To Wii or not to Wii

Having taken the plunge in december to try out Nintendo's latest game console (the Wii) I was mesmerized by its revolutionary game play. Having followed the both the hype and competition between the Wii and the Playstation 3, I was curious to see how events would unfold.

Well a little more than 6 months later, the Wii is still a spectacular success, for both gamers and Nintendo's bottom line. Both Microsoft and Sony have significantly lowered the price tags of their respective consoles. All to little avail must be said (for now)

The Wii is really not a console to be compared with the playstation 3 or the Xbox 360. Its target audience is much broader in the way that its appeal is well beyond the traditional "hardcore" gamer. With that approach Nintendo have cleverly expanded their target group by miles, all this whilst Microsoft and Playstation are battling each other on a small piece of turf. In many ways Microsoft is selling Porshes, Sony is selling Ferari's and well Nintendo is selling Volkswagens.

On the other hand the Playstation 3, remarkable advanced specs, means that it will be in the console race for quite some time. Furthermore, it is not unthinkable that Sony will be able to include Wii styled gameplay on their console, albeit with much more powerful processing and graphics. It is therefore far too soon to write off the playstation 3. It may be an expensive toy, but it is an impressive one, and will be until the next big thing. The playstation 3 is still early in its life cycle, the Xbox 360 is well into its mid career. And although the Wii is as young as the playstation 3, its hardware and graphics capabilities are rather dated.

For Nintendo's current strategy the Wii is well placed to compete. But at some point the novelty that defines the Wii gameplay will be copied. Does Nintendo have what it takes to power the next generation of game consoles, or will it be taken over by a strong mid career performance of the playstation 3 as we steadily merge into a world of HD entertainment.