Wii still No. 1 as game industry sales soar

Yeah I think Sony really banked on product loyalty and totally underestimated just how much their initial price point would turn even the most loyal of PS fans away.

Going over the $500 mark for a console no matter how great it may be is virtual suicide.

Agreed, especially considering that the target market for video games still centers around teens and college aged young adults. Plenty of 20 and 30 somethings grew up on video games and are willing to spend money on them, but if you want to continue to grow your business in the sale of games and accessories, you need to reach out to the people just coming into the teen years who are new to the gaming industry. Develop brand loyalty with them and you create a well of repeat customers.

But you price the thing over $500 and you just put the thing out of reach for all but the most hard-core teen gamers. And then you're reliant on the 20 and 30 somethings to buy your console, and many of them have increasing career and family responsibilities, and frankly don't have the same amount of time to devote to video games; certainly not enough time to spend $600 on the thing.

The heart of the video game market is the teens. You alienate them, you tank your business.

Seriously, and the parents of those teens certainly aren't going to be too thrilled about dropping $600 either.

I know if I were a parent right now I'd tell my kid sorry, you can have the Wii or 360 but the PS3 is out.

Seriously, and the parents of those teens certainly aren't going to be too thrilled about dropping $600 either.

I know if I were a parent right now I'd tell my kid sorry, you can have the Wii or 360 but the PS3 is out.

Yeah good point. The parents who are buying these consoles as Christmas and birthday presents already can be frustrated by the high prices of these things; but at $600 they just give up.

Why pay that much when you can get the others for half the price?

I can't for the life of me imagine what Sony was thinking. It should be in the Harvard Business Review as a case study of what not to do, and be taught to America's business students.

Agreed, especially considering that the target market for video games still centers around teens and college aged young adults. Plenty of 20 and 30 somethings grew up on video games and are willing to spend money on them, but if you want to continue to grow your business in the sale of games and accessories, you need to reach out to the people just coming into the teen years who are new to the gaming industry. Develop brand loyalty with them and you create a well of repeat customers.

But you price the thing over $500 and you just put the thing out of reach for all but the most hard-core teen gamers. And then you're reliant on the 20 and 30 somethings to buy your console, and many of them have increasing career and family responsibilities, and frankly don't have the same amount of time to devote to video games; certainly not enough time to spend $600 on the thing.

The heart of the video game market is the teens. You alienate them, you tank your business.


Totally.

Those 20 and 30 somethings also have the advantage of age on theri side. They are probably less brand loyal than teens simply based on the fact that as you age you tend to be smarter about buying the best products not just the most popular.

So basically they priced out the lemmings and over priced the product based on value for the smarter consumers. 0 for 2 there.

I can't for the life of me imagine what Sony was thinking. It should be in the Harvard Business Review as a case study of what not to do, and be taught to America's business students.

Right next to Betamax.

Oh and they're heading down the same path with BlueRay. I don't get how a company that has made this mistake before and is in the middle of making it again has started back down the same path with yet another product. It is baffling to me.

I think right now for the hard core gamer your best bet is 360!

I agree, I'm very pleasantly surprised with how much I like the 360. They really have the online experience down with Xbox Live.