[SSGoku]

I've owned every Nintendo console since the NES (except handhelds). I'll definitely be getting the Wii.
As for Japan's market, I really do believe Nintendo can beat Sony. The Japanese went crazy over the Nintendo DS. The DS Lite comes out and the Japanese go crazy for it again. The PSP is a fine machine, but its sales have stagnated.
Handhelds are different from consoles, but I think it is a good idication of what might happen when we see the Wii and PS3.

[Nobody]

This is a pretty slanted article to point people to Sony PS3 and Xbox 360!
Sheesh! I read in the news paper that the Wii will go on sale Nov 19, 2006.
The price will be $250.
Who cares about playing Blu-Ray or HD-DVD on a console system? You? OK. Fine.
Isn't the Wii for playing games?
I saw a guy playing PS2 at Wal Mart, for all but a minute and the thing locked up!
Don't ever remember playing/seeing a Nintendo lock up!

[Peter Cohen]

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Who cares about playing Blu-Ray or HD-DVD on a console system? You? OK. Fine.
Isn't the Wii for playing games?

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One of the PS2's major selling points in Japan when it was first released was its inclusion of a DVD drive. Market researchers in Japan concluded that the PS2 was the entry point for a lot of Japanese consumers to add DVDs to their home entertainment centers. I'm sure Sony is hoping for a repeat with the PS3.

[minderbinder]

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While the Wii is much less expensive, it is just a game console while the other two heavy hitters are going after the home entertainment hub market.

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Is there any evidence that consumers want their game machine to be an entertainment hub? It seems kludgy to me to use a game console for that, and I'm not inclined to pay twice as much for functionality I'm not interested in. Especially when it's unclear which (if any) of the HD dvd formats will win.

[Rhywun]

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Who cares about playing Blu-Ray or HD-DVD on a console system? You? OK. Fine.
Isn't the Wii for playing games?

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I agree. HD is a niche market. Nintendo is wisely courting the rest of us who don't feel the urge to be on the bleeding edge of technology but just want to have fun playing games.

[Peter Cohen]

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Is there any evidence that consumers want their game machine to be an entertainment hub?

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An entertainment hub, I'm not so sure -- but as I just said: The PS2's success in Japan has, at least in part, been attributed to its use of a DVD player, which many Japanese consumers did not have prior to getting a PS2. So there is evidence, at least, to suggest that a game console is one strong factor towards people adopting a new entertainment medium.
I admit this wasn't the case with me -- I already had a DVD player by the time I got my PS2. But when that DVD player later gave up the ghost, I started using my PS2 to play DVDs as well and haven't looked back.

[minderbinder]

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An entertainment hub, I'm not so sure -- but as I just said: The PS2's success in Japan has, at least in part, been attributed to its use of a DVD player, which many Japanese consumers did not have prior to getting a PS2. So there is evidence, at least, to suggest that a game console is one strong factor towards people adopting a new entertainment medium.

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I think you might be mixing up cause and effect, I'd say DVD probably helped PS2 and not the other way around. DVD would likely have been just as big even if PS2 never came around.
The problem this time is that neither blu-ray nor HDDVD is a clear winner - the extra movie functionality is much less of an attraction when it's possible that you'll end up with the Beta of HD formats.
If you're already interested in blu-ray, then the PS3 is pretty appealing. Problem is, interest in it doesn't seem to be that great.

[warlock7]

I don't think that the gimmicky WiiMote is enough to draw many people into gaming. I realize that it's what Nintendo is hoping for, but it's nothing more than a gimmick.
My parents, for example, couldn't handle the simplicity of the Atari 2600 joystick, one button, one stick. I don't think that this multi-button, multi-positional device would draw them into it either.

[warlock7]

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I think you might be mixing up cause and effect, I'd say DVD probably helped PS2 and not the other way around. DVD would likely have been just as big even if PS2 never came around.

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It's understood that the DVD didn't become popular in Japan until the PS2 helped to usher it in.

[warlock7]

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Wait till you need to replace the Blu-Ray drive in the PS3.

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I haven't had to replace the drive in my PS2, why would you think that the drive will go bad in the PS3?

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Personally I think Microsoft did the right move making it modular, it allowed them to get to market early and add the components as it becomes cost effective to do so.

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Getting to market early got MS a bunch of unfinished games which felt that way. It also got them ports from PS2/XBox titles with zero improvement on a "next-gen" console.

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By the way, the day Sony launches, so will Halo 3 and a slew of other games and accessories for the 360 including a true wireless force feedback wheel bundled with a special edition of Project Gotham Racing 3. This can do nothing buy take away from the splash Sony makes in North America. That combined with Nintendo's position in Japan could make Sony do a big belly flop out of the gate.

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Halo3 is slated to come out sometime in 2007, I don't know where you get your information. I hardly think that re-releaseing a launch title with a "special" controller will take anything away from the PS3 launch, by the way, I can't find any reference to that anywhere, care to supply a link? There's no mention of it on the XBox site. Do you think that Nintendo is doing better in Japan than Sony in anything other than the handheld market? They're not. You're putting a lot of faith into accessories and games that aren't coming out for a year on the failure of the PS3.

[minderbinder]

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It's understood that the DVD didn't become popular in Japan until the PS2 helped to usher it in.

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But in all likelyhood, DVD's would have caught on eventually when prices got low enough - there was only one format to choose from. In the case of HD, there's a good possibility that both may fail.

[Nobody]

Hi

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In the case of HD, there's a good possibility that both may fail.

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How could both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray fail?
Betamax lost, and VHS won.
There's always deciding factors involved in these wars.
Such as , who's willing to support the format and the marketers. Thus the demise and folding up of the unsupported format. Tape War /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
btw, welcome back minderbinder!

[jedi228]

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How could both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray fail?
Betamax lost, and VHS won.

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In the battle of SACD vs. DVD-audio both audio formats failed and the older CD format beat both newcomers. The same thing can happen in video. The older DVD format could beat both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.
"Failure" doesn't necessarily mean death. Failure means inability to achieve widespread consumer adoption. You can buy SACD today, but only audiophiles get it. I expect both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD to survive for many years, but they will definitely not achieve the success of CD or DVD anytime soon.
My honest prediction is that both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD will have mild success for the next several years. All three formats DVD/Blu-Ray/HD-DVD will be around causing headaches and confusion for years to go.

[Nobody]

Very good points make you, jedi! Thanks for your input.
/forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif