Case Study-Topic 1 - The Wii

Hypothesis
Wii: I expect to find that the wii remote was more popular than the more traditional controller, used by the seventh generation Xbox 360 and PS3. Also, the personalisation of the mii channel and using your own avatar which you can personalise and change whenever you want. Other things include downloadable channels on the wii and the wii store over the Internet allows a more interactive experience; choosing what and when to download something over the wii store channel.

Background Research
On the company website, all the free services and channels (some needed to download) are outlined and discussed. Also there are reviews of games, video clips to watch, list of games under the 'wii software' heading, and 'wii tv', a compilation of all the video clips of adverts shown on tv.
I also did some research on wikipedia about how successful the wii launch was and found out that:

1. it had sold over 600,000 consoles in the first eight days of launch in the Americas
2. the Wii had become the fastest-selling video games console in the UK, selling 105,000 in the opening weekend, compared with the Xbox 360's 70,000
3. it was mostly successful, but with one flaw. Due to the scarcity of the wii remote and nunchuk, price gouging began, and even when consumers got their controllers, the straps were not properly equipped for the active movement of some of the games; wii sports for one, and some had to be recalled due to the poor design of the straps, resulting in them snapping.
4. There were 37 games available on the launch; of these only 23 for the Americas, 19 for Europe, 17 for Japan, and 13 for Australasia, so even though the launch started in Japan, the Americas were targeted with the most software for the wii

Competition

Even though there was competition of the Xbox 360 and the PS3, the Wii came out on top. The Wii has sold20.13 million units, as opposed to the Xbox 360 sales of 18 million, and the PS3's sales of 10.49 million.

I read a review of the wii console;

http://reviews.cnet.com/consoles/nintendo-wii/4505-10109_7-31355104.html

Here's what they thought:

Good: The new motion-sensor controller allows new gaming capabilities, and the built in Nintendo Wi-Fi connection delivers free online services and game play. The compatibility with gamecube games means you can still play them on the wii, and the ability to have the gamecube controllers controlling wii games, so not always using the nunchuk and wii remote. The SD cards also have higher capabilities fr storage of saved games, photos (with the free photo shop channel), and it is the most affordable home console system, (£179.99 for basic package). On cnet, the user comments gave 8.1/10, while on xbox 360, they gave 7.4/10, and for PS3, 7.5/10, which shows the difference in popularity for the Wii.

Bad: The controller uses batteries very fast, so have the added cost of them or buying the special charger for the controllers. Also, the motion sensor control takes a while to get used to. The 'friends code' system is inefficient because both sides have to register each other to even exchange messages, which can be annoying for the user if they want to contact the person over a long distance.

I also read an article from the Guardian website about 'Wii Fit', the unique 'exergame' with the wii remote and new 'balance board' which allows the user to ski, some yoga, hulahoops, and other active excercises.

What the Guardian summed up is, the game allows unique gameplay, and interactivity with their own movement controlling their character. However, there is not a sufficient amount of movement to replace the gym, and no real advice from a real person, so is not totally up to speed in the 'strenous excercise department'.