For two gaming generations, it was apparent that Ebay was the very choice for scalpers to make a quick buck on new consoles. The Playstation 2 and Xbox 360 ushered in the real phases of generational gaming (viz., I purposely excluded the Dreamcast for obvious reasons) and they proved to be blockbuster hits. With the Xbox 360 nearing 10 million units shipped worldwide, and the PS2 already supposedly established with 100 million units in homes, it seemed like the PS3 would easily follow suit. Except, there was one little thing every hardcore gamer took into account: the price.
Fanboys were going to buy a PS3 regardless, but the average hardcore gamer wasn’t ready to spill over $600 for a gaming console and a meager selection of approximately 20 games. I mean really, why on earth would you pass up on paying rent? Bills? A car payment? Books for college? Food? Heck, a mortgage even? Certainly not for a piece of Blu-ray and fancy graphics.
However, the scalpers scouting the PS3 thought that it would be a dead-sell like the Xbox 360 last year. They figured they would just have to wait in line; get the console; sell it on Ebay; make a fortune. However, fanboys driving up the cost of the PS3 and a gaming community who would rather buy a Wii, put PS3 scalpers in a bad bind, and a Wii-wanting mood. But it’s not only the money grubbing scumbags on Ebay who now want to part ways with Sony’s big black box and grab up a Wii-mote, but non-gamers altogether are interested in Nintendo’s Wii. Hence, the reason why it can’t stay on store shelves.
Whatever voodoo those happy folks over at Nintendo is working on the casual crowd, it sure seems to be working rather swell. The Wii is not only in high-demand from some hardcore gamers, but it’s actually attracting a lot of attention from the casual crowd. While many people would easily choose a PS3 over a Wii, according to some poll results, due to the cost of the PS3 a lot of gamers are simply left out of a two-way option. The costly PS3 has even driven some scalpers to the verge of requesting trades for a Wii..even at a loss of a profit.
And despite the Wii’s Wii-mote strap incidents, it seems many gamers are getting on just fine with all the Wii-elbow swinging action, according to Kotaku’s unscientific gamer’s blog poll results. More-so, the Wii is still going to garner profit, sales, and interest simply because of how affordable it is. And even if Sony decides to drop the price on the PS3 over the course of the next year, it’s still going to get dwarfed in sales by the Wii. That is, if the Big ‘N’ simply knocks off another $50 on the Wii by removing Wii Sports. I’m even convinced Nintendo could steal some former publishers from Sony if they continue to jab the electronic giant with their current marketing tactics.
On a final note, though...even gamers and non-gamers who are more interested in the PS3, will probably give in and buy a Wii to bide their time until the PS3 price drops. Whether Sony knows it or not, they played right into the Big ‘N’s game. And not only that, they did it with a violent launch, an almost thief-ridden controller gimmick, and a lot of interested gamers who just couldn’t afford their expensive black beast. I hope Sony is taking note on how the Wii has picked up hardcore gamers, non-gamers, and even PS3 scalpers simply, via price and innovation.
