Nintendo’s new Wii U console which went on sale this past week is unlike any gaming console that came before it. Nintendo was wildly successful with the Wii – in its first four years, the Nintendo Wii console outsold it’s 2 main competitors (the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3), logging roughly 79 million units by the end of 2010.
The Wii U Console is a gaming product unlike anything else on the market.
The Wii’s commercial success is attributed in part to it’s innovative use of motion technology and reinvention of the casual gaming market which was dominated by big-title Microsoft and Sony consoles. Now, Nintendo has differentiated its product once again by providing the Wii U with an innovative handheld controller interface as well as a console which hooks up to a television. By comparison, research firm IHS iSuppli predicts that the Wii U will sell 56.7 million in its first 4 years.
However, the video game market today is vastly different from the market 6 years ago which was when the last major gaming console was released. Console sales have been falling in recent years because of lack of a new system – but now, Nintendo has high hopes for it’s new Wii U gaming system. The Wii U now faces even stronger competitors in alternative, non-traditional gaming consoles such as the iPad and smartphones so consequently, the market has even higher competition and is a crowded space for consumer electronics . Regardless, Nintendo’s differentiated yet traditional product will hopefully but the company a cut above the rest yet again.
Sources:
http://gadgets.ndtv.com/games/news/nintendos-wii-u-sets-sail-in-a-sea-of-gadgets-294181
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/gaming/nintendos-wii-u-moves-to-head-of-console-class-for-now/article5404215/
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