Wii Domination
Published by Codrut Nistor, on May 22nd, 2008, in the categories: News
If I could do something to make a full day last at least 48 hours instead of 24, buying a gaming console would be the first thing to do afterwards. Unfortunately, I can't make the planet spin slower, so I will stick to my computer for a while, together with Snake Kenzia, when I have a meeting and I get to early or other similar situations (thank you, Nokia!). Anyway, I find it rather interesting to see that Nintendo Wii is headed to domination, despite the strong opposition it has from Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation, and this is exactly what we're going to talk about next...
Despite the evolution of gaming related sales this spring, recent figures from NPD show that, while sales of Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3/2 as well as handheld Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable dropped in April, Nintendo Wii sales are very strong, almost as half as they were during the last Holiday season!
Anita Frazier, an analyst from NPD, said "The industry continues to set a blistering sales pace, and now shows a year-to-date increase of 31% over last year’s record-setting revenues. This is the first month in many that we’ve seen a decrease in portable hardware and software sales, but it’s important to remember that this year, the Easter holiday fell in March as compared to April in 2007. April 2007 and March 2008 saw sizable games in portable in part due to the holiday timing."
Regarding those figures I mentioned above, it's enough to say that Nintendo Wii, with almost 715,000 units sold in April, managed to surpass the sales Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 2 and Sony PlayStation 3 got together. Do I have to say more?
Well, Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, seems to disagree with the above. He said "This is only the third year of our [X360] existence and only the second year of Sony [PS3] and Nintendo’s [Wii] existence. Are we just amusing ourselves by trying to declare a winner and loser while the customers are still out there deciding? […] I think it’s way too early… When somebody’s well on their way to reaching 100 million units [that would be the time]."
For me, the Wii is a winner in 2008. What's your opinion?
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4 Comments on “Wii Domination”
Brad said on 05/22/2008:
Winners, losers, who cares?
Zera said on 05/23/2008:
I think your missing the one major snag for the Wii and the is software sales. While the big titles (Brawl, Mario Kart) sell well third party titles are both rare and have consistently failed to sell well. So while it's hardware is dominating in sales it has yet to claim the title of winner because of its lack of third party marketability. Take into account the Mario Kart cam nowhere near GTA VI on either systems sales and you see why the Wii will always remain a console solely for casual gaming. Also while dev costs are lower for the Wii then for either the PS3 or 360 (which are now about even) you have to take into account the fact that while Wii games could be ported to the others systems, 360 or PS3 games cannot be ported to the Wii because of its limitations. And when You consider the PS2s are still coming close in numbers to all three it makes it impossible to say what will happen with the next price cuts reportedly coming soon for PS3 and 360. You are jumping the gun quite a bit in declaring the Wii the winner of anything other then the most casual system. I personally own all three as well as an Alienware gaming PC, and while the Wii is good for a wuick break none of its games are as fulfilling as others that are offered on the competitions consoles. My point is that despite it's install base only a few of its first party titles are able to really make the sales and that does not bode well for it considering its numbers and the fact that the games are cheaper. Just my Two cents.
Codrut Nistor said on 05/23/2008:
Interesting opinion, Zera, but I guess we'll see more games coming for the Wii too, in the future. It would be a pity for game producers to leave such a promising market without enough merchandise, don't you think?
Zera said on 05/24/2008:
I do agree but unfortunately most of the ones who have tried had their games flop (Soul Calibur Legends, No More Heroes. While no more heroes got good critical reviews it didn't sell well (Ico, Psychonauts anyone). So while it's cheaper to produce the games for the Wii most owners of it have shown they are only interested in 1st party games. So I'm not going to keep my hopes up. Wiiware should help boost it's software sales but at the same time Wiiware games are limited much like XBL and PSN DLC, meaning you can't really make games that will have the ability to pull you into their universe. And since Wiiware appears to be the best way for smaller devs to turn a profit I doubt that too many of them will make games outside of it. Which I agree is very sad as the Wii has a lot of potential that so far even Nintendo is wasting. Imagine if Brawl had motion controls, yeah I don't think I need to say more there. The Wii's potential is simply being wasted for the quick buck and honestly who can blame them. They are in it to make money afterall.