the wii, maybe the games are simplify stupid that they are fun.

[silentb0b]

wii is a kids toy, get over it.

[switchg3ar]

wii is a kids toy, get over it.

Maybe, but in all fairness I have seen a lot of kids playing all three consoles. It's just simply fanboyism, everyone should take it with a grain of salt.

[agantai]

wii is a kids toy, get over it.

a clever one that is the complete opposite to the xbox360 kid.:p

[Turbojugend]

........Looks over at his wii collecting dust. Yep.

[Claxiux]

I've started to use my wii much more since SSBB

[lc204]

The wii has too much crappy games in its library so no wonder its just a gimmick.

[pangbulle]

Boom Blox is brilliant, but unfortunately the only good wii game so far that makes real use of the motion sensing stuff. All the other games either do not use the motion stuff or could be played just as well or better with traditional controls.

[KillFelix]

no its a PS3 and not a 360

Thats what I was thinking. Cut out the middle-man lol:rolleyes:

[iLLNESS]

i agree. most with wiis would too.

there is so much trash for the wii no one buys it for the quality of games they buy it because of hearing how fun it is. wii is fun, but for how long?
the only game i play on it now are mario kart and zak and wiki.

he really couldnt be more right. the comparison to a karaoke though is a little far fetched. i dont see why people say this is bashing, he doesnt say how horrible the wii games are (like sony says about everything but ps3) just that the wii is a novelty thing. wii now is basically like a satelite dish was in the 80s

[wiggim]

thats what I buy everything electronic for... if it don't have a novelty its not really useful. like an electric bike for example -- wait, that actually HAS a very valid use with $1.46/L gas prices..

[EliteStance]

What an idiot.

You compare a console to a karaoke machine when you are looking to launch a game for your console that does make it a karaoke machine.

You insult the millions of purchasers you need to buy your console if its to have any chance of really big sales.

You ignore the fact this karaoke machine, kids toy, whatever has sold more in 12 months than your console sold in over two years and many of its games (wow it does have them) sell more than your console's games.

Nice going, dude. Hope second place heading for third place doesn't suck too much.

[crono]

He's wrong!!! How do i know?? well i have a wii and i bought it for the games.
Super paper mario and metriod i knew i wanted the wii for that and later on even mario galaxy and some other games.Could those games be played on other console's whitout the wiimote,ofcourse wy not,is the wii the best console there is?? no i think its even the worst out in this generation,but i still get it for the games i love!!!

[Mithos]

Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, suggested in a recent interview that Wii owners are "going to want to graduate to an Xbox 360 experience" in the future.

Probably, maybe true, but they won't get Xbox360 or PS3, they will buy the WiiHD/Wii2 or whatever Nintendo release when THEY decide HD-gaming is gonna start ;P

[GT-RRR]

MS: people buying Wii's for novelty value, not for the games.
Well yes, that's what a PS3 is for!

[wkndplaya]

somewhere in the back of there minds they're thinking " FUCKING STOP BUYING IT JUST STOP PLEEEEEASSSSSEE STOP...." but we won't XD.

[switchg3ar]

I love the comments who's next?

[panyan1991]

........Looks over at his wii collecting dust. Yep.

mine too, not even mario kart is a match for cod4/gta4/turok/ut3/bad company,the list goes on and on.......

[EL_CAD]

wii is a kids toy, get over it.
All video games are kids toys, get over it. Grow up and build your own PC.

Sound like the MS guys has some serious sour grapes. Like people are blowing $250 when we have record gas price, record food prices, and record unemployment. This guy could not be more out of touch.

We have more games for our Wii then anyone we know with a PS3 or 360. 10 regular games, 2 WiiWare and 10 VC so far. That's quite a lot of games for just owning the Wii for 16 months, considering that we only have like 20 games each for the PS2 and cube.


The sales charts prove this guy is full of it. Aaron Greenberg should be doing his job and not making excuses.

Here's last weeks sales to show you how wrong Greenboy is:
Worldwide Top 5, 28th Jun 2008
1 Wii Super Smash Bros Brawl 477,134
2 Wii Wii Sports 454,272
3 360 Battlefield: Bad Company 332,108
4 Wii Wii Fit 273,475
5 DS Guitar Hero: On Tour 208,027

The Wii has 3 out of the 5 and the 360 has only one. It looks like his excuse is full of bitter fail.

[Jar Jar Insano]

agreed, a lot of my friends have it but i dont hear much from them in terms of "wow, was playin *insert game time here* last night on the wii and this and this happened, or is the sickest game ever". they have it, it was all the hype for a few weeks with wii sports and zelda and then it sits on the side collecting dust as the 360 and ps3 rack in the hours.

[Robotron]

Why do websites run this crap?
Seriously do you expect an MS employee to say anything else? Is a Ford employee going to praise a Chevy? Is a Pepsi employee going to talk about Cokes great taste? It's only more food for the fanboys and trolls.

A company that spends so much time talking about other companies is scared and worried.
This tool from MS should be ignored since all he ever regurgitates is this crap.

[QuimbyDogg]

I will never understand fanboism. Obviously it is to be expected from a spokes person for X company but from a consumer it just makes no sense.

The PS3, 360, and Wii are all pretty different. The only thing they have in common is they play games. I suppose fanboism made more sense when that was the ONLY function that consoles could do (SNES v Genesis).

When I have a few friends over who want to game together, or I want to play a game with the gf, or just kinda relax and do something different I power up my wii.

