In an interview with Forbes, Reggie was ready when the tough question about the Wii U’s lack of power, compared to the PS4 and Xbox One, was discussed. In fact, he pointed out two very successful, yet underpowered, consoles from the past that dominated the marker…the PS2 and the Wii. Why were they successful? Simply put, it was the games.
“The processing power of the hardware really doesn’t matter. I say that with confidence looking at the most recent generation of home consoles where the Wii, which the broad industry looked at and said “boy, that seems to be underpowered” but sold 100 million units globally. And the consumer saw the innovation of the Wii Remote and the active gameplay we offered. Even if you look at the generation before that, it was Sony’s product that was underpowered compared to the other two home consoles and yet they won that generation. In the end it comes down to the games. The games drive the install base, the games excite the consumer. We feel excited about the games not just from a first party perspective, But from third party as well.”
I love having similar conversations with those that feel power and specs make or break a console, and I am excited to hear that Reggie is on my side here. I have said it many times, “power” is meaningless if the games are undesirable, poorly developed, or just plain non existent. The PS2 had a ton of amazing games, as did the Wii. Both had games that catered to the masses, and specifically their fan base.
If Power were the defining factor behind the success of a console, then why are the original Nintendo, Sega, and Atari still so popular today? It cannot be just retro gamers like me keeping them relevant, can it? I think a friend of mine summed it up best, while trying to find a flat head screwdriver. I pulled a swiss army knife from my pocket and he said, “Why struggle opening the flat head on that thing, when a simple butter knife will do?” Until now, that little piece of advice from Junior high was forgotten and laughable, however it holds true to this day…even in the world of gaming
Do you agree with Reggie? If not, why?
