March Console (and Portable) Sales Numbers

[Eaglesfan27]

They are out today. Here are the main numbers as posted by Gamespot which uses the NPD Report:


Top Systems Sold:

1. Nintendo DS - 508,000
2. PlayStation 2 - 280,000
3. Wii (259,000)
4. Xbox 360 (199,000)
5. PlayStation Portable (180,000)
6. Game Boy Advance (148,000)
7. PlayStation 3 (130,000)


Top Games Sold in March:

1. God of War II--PS2--833,000
2. Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2--Xbox 360--394,000
3. Guitar Hero 2--Xbox 360--291,000
4. Wii Play with Wii Remote--Wii--273,000
5. MotorStorm--PS3--199,000
6. Diddy Kong Racing--Nintendo DS--189,000
7. Spectrobes--Nintendo DS--165,000
8. MLB 2K7--Xbox 360--165,000
9. MLB '07: The Show--PS2--164,000
10. Def Jam Icon--Xbox 360--148,000

[Eaglesfan27]

A few comments:

- Nice to see a game that an FOFC member had a part in creating doing so well on the list


- Guitar Hero 2 came out VERY late in the reporting cycle and I wouldn't be surprised to see significantly higher numbers in the April report.

- This could be just Nintendo spin, but it rings true: "The Wii is the fastest selling new console in over a decade over its first five months of availability."

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

A few comments:
- Nice to see a game that an FOFC member had a part in creating doing so well on the list

Which game, and who??

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Which game, and who??

#2 on the list, GRAW 2. Gstelmack (unless my memory is extremely faulty in which case I apologize for the misinformation.)

[terpkristin]

I guess I'm somewhat surprised that Spectrobes and Diddy Kong made it to the top 10 games sold in March.

Even though Pokemon Diamond/Pearl is coming out late in April, I'm guessing it will be on a top 20 list.

I assume this list is for US sales only, or is it worldwide?

/tk

[Eaglesfan27]

These lists are USA only.

[sabotai]

Should be noted that this was a 5 week reporting period. In which case, both PS3 and 360 numbers are bad. (And the Wii sales units are constrained by supply. They again sold every one they shipped.)

[spleen1015]

More Diddy Kong Racing sold than PS3's.

Yeah, that sucker's not in trouble.

[sabotai]

dola - (Edit: Damn you spleen!)

(puts on 360 fanboy hat, apparently) And for the second month in a row, the PS3 sells fewer units in one month than either the PS2 or the 360 ever have in the history of their consoles, and in a 5-week reporting period with ample supply.

And now Mizzou has to stop using his favorite comeback, that the PS3 is outselling the 360 "at the same period in time overall", because it's no longer true (it had to sell more than 200,000 to stay ahead, I believe).

(takes off 360 fanboy hat) But the 360 came dangerously close to their lowest one month sales (187,000), and would have gone lower if this weren't a 5-week reporting month. Microsoft has been in position to slay the dragon since Sony announced the price of the PS3, and they've done nothing but let the dragon sleep peacefully. Eventually, dragons wake up.

[SackAttack]

March is historically a pretty slow month, God of War II notwithstanding.

I was SHOCKED when Sony chose a March release for the PSP back in 2004. Just piss poor planning with no games on the immediate horizon, instead of waiting for summer or fall of that year.

So the relatively slow numbers are pretty yawn-inducing for me across the board.

PS2 sales look to still be pretty robust, though. I guess a lot of that comes back to...God of War II.

[stevew]

Pretty odd that Nintendo moved about 100k less Wii's in a 5 week month than they did in the previous 4 week month. I wonder what the explanation is for that, if it isn't directly tied towards them having met their fiscal sales year goal.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Man, everything was really slow this month. Not terribly surprising as it was March, which someone already mentioned is usually a slow month. PS2 is obviously a monster winner out of this month. I know that God of War is a big franchise, but I was shocked that we'd actually see a 'system seller' on a last-gen system. That's just nutty. I suppose it's good for Sony to some extent as it does provide some profit to offset the PS3 losses for now. But I'm sure they'd rather be selling more PS3's. The argument regarding support of a last-gen console when the new console is well into its life cycle will likely be one that is revisited quite a bit in the coming years.

