The future of the Wii?

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

"Scarcely a week goes by without Nintendo's rising stock price or record revenues being touted as evidence of the Wii's undeniable popularity. Most recently, Nintendo is predicting that its console's unparalleled demand will continue into the holiday season, leaving many would-be buyers out in the cold this Christmas. However, despite the rosy forecasts, some within the industry have come to think of the Wii as a fad, one that will fade from its mainstream popularity as quickly as it rose.

That sentiment was at the center of a report from Japan's Nikkei Business Daily [registration required] this week, in which several Japanese software publishers expressed both uncertainty as to how to best capitalize on the expanded market, and concern over the longevity of Nintendo's console.

According to the report, despite the Japanese gaming software industry sales spiking by 30 percent in 2006, nearly 90 percent of the growth in copies sold was attributable to Nintendo's in-house games. "This means sales of other software makers were practically unchanged from last year's levels," the report noted.

Elementary-school children have traditionally been the main buyers of Nintendo game systems, so says the report, and this caused many publishers to "miscalculate demand" in developing games for the Wii. With more than 70 percent of Nintendo Wii owners aged over 20, and 51 percent female, traditionally niche games have become surprisingly popular. The report specifically calls out Mario Party 8, which sold more than 830,000 units in 2006, ranking it third in the year's overall sales charts. The report cites an executive at a leading software house as saying, "I never imagined our titles could be outsold by a party game."

Despite recent reports that Japan's top publishing houses are shifting their efforts to Wii development, the report claims that software purveyors are worried about the Wii's sustainability. "The Wii is like [Tae-Bo creator Billy Blanks'] Billy's Boot Camp weight-loss program on DVD. People bought it out of curiosity, and it's likely a lot of them haven't used it," said the report, quoting a major software publisher rep.

Cause for concern stems from the Wii's recent slip in Japanese console hardware charts. Wii sales were down 32 percent in August, which the report notes was the lowest sales month since December 2006, when the console launched in Japan. With 168,000 units sold, the August dip was the second consecutive month where the Wii deviated from its formerly stable sales of around 300,000 units."

- Gamespot today.

Also one guy replied to it saying that an enormous number of Wii owners only really have and care about Wii sports. Now I know most guys in here undoubtably have many games and love the console, hell I think the concept is brilliant and well realised but I must agree with the guy who replied, as most of our sales to family buyers (which make up the vast majority) are only worried about buying Wii Sports and we never see them in to buy another game again, indeed our Wii game sales are probably the lowest in store.

Now of course the Wii is in ridiculously high demand (it's PERFECT for Christmas with the family around) especially at the moment but what is the future for the console?

Outside of games sold with the console, at Gamestation Northfield we wouldn't actually lose out too much if Wii game sales completely vanished. Yes console sales are the largest (followed by DS which says something about the vast fanbase and quality of this gen's Nintendo consoles) but it's not really backed up with follow up game sales.

This is just a comment, feel free to completely disagree and laugh in my face...Or give your own opinions.

[Benji]

You know what makes me chuckle, people calling the Wii a kiddies console, but todays kiddies grow into tomorrows teenagers and adults awful fast, and guess who cornered the market? Nintendo. Okay so they'll want more grown up games as time goes on, and that's why Nintendo is slowly filtering them in. But the main point is, people who remember the SNES and Mega Drive have fond memories that are now selling as nostalgia on the Virtual Console, these kids could be doing the same in the future, they've got their hearts in the Wii like we all did. So call it a fad or not, Nintendo got it right, a lot more than Sony and Microsoft did this generation, they finally made the change. In years gone by we all had that idea of a virtual helmet to play games like they show in sci-fi shows, we're one large step closer thanks to Nintendo's innovation.

[Gongsun Zan]

Mmm...51% female.

Anyway, I think they're reading far too much into the July/August sales dip, seeing as it's a really horrid time for games in general. Chances are sales won't really pick up till November or so.

I think a good comparison here would be Pokemon. It's nowhere near what it was when it first came out, but it still manages to remain a solid chart-topper. Yet even if we do agree that the Wii is just a passing fad, by the time it does die out its not going to shrivel up into oblivion.

