I don't think I was trying to be condescending. If you feel that way, then I can only apologize as to your feelings. But as to the point, the plural of anecdote is not data. If the larger sales data doesn't reflect widespread "market confusion" by parents, then it just isn't there on any significant level. A local cold snap doesn't disprove global warming/climate change.
Larger sales data
did suggest that something was problematic with the market's perception of the Wii U, though. I mean, it bombed, after the very successful Wii.
Sales data never tells you the why. How can it? It's just numbers. It just tells you people aren't buying. To figure out why, you have to do research. Which includes talking to people and, yes, getting their stories. And if you hear time and time again that people don't understand what the Wii U is, well, maybe there's something to it.
You say "If the larger sales data doesn't reflect widespread 'market confusion' by parents, then it just isn't there" but isn't low sales exactly how widespread market confusion would be reflected in sales? What else are the sales numbers supposed to do? All they can do is indicate how well the product is being accepted by the market, they can't indicate "widespread market confusion" any more directly than they did.
Again, I wasn't sold on the name being terrible at first. I rather liked the name, and I thought the concern was overblown because, like you, I had seen clueless news reports about other consoles in the past. But then the Wii U came out, and I saw confusion again and again.
It is still easy to explain failure after the fact. Once something is established as a market failure, it's easy to lock in on any one thing as the deciding factor, when it's usually more mundane reasons like game selection and release frequency instead it's name or its shape.
I'm not saying the name and shape was the only or even primary factor as to the Wii U's failure. But we're discussing it in this thread in the context of whether or not a series of Switch revisions that are "moving targets" for developers would be too confusing for the general market.
It's clear to me that a big part of the appeal of game consoles in the first place is not having to worry about compatibility beyond the big logo on the top of the box, with very few exceptions (like games that require special accessories).
The Game Boy Advance launched for $150. I hesitate to infer you might be thinking of the GBA SP, which did launch at $100, because that might be condescending, and I am trying to make an effort not to do so.
This is a small point, but I've seen this a lot lately and I don't understand why. The Game Boy Advance launched at $99:
Source 1
Source 2
I bought one at launch with
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon. It was the first hardware I ever purchased day one; I was very excited about it, even though the screen was terrible.
I would like to pre-emptively apologize if anything in the previous post made you feel condescended to. If you feel that this might be a recurring problem, feel free to ignore my posts in the future.
I'm not sure if you think this was a genuine apology or if you were just being snarky, but in the interest of trying to believe the best of people, I'll just point out that "if you think I'm condescending feel free to ignore my posts" sort of undermines any apology. It's, like, a couple notches above "fuck off."
I don't feel that way toward you. Taking the time to write out a response to you is a sign of respect, even if we don't agree. I legitimately mean that. There's tons of people on the Internet who are way less informed than you; I could try to discuss things with them but, like, why? That's why we all come to this place, right?
But if I respect someone, I'm going to be honest with them, and if I decide to honestly say I think someone is being condescending, that's not something I'm saying rashly or without thought. That's something I weighed heavily in my mind before writing, just like I'm carefully considering this paragraph. It's a sign of respect. I wouldn't say that to someone I thought would dismiss it out of hand, the way immature people dismiss anything they perceive to be a criticism. I'd only bother saying it to someone I thought was willing to be reflective as to how they communicate. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm trying to believe the best in people.
I haven't learned much in my life, but I've learned a few things, and one of them is this: when someone tells you you're doing something that bothers them, listen to them, and consider the possibility that you can be doing that thing without meaning to. That's just table stakes, for adult conversations and relationships. "I don't think I was
trying to X" is a dodge for children.
