Sony’s Dave Karraker, senior director of corporate communications at Sony Computer Entertainment America, has gone on record telling The Wall Street Journal that he feels Wii is a novelty. Yet he does admit that PS3 fans might pick one up.
Speaking to TWSJ, Karraker said, "We feel very confident that the PlayStation fan is going to wait until they can get a PlayStation 3. If they do pick up a Wii, it's as more of a novelty."
To claim the Wii is a novelty is clearly a nonsense. This particular SPOnG writer sat up till daft’o’clock playing the sublime new Zelda on Wii last night, which for me has immediately become one of the strongest contenders for game of the year 2006. It’s a game that Sony’s Dave Karraker might want to play before he comes out with further nonsensical comments regarding his competitor.
SPOnG is reminded of Phil Harrison’s comments on DS way back in the summer of 2005, when told esteemed industry organ, MCV, “With the DS, it's fair to say that Nintendo stepped out of the technical race and went for a feature differentiation with the touch screen. But I fear that it won't have a lasting impact beyond that of a gimmick - so the long-lasting appeal of the platform is at peril as a direct result of that.”
Alongside the Wii, Nintendo’s DS is Christmas 2006’s must have piece of gaming hardware, as SPOnG reported yesterday.
What do YOU think of the Wii? Have you played it yet? If not, are you planning on getting one? Let us know in the forum below.
Speaking to TWSJ, Karraker said, "We feel very confident that the PlayStation fan is going to wait until they can get a PlayStation 3. If they do pick up a Wii, it's as more of a novelty."
To claim the Wii is a novelty is clearly a nonsense. This particular SPOnG writer sat up till daft’o’clock playing the sublime new Zelda on Wii last night, which for me has immediately become one of the strongest contenders for game of the year 2006. It’s a game that Sony’s Dave Karraker might want to play before he comes out with further nonsensical comments regarding his competitor.
SPOnG is reminded of Phil Harrison’s comments on DS way back in the summer of 2005, when told esteemed industry organ, MCV, “With the DS, it's fair to say that Nintendo stepped out of the technical race and went for a feature differentiation with the touch screen. But I fear that it won't have a lasting impact beyond that of a gimmick - so the long-lasting appeal of the platform is at peril as a direct result of that.”
Alongside the Wii, Nintendo’s DS is Christmas 2006’s must have piece of gaming hardware, as SPOnG reported yesterday.
What do YOU think of the Wii? Have you played it yet? If not, are you planning on getting one? Let us know in the forum below.
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Comments
Rutabaga 14 Dec 2006 12:40
1/19
Cue all the Spongtendo fans with pitchforks and torches calling to burn the witch, but as regards to the console itself I think there is some substance to the novelty comment. By highlighting Zelda as an example is it any less of a game on the gamecube?
Ditto 14 Dec 2006 12:49
2/19
I think that potentially he does have a point in the novelty factor - certainly, few DS titles make use of the full capabilities of the console.
I plan on getting a Wii if:
* Price is reduced below £150.
* Nintendo shows evidence of innovation in the games it releases for Wii, including new franchises. (Ie I am not excited by another Zelda TP, another Metroid Prime, another Smash Bros especially when I could continue to play my Gamecube discs).
* Nintendo shows evidence of substantial, quality and continuous third party support over the next year along with a promising release schedule.
* In six months there are at least several "must-have" titles unavailable on other systems.
I'm concerned that Wii will do a Gamecube - sell well at first, then sell well enough to compete for 2-3 years being held up by titles by Nintendo and a couple of third parties and then the titles drying up and being ported to other systems as the console loses support.
Scareily, Nintendo appear to be using the same style of demos as they used for Gamecube, including games that are in development and may never actually be released alomost as reasons to purchase the system:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54Ky2Pg4w-Y
Hummm.
I plan on getting a Wii if:
* Price is reduced below £150.
* Nintendo shows evidence of innovation in the games it releases for Wii, including new franchises. (Ie I am not excited by another Zelda TP, another Metroid Prime, another Smash Bros especially when I could continue to play my Gamecube discs).
* Nintendo shows evidence of substantial, quality and continuous third party support over the next year along with a promising release schedule.
* In six months there are at least several "must-have" titles unavailable on other systems.
I'm concerned that Wii will do a Gamecube - sell well at first, then sell well enough to compete for 2-3 years being held up by titles by Nintendo and a couple of third parties and then the titles drying up and being ported to other systems as the console loses support.
Scareily, Nintendo appear to be using the same style of demos as they used for Gamecube, including games that are in development and may never actually be released alomost as reasons to purchase the system:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54Ky2Pg4w-Y
Hummm.