[Benji]

OMG ZAN! DEAD RISING DIARY?

[Gongsun Zan]

I've had that sig for like months now. What does that tell you about me and laziness?

[9 to 5]

Three words tells me this, Red vs Blue.

[Benji]

I've had that sig for like months now. What does that tell you about me and laziness?

What does it tell you about me and paying attention? Plus, I advertise constantly and don't deliver cause I'm a lazy fuck, you've only done it once

[Jeff Jeffries]

I bought a Wii when they first came out and have only like 6 games now. I haven't played it in over two months. I'd play it more, but there just aren't enough games out that I feel the need to play. IMO, if the Wii had a bigger game selection, it'd sell more games.

[Herr Matzat]

Fabricating some bullshit that makes a big number of sales look bad always is great.

There obviously is a new marked opening up and a lot of publishers are still aiming at the conventional console. The higher the buyer potential in Wii is the higher the games that use its own style will become.

About the kiddy deal, Nintendo always aimed for the younger marked, they always lost the "adult gamers" and they alqways managed to live with that fact... if you want silent hill and god of war nintendo issent your cocky. Don´t thjeir stuff and beeee happy. :-d

[Cactus Drags]

I find it hard to take seriously as a traditional games console. All there seems to be for it is party stuff, which is fine, but it's not my bag. Zelda looked good, I played it a bit and it was fine, but my housemate said it was embarrasingly short. And there's the usual flood of Mario titles (admittedly, Stirkers was quite fun). Everyone points to Wii Sports being so good, but there's nothing to it; it's a tech demo.

The other problem personally is that I don't like motion sensing stuff as the predominant form of control, and there aren't enough proper buttons on the remote for me. Until the library expands and features more quality games rather than party titles, I won't be considering buying.

[Vilge Duin]

Zelda embarrassingly short? What game did he play? Honestly. Twilight Princess is universally agreed to be the longest Zelda title there is, and on average goes from 25-50 hours depending what you do (and how you do).

As for the Wii in general, I highly doubt it will fail as miserably as everyone has been thinking since well before it's launch. It's radical new stuff to the generally close minded and "same old, same old" game industry. However it has all of the tools and ingredients to be a success in multiple demographics and markets, it just needs to be tapped properly.

I can very easily see it's use as a platforum to house traditional games. Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, Super Paper Mario Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, and the upcoming Mario Galaxy all show this (for a 'top tier' title). The problem is, I just named off 5 games out of how many?

A lot of the downlook on the Wii, and the very concept of the article is, it seems like only Nintendo truly gets how to make anything for the thing at the moment, and most other companies go with the basics to cash in some money.

They fear that it's a one trick pony gimmicky fad because it only has seemingly had mini game compilations and the sort on it. Thing is, they've only bothered to make those kind of games and/or ports of PS2 games. Nintendo has released one major release of its own pretty much every month and these games sell very well. Of course Boogie isn't going to sell as much as Metroid Prime, nor will Carnival Games, My Sims or anything of the sort sell well in comparison to games like Zelda and Mario. It's not the mascot, it's the game quality.

Once these studios start pumping out the good stuff in league with Nintendo, then maybe the longevity of the system won't be in question. But so long as they can't perform to those standards, then they won't make seeing it.Then again, this has occurred with Nintendo's systems since the N64 (and arguably outside of a Square and possibly Capcom & Konami, since the SNES). People buy Nintendo products for Nintendo, and either be it sadly or fortunately I don't see that ending.

The Wii's already a tremendous success and it will continue to be, if only because Nintendo will make it that way. Do their games appeal to everyone and does their system accommodate everyone's needs? No, but same can be said for the other ones. For every person who hates Mario Baseball and loves God of War, there is someone else who is the opposite.

Close mindedness and perceived notions is what leads people to think of these things and as a result, culminates in threads like this. "Oh it doesn't have anything I like, and all it's got is that fat plumber in party games that suck! Who would buy that?" Well, obviously not you, but plenty of people would. And that's it really.