PS3 sold roughly the same number of units without any big games, so I suppose that's a wash or a slight negative in that I'm sure they would have still liked to see further growth. However, they obviously will get a major worldwide boost from the Euro release, so I'm sure they'll blow that trumpet for all it's worth. I think one of them already did. I do think it's pretty safe to say that Sony didn't meet their target of 6 million sold by the end of March. Reports on a couple of the articles state that it likely was around 4 million sold at the end of March.

Wii sales were down 23% this month. Nintendo is really milking the supply/demand playing card at this point, perhaps too much. We'll assume that they sold every one of the consoles that they released. How do you manufacture 23% LESS units now 5 months after release???? Answer? You don't. They're holding back stock at this point. Note to Nintendo: the demand is there. You can stop trying to artificially inflate demand just for the sake of doing it. If you do it much longer, you're likely to create buyer resentment for those that still have passing or impulsive interest at this point. Sell the units while the demand is still high.

The 360 is the big loser this month. They only outsold the PS3 by 70K units in the U.S. We'll ignore the obvious that the PS3 outsold them in Europe due to the launch. Factor in the fact that the PS3 is outselling the 360 in Japan at a clip of 13-15K a week and you have a virtual tie between the two big next-gen consoles in the US/Japan markets. That shouldn't be happening this quickly. 360 in a virtual tie with the PS3 when the PS3 is reportedly struggling? Ouch, Microsoft. If anything, this may be a statement by the market that they're heavily waiting for price drops in the fall before considering a purchase of either the 360 or PS3.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

More Diddy Kong Racing sold than PS3's.

Yeah, that sucker's not in trouble.

3 1/2 times more God of War sold than Wii's.

Yeah, that sucker's not in trouble.

(end sarcasm)

[Pumpy Tudors]

I know that the main focus on this thread (and the previous one) is the "next-gen" debate among Xbox 360/PS3/Wii, but you know what I'm surprised about? The Game Boy Advance is still selling. It's got to be a price issue, right? How much is a Game Boy Advance SP these days? $79.99? I assume that many of those sales are to parents who are looking for something inexpensive for the kids. I don't know much about Nintendo systems, but I would assume that there's a pretty big library of games that can play on the GBA. That's got to be a nice selling point, too.

I guess I was just surprised to see that the GBA is still on the map. From my uninformed standpoint, I would have guessed that once the DS got its footing, the GBA would fade away pretty quickly. Obviously, the system still has legs. Good for Nintendo.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I guess I was just surprised to see that the GBA is still on the map. From my uninformed standpoint, I would have guessed that once the DS got its footing, the GBA would fade away pretty quickly. Obviously, the system still has legs. Good for Nintendo.

The GBA is much like the PS2. Tons of games (especially cheaper used games) and a price-entry point that even people who don't make a lot of money can afford. Nintendo and Sony are both going to be very happy if they can get another holiday season out of these consoles.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

- Nice to see a game that an FOFC member had a part in creating doing so well on the list

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

The 360 is the big loser this month. They only outsold the PS3 by 70K units in the U.S. We'll ignore the obvious that the PS3 outsold them in Europe due to the launch. Factor in the fact that the PS3 is outselling the 360 in Japan at a clip of 13-15K a week and you have a virtual tie between the two big next-gen consoles in the US/Japan markets. That shouldn't be happening this quickly. 360 in a virtual tie with the PS3 when the PS3 is reportedly struggling? Ouch, Microsoft. If anything, this may be a statement by the market that they're heavily waiting for price drops in the fall before considering a purchase of either the 360 or PS3.

