It's the general consensus that Wii was the console that opened up gaming to a whole new audience of mainstream gaming with its friendly Remote and cooking sims. But PlayStation boss Kazuo Hirai disagrees.
"It's a very astute observation, but it doesn't take in history," said Hirai. "The most successful console is still the PS2 and it's still going strong.
Unboxing the PS3 Slim
Original production
2:50GamesRadar gets first hands-on with the new slim PS3
Unboxing the PS3 Slim
Original production
2:50GamesRadar gets first hands-on with the new slim PS3
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Unboxing the PS3 Slim
Original production
2:50GamesRadar gets first hands-on with the new slim PS3
Unboxing the PS3 Slim
Original production
2:50GamesRadar gets first hands-on with the new slim PS3
"I think that's the console that really broke the barrier from video games being just for video gamers into more of a mass market on a global basis. Nintendo's obviously done a great job in following that mass acceptance," Hirai told Times Online.
Oddly, I find myself agreeing with him. There was no shortage of mainstream crap on the PS2 (to give a list would take me until next year, probably). And it is still the best selling console of all time.
Although, personally, I think that going mainstream is not an achievement to be proud of.
To be fair it sounds like more bitter ranting by Sony exec's! They are good at doing this whenever someone is doing better at them , it would just be better if they got on with talking about where they are taking the PS3 next rather than bashing the competition as usual. What the PS2 did was increase the 18-30's market they had been chasing and the most they got to mainstream audiences was getting the odd person to join in a game of Buzz (which in itself was awful) but didn't convince them to by a one. Nintendo have mangaed to sell Wii's & DS's to the masses that no one could before. Part of that is due to the hardware & software but you can't under estimate the power of the marketing campaign, it was pitched perfectly at the mass market audience.
who wants to be mainstream? Take the car industry, Toyota biggest car maker and yet don't make a single vehicle that is exciting. Reliable yes but fun, no way. No getting away from it they can sell cars, but not to car enthuiasts. Just to people who want to get from a to b.
PS2 may be the better selling console...did it beat Game Boy for main-stream gaming though?
Wii, however, can boast the best selling game of all time, Wii Sports, followed by the original Super Mario Bros.
Seeing as Sony are currently making a loss on console sales and the money is actually made from game sales and licenses, I'm not sure why Sony are bragging so much...
I think its the PR equivalent of an old drunkard telling you how he used to be CEO of a big company, but he had it all taken off him by some upstart. blarrrrr.
who wants to be mainstream? Take the car industry, Toyota biggest car maker and yet don't make a single vehicle that is exciting. Reliable yes but fun, no way. No getting away from it they can sell cars, but not to car enthuiasts. Just to people who want to get from a to b.
Maybe, but I'm sure - as a company - they'd be more interested in selling more cars, for more profit.
The bottom line is that you can't honestly rely on 'hardcore gamers' (much as I hate the term) for sales - think about Shenmue....as much as people love to talk about it, enthuse about the first time they played and really want to see the third part made - it didn't sell.
To some degree, I always think that Shenmue is like the Woodstock of games - everyone says they loved it and played it, so why didn't it sell in those figures?
Nintendo needed to sell consoles this time round, so they knew that they had to somehow crack a market that Sony weren't aiming for. It's a good thing, if they'd released another Gamecube, we'd probably have never seen another Nintendo console.
On topic: I also think it was the Game Boy that 'broke' the mainstream.
I agree with the above posts about the Gameboy. My sister bought herself one and she didn't like consoles at the time. I remember at the time. They kept the machine simple. Monochrome screen while not the most powerful at the time, saved battery life wheras the Atari Lynx and Sega Gamegear drank your batteries. The Wii emulated it to an extent, kept the machine simple in technical terms in order to focus low power consumption and the control scheme etc as opposed to making the most powerful machine.
PS2 is so awesome that Sony refuses to make the PS3 BC with it?
My one is. Lots of poor people demanded a cheap PS3 because they couldn't afford one, so Sony made one and now people compain because its not as good as the one that cost £415 the day it came out.
PS2 may be the better selling console...did it beat Game Boy for main-stream gaming though?
yes actually, most Game Boy owners were children. Thats hardley Mainstream is it!
Wii, however, can boast the best selling game of all time, Wii Sports, followed by the original Super Mario Bros.
Nintendo has sold the top selling games yes. but saying that they are Super Mario and Wii Sports is a crock as they are bundle games. I would of said Wii Fit and Pokemon Silver/gold. 21.51 million and 23.10 millsion sales of each worldwide.
Seeing as Sony are currently making a loss on console sales and the money is actually made from game sales and licenses, I'm not sure why Sony are bragging so much...
Sony having a business called "Playstation" makes them money. there is no two ways about it. The Playstation business is one that makes money. Trying to put some fanboy spin on it is childish.
Super Mario wasn't always a bundled game. My NES came with Duck Hunt. there were many different bundles.
Likewise wii sports has never been a pack in title in Japan.
So they count just as much as any, even more so considering many people that bought a wii and a NEs probably did so in order to play wii sports and Mario. Say what you like. Wii sports is still a great little showcase for the benefits of motion control and great fun after a night on the razz with some mates.
I'm not sure if I agree that the PS2 made gaming 'mainstream'. It certainly boosted its popularity, but much of that can be attributed to its leap forward in terms of graphics and whatnot. Gaming has been on something of a permanent upward slope for some time because of sheer logistics. Some gamers get older and stop playing, but many still continue the hobby, though often in a diminished capacity, while more and more children begin gaming.
The potential for a casual gaming explosion has always been there, lying dormant in the coding of addictive yet simple titles like tetris and bejeweled, but the Wii was the first to really bring it home. Non-gamers are intimidated by modern control pads with their dual-analog, button-studded exteriors.
Sure, previous consoles might have had a few 'mainstream' titles that had some appeal to the masses but for the most part companies were making games for gamers.
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