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majin dboy 14 Dec 2006 13:04
3/19
I dont think thats a great comparsion between the GC/Wii that the wii might follow the GCs fate,the GC was bought by loyal nintendo fans and other gamers that saw the great games on it.
the wii is totally different.gameplay wise the XBX and PS2 gameplay wasnt that different from the GC,both had analouge,shoulder buttins,rumble etc etc.
because the wii is different from its competitors,and the wii mote has proven its innovation,the wii will succeed.
ADAM M ********************
I'm concerned that Wii will do a Gamecube - sell well at first, then sell well enough to compete for 2-3 years being held up by titles by Nintendo and a couple of third parties and then the titles drying up and being ported to other systems as the console loses support.
*********************************
i really cant see this happenin,i brought the wii to my girlfriends house last night,u shud have seen the reaction,by ALL the family from mum and dad two younger sisters and wee bro.the wii market is gona be huge,this coupled with the fact that its realitevly cheap to devolp for will ensure devolpment and success.
c this whole,ahhhhhhhh im waiting for a £30 price drop,or im gona wait until it comes out in tesco's so i can get staff discount bullshit,i dont buy it. for what u are gettin wahts £10/£20/£30?????sweet FA.
buy a wii,buy zelda,buy monkey ball complete them and get the get the "killer apps" as they cum along.
the wii is totally different.gameplay wise the XBX and PS2 gameplay wasnt that different from the GC,both had analouge,shoulder buttins,rumble etc etc.
because the wii is different from its competitors,and the wii mote has proven its innovation,the wii will succeed.
ADAM M ********************
I'm concerned that Wii will do a Gamecube - sell well at first, then sell well enough to compete for 2-3 years being held up by titles by Nintendo and a couple of third parties and then the titles drying up and being ported to other systems as the console loses support.
*********************************
i really cant see this happenin,i brought the wii to my girlfriends house last night,u shud have seen the reaction,by ALL the family from mum and dad two younger sisters and wee bro.the wii market is gona be huge,this coupled with the fact that its realitevly cheap to devolp for will ensure devolpment and success.
c this whole,ahhhhhhhh im waiting for a £30 price drop,or im gona wait until it comes out in tesco's so i can get staff discount bullshit,i dont buy it. for what u are gettin wahts £10/£20/£30?????sweet FA.
buy a wii,buy zelda,buy monkey ball complete them and get the get the "killer apps" as they cum along.
Happydwarf 14 Dec 2006 13:56
4/19
This all depends on which way you take it the wii is fun and i pesonally love it. But i'm biased, i am a nintendo fan and have waited for months for the wii.
Sony could be more fun. How you ask, they have the ability to support 7 people rather than 4 all wirelessly. However i've seen no games that support it and more importantly don't know of many games would work with this many players on the screen (BTW please don't go on about any sports games there can be no competition with the wii, even with less people. I'm talking about proper multiplayer games such as monkeyball). If they are clever they could rule on multiplayer games 7 people all on screen at once thats awesome, imagine playing on a massive HD screen .Seriously does any one else remember the fun when you linked two GC up for 8 player mariokart? (that was on two screens, but even still woot!!!)
This is the only way i believe sony can say this statement, so come on sony show the goods............
i want to see the uber expensive HD multiplayer (close to 3K money wise for the 1080p screen and console ouch!!!!) please show us some fun.........
Sony could be more fun. How you ask, they have the ability to support 7 people rather than 4 all wirelessly. However i've seen no games that support it and more importantly don't know of many games would work with this many players on the screen (BTW please don't go on about any sports games there can be no competition with the wii, even with less people. I'm talking about proper multiplayer games such as monkeyball). If they are clever they could rule on multiplayer games 7 people all on screen at once thats awesome, imagine playing on a massive HD screen .Seriously does any one else remember the fun when you linked two GC up for 8 player mariokart? (that was on two screens, but even still woot!!!)
This is the only way i believe sony can say this statement, so come on sony show the goods............
i want to see the uber expensive HD multiplayer (close to 3K money wise for the 1080p screen and console ouch!!!!) please show us some fun.........
headcasephil 14 Dec 2006 13:58
5/19
the think that the wii is gooing to get bigger and more people how are in to games like fist person shooters and sport titles will get one
if you look at madden 07 on the wii it plays a lot better because the contoles work and is more fun than sitting down with a control pad pushing buttens
if you look at madden 07 on the wii it plays a lot better because the contoles work and is more fun than sitting down with a control pad pushing buttens
DoctorDee 14 Dec 2006 14:33
6/19
Rutabaga wrote:
Cue all the Spongtendo fans with pitchforks and torches calling to burn the witch
This is hilarious. The Sony fans think we're Nintendo Fanboys, the Nintendo Fanboys think we love Microsoft, the Microsoft otaku think we love Sony.
Get it in your heads. We hate corporations. We love games.