Your last statement may well be the only correct thing you said in that whole paragraph. PS3 this close to launch being outsold by 70K in the US, when demand should still be high? With launch numbers in Europe the only thing keeping them afloat in the numbers war for ONE MONTH? And the 360 is the loser? The 360 keeps pulling ahead of the PS3 for the next-gen console battle. 130K in any month is an abysmal number for a "market-leading" console. sabotai had the key point in this thread.

While Microsoft would love to do better in Japan, Japan is not a major market for games. You can't ignore either Europe or North America if you want to survive, but non-Japanese-made games traditionally don't sell well in Japan. Yet somehow US and European game makers still make money. If Sony wins Japan (and Nintendo seems to be their main competition), but Microsoft wins US and Europe, Microsoft wins.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

Your last statement may well be the only correct thing you said in that whole paragraph. PS3 this close to launch being outsold by 70K in the US, when demand should still be high? With launch numbers in Europe the only thing keeping them afloat in the numbers war for ONE MONTH? And the 360 is the loser? The 360 keeps pulling ahead of the PS3 for the next-gen console battle. 130K in any month is an abysmal number for a "market-leading" console. sabotai had the key point in this thread.

While Microsoft would love to do better in Japan, Japan is not a major market for games. You can't ignore either Europe or North America if you want to survive, but non-Japanese-made games traditionally don't sell well in Japan. Yet somehow US and European game makers still make money. If Sony wins Japan (and Nintendo seems to be their main competition), but Microsoft wins US and Europe, Microsoft wins.

I noticed you only quoted one part of my post. I mentioned that the PS3 didn't do well for the month and is behind what they had as their sales target for March by about 2 million units. However, that doesn't excuse what Microsoft is doing right now. Microsoft is losing Japan and is not doing well in Europe considering they had a 1 1/2 year head start on Sony. Microsoft is allowing the PS3 to remain a player for far too long at this point. Even their numbers in the U.S., while still not falling below the PS3 level, are far from spectacular.

As far as the 'Japan is not a major market for games' comment, I think we'll just leave that be. You made plenty of good comments in your post and didn't need to taint them with that comment.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Joystiq article about Nintendo and Sony trying to spin latest numbers........

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/04/20/ni...erry-go-round/

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

3 1/2 times more God of War sold than Wii's.

Yeah, that sucker's not in trouble.

(end sarcasm)

God of War is a much different beast than Diddy Kong Racing, wouldn't you say?

The fact remains, today, the PS3 is the worst of the next gen systems and it is worse than the PS2. All of that could change when they start releasing something worth playing.

[General Mike]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

The GBA is much like the PS2. Tons of games (especially cheaper used games) and a price-entry point that even people who don't make a lot of money can afford. Nintendo and Sony are both going to be very happy if they can get another holiday season out of these consoles.

I still don't get it. For $50 more you can get a system that sells GBA games, and DS games.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I know that the main focus on this thread (and the previous one) is the "next-gen" debate among Xbox 360/PS3/Wii, but you know what I'm surprised about? The Game Boy Advance is still selling. It's got to be a price issue, right? How much is a Game Boy Advance SP these days? $79.99? I assume that many of those sales are to parents who are looking for something inexpensive for the kids. I don't know much about Nintendo systems, but I would assume that there's a pretty big library of games that can play on the GBA. That's got to be a nice selling point, too.

I guess I was just surprised to see that the GBA is still on the map. From my uninformed standpoint, I would have guessed that once the DS got its footing, the GBA would fade away pretty quickly. Obviously, the system still has legs. Good for Nintendo.

Sales of the GBA also amaze me, especially since the DS is like 50 bucks more, and also plays GBA games. The game library is hugemongous for the GBA.

[DanGarion]

I would assume the 360 numbers are off because of the announcement of the 360 Elite, so that may have held back a good amount of sales till it's release... Unless I don't know what I'm talking about...

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

God of War is a much different beast than Diddy Kong Racing, wouldn't you say?

The fact remains, today, the PS3 is the worst of the next gen systems and it is worse than the PS2. All of that could change when they start releasing something worth playing.

