gamemarketing

ACHIEVING
GREATNESS

ACHIEVING
GREATNESS

MARKETING

VIDEO GAMES

C HAT R OOM

THE CONSOLE WAR

Every so many years, a new console war will begin. Each console war takes place in a gereration of game consoles. Two generations ago, it was a war between the Sony Playstation and the Nintendo 64. Last generation, it was between the Sony Playstation 2, the Nintendo Gamecube, and the newcomer Microsoft XBOX. Now we have entered the current generation; some would call it the "Next Generation Consoles." These consoles consist of the Sony Playstation 3, the Nintendo Wii, and the Microsoft XBOX 360.

SONY PLAYSTATION 3

     The Sony Playstation 2 was a clear winner in the previous console war, but the Sony Playstation 3 has been off to a very shaky start thus far in the current war. With a price tag of 500-600 dollars for the next generation console, some players are hesitant to buy the system until in proves itself. The PS3, as most call it, has next generation graphics, an online system that is fair, but improving week by week, and probably most shocking to buyers, is the inclusion of a Bluray player in every PS3.

      Bluray is the newest disk format projected to eventually take the place of DVD's. Not only does the system play Bluray movies; every game on the PS3 is on a Bluray disk, allowing the games to be larger and put out a resolution of 1080p if the television meets this specification. In the end, the Bluray player in the Sony Playstation 3 may be its saving grace. However, the most important thing to any gamer is the games themselves. PS3's "killer apps" include Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, Kingdom Hearts, Devil May Cry, God of War, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, and many many more.

      As far as marketing goes, the Sony Playstation 3 is directed towards the hardcore gamer obviously, with a price tag of 500-600 dollars. If someone truly wants to, the PS3 can be made into a pretty basic computer. With Yellow Dog Linux 5.0 installed on the PS3, you can surf the web, write up word documents, use a paintbrush program, listen to music, watch movies, and almost anything else you can do on your computer or laptop. The "Cell Processor" developed for the PS3 also raises the price, being that it supposedly has much more pent up power that the chips in the other consoles. Lastly, the controller in the PS3, named the SIXAXIS, can detect six degrees of movement: X axis, Y axis, Z axis, tilt, yaw, and roll. Being that hardcore gamers are the main audience for the PS3, the commercials for the system are most often pretty mature, and essentially try to show the viewer all of the amazing things that the Playstation 3 contains. Below are a few teasers for the system.

NINTENDO WII

     The Nintendo Wii is Nintendo's next generation console. The system may not have graphics exceedingly better than its previous console, but it has a new controller that has never been used for a console. The controller uses a motion sensor that is placed on top of the television to sense any movement.

      The console has been off to an amazing start, already selling close to five million units, with its install base growing rapidly. With great games such as Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Brothers coming in the future, the console should not have any problems holding onto its spectacular sales rate.

      The marketing for the Nintendo Wii was a great decision. The console is aimed towards family gaming; to children and adults of all ages. Many of the games made for the system have been designed so that they can be played easily with multiple players of any age and skill level. Games such as "Wii Sports" are already bringing families together in gaming.

      Overall, the Nintendo Wii is aimed as a more friendly console for the casual gamer. With a price tag of only $250 as opposed to the Playstation's $600 price tag, the console has a much more likely chance of winning this console war over the Playstation 3. However, many underestimate the extreme fanbase of Sony. This war will not be decided for many years. To see examples of the Wii's marketing campaign, view the teasers below.

MICROSOFT XBOX 360

     The XBOX 360 is Microsoft's next generation console. This generation, it was the first of the consoles to release, getting a head start over the others by about a year. This has been very beneficial to Microsoft thus far, allowing their fanbase to grow enormously before the competitors even released their consoles. It has also given developers a good amount of time with the hardware to perfect their engines. With the Sony Playstation 3, developers are still trying to figure out the complex architecture of the Cell processor.

      The XBOX 360 is known as a big first person shooter console with most of its games consisting of some sort of gun in a first person view. The most popular of these titles for the system is the Halo series. Halo 1 and 2 were both released on the XBOX to record breaking sales. Its fanbase is so enormous now that the release of Halo 3 in November just might destroy any chance of the competitors gaining ground on Microsoft.

      Being that Microsoft's system is so shooter heavy, many of its commercials are related to guns with two of them already being banned. Microsoft realized that American society, their main audience, loves shooters and loves gun games so they used this to their advantage to make the console very "cool" and mainstream. The two banned commercials representing Microsoft's marketing campaign can be viewed below.