Rutabaga 14 Dec 2006 15:02
7/19
I was really responding to the part of the news article were it said he's talking nonsense, because he ought to play Zelda. Is Zelda on Wii not Zelda on gamecube with "novelty" elements stuck on?
Anyway Spongtendo has a certain ring to it. ;-)
Anyway Spongtendo has a certain ring to it. ;-)
SCiARA 14 Dec 2006 15:15
8/19
DoctorDee wrote:
This is hilarious. The Sony fans think we're Nintendo Fanboys, the Nintendo Fanboys think we love Microsoft, the Microsoft otaku think we love Sony.
Get it in your heads. We hate corporations. We love games.
Get it in your heads. We hate corporations. We love games.
BUT WHO LOVED SEGA AYE??? POOR POOR SEGA!!!
I love the banter between the 3 corporations and the responses from fannies, in fact, I have been known to switch allegiance for one co. just to wind up fannies of the others.
LONG MAY IT CONTINUE !!!!
Rutabaga 14 Dec 2006 15:15
9/19
Were did I infer you were nintendo fanboys? I said "Cue all the Spongtendo fans with pitchforks and torches calling to burn the witch" I was refering to the forum members who post on the news articles.
DoctorDee 14 Dec 2006 15:18
10/19
Rutabaga wrote:
I was refering to the forum members who post on the news articles.
My mistake.
Apologies.
NE0braska 14 Dec 2006 21:31
11/19
The main thing people are over looking is dev. cost. It will be much harder to justify game devs on a ps3 to companies bottom line. 500,000 sales just to break even on an investment will be a hard pill to swallow for many game studios. I don't think we will see as many niche titles in ps3s libraries this go round because of that. However, on the Wii developers can take time to experiment with new control types on a more practical cost scale, as a Nintendo Rep has told me they don't charge for the dev kits. And if the Wii is really just GameCube 1.5 as some people proclaim then many game houses should already be familiar with development on the system.
Of course on a personal level everyone who has played with my Wii has loved it. Wii sports Boxing will make anyone believe in the systems potential. Probably why it was included with the whole package.
Of course on a personal level everyone who has played with my Wii has loved it. Wii sports Boxing will make anyone believe in the systems potential. Probably why it was included with the whole package.
OptimusP 14 Dec 2006 21:59
12/19
It's a novelty that's kicking your ass!!! How's that for a novelty!!!
I am offcourse speaking of the DS which worldwide now selling two to three times more then the PSP on weekly basis.
The Wii....njaaaah...it's selling nicely enough...i had a pre-order from october in and still don't have my Wii...this is Europe! people don't pre-order stuff in Europe! (except you britts...with your yankconsumerism-copying manners)
I am offcourse speaking of the DS which worldwide now selling two to three times more then the PSP on weekly basis.
The Wii....njaaaah...it's selling nicely enough...i had a pre-order from october in and still don't have my Wii...this is Europe! people don't pre-order stuff in Europe! (except you britts...with your yankconsumerism-copying manners)
Joji 14 Dec 2006 22:44
13/19
I think its just a sign of Sony showing they have nothing good to say about the competition. He's a mouth piece for Sony so I'll say a prayer for him.
I respect that even MS can see and understand what Nintendo are doing, but when a Sony rep acts like this I have to scratch my head. I don't recall Nintendo ever being so bitter when losing out to Sony over the years (correct me if I've missed something here).
Wrong Optimus, people in europe do preorder because they don't want to miss out, but these days even a preorder can't guarantee you a system at launch, its all down to the numbers made and shipped out.
Yankconsumerism.....where'd that come from? I'd prefer to buy at launch, but if I get one a few months after I'll still be happy.
I respect that even MS can see and understand what Nintendo are doing, but when a Sony rep acts like this I have to scratch my head. I don't recall Nintendo ever being so bitter when losing out to Sony over the years (correct me if I've missed something here).
Wrong Optimus, people in europe do preorder because they don't want to miss out, but these days even a preorder can't guarantee you a system at launch, its all down to the numbers made and shipped out.
Yankconsumerism.....where'd that come from? I'd prefer to buy at launch, but if I get one a few months after I'll still be happy.
OptimusP 15 Dec 2006 08:44
14/19
No seriously, people on continental Europe normally do not pre-order when it comes to gamehardware. I think this changed after the Xbox360 launchdebacle because pre-orders for the Wii and PS3 are high in Europe these days.
A continental europe launch mostly isn't as crazy-frenzied as you see in the US or Japan...we dont have lines, we don't have pre-order campaigns (expect the big one for the Wii...even toystores that normally don't do pre-orders ever suddenly did pre-orders, very strange) and we don't have complete sell-outs in the first week, except with the X360 and now the Wii.
The only exception of this is....good old Great Britain which is seen by continental Europe as a mini-USA when it comes to consumerism. You're nation is starting to run more and more on credit, like the US has been doing for decades, and you have the same kind of launch-frenzies as in the US, albeit probably in a smaller scale.
