Apple has introduced a new console. They were already producing the iPhone and the iPad, "Angry Birds" ,smartphones which many users have bought. For some time video games were left in the background of all the purchasing fury of electronics.
Nintendo Co will be launching the new Wii U on Sunday. It is a game machine designed to attract both a general audience as well as hardcore gamers. Wii U is anticipated to be just as popular as the Wii which
which has sold nearly 100 million units worldwide since 2006, the new console's intended audience "truly is 5 to 95," attests Reggie Fils-Aime, the president of Nintendo of America, the Japanese company's U.S. arm.
The Wii U is coming at a precarious time in video game history sales have been plummeting since a new system had been introduced. Technology has been rapidly evolving and expanding to cater for the public’s entertainment, interests and hobbies. Research has shown that people who
wanted an Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or a Wii already have one. Moreover, individuals in the wide 5-to-95 age range have changed their focus to games on Facebook, tablet computers and mobile phones.
U.S. video game sales last month, including hardware, software and accessories, totaled $755.5 million, according to the research firm NPD Group. In October 2007, the figure stood at $1.1 billion.
What is the projection of sales for the new Wii U? Analysts expect sales to explode so much so that there will be a shortage of supply and that the new product will outsell its competitors. For instance, IHS expects the Wii U to sell 56.7 million in its first four years.
Nevertheless, hurdles may arise in convincing potential buyers that they need a videogame as many other gadgets have already caught their attention. However, old-age characters and games may lure some people. Take for example Nintendo, as per WashingtonPost.com:
“Nintendo, known for iconic game characters such as Mario, Donkey Kong and Zelda, is expected to sell the consoles quickly in the weeks leading up to the holidays. After all, it's been six long years and sons, daughters, brothers and sisters are demanding presents. GameStop Corp., the world's No. 1 video game retailer, said last week that advance orders sold out and it has nearly 500,000 people on its Wii U waitlist.
Even so, it's a "very, very crowded space in consumer electronics" this holiday season, notes Ben Bajarin, a principal analyst at Creative Strategies who covers gaming.”
"Nintendo has to be a cut above the noise here," Bajarin says.
“The Wii U is the first major game console to launch in years, but in some ways Nintendo is merely catching up with the HD trend. Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. began selling their own powerful, high-definition consoles six and seven years ago, respectively. Both Sony and Microsoft are expected to unveil new game consoles in 2013.”
Fils-Aime admits that Nintendo competes in the broad entertainment landscape, "minute-by-minute," for consumers' time.
"That's true today and that was true 20 years ago," he says, adding that Nintendo's challenge is communicating to people "what is so fun and appealing about the new system."
"Technologically, it's not a leap of the imagination to see Apple, Google, Microsoft do something like this," Bajarin says.
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