Can the Wii challenge the PS3 and 360?
We mean really…can it? Looking at it from afar, it’s basically a battle between the Wii controller against the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360’s graphics powerhouses. In an interview, the man from Redmond himself stated that Nintendo wasn’t Microsoft’s biggest competitor in the game console industry – it was Sony.
Confident in the performance turn-out of the 360 (especially after all the improvements), Bill Gates decided instead that the gauntlets should be thrown down for the similarly performing PS3.
But Clayton Christensen, a professor of Harvard Business School and author of “The Innovator’s Dilemma”, says that the game console industry will come to a point where games will often be technologically “good enough” for everyone. He argues that even if the Wii comes with just “good enough” graphics, it also does come coupled with an innovative (and arguably popular) controller, especially with all the excitement around the new style of gaming through the Wiimote.
Andy Grove, Intel‘s former CEO, cited the same book for its insights into the state of competition among tech-related companies. He believes that an “inflection point” will occur when devices become too complicated or too feature-rich. Nothing better is gained anymore than what is really needed. But he argues that such a point will be hard to determine and even harder to predict. If Nintendo correctly predicted that the industry has reached an inflection point, well they’re going to have a field day while Sony and Microsoft move shop.
Our team feels that Nintendo’s focus into innovation, rather than muscle, is a bold and much needed spur to the industry to provide us with more ways to interact with a game, rather than how good a game looks. Immersion is a key element to a good game, but it’s a two-sided relationship: the player’s interaction with the game and the game’s visuals and audio drawing the player into its midst.
So the Wii got one part right…and the PS3 and 360 got the other part right. It’s only a matter of time before a game is no longer just a game – it’s an experience. And what an experience it’s going to be…
Via The Mercury News
We mean really…can it? Looking at it from afar, it’s basically a battle between the Wii controller against the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360’s graphics powerhouses. In an interview, the man from Redmond himself stated that Nintendo wasn’t Microsoft’s biggest competitor in the game console industry – it was Sony.
Confident in the performance turn-out of the 360 (especially after all the improvements), Bill Gates decided instead that the gauntlets should be thrown down for the similarly performing PS3.
But Clayton Christensen, a professor of Harvard Business School and author of “The Innovator’s Dilemma”, says that the game console industry will come to a point where games will often be technologically “good enough” for everyone. He argues that even if the Wii comes with just “good enough” graphics, it also does come coupled with an innovative (and arguably popular) controller, especially with all the excitement around the new style of gaming through the Wiimote.
Andy Grove, Intel‘s former CEO, cited the same book for its insights into the state of competition among tech-related companies. He believes that an “inflection point” will occur when devices become too complicated or too feature-rich. Nothing better is gained anymore than what is really needed. But he argues that such a point will be hard to determine and even harder to predict. If Nintendo correctly predicted that the industry has reached an inflection point, well they’re going to have a field day while Sony and Microsoft move shop.
Our team feels that Nintendo’s focus into innovation, rather than muscle, is a bold and much needed spur to the industry to provide us with more ways to interact with a game, rather than how good a game looks. Immersion is a key element to a good game, but it’s a two-sided relationship: the player’s interaction with the game and the game’s visuals and audio drawing the player into its midst.
So the Wii got one part right…and the PS3 and 360 got the other part right. It’s only a matter of time before a game is no longer just a game – it’s an experience. And what an experience it’s going to be…
Via The Mercury News
About The Author
