October Game Sales: Nintendo Wii Kicking PS3 Butt
Look at the sales figures for consoles in October:
- Wii: 803,000 consoles
- Xbox 360: 370,000
- PS3: 190,000
- PS2: 136,000 (People are still buying PS2s?)
Nintendo's dominance (and Sony's problems) don't end there. Among handheld videogame players, Nintendo again beats Sony:
- Nintendo DS: 491,000
- Sony PSP: 193,000
Then dig into the downstream market of videogame sales:
Of the top 10 selling videogame in the U.S. last month, four of them were for the Wii (number one seller Wii Fit, Wii Guitar Hero, Mario Kart, and Wii Play). The PS3 only had one title crack the top 10, LittleBigPlanet (a game at the center of religious controversy), at ninth place.
Why the Wii? Hardcore gamers probably still prefer one of the two other systems, which offer better graphics, but the Wii lends itself to casual players who otherwise might not own a game console at all -- a huge market.
Any idea if supply for the Wii is supposed to be better this year? Will Nintendo have enough units to keep up with the demand for the holidays?
Nintendo is a serious first-party game company as well. Of the 4 Wii games in the top 10, 3 are directly from Nintendo. They are making money not only off their console but also off their games. This is in contrast to the business models of Microsoft and Sony who continue to sell their consoles at a dramatic loss, years after their release.
All in all, Nintendo has proven that dominating the market is not just about having the most powerful system out there. It's also aggressive pricing from the beginning, support by first-party games, and broadening the gaming market.
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The dollar has strengthened significantly against the euro. Which means that Nintendo will ship more boxes to the USA and fewer to Europe. Exactly opposite of what Nintendo did when the euro was riding high.
Their top games: Wii Guitar Hero, the re-hashed same old thing as on any other system, Mario Kart, the standard they have been riding since the Super Nintendo (and a weaker version than N64's IMO), and Wii Play, the unbelievably simple (though fun) multiplayer game. Not ONE "next-gen", revolutionary, challenging or unique game! Certainly nothing that compares to a Gears of War (Xbox360), a Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3) or Grand Theft Auto IV (both systems). Of course, these are all adult orientated games, but if a gaming company panders to young children and their parents (as the article states: "casual gamers", then sales figures are obviously going to be impressive yet feel, to me and any other gamer my age, hollow and meaningless.
The N64 struggled in longevity (and the GameCube was a disaster) BECAUSE of Nintendo's reluctance to allow third party developers. They will make tons of money by selling the endless iterations of Mario games to children (and apparently now older adults), but in the end will burn out their system much faster. The multiplayer aspect, always Nintendo's strong suit, will probably keep children and their grandparents (and on the brighter side girls gameing on behalf of their male friends) playing Wii Tennis for years to come. Or at least until the elementary schools kids grow up.
The Wii belongs to the wife and my 4 yr old son, the DS is my eight year old daughters, and both the PSP and PS3 are mine.
I am 34 and have being playing games on consoles/computers since Atari 1600, Grandstand, ZX Spectrum, C16, C64, Amiga, Atari ST etc.
The Wii is a well targeted system. It is never however and never will be any better than the Xbox or PS3. Well done Nintendo though, Wii 2 should be good, or will it scare people away if it attempts to use todays technology graphically, or if the controller has more than 8 buttons.
Sonys' machine is by far the best, and in time this will be seen imo. The price is an issue, but every wii owner i know who has seen my PS3 has instantly wanted one. The versatility is brilliant, it replaces DVD players BLU-Ray players, MP3 players, even PC's if you get the peripherals to make it easier.
Wii has no web browser unless you pay for it? what? Xbox Live is paid for aswell? PS3 online is all free.
In short the wii bores me to tears in seconds. The PS3 has something new every week, and looks amazing in 1080p.
Xbox I have not much experience with, In between wii and PS3 somewhere, nearer PS3 though.
Wii = Women,Under 12's,Familys
Xbox=Students
PS3=Game/Technology/Future connoisseurs.
I used to be into 360 gaming more, I enjoy the game library's options & it doesn't cost half a paycheck. But I find myself playing my Wii more often because my personal time is limited & I'm playing (though play isn't the best term) 360 at work.