I totally agree. My only point was that comparing game sales to console sales couldn't be more useless. A much more useful analysis would be that the 360 has outsold the PS3 by 6M units thus far.

I agree with your second comment except for the 'PS3 is the worst'. Change that to 'PS3 is the worst-selling' and I agree.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by dangarion

I would assume the 360 numbers are off because of the announcement of the 360 Elite, so that may have held back a good amount of sales till it's release... Unless I don't know what I'm talking about...

Yes, but you could make similar excuses for every console.

-360 purchasers are waiting for the Elite console or Halo 3.
-Wii purchasers are waiting for actual supply or the next great Nintendo first-party game.
-PS3 owners are waiting for the larger HDD console or GT5, FFXIII, MGS4, etc.

The only thing that counts is what is sold right now. If you start making those kinds of assumptions, you really allow for a lot of wiggle room where you start adding in a lot of 'yea, but......' arguments that really can't be measured with any accuracy.

FWIW.....I think the Elite won't sell nearly as well as MS wants it to unless they drop it to the $399 price point. There will be some diehards that buy it, but overall demand won't be as much as they'd like.

[Icy]

Something i can't stop to wonder myself. Let's analyze the next gen sales, the winner for sure is the wii, why?

1- Cheap price compared with the other two
2- The innovative control system

1 can't be beat by sony or Microsoft and won't for a while if ever, but 2...can't it be copied with a few mods to avoid the copyright issues and to offer the control movement to their consoles? Sony has done it already with the syxasys, not exactly the same and not as good, but it can have it's use, but what about Microsoft? what are they waiting for?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Icy

Something i can't stop to wonder myself. Let's analyze the next gen sales, the winner for sure is the wii, why?

1- Cheap price compared with the other two
2- The innovative control system

1 can't be beat by sony or Microsoft and won't for a while if ever, but 2...can't it be copied with a few mods to avoid the copyright issues and to offer the control movement to their consoles? Sony has done it already with the syxasys, not exactly the same and not as good, but it can have it's use, but what about Microsoft? what are they waiting for?

FYI.....Sony already holds a patent for a motion-design system that was filed quite a while ago. MS is also working on a motion control system. Personally, neither of them interest me. If I wanted a system that has a few good motion control games, I'd have bought the Wii already.

It's not in the interest of gamers overall to have the Wii sell a lot of units. It would allow the companies to put out marginally-improved consoles from a technology standpoint with gimmicky gameplay. I don't want my PS4 to come out in 5-6 years with PS3 graphics and a light saber because it previously worked with the Wii.

[MizzouRah]

I wish the pc sports genre would come back!

[Icy]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I wish the pc sports genre would come back!

For sure, nothing beats playing in a PC for me, with all the available mod options etc.

[SackAttack]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6169379.html

GameSpot story on the numbers digs in a little deeper than just 'how many sold.' Adds a Nintendo quote in there, too (something to the effect of "More Wiis sold than PS3's and Xbox 360's combined").

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Reports on a couple of the articles state that it likely was around 4 million sold at the end of March.

What articles?

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6169379.html

GameSpot story on the numbers digs in a little deeper than just 'how many sold.' Adds a Nintendo quote in there, too (something to the effect of "More Wiis sold than PS3's and Xbox 360's combined").

"Sony said that was despite PS3 supply problems in the US in March"

Ok, if they haven't by now, Sony really has moved into a state of full-blown delusion.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

It's not in the interest of gamers overall to have the Wii sell a lot of units. It would allow the companies to put out marginally-improved consoles from a technology standpoint with gimmicky gameplay. I don't want my PS4 to come out in 5-6 years with PS3 graphics and a light saber because it previously worked with the Wii.

But it is in the interests of gamers for a system designed with affordability in mind to fail in favor of higher-priced systems?

I, uh, think you might want to reconsider that. There's room in the market for competing approaches to the industry.

If Sony chooses to mimic what Nintendo is doing, doesn't that give you greater cause for concern vis à vis Sony's ability to attract customers on their own merits than whether or not Nintendo's business model is "good for gamers"?

