Mario Quintero goes to pay for his Playstation 3 after waiting in line
© AFP/File Robyn Beck

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Nintendo's next-generation "Wii" machine went on sale on Sunday, a fortnight before its debut in Japan. It joined Sony's freshly launched PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's year-old Xbox 360.

Instead of chasing Sony and Microsoft in the race to build warp-speed consoles able to render mindboggling games, Nintendo aims to prove that less is more.

It has deliberately underpowered the Wii, not just to keep the console's price down to 250 dollars but to bring gaming back to the masses.

"Sony's emphasizing the pure power of the PlayStation including the high-definition images to drive the next generation of gaming forward," Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg told AFP.

"Nintendo's taking a very different approach, targeting not just the ubergamers but other members of the family who may have never played a console or given up on them as just too complex," he said.

The unique selling point for the Wii is its one-handed wireless controller, which can serve as a tennis racket, car steering wheel or weapon. That may appeal to parents who want their children to get off the couch.

But Nintendo is also targeting the parents themselves, having proved in Japan that "grey gamers" are keen to keep their brains ticking over with console versions of mind puzzles, crosswords and Sudoku.

"It's a bold move on their part," Gartenberg said. "They've redefined the gaming experience and it'll be interesting to see how the market receives it."

The hardcore gamer targeted by Sony, and Microsoft, is a very different breed. Typically a male, aged 18-35, he will think nothing of spending the 599 dollars that the latest PlayStation costs in its full-featured version.

Mike Kowalski (L), 24 of Arcadia, California is among the first buyers of Nintendo's new Wii console
© AFP/Nintendo-HO Bob Riha Jr.

That is if he can get his hands on one. All 400,000 of the much-delayed PS3s made available by Sony Friday sold out within hours, after unsavoury scenes in some parts of the United States that included a shooting in Connecticut.

The lucky few who did get their hands on a PS3 were able to offload them to desperate eBay buyers, in one case for a staggering 15,100 dollars.

"Sony will sell everything it can make of its new system," said David Mercer, principal analyst at Strategy Analytics.

"But Microsoft has already had a year in the market to cream off early adopters, so the next few weeks will demonstrate how much pent-up demand there really is for the Xbox 360, and how many disappointed PS3 buyers are willing to switch camps," he said.

Microsoft has sold more than 2.67 million Xbox 360s in the United States, according to data from NPD Group, a market research firm.

Sony sold more than 34.8 million PlayStation 2 systems, compared with over 14.4 million original Xboxes and more than 11.3 million Nintendo GameCubes.

Scott Mucci, a product manager for IGN Entertainment, said Microsoft could cash in on frustrated PS3 customers.

"I can see a mom going to a store for a PS3 or Wii and easily walking out with an Xbox 360," he said.

"There is more confidence in the system's ability to perform, and they have an excellent lineup of games coming out for the holidays."

At least 200 titles designed for the two earlier generations of the PlayStation are not working properly on the latest one, and that is unlikely to play well with gamers who have invested hundreds on older titles.

"Price is definitely a factor, but not as much as is content," said NPD Group analyst Anita Frazier.

"I've long been a believer that it isn't any particular technical capability that will win this next console battle. The story continues to be content," she said.

©AFP