Hmm. As I recall, the Wii was almost impossible to find when it launched. I'd have guessed it sold less due to lack of supply. Maybe the entire list is based on assumptions ;). #christmas
@belgoran: Yes, but less than a crapload can still be quite a lot. Just because they didn't sell as many as they could have, doesn't mean they couldn't easily outsell the next best seller depending on just what the supply was at the time. #christmas
It doesn't really explain the numbers, but it claims they're only talking about the most popular toys for kids. That would imply that most of the Wiis out there weren't purchased for children. #christmas
@spannu: Well, I don't think this was so much about what was purchased, as it is what was desired.
As a kid, I wanted the Genesis version of Mortal Kombat, but I didn't have a Genesis and my parents sure as shoot weren't going to buy a whole new console to play one game when I could get what they saw as the same game for a system I already owned.
So, yeah - A lot of people, children included, wanted a PS3 back then. However, when you rely on your parents to buy stuff for you, you kinda have to deal with the fact that your parents are never going to spend $600 on a console when there is another console selling for $250. Heck, the fact that the Wii tried to appeal more to the parents than the PS3 did very well could have played a part in that.
Of course, this is all assuming they are forming these numbers based on demand, not sales. If they are forming them based on sales, then I have no idea how the PS3 got up there.
Really? Those robo sapian toys? and 1999 was a plushie pikachu and not pokemon games or something?
Some of these things just dont seem right to be honest.
Then again, i've not done any market research into it. #christmas
@Blore07: It could be that some of the things pictured are representatives of wider product lines, like the Pikachu represents all Pokemon merchandise. #christmas
@Pentex: Mortal Kombat II was my first M-rated game back at the tender age of 6. Got a Genesis, Sonic the Hedgehog, and MK2. It was *almost* as good as the Christmas I got an SNES, Final Fantasy II, ActRaiser, and Super Mario World the year prior. Ahhh, the childhood joys of killing and dismembering the bodies of defeated foes. #christmas
I'm an economist, and I've had a poke around for this paper. Unfortunately his university doesn't publish it. (Which is fairly dodgy.)
Regardless, what a brief overview given at the university website says is that he applied what is known as instrumental variables to the statistical regression. (IV as it is better known is usually used to combat random processes in data, or you could think of it as trying to control for bad data by using 'instruments' or proxies to adjust his figures.
However whilst the method can be used for good it depends very strongly on what proxies you utilise, and whether it makes sense to do so and works. There is a possibility that this is just a spurious relationship, (and his university really has no incentive to not promote his research, since it generates controversy and notoriety for them) Since applying a regression you essentially assume that there is a relationship between the two and that the relationship follows the causality of the specification.
Also he doesn't have a PhD he's only an undergrad. So take his work with a big grain of salt.
Also i wonder if there is a certain amount of self selection in his sample...
Anyway the key is to find his paper, then we can see whether it is a solid relationship or just an amusing regression. #money
I think that this is a mistake in cause and effect. As detailed in Steven Levitt's book Freakanomics, it's important to remember there are several different cause and effect links.
1) A can cause B
2) B can cause A
3) A and B can be caused by outside variable C
4) A and B can be coincidentally similar in pattern but not actually linked
What I think we have here is a case of #3. It's likely that those who have lower paying jobs tend to have more time for games. As well, they would most likely be less educated as there is a known causal effect between education and income, thus they would likely spend less time reading.
It should also be noted that he himself states that women do not seem to be affected, seemingly showing a lack of a direct link between the two and suggesting an indirect link found in men. The boy needs to put down the controller and do his reading. #money
Right. Because other hobbies like, say, photography are totally forgiving on the wallet. Who is this nutjob? Anything you spend time doing will eventually cost you money. Gardening, painting, rebuilding furniture, whatever.
Stop finding a way to paint video games in a bad light. #money
I might be missing an obvious something in this study, but couldn't the same thing be said for pretty much any hobby that requires you buy stuff occasionally? You spend $60 here and $60 there on games when new ones come out instead of working longer hours, but what about those people who buy hundreds of dollars worth of wood to make their own furniture for fun instead of working longer hours?