Put another way - Nintendo has long said it isn't worth losing buckets of money on the initial hardware investment just to gain it back over 5-10 years in software. That has been their MO for 25 years, and the Wii doesn't change that. If the PS4 comes out with "PS3 graphics and a light saber," maybe that means that the PS3 caused enough of a financial impact to Sony that they're starting to agree.

[sabotai]

I want a fucking lightsaber!!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

If Sony chooses to mimic what Nintendo is doing, doesn't that give you greater cause for concern vis à vis Sony's ability to attract customers on their own merits than whether or not Nintendo's business model is "good for gamers"?

No. It just shows that Nintendo had a good idea. Microsoft has built a PC and console empire by using ideas that others have created. In the cases where people sued them for infringement, they just settled and still had plenty of profits left over. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Doing what makes the most money is just good business-sense.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Some tech guys tore apart a 360 Elite unit........

http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/news/i..._360_elite.htm

Some bullet points:

-Appears to have the smaller 65nm chip, but they can't be for sure.
-Disc drive is still the old, noisier version.
-MS added glue to try to fix the 'Ring of Death' problems. Tech guys doubt it will help.
-Nice to have HDMI cable included.
-Happy with the overall value.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by sabotai

"Sony said that was despite PS3 supply problems in the US in March"

Ok, if they haven't by now, Sony really has moved into a state of full-blown delusion.

As was mentioned in the February thread, the PS3's worst enemy is the fact that the PS3's execs refused to shut up. Anyone that actually thinks that the Sony execs actually believe what they are saying in that comment is just as delusional. They're spinning away until they can find a point where they can drop the price and put the PS3 in a position to succeed until the 'system seller' games hit the shelves for the PS3. With that said, their best course of action at this point is to shut their mouth and not try to spin anything.

Nintendo execs looked stupid as well with their spin-doctoring when they claimed they had the #1 'next-gen' console for March.

1) That a nice way of avoiding the fact that the PS2 outsold the Wii.
2) That 'next-gen' portal outside of a couple of first-party Nintendo games has basically been a haven of 'last-gen' ports for a few months now.

[sabotai]

At this point, you can't even say what Sony is doing is "spinning". They are flat-out lying.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by sabotai

At this point, you can't even say what Sony is doing is "spinning". They are flat-out lying.

Well, if we're going to call a spade a spade.......

-Microsoft continues to claim no more than a 2% failure rate on their consoles.
-Nintendo continues to claim that it's not withholding supply to increase demand.

I don't totally disagree with you that it's getting really stupid, but everyone is doing a bit more than 'spinning'.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Well, if we're going to call a spade a spade.......

-Microsoft continues to claim no more than a 2% failure rate on their consoles.

Proof? Other than "lots of people complaining"?

I may or may not be the exception that proves the rule, but I've had one from the initial launch run that is still going strong. Not claiming they don't have failures, I personally know 2 people that had issues, but you can't say Microsoft is lying on the 2% failure rate unless you have hard numbers that show it is higher than 2%. I'm not saying it's not, I'm just saying I haven't seen concrete numbers that show this to be a lie.

Also keep in mind that a fair number of the early problems were people that didn't understand the concepts of "heat" and "airflow". Not all, or even necessarily a majority, but you can't count people breaking their consoles as a failure rate.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

It's not in the interest of gamers overall to have the Wii sell a lot of units. It would allow the companies to put out marginally-improved consoles from a technology standpoint with gimmicky gameplay. I don't want my PS4 to come out in 5-6 years with PS3 graphics and a light saber because it previously worked with the Wii.

So, let me see if I get this straight - if gamers are buying a lot of Wii's, it's a bad thing for gamers if Sony and/or MS to jump on the Nintendo console strategy?

What you're saying is that gamers don't know what they're doing by buying lots of Wii's - I'd say that's a pretty arrogant statement to make. What the Wii is proving is that the latest and greatest in graphics isn't necessarily the most important thing for gaming, but innovative gameplay is.