People buy it, people like it, and it will continue.

The Wii isn't going anywhere.

[Gongsun Zan]

From IGN.com:

October 18, 2007 - A little Bungie game called Halo 3 owned the videogame marketplace in September, selling nearly twice as many units as its nine closest competitors combined, according to monthly sales figures released by the NPD Group today.

The third chapter in Master Chief's tale of alien woe sold 3.3 million units in the 12 days it was on sale last month, a figure that includes the Standard, Collector's and Legendary editions. Intense interest in Halo 3 also spurred sales of the Xbox 360, helping Microsoft move more than 527,000 units in September.

"Halo 3 posted phenomenal results for just 12 days of sales in the month of September. True to its name, the game rubbed off on hardware sales too - the Xbox 360 realized it's best month ever in unit hardware sales outside last holiday season," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier. "If ever there was a doubt that great content drives hardware acquisition, this should put that doubt to rest."

But the Xbox 360 wasn't last month's only hardware winner. The Nintendo Wii had its second-best month ever, selling more than 500,000 units despite having no Spartans on its roster. The DS also sold almost 500,000 units in September, the PSP moved about 285,000 and the PS2 outsold the PS3 - with 215,000 and 119,000 units of those systems selling respectively.

In terms of units, overall console hardware sales in September jumped 124 percent over the same month last year, from about 613,000 to 1.37 million.

"Although we've been confident for many months now that the industry was poised to realize it's best year ever in terms of revenue, the results in recent months makes me even more bullish," Frazier said. "I believe the U.S. videogame industry will realize somewhere in the range of $17 to $18 billion for the year".

Total videogame sales - for both hardware and software - in September were $1.36 billion, a 74 percent increase from last September's $778.7 million figure. Of the top ten highest-selling games in September, four were Xbox 360 titles, two were Wii titles, two were DS titles and the PS3 and PS2 had one apiece. Here's how the top ten ranked:

1. HALO 3 (360) - 3.3 million units

2. PLAY W/ REMOTE (Wii) - 282,000

3. LEGEND OF ZELDA: PHANTOM HOURGLASS (DS) - 224,000

4. MADDEN NFL 08 (PS2) - 205,000

5. SKATE (360) - 175,000

6. MADDEN NFL 08 (360) - 173,000

7. METROID PRIME 3: CORRUPTION (WII) - 167,000

8. BIOSHOCK (360) - 150,000

9. BRAIN AGE 2 (DS) - 141,000

10. HEAVENLY SWORD (PS3) - 139,000

[Toe]

My brother got a Wii in August. We played Wii Sports, fun for a week. MoH was awful for it though, too hard to control, and my brother hasn't touched the thing in two months while I haven't touched it since the first week.

[EWRFan]

Same thing happened to me. I played it a lot for about two months, once Zelda, Elebits and Metal Slug Anthology where beaten, I found I had nothing left that I wanted to play. So it sat in the shelf for months until I decided to sell it and get a PS3

[Cactus Drags]

Zelda embarrassingly short? What game did he play? Honestly. Twilight Princess is universally agreed to be the longest Zelda title there is, and on average goes from 25-50 hours depending what you do (and how you do).

As for the Wii in general, I highly doubt it will fail as miserably as everyone has been thinking since well before it's launch. It's radical new stuff to the generally close minded and "same old, same old" game industry. However it has all of the tools and ingredients to be a success in multiple demographics and markets, it just needs to be tapped properly.

I can very easily see it's use as a platforum to house traditional games. Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, Super Paper Mario Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, and the upcoming Mario Galaxy all show this (for a 'top tier' title). The problem is, I just named off 5 games out of how many?

A lot of the downlook on the Wii, and the very concept of the article is, it seems like only Nintendo truly gets how to make anything for the thing at the moment, and most other companies go with the basics to cash in some money.