Seems to me that they're picking on video games for no real reason when it's hobbies in general that have this same effect. Then again, I might be missing the point completely and maybe I just made a fool out of myself <_< #money
My friend and I have been trying to setup a wencomic for a little while, but instead of planning, writing and drawing when he comes over to my place, we play Street Fighter.
So instead of furthering a project that could potentially provide us with a small income (I'm thinking a few dollars a month), we choose to have fun instead.
Who would have thought, people opt for a leisure activity in their spare time.
Of course, gaming doesn't effect my normal income in the slightest. I have a decent (if dull) job and easily manage to keep what I do in my spare time separate from what I do at work.
Aside from spending hours on Kotaku instead of working... #money
11/04/09
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...
ARE THOSE FUCKING POGS??? #christmas
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wow. #christmas
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As a kid, I wanted the Genesis version of Mortal Kombat, but I didn't have a Genesis and my parents sure as shoot weren't going to buy a whole new console to play one game when I could get what they saw as the same game for a system I already owned.
So, yeah - A lot of people, children included, wanted a PS3 back then. However, when you rely on your parents to buy stuff for you, you kinda have to deal with the fact that your parents are never going to spend $600 on a console when there is another console selling for $250. Heck, the fact that the Wii tried to appeal more to the parents than the PS3 did very well could have played a part in that.
Of course, this is all assuming they are forming these numbers based on demand, not sales. If they are forming them based on sales, then I have no idea how the PS3 got up there.
11/04/09
Some of these things just dont seem right to be honest.
Then again, i've not done any market research into it. #christmas
11/04/09
11/04/09
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It just warms the heart. #christmas
11/04/09
Hurry! We must make children crave new things! Such as... jackhammers. And bratwurst. #christmas
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"When I say "I have eyes on the back of my head" my kids know I mean it!" #christmas
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11/04/09
Regardless, what a brief overview given at the university website says is that he applied what is known as instrumental variables to the statistical regression. (IV as it is better known is usually used to combat random processes in data, or you could think of it as trying to control for bad data by using 'instruments' or proxies to adjust his figures.
However whilst the method can be used for good it depends very strongly on what proxies you utilise, and whether it makes sense to do so and works. There is a possibility that this is just a spurious relationship, (and his university really has no incentive to not promote his research, since it generates controversy and notoriety for them) Since applying a regression you essentially assume that there is a relationship between the two and that the relationship follows the causality of the specification.
Also he doesn't have a PhD he's only an undergrad. So take his work with a big grain of salt.
Also i wonder if there is a certain amount of self selection in his sample...
Anyway the key is to find his paper, then we can see whether it is a solid relationship or just an amusing regression. #money
11/03/09
1) A can cause B
2) B can cause A
3) A and B can be caused by outside variable C
4) A and B can be coincidentally similar in pattern but not actually linked
What I think we have here is a case of #3. It's likely that those who have lower paying jobs tend to have more time for games. As well, they would most likely be less educated as there is a known causal effect between education and income, thus they would likely spend less time reading.
It should also be noted that he himself states that women do not seem to be affected, seemingly showing a lack of a direct link between the two and suggesting an indirect link found in men. The boy needs to put down the controller and do his reading. #money
11/03/09
Stop finding a way to paint video games in a bad light. #money
11/03/09
11/03/09
Seems to me that they're picking on video games for no real reason when it's hobbies in general that have this same effect. Then again, I might be missing the point completely and maybe I just made a fool out of myself <_< #money
11/03/09
250 minutes = 100% decrease in income.
Welp, better quit my job! :V #money
11/03/09
So instead of furthering a project that could potentially provide us with a small income (I'm thinking a few dollars a month), we choose to have fun instead.
Who would have thought, people opt for a leisure activity in their spare time.
Of course, gaming doesn't effect my normal income in the slightest. I have a decent (if dull) job and easily manage to keep what I do in my spare time separate from what I do at work.
Aside from spending hours on Kotaku instead of working... #money