samsonlonghair wrote:Ben Heck mentioned the other day that the SegaCD is still the best-selling console add-on of all time if you don't count the Kinect.
That statement kind of paints a grim picture of console add-ons altogether, doesn't it? Why do game companies keep releasing add-ons if they never sell well? Do game companies even expect a console add-on to sell well? What's the break-even point when the sell enough add-ons to justify the cost of research and development plus manufacturing?
The Kinect is probably a great example of why they DO sell them. Per the internets it looks like it sold 29 million units! Shocking considering no one will able to convince me it was anything but a prototype that they boxed and sold.
I will never be able to put my finger on why, but there seems to be a period after exciting new tech is released where people buy the shit based purely on excitement and never stop to research whether the thing actually works well. The video game industry loves this because a lot of gamers have absolutely zero will power and quite frankly will buy almost anything.
Anyways, the Sega CD was exciting at the time and seemed like a logical progression. It was as innovative as the Kinect and maybe more so at a time where the leaps in tech were much bigger. As far as console add-ons it's probably one of the better conceived ones honestly.