Boaz Berkowitz

Is the Game Over for Wii?

Interesting correlations.

I have to agree with jwebb1970. Marketing and image as well as other factors such as price often wins out over superior hardware and not just in video game consoles. VHS won out over Betamax, PCs over Apples, etc.

Nintendo: The Wii Bubble Has Burst

User "Big Moving" makes a good point, except Nintendo can easily produce games irrespective of its hardware. Remember Sega? They used to battle it out with Nintendo for platform dominance and at one point captured 51% of the market. But after a few bombs (Dreamcast, Saturn, etc.) and the emergence of Sony's PlayStation, Sega's market share of platform sales plummeted to a lowly 2%. Shortly afterward they abandoned this market completely and focused solely on game development. They still produce some exceptional games for the other platforms, even their ancient rival, Nintendo. In my youth I never would have imagined video games featuring Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog and Nintendo's Mario but now they exist.

Nintendo's games will not be enough save them if they want to remain the industry leader. They will need innovative hardware, not software.

But yes, they do make some fine games :)

On Nov 01 08:27 AM Big Moving Stock wrote:

> Gaming is a part time passion of mine, since childhood many moons
> ago. Agreed that Nintendo does not have the most technically superior
> hardware but they do have something nobody else has and probably
> never will. They create the best 1st party software by a long shot
> and they own the best franchises in the history of gaming. Mario
> - Zelda - Metroid, etc.. Nintendo has never tried to have the "best"
> hardware or machine, but what they have strived for and largely succeeded
> at, is producing the software and games that are the most fun and
> appealing to the largest audience of users, both casual fans and
> hardcore gamers. I Love Nintendo!

Nintendo: The Wii Bubble Has Burst

Xbox is technically a better machine in that it is has a stronger processor and more advanced graphics. The Wii actually chokes on some games that flow smoothly on the Xbox. The Wii has some advantages but they are mostly in its motion sensors. If its competitors match this feature with better technology, then yes Nintendo is in trouble (seekingalpha.com/artic...). Unless of course they manage to wow the world again with a new innovative product like they did with the Wii.

But none of this is a surprise, but rather part of the natural life cycle of a product. The recent price drop was a clear indication of this.

Who Benefited from Microsoft's Bing Cashback?

I covered the cashback program in depth in some of my recent articles:

seekingalpha.com/artic...

seekingalpha.com/artic...

But one question remains is will there be a lasting impact? I for one did make use of this promotion, but my loyalty has not increased at all. I simply go to which ever cashback promotion offers the highest payout (usually bing since they use their cashback program as a loss leader but not always - sometimes the competition has a better promotion or features a store that Bing is not partnered with). I suspect most other users are the same - this kind of promotion specifically appeals to price sensitive customers. In other words, they'll go where ever they can get the best deal. So using the current strategy, Microsoft may only build market share by literally paying users to search with Bing. As strategies go, that isn't sustainable for the long term.

Plus I've been dismally unimpressed with Bing's support. My wife had a problem where all of her cashback was inexplicably canceled. She's been waiting for the problem to be resolved for over a month to know available. We never had that sort of trouble with other cashback sites like Fatwallet, Ebates, Mrrebates, etc.

As an advertising tactic though, it was brilliant. A few months ago, no one heard of Bing. Within its first few weeks, already 1 in 4 US adults recognized the name somewhat. That is quite an impressive feat. I don't know how much money Microsoft blew on this promotion, but it could easily have been less than a mass advertising campaign would have cost them. And was likely more effective too.

Cha-Ching: Microsoft Pays Users to Search with Bing

Rokjok777, what do you meant this is year-old news? Bing was only launched this past June and this particular promotion was only launched on August 10, the day the article was published. Bing did exist previously as Live.com but I believe my 2 articles covered why this promotion is different than anything they've done before. Please elaborate.

On Aug 11 06:12 PM Rokjok777 wrote:

> very, very old and stale news, this was launched nearly a year ago

Cha-Ching: Microsoft Pays Users to Search with Bing

Doubleshortetf, you are correct and I mentioned the Microsoft/eBay deal in my article and also linked to an earlier article of mine that covered this in depth:

seekingalpha.com/artic...

Only it was as high as 30-35%, not 20%.

And I agree it is desperate. But desperate measures sometimes work. I don't think Bing will overtake Google by any means but this should increase their market share.
On Aug 11 01:10 PM doubleshortetf wrote:

> Nice ploy but how long can MSFT finance this renewed effort? Can't
> beat GOOG so "bribe" for few clicks? $10k questions is will the
> users continue to use Bing when the cashback is reigned in?
>
> BTW this is 2nd time they did this. MSFT was offering whooping 20%
> cashback on eBay buy-it-now purchase last year if clicked thru live.com.
> It began at 20% and slid to 8% over few months.
>
> My 2-cents is glass is half empty on par with desperation all over
> it.

Cha-Ching: Microsoft Pays Users to Search with Bing

Thanks spaid_fr, it is nice to know I'll get my 15 minutes of fame :)

Bing does offer comparison shopping as well but yes, don't just assume because there is a big discount, that the original price is a competitive one. But I've searched for a number of products from reputable sites (Barnes and Noble, Overstock, SmartBargains, Buy.com, HP.com, etc.). All their prices seem normal, competitive and most importantly, do not seem to be inflated to coincide with the Bing promotion. No guarantee it will last but if these stores value their reputation, they'll behave.

Microsoft and eBay Team Up: Desperate or Brilliant?