Even with the surprising success of the Wii, I don't see both Sony and MS going the Wii route next time around - there's still a market for the higher-tech gaming system. I think if anything, what's happening is we're seeing the console market evolve into greater specialization, with Sony and MS representing the high-tech end (and combined, the PS3 and 360 are selling quite well) and Nintendo filling a secondary, lower-cost, lower-tech fun niche. I'd bet that a significant number of Wii's sold are a 2nd console sold to a household that already has either a 360 or a PS3 (or both in a few cases).

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

Proof? Other than "lots of people complaining"?

I may or may not be the exception that proves the rule, but I've had one from the initial launch run that is still going strong. Not claiming they don't have failures, I personally know 2 people that had issues, but you can't say Microsoft is lying on the 2% failure rate unless you have hard numbers that show it is higher than 2%. I'm not saying it's not, I'm just saying I haven't seen concrete numbers that show this to be a lie.

Also keep in mind that a fair number of the early problems were people that didn't understand the concepts of "heat" and "airflow". Not all, or even necessarily a majority, but you can't count people breaking their consoles as a failure rate.

Just to add to that, I'm not aware of any of our test 360's having any kind of failure issues, and we're well into our 2nd year of having most of them.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

Proof? Other than "lots of people complaining"?

I may or may not be the exception that proves the rule, but I've had one from the initial launch run that is still going strong. Not claiming they don't have failures, I personally know 2 people that had issues, but you can't say Microsoft is lying on the 2% failure rate unless you have hard numbers that show it is higher than 2%. I'm not saying it's not, I'm just saying I haven't seen concrete numbers that show this to be a lie.

Also keep in mind that a fair number of the early problems were people that didn't understand the concepts of "heat" and "airflow". Not all, or even necessarily a majority, but you can't count people breaking their consoles as a failure rate.

Certainly, there's no 'absolute' proof as you say. However, Microsoft has increased the benefits of their warranty on existing 360's not once, but twice since the initial launch. I'm guessing that they didn't increase the warranty just out of the goodness of their heart.

In regards to problems caused by the consumer, I agree to some extent. However, you would expect that some consumers on every system are making mistakes regarding the placement of their console in a badly ventilated area. Yet we don't see the same returns because of airflow and heat problems on the Wii or the PS3. Both of them have extremely low failure rates. The Microsoft design team definitely made some mistakes in that regard. At some level, you have to assume stupidity of your consumer and produce a system that is reliable even in sub-optimal situations to a certain degree. That just makes good sense as a business looking for an optimal product.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

So, let me see if I get this straight - if gamers are buying a lot of Wii's, it's a bad thing for gamers if Sony and/or MS to jump on the Nintendo console strategy?

What you're saying is that gamers don't know what they're doing by buying lots of Wii's - I'd say that's a pretty arrogant statement to make. What the Wii is proving is that the latest and greatest in graphics isn't necessarily the most important thing for gaming, but innovative gameplay is.

No. Let me restate it a different way. I HOPE that the companies do not see the success of the Wii as a licence to put out technology that's less than bleeding-edge in future generations. I see the Wii gameplay as a bit more of a gimmick than innovative gameplay. There was a golf game on the PS2 that had motion recognition just like TW07 has on the Wii. This isn't something new other than they're using a standardized controller for these gameplay elements rather than a new controller for each game.

Regarding your final point, if they keep the high-end gaming, I have no problem with the Wii selling a lot of units.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

No. Let me restate it a different way. I HOPE that the companies do not see the success of the Wii as a licence to put out technology that's less than bleeding-edge in future generations. I see the Wii gameplay as a bit more of a gimmick than innovative gameplay. There was a golf game on the PS2 that had motion recognition just like TW07 has on the Wii. This isn't something new other than they're using a standardized controller for these gameplay elements rather than a new controller for each game.

