How Nintendo Wii Games Beat the Competition

The Nintendo Wii has been out for a few years now, and I think it is safe to say that both Microsoft Xbox and the Sony Playstation 3 are taking the competition seriously since it beat them soundly in sales since the gaming console had been launched. It just goes to show that eye candy is not everything. When it comes to playing games, affordability along with player involvement trumps high tech wizardry.

Meeting a price point that middle class families can afford and involving all family members in game play are exactly the reasons why the Nintendo Wii beat out its gaming rivals. If you look at the top 10 Wii games sold, they are all family games. Furthermore, gaming companies can only ask for its hard core gaming fans to upgrade their systems only so many times. These systems are, after all, a luxury and not a necessity. Given the target demographics for gamers is relatively young, they just don’t have the disposable income to continually upgrade their systems to the next best thing. Given that the Microsoft Xbox and the Sony Playstation 3 are much more expensive than the Nintendo Wii, you can see why families opted for the cheaper gaming system. Also, as previously stated, the Wii is able to involve all family members due to its easy game play.

By now, everyone is probably familiar with, or has read about the Wii remote controller’s detection of motion. This new way of translating real body movements to a player’s character on screen has revolutionized how video games are played. It has produced a video game fitness industry as witnessed by the top 10 Wii Fit games. It seems as though the market cannot get enough of these games. It is easy to understand why because these games are fun, get you to actively participate and they provide a real workout without the need to go to a gym. As everyone knows, fun is a major motivating factor in staying with a fitness program. With all these Wii exercise games available, players will never be bored and can always try new things.

The Nintendo Wii’s ability to outsell the graphically enhanced and more complicated gaming systems just goes to show that being flashy is not always what the consumer needs. Being able to afford said gaming system is a definite must. However, the ability for the whole family to play and enjoy the games is also priceless.