their biggest target audience is males so their primary promotion is going to bee aimed towards them and really it should be. The Wii and Kinect seemed to have broader appeal and sold alot of units but its not like they sold alot of software, bc that audience was more content with the few gimmicky games which were pushed and werent getting the latest new retail releases every month. With the Wii, it tended to always be the same games at the top of the system's sales (Wii Party, Wii Fit, Mario Galaxy, etc...), even years after release. Software is the main source of revenue, not hardware and its males that are buying the most games
Agreed, which is why a lot of third parties either shyed away, or put out shovelware on the Wii. Nintendo may have laughed all the way to the bank carting wheel barrels of cash. The big sellers for the system year one were pretty much the same big sellers year five, which were mainly Nintendo titles. Meanwhile 3rd party games flopped for the most part. PS3, and 360 got the cream of the crop, because the crowds they bring in buy multiple games, and are more willing to take chances on offbeat, non AAA games (see Heavy Rain).
This probably is also why 3rd parties are so gun shy about the Wii-U this time. Somewhere around 3-5 big 3rd party developers have already stated that they either can't afford to spend time developing for it, it needs to sell more, or Nintendo isn't working with them enough. I think they're thinking back to their sales during the Wii's lifetime, and are hesitant.
Anyway, as to the point of why you guys were even saying this. Selling a bunch of hardware is nice, but it doesn't always equal phenomenal sales. Chances are both Sony and MS are going to be taking a small hit at first on each console sold. Like Havok and Iceman are saying, software is the money maker. They can appeal all they want to various demographics, they always have, but they pretty much need the hardcore crowd as a backbone.
The Wii's casual grab was only incredibly profitable because Nintendo builds their systems to be sold for a profit. The main console is profitable, then you need three extra Wiimotes, the various peripherals (Wii+, boards, ect), all of which rakes in the dough for Nintendo. Even before taking in software sales, most of which again, go to Nintendo because their first party games are what sell. If the PS4 and Xbox infinity cater to the same crowd as the Wii, and just end up selling hardware, they may actually take a hit in the short term. (i.e. Selling a $475 console for $400, and not making enough on software to offset the balance). In the long run though, as prices drop, obviously the more homes it's in the better.