One game on a system with motion recognition = Gimmick

Successfully basing a console on it = innovative

There's a big difference that you fail to recognize there. The Wii goes beyond motion control, the number of ways the controler can be used is how its innovative. To completely brush motion recognition aside because the PS2 (and others) tried it as a gimmick and it didn't work is short-sighted.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Certainly, there's no 'absolute' proof as you say. However, Microsoft has increased the benefits of their warranty on existing 360's not once, but twice since the initial launch. I'm guessing that they didn't increase the warranty just out of the goodness of their heart.

So you are throwing out FUD now. You accused Microsoft of lying, but have no other proof than that they increased their warranties?

They may well have done that because of the negative press they were getting over the failures they were having, not necessarily because they were having so many failures. And lots of press does not necessarily mean lots of numbers, as a small group can get very vocal.

They may also have done it because of the RROD heating design flaw that was discovered. That doesn't mean lots of consoles are dying because of it, but they are replacing those that do and modifying future runs to avoid it. None of this means the number is over the 2% they quote. None of this is a contradiction or proof that they are lying about the 2% number.

2% of several million is still a couple of hundred thousand consoles. So the absolute number is still high, but the percentage can still be right on.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

No. Let me restate it a different way. I HOPE that the companies do not see the success of the Wii as a licence to put out technology that's less than bleeding-edge in future generations. I see the Wii gameplay as a bit more of a gimmick than innovative gameplay.

Perhaps it's a gimmick, but enough people are finding the Wii refreshingly fun that they are buying them. It's certainly possible that the Wii will run out of steam and the innovation will seem played-out, but you can't argue with Nintendo's business model this time around and with the number of people that have voted with their pocketbooks.

Like I said though, I see the market as starting to evolve into 2 segments - I don't see the Wii as a direct competitor to the PS3 and 360, but more as a complementary piece given the price and the major differential in gameplay experience. I really doubt you have anything to worry about in terms of higher-end gaming machines next time around.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Atocep

One game on a system with motion recognition = Gimmick

Successfully basing a console on it = innovative

There's a big difference that you fail to recognize there. The Wii goes beyond motion control, the number of ways the controler can be used is how its innovative. To completely brush motion recognition aside because the PS2 (and others) tried it as a gimmick and it didn't work is short-sighted.

Not exactly what I said, but it brings up a good point. Is the Wii all that innovative at this point? Right now, it's mostly ports from the PS2 and Gamecube. Even the first party titles like Zelda, Excite Truck and Paper Mario were designed for the Gamecube and simply had motion control tacked onto the game.

At some point, the Wii will get games that were specifically designed for the Wii. Will the designers implement the game physics/controls well enough that the motion control fits well in the game? Obviously, we can't know at this point. It will be interesting to see some of the games this time next year and see if they make good use of the motion control or if they just continue to use it as more of a tacked-on feature.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Perhaps it's a gimmick, but enough people are finding the Wii refreshingly fun that they are buying them. It's certainly possible that the Wii will run out of steam and the innovation will seem played-out, but you can't argue with Nintendo's business model this time around and with the number of people that have voted with their pocketbooks.

There's no question about that. If I had to look at financials and choose a gaming division to lead, it would be Nintendo in a heartbeat. From a business perspective, I think the model of selling systems at a loss and hoping to recoup it later that Sony and MS are using is horribly flawed and a big risk.

[Travis]

The buzz for the Wii is huge right now, but the test will be down the road, once the "newness" of it has worn off. Is this a style a majority will want to continue gaming in, or will people start switching back to a less active/more traditional style. I've tried it, enjoyed it for an evening, but definitely not my cup of tea. For those that are converts, I wonder how many will want to plug away at those 80+ hour single player style games, and if they decide to turn off the motion option and go with the controller at that point, how does that affect their decision in the future?

Great on Nintendo for doing their thing and starting off like wildfire, I'm curious just how far the industry will end up moving with them in the end though. I still see this as the Wii vs the PS2 with the PS3 vs the 360 more than anything, and in looking at those numbers, the race is much closer.