When I want to experience really good online play but by myself I power up my 360, or if I want to see something look really really sexy on my hd tv.

Different systems for different things... the gamer who ends up being a fanboy of one company is the gamer who misses out on a lot of fun for no real reason.

I regularly use my PSP and DS. I still have my old school nintendo, sony, and sega consoles which get game play from time to time even against my current gen systems.

[InsanityHarp]

Probably, maybe true, but they won't get Xbox360 or PS3, they will buy the WiiHD/Wii2 or whatever Nintendo release when THEY decide HD-gaming is gonna start ;P

Yeah, like when they decide to enter "the next generation" with Wii... what a jump from Gamecube don't you think? :rolleyes:

lol

Really, who cares about this? is so true that most of the time, only Nintendo make money with their consoles, that's why a lot of third parties don't like Wii. On the other side, I disagree with that "wii is just novelty" because there are some nice games, but it's true that most of them just don't use the wiimote and they are 90% from Nintendo. Good job Nintendo, keep creating games that don't really need to use the most important point on your own console.

Hell yeah, Mario, you are the only one that keep selling like water.

And from the guy that says "why MS is copying the wiimote if so?", that is just a matter of market target. Nintendo is winning because for some reason, a lot of people like games so casual like wii with the use of a motion sensitive controller that now MS becomes interested to know how will be on a 360.

Simple as that...

[InsanityHarp]

I will never understand fanboism. Obviously it is to be expected from a spokes person for X company but from a consumer it just makes no sense.

The PS3, 360, and Wii are all pretty different. The only thing they have in common is they play games. I suppose fanboism made more sense when that was the ONLY function that consoles could do (SNES v Genesis).

When I have a few friends over who want to game together, or I want to play a game with the gf, or just kinda relax and do something different I power up my wii.

When I want to experience really good online play but by myself I power up my 360, or if I want to see something look really really sexy on my hd tv.

Different systems for different things... the gamer who ends up being a fanboy of one company is the gamer who misses out on a lot of fun for no real reason.

I regularly use my PSP and DS. I still have my old school nintendo, sony, and sega consoles which get game play from time to time even against my current gen systems.

Oh my, someone here it's thinking right... world is not so doomed after all.
Couldn't agree more with you, fanboism is for people that could not decide what is good by themselves, close their eyes and give a 101% of confidence on one company. It's like becoming blind at a gunshot party. :cool:

[souledge77]

because people don't buy games because they are fun anymore... fun like karaoke... fun with friends....
Hell i love my 360 but thats such a n00b thing to say.
Lets face it the entertainment industry is flipped on its head.

[powasam5000]

i love how losers will say anything to save face. AND i own a 360:p

[hoky]

Dude keeps forgetting that he keeps mentioning the main point of console and companies. To make money. I bet you Nintendo doesn't give a **** what Sony and Microsoft execs say about how much of a fad or passing novelty the Wii is cause as the dude keeps saying is IT"S SELLING!!!!

and that's the bottom line and all that matters.

[dOOmy]

........Looks over at his 360 collecting dust. Nope.




_______________________________________________

On Imortality;

"What are you going to do, Eat at Wendy's three times a day and play with your **** until the end of time? -George Carlin

[*StoneCold*]

The wii has been selling more software every month worldwide since christmas!

So hes full of crap.

[Ninjaman]

In the end it doesn't matter what they are buying them for, they are still selling like crazy. I love how MS bashes others. It doesn't matter which side is doing it, MS, Sony or Nintendo they all cut each other up.


Exactly....here Microsoft is trying to make an excuse as to why people buy the Wii and that eventually it'll die.
Why is Microsoft even talking about the Nintendo Wii?...why not just focus on the Xbox360 and games for it.
Why does Microsoft emphasize the Nintendo Wii so much?...considering the Xbox360 with high definition gaming and superior hardware specs....you should be on top....stomping the competition like Mario on a goomba.
But that is the problem....the Wii just outsells xbox360. Here I am an xbox360 owner and I don't even own a Nintendo Wii.
Looks like I may have to get one.

[panzival]

Basically. Glad I got mine for free. Rented both Top Spin 3 and SSBM and played each for about 30 minutes of my full week rental before returning them.

[lenitao]

and this is how MS admits that all they are is losers!!

[taiki]

wii is a kids toy, get over it.

So is a 360.

You can atleast load Linux and Folding@Home on a PS3.

How many 360s have you seen in use for research purposes?

[gonepostl]

I don't know if I'm pissed at him cause he's wrong or he's right

[jolin4eva]

So is a 360.

You can atleast load Linux and Folding@Home on a PS3.

How many 360s have you seen in use for research purposes?

nice1

I will only get a 360 for DOA thats if I still can get the whole series of DOA on xbox

Wii and ps3 is still top of my list

[GazP]

People are buying the Wii for the games. Wii fit, Smash Bros, Mario Kart are selling very well. A lot of the people I know who own Wiis aren't your normal gamers. Most haven't owned a console before.

These people at big companies need to think before they make random statements.

[DEDDOA]

Sadly my own Wii has seen no use by me since november last year (i lent it to a friend around then and havn't taken itout of the box since he gave me it back in february), the missus' one tho has seen some use since i bought her Wii fit, but thats about it. Shame really as it has plenty of potential but nintendo can't quite seem to get it right outside off novelty gadgets and maybe a couple of games.