This deal is back in a way. Starting today, Microsoft is offering double cashback on all its partner stores, refunding up to 50% cashback! You can read this article here:

seekingalpha.com/artic...

Cha-Ching: Microsoft Pays Users to Search with Bing

Microsoft wouldn't do this unless they were betting it will increase their market share. In the short term, I bet they are right. The long term isn't as certain but will likely have a positive impact there as well.

Amazon to Buy Netflix? Microsoft Is a Much Better Guess as a Potential Acquirer

Due to new interpretations of the law by NY State, Amazon already has begun to charge NY Sales tax even though it has no physical presence there. Other states are considering to follow suit with similar re-interpretations of the tax law. If so, Amazon may be required to charge sales tax in all 50 states regardless of a Netflix deal. So the tax considerations maybe not be as large an issue as you think, at least not enough to disregard the idea. More on this can be found here:

seekingalpha.com/artic...

Microsoft Xbox Natal: A Leap Forward in Gaming

I know a few gamers who have both Call of Duty and Wii Fit. I happen to be one of them. Though I admit the Wii Fit, pretty much sits on a shelf. And it was intended for my wife so I'm not sure that counts :)

Video games and exercise don't mix well. Natal might change that but games are supposed to be fun and for most gamers, exercise is anything but. Game like the Wii Fit don't hold as much appeal for us because it doesn't successfully fulfill either role - its not nearly as fun as other games yet doesn't come anywhere near "real" exercise.


On Jun 04 06:01 PM Gaucho420 wrote:

> Its too little too late for this generation, when one particular
> console (The Wii) has already wrapped up a huge amount of the audience
> that would be interested in Project Natal and when that particular
> audience (non core gamers) are highly unlikely to upgrade to something
> new, this soon and for this cost. In addition, the reaction from
> hard core gamers I know has been one giant MEH...as in, if we wanted
> this, we'd own a Wii. So its too little, too late in terms of marketing
> & making money, not the technology, which clearly is very cool.
>
>
> I may pick it up as I've got money to burn and I love gaming, but
> other than me, who's apparently in a very small category who owns
> a Wii & 360, most of the remaining audience falls on one side
> of the tracks and either owns a Wii or wouldn't be interested in
> a motion capture camera...people tend to forget that the hard core
> gamers usually sit on a couch and don't move...it'll be hard to break
> those gamers out of their habits and disdain for physical activity.
> IE- know any hard core gamers that play Gears, Halo or COD4 and also
> own Wii Fit? I don't and I know quite a few gamers.

Microsoft and eBay Team Up: Desperate or Brilliant?

AUTHOR'S UPDATE:

The amount of actual cashback has been fluctuating. After a steady few days at 30%, it fell to 25% last night and 20% this morning. Even more interesting is the questionable practices that a number of eBay sellers have been implementing to abuse the cashback program. For example, I've seen $500 gift cards selling at $600 "Buy It Now" or higher. After all, after a 30% cashback, the buyer would still only be paying $420 for a $500 gift card, but the Seller would be getting $600!

The forums have interesting stories as well. I read about one enterprising individual who buys items on ebay, gets his cashback and then immediately reposts them on ebay at the original price. He pockets the cashback profit. Sometimes he will even have the original seller ship directly to his buyer and no one is the wiser.

I also read about one unscrupulous pair of brothers who posted and sold items to eachother. No property actually changed hands but they would split the cashback. So one would post a non-existent item for $500, the other would purchase it immediately and they would split the $150 profit (less any minor ebay/paypal fees).

This is a complete abuse of the cashback program and may end up hurting ebay much more than it realized!

Microsoft and eBay Team Up: Desperate or Brilliant?

To Mr Jackdee
I enjoyed your comment very much as it gave me a chuckle, I like your sense of humor. But just to clarify, as I said in the article, this promotion isn't new in itself nor did I ever claim that a 10% promo coupon was something new (though it is rare to receive one - my wife received a coupon, I did not and rarely have). I believe others have expounded upon the deeper issues that I touched upon so I don't feel obligated to repeat them again here. But there is another issue you have missed: While you and I may have known about the promotion, I believe by far the majority of Americans did not and I wanted to help spread the holiday cheer. Of course there are some who may agree with you and turn their noses up when offered 30-40% off their holiday shopping bills. But I think most Americans would be very happy to save so much, this season more so than ever before. Times are tough these days and I'd like to think that maybe my article helped make them a little brighter for some.

Though caveat emptor- some ebay sellers have started raising their prices now that they are aware of the cashback program. Make sure your final price is still a deal.

Now tell me, where can I find me one of those new Lisa computers you were talking about?

Microsoft and eBay Team Up: Desperate or Brilliant?

To Mr. Hernje, I'm afraid I don't really understand your comment. My apologies if my writing was not clear. What I meant is that I like eBay for being eBay and Amazon for being Amazon and I shop accordingly. I feel that eBay is trying to compete head to head against Amazon and is changing their business model to be more like them. I have bought and sold items on eBay both personally and professionally for over 10 years and believe I have a good understanding of the way the company works. But in recent years, I have become increasingly dissastisfied with the way they have run their business and over that time, I have been using their site considerably less. The majority of my dissatisfaction has come with the changes that have impacted sellers rather than buyers though. eBay is still my best bet if I'm looking to buy or sell an obscure item. Otherwise I'm more likely to use Amazon. Or at least I was until they started charging sales tax. But that's a different story which can be found here: seekingalpha.com/artic...