OMG! Console Colors: Do They Matter?

I wanted to title this piece: “Console Colors: Or Why I May Sell My Soul for the Hannah Montana PSP,” but I thought it was a little long.  And I figured I should probably talk about console (and handheld) color choices in general.  And the whole “Hannah Montana” thing would probably scare a lot of people away, especially those of you with testicles, many of whom are afraid even LOOKING at said product would make those said testicles shrink in the process.

Plus, I also started thinking about the recent Japanese black Wii that has also been “blacklisted” (haha, get it?  *crickets chirp*) from anywhere else, apparently.  So then my little brain started churning about the whole concept of color choices in our video game systems, both today and yesterday.  Do color options really influence people’s buying choices?

For example, if you already own a Wii, and tomorrow you could get a new one in any shade of the rainbow, would you be willing to drop another $250 for it?  Obviously, some people will.  If you don’t have a DS, but they came out with one in your most favorite color, would you then buy one?

Obviously, I can’t speak for everyone, and color is obviously something that is going to matter to some people more than others.  While I was disheartened that we won’t be seeing that super-sexy black Wii (at least in the near future), would I have rushed out to buy one to replace the perfectly functional white one I have right now?  Probably not.  Although, I have to admit (and this might be the woman in me) that the idea of having a Wii that would match my TV, audio receiver, PS3, and cable box (rather than sticking out like a white guy at Soul Fest), is pretty appealing.

I also have to admit that while I’ve been contemplating getting a PSP (since I have a lot more time for handheld gaming than console) for a while, the new Hannah Montana set just released has been pushing me even more in that direction.  In fact, I actually really, really want one.  I mean, it’s LILAC!  The best color ever.  Seriously, even though I have a perfectly working DS Lite (that I love, in a color I love), if Nintendo released a lilac one, I think I’d be on it like a crack whore to a paying stranger’s Johnson.  Even if it was another DS Lite (and not a DSi), it would be sooo tempting.

Am I crazy?  Probably.  Is color a stronger drive for women then men?  Well, I can’t say that, but I’ll mention a little anecdote.  My husband once asked me when we were talking about cars, what was more important to me: the way the car looked, or its safety.  For him, safety was number one, no questions asked.  I had to admit, however, that as long as the car wasn’t a total death trap, style definitely meant more to me.

Have I ever swapped out one console (or handheld) for another, simply because of color?  Not really.  But part of it has to do with the fact that until my DS, I never really owned a video
game system that gave me the color option.  (My sister did upgrade from our regular Game Boy to a yellow Game Boy Color, though.)

Nintendo definitely seems to be the console-maker of choice when it comes to offering their customers color options.  For example, the N64 was one of the first consoles to not only offer controllers in a variety of shades, but to give you the option of choosing  your very own colored-console of your dreams.  OK, so I might be exaggerating a little here, but the point is that after the monochrome days of NES, SNES, and Genesis, it was pretty eye-popping to suddenly see a hot-red video game machine (not to mention see-through shades)!  Of course, this coincided (more-or-less) with the other god of color choice in the electronics market: Apple and their infamous iMac G3, which suddenly took the world of home computing from icky-greyish white to a rainbow-colored land of happiness.  Who wouldn’t want a desktop that makes you think of jolly ranchers?

However, the mood was set – Apple continues their color tradition today, most obviously in their iPods.  Likewise, Nintendo again offered color options for the disappointing gamecube, although the choices were fewer than its predessor.  The Game Boy’s “PLAY IT LOUD!” compaign in the mid-nineties helped revitalize the aging handheld by offering cool new color options, such as red, yellow, green, and clear.  But what happened?  While the DS continues to offer options, these are relatively limited, and the Wii has been a white outcast for nearly three years, with no signs (at least in the US) of this changing any time soon.  Sony is even worse: you can get your PS3 in black, black, or black (unless you live in Japan, of course), and for a long time you had the same options for your PSP.  You can now get a PS2 in silver or white (besides the obvious black), but still.  Even Dell has come up with candy-colored netbooks, so honestly, that must mean people want options, right?

Of course, I’m being a little silly here.  Obviously, it is more cost-effective for a company to produce one product, and perhaps, as gamers have grown up, the craving for that yellow home video game console has waned slightly, especially in the case of a machine like the PS3, which often serves as a home theater unit and not just a gaming machine.  But, Nintendo, why can’t we have that black Wii?  White is sooo early 2000s.  And every other TV and associate peripheral is black or silver.  Why not give us those options as well?  And by “us,” I mean, the rest of the world outside of Japan.

Of course, one can’t talk about color options and video game systems without discussing the obvious: Limited Editions.  I could be factitious here and say: “What came first: the concept of color options, or the idea for Limited Edition sets?” – but I’ll restrain myself.  Regardless, even today, many color options can only be achieved through the purchase of a limited edition bundle, of which there are too many to name, and of which my lilac PSP dream is one.  The limited edition, is, of course, a win-win for console manufacturers: 1) satisfy gamers’ inane desires for pretties, 2) save money by not having these as part of your permanent production run, and 3) make them LIMITED, so people, like, have to go out and buy them, like, right now (or pay an astronomical amount for them later on eBay)!

It makes me wonder, if, down the line, Nintendo will offer the black Wii in a US bundle.  Even Microsoft has broken out of their white (or black) console confines to offer us such lovelies as the red Resident Evil 5 set.  But that brings me back to the point that I know I haven’t really been making during this crazy ramble: do colors really matter?

For instance, in the case of the Wii, how many people have chosen NOT to buy one because they are only offered in white?  How many people have skipped on buying a PS3 (only) because the color name brings back nightmares of their childhood, hunched over an old upright, with an old lady beating their fingers with a cane whenever they hit a wrong note??  Although you may find a couple of people in these situations, for the most part, someone will buy a machine because of the games it plays or the features it offers, and not because of the colors.

On the other hand, color can be a very persuasive thing.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back and drool over that “like, TOOOTALLY cool” lilac PSP. . . .