I'm not saying that all the brits on this site are credit-using mini-consumeryanks, i'm saying that there is a trend within Great Britain of a large portion of it's populance showing the same yank-consumer mentality.
A continental europe launch mostly isn't as crazy-frenzied as you see in the US or Japan...we dont have lines, we don't have pre-order campaigns (expect the big one for the Wii...even toystores that normally don't do pre-orders ever suddenly did pre-orders, very strange) and we don't have complete sell-outs in the first week, except with the X360 and now the Wii.
The only exception of this is....good old Great Britain which is seen by continental Europe as a mini-USA when it comes to consumerism. You're nation is starting to run more and more on credit, like the US has been doing for decades, and you have the same kind of launch-frenzies as in the US, albeit probably in a smaller scale.
I'm not saying that all the brits on this site are credit-using mini-consumeryanks, i'm saying that there is a trend within Great Britain of a large portion of it's populance showing the same yank-consumer mentality.
SCiARA 15 Dec 2006 09:00
15/19
OptimusP wrote:
I'm not saying that all the brits on this site are credit-using mini-consumeryanks, i'm saying that there is a trend within Great Britain of a large portion of it's populance showing the same yank-consumer mentality.
I agree with that 100%, credit seems to be ruling our nation, I for one am trying not to use credit for the smaller things like consoles and games but I also need the latest and greatest, and right now I am trying to resist the need for that 46" 1080p lcd...
But anyhoos back to subject, Sony's PR Chief!! Sony is not going to come out and say Nintendo are great are they? And isn’t the "Novelty" thing maybe what half of us are thinking anyway? .
TimSpong 15 Dec 2006 10:42
16/19
SCiARA wrote:
But anyhoos back to subject, Sony's PR Chief!! Sony is not going to come out and say Nintendo are great are they? And isn’t the "Novelty" thing maybe what half of us are thinking anyway? .
I love words, me...
According to the Oxford English Dick...
"Novelty • noun (pl. novelties) 1 the quality of being novel. 2 a new or unfamiliar thing. 3 a small and inexpensive toy or ornament. 4 before another noun intended to be amusingly striking or unusual: a novelty teapot."
"Novel
• adjective interestingly new or unusual. "
If I was a Nintendite, I'd be concentrating on 1 and 2. If I was a Sonyan I'd be working from 4 but avoiding the definintion of 'novel' entirely. And if I was a Microsoftian, I'd be watching the bitch-slapping competition and cackling.
soanso 15 Dec 2006 16:07
17/19
Aye. I think he's right. Sort of.
It is a novelty just now but used properly Wii could be the bestest thing in the world ever.
It could also be the worst if all they ever do is take standard games with regular controls and break it trying to make it fit with the wiimote.
And I'm not convinced by Zelda. Nintendo have managed to launch a new console with a game for it's previous console and yet somehow manage to get everybody to buy it. Good game or not, I'm not buying a Wii to play Zelda. Not when I had planned on getting the GC one....
2 years ago!!!!
It is a novelty just now but used properly Wii could be the bestest thing in the world ever.
It could also be the worst if all they ever do is take standard games with regular controls and break it trying to make it fit with the wiimote.
And I'm not convinced by Zelda. Nintendo have managed to launch a new console with a game for it's previous console and yet somehow manage to get everybody to buy it. Good game or not, I'm not buying a Wii to play Zelda. Not when I had planned on getting the GC one....
2 years ago!!!!
hollywooda 15 Dec 2006 17:58
18/19
wot i cant understand is Nintendo make a new & exciting console with a new way of playing games & interacting,....then just make it's next batch of off the shelf same old IP games....Wii Zelda, Wii Mario, Wii Metroid prime, Wii Star Fox (if it's not coming, it will be)... cant they move the things that matter on?, like games?..
LUPOS 15 Dec 2006 21:49
19/19
hollywooda wrote:
Wii Zelda, Wii Mario, Wii Metroid prime, Wii Star Fox (if it's not coming, it will be)... cant they move the things that matter on?, like games?..
So, New Super Mario Brothers, Yoshis Island 2, Animal Crossing DS, Final Fantasy 3 and Metroid Hunters arent important to the succes of the ds then?
Seriously man, I'm as excited about the future potential of the console as anyone else, but that certainly doesnt mean I want to forgo my favorites for nothing but experimental games. The worst thing Nintendo coud dpossibly do is ostricize the devoted fan base by neglecting there major IP. The only reason the Cube survived at all last gen was because of the devoted Nintendo lovers like myself.
More creative games are comming, but if they had to have really outlandish stuff out for launch it would just be more "touch and go yoshi". I'd rather wait for soemthing exceptional.
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