They fear that it's a one trick pony gimmicky fad because it only has seemingly had mini game compilations and the sort on it. Thing is, they've only bothered to make those kind of games and/or ports of PS2 games. Nintendo has released one major release of its own pretty much every month and these games sell very well. Of course Boogie isn't going to sell as much as Metroid Prime, nor will Carnival Games, My Sims or anything of the sort sell well in comparison to games like Zelda and Mario. It's not the mascot, it's the game quality.

Once these studios start pumping out the good stuff in league with Nintendo, then maybe the longevity of the system won't be in question. But so long as they can't perform to those standards, then they won't make seeing it.Then again, this has occurred with Nintendo's systems since the N64 (and arguably outside of a Square and possibly Capcom & Konami, since the SNES). People buy Nintendo products for Nintendo, and either be it sadly or fortunately I don't see that ending.

The Wii's already a tremendous success and it will continue to be, if only because Nintendo will make it that way. Do their games appeal to everyone and does their system accommodate everyone's needs? No, but same can be said for the other ones. For every person who hates Mario Baseball and loves God of War, there is someone else who is the opposite.

Close mindedness and perceived notions is what leads people to think of these things and as a result, culminates in threads like this. "Oh it doesn't have anything I like, and all it's got is that fat plumber in party games that suck! Who would buy that?" Well, obviously not you, but plenty of people would. And that's it really.

People buy it, people like it, and it will continue.

The Wii isn't going anywhere.

[Quom]

I love Nintendo. I loved the premise of the Wii. However I do think this is by far the worst wait for A+ titles ever, currently there seems to be only one must own that everyone can agree on (LoZ), the rest either didn't live up to potential (Metroid, SPM), or are ports from the GC (RE4). There also seems to be a real lack of games being made specifically for the system by other companies. Hopefully The new Mario game will be a good play but as it currently stands I'd have to say Nintendo have left me underwhelmed and pissed off at buying the console on release.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Table Tennis came out today. Should have sold at least a few copies but we sold none...Guess the lack of Mario upset a few people.

In all seriousness probably the biggest problem I have with Nintendo products (which are generally of a high quality, well supported, don't tend to break too often and have some great games and innovations down through the years) is that I'm a Mario hater. Mario Tennis, Mario Basketball, Mario Kart, Mario Party, WARIOLand, Wario Touch, Wario Master Of Disguise, Diddy Kong Racer, Donkey Kong Country, Mario Sunshine...Yeah I know we can all name characters and franchises from ALL consoles (and PCs) that we each hate (some people hate Crash, or Spyro, or Lara Croft etc) but Nintendo place SO MUCH importance in their flagship Mario "world" brand with the dozen or so characters that sometimes they just seem to play it too safe by chucking them all into a game that would perhaps *whispers* be better without Bowser, Toad, Princess Peach and Wario racing/fighting/playing tennis/golf/basketball/board games against eachother.

But then I wait excitedly like an excited mug for anything with Solid Snake in....Though that's more for the MGS saga and gameplay than the character.

[Cactus Drags]

With other characters though, it's the game you're after, i.e. as you suggest stealth/espionage/shooting whcih you know you're going to get with Solid Snake (Smash Bros. aside ). Fans of action adventure platform types know what they'll get with Prince of Persia or Lara Croft/Tomb Raider. With Mario, it's like you're getting the game for the mascot, there's too much focus on the universe and not enough on the game. And every game is the same, Mario's the all rounder, Bowser's slow but pwoerful, Toad's a nippy bugger but he can't hold his ground. No one can be equally good driving as they are at baseball, football, tennis and basketball...

[Quom]

I've never had a problem with Nintendo wheeling out their characters for spin-off games. I'd much prefer a tennis game that features the mascots than a bunch of make believe characters. Especially since the graphics are normally suited to cartoon type characters rather than human looking ones. Only exception was Wave Race and 1080 snowboarding, both of which had lifelike visuals. I also like the way that the characters are generally weighted in the same manner in each game (although there have been changes Waluigi was left-handed in his debut and is now a righty, toad and koopa were well rounded in the first Mario Kart) as it means that you know what you're getting with each character and helps novices with the initial pick up and play factor.

[Herr Matzat]

I find it hard to take seriously as a traditional games console.