I'm sorry, but I have to say that this continued posturing that the Wii is not a competitor (now 'direct competitor') is getting tiresome. Are there 'video games' that are released on all three consoles? Do you know what I'm referring to when I say 'all three consoles'? Are there consumers that are in the position of having to decide whether to buy a Wii versus buying a PS3? I think all of those sound like reasonable statements.

Stringer and cohorts have confused the concept of competition with that of cross-console comparison. Perhaps the Wii is not as apt a comparison for the PS3 as the Xbox 360 is. But it's certainly a competitor. So long as consoles remain priced such that consumers need to pick one over the other, then they compete for those dollars.

Sony said the same thing about the Nintendo DS when they launched the PSP. The biggest problem with statements like this is that the games media in general will repeat them over and over. I remember when every video games magazine was preaching that the PSP will crash the Nintendo DS and the movies on UMD are the next big thing, neither of that happened, but I read in none of these magazines something like "Look, we were wrong, completly wrong, we printed word by word what Sony said and didn't put a single thought in it."

If my $$ is going to the Wii, both games and gaming accessories, and NOT to Sony or Microsoft...he may want to re-think these kinds of statements. They really need to figure out WHY my $$ is not going to them, and try to attract me to send my $$ their way. BTW my Wii plays ALL of my old Gamecube games as well...wasn't the Gamecube a competitor to the PS2? Who cares about media features? I want a gaming machine. Period.

The only way I'd even think about getting a PS3 is if they were free. Hey Howard, send one my way will ya! Then maybe I'll change my tune.

So last week we have Microsoft claiming that Wii owners will "graduate" to a 360, whatever that means.

Now we have Sony saying that it is a "expensive niche game device". How he can claim that the cheapest console on the market is "expensive" is beyond me.

Both Microsoft and Sony are sore loosers. They can't deal with the fact that a non HD game console can be beating them senseless. BUt considering less than a 15% of tv owners have an HD ready tv, it is no wonder that they are not selling more than the Wii.

Wii has more kid-friendly games. I have 3 young kids- age 7, 5 & 2. There is a plethora of games available for Game Cube/ Wii that are age-appropriate. Do you hear that Sony & Microsoft? Learn those words: age appropriate. My kids LOVE Mario, Luigi & Yoshi. This is not to even mention the Pokémon craze that my kids are now a part of. I mean, Nintendo could market Pikachu-shaped Spinach squares & my kids would all-of-a-sudden be eating Spinach for breakfast lunch & dinner.
So that's it; I have to get the console that plays the games my kids must have. The extra $100 for the PS3 is crucial, too. With $4+/gallon gas, I'm going to go w/ the cheaper console. However, it just so happens that Nintendo has an unbreakable lead in the kiddie market, with all of the cartoons, etc. I may not be representative of the gamer market, but I think I representative of the rest of the population, that likes to casually play games (with an occasional obsession), but isn't willing to shell out $400 bucks for it. Learn these 3 words, Sony:
American Middle Class

Well, in a sense he's right. The Wii isn't a direct competitor. The PS3 is almost exclusively a console aimed at "hardcore" gamers who play sophisticated, visually dense games. This represents a market of perhaps what, 20 million people worldwide, total? And in that market there are even smaller niches of people who are fans of specific types of sophisticated games, like Gran Turismo, GTA or MGS.

The Wii, on the other hand is aimed at people who are not so intense about what they want from games, who just want to have fun playing games without having to put a great deal of time and effort into it.

In other words, almost everyone else on the planet.

Perhaps it should be said that the PS3 is not really a direct competitor to the Wii.

I own all three consoles, because I'm a game developer. However, the Wii is getting the most play by far. It's what all my friends want to play when they come over for game night.

If the Wii didn't exist, most (my magic 8-ball says 75%) of the people who only have a Wii wouldn't have bought a PS3/360 instead. In that sense I agree that they're not direct competitors.

But calling it "expensive" and "niche" is ridiculous. :)

yeah I lost faith in the PS3 towards the beginning when in an interview one of the PS3 developers said that it (PS3) is not a game system, it is a multimedia machine.

He's kidding right? Pull your head outta your ass there Stringer.

How can you call something a niche when it has broadened the audience of gamers more than any other console in history? That just flat out doesn't make sense.

I have all the consoles and the Ps3 is my 'expensive niche" because 98% of the time I use it is to watch movies. The 360 by far gets the most gameplay and the Wii is a close second. Most of the time my PS3 is just a dust collector. I don't expect that to change soon. Ps3 exclusives haven't appealed to me that much and if a game is on PS3 and 360 I'll get the 360 version because I like the controller better and there's a more robust gaming community to interact with and play games with.

He sounds like Microsoft's Steve Ballmer (about 50% of statements coming out of Ballmer's mouth are marketing-related lies). Motivational hypothesis: if you say it often enough people will believe it no matter how nonsensical it is.

Sony will be in deep trouble when they begin to believe their own marketing.