Six Wiis sold for every PS3 purchased in Japan Nintendo's Wii continued to reign supreme in Japan last month, with sales outstripping Sony's PlayStation 3 by a staggering six to one. The Wii outsold Microsoft's Xbox 360 by an even greater margin. According to figures from Japanese market watcher and publisher Enterbrain, some 270,974 Wii consoles were sold in the four …
I have previously been a sony fan up till the PS2 and still have a PSP however you cannot match the broad range of activities that the Wii presents to the user, sure it's not a bluray player or hd dvd player, but then again its a games console i wanted and I got more then that... Nintendo have certainly captured a corner of the market that no one else has got yet or is likely to get close to for some time.
depends what you want really. PS3 / XBOX360 is for the more serious gamer i suppose who's happy to sit on his tod and play away to his hearts content. Now whilst you can do that on the Wii, its nowhere near as much fun as playing tennis with the missus or watching her complete the silly games on wario smooth moves. Gears of War it aint, but its a great laugh.
I would imagine the reason the wii has done so well is that it appeals to non-gamers because its FUN, not serious. Yeah the graphics / speed / features / etc arent at the bleeding edge like the ps3 but they are certainly good enough and to be honest it doesnt matter how good they are because, once again, it's fun and that's what appeals to so many people.
I'm a Sony fanboy, but I don't see how fanboys can argue with figures. The Wii is a great console, end of story. It's good to see the PS3 outselling the 360, but i'm not surprised that's the case in Japan. Microsoft are still struggling to produce games for a very different eastern market, whilst Sony and Nintendo obviously know what they're doing in the land of the rising sun.
When you look at the Wii you can see that that it has been designed to appeal the japanese crowd: it takes little space, is cheap, and has a lot of party games (and the japanese love party games like karaoke and such).
Also Sony kinda missed the ball with the PS3: too expensive, too big, nearly no party games, not many title for hardcore gamers.
If you have a PS2 the only things you get extra when upgrading to the PS3 is online play and HD. This is probably not enough to convince gamers to pay that kind of money and place such a big machine in their living rooms. The Wii on the other hand propose something different, which appeals more to the public.
It's very difficult to compare these three consoles, as only the PS3 and the 360 are considered next gen, and are in for the long haul, not the quick 'smash and grab' sales that we are seeing with the Wii.
A lot of people are predicting that once the Wii reaches saturation, it'll drop off the radar, whereas both the PS3 and 360 will continue to garner sales over a much longer period.
Err... of course when the Wii reaches sauration point sales will drop off, that's why it's a saturation point, when any product reaches its saturation point the sales will decline. I think what you really mean, is that the Wii will reach saturation point before the 360 and PS3 - but that's to be expected if it keeps on outselling them 6:1 it's simple maths.
To say that the Wii isn't next gen is surely a tad patronising, Microsoft and Sony have given consumers exactly the same type of game that they've always played, on practically the same box shaped console they've always used. They've given them HDDVD/Blueray, sure, but ultimately it's just a graphics upgrade. The gameplay's the same, but with additional (and costlier) disc formats.
Nintendo have given us the first step in true environmental gaming, with the next generation in controllers AND for the same price as the original playstation! They've opened up a whole new arena in what can be done and it's now up to games creators and developers to let their imagination go wild.
Sony and Microsoft can only make their games (no matter how fantastical) more 'real' graphically. Nintendo can do what ever they want because the Wii gamer's physical interaction is so much more involved than that of the other main players.
It comes down to price and quality of games.
The Wii has the price (and the 'novelty' control system'), but the PS3 has neither.
Me personally, I own a Wii and a 360. I only shelled out £180 on the Wii because it was cheap, I was intrigued by it, and considered Zelda and Red Steel to be worthwhile software. 7 months later and I rarely turn it on,
Who's going to spend £400+ on a console just because they're 'intrigued' by it? No-one! Right now the PS3 is for hardcore gamers and Sony fanboys only.
Its been said before, but Sony need the A+ games now, more than they need a price drop. Because even if the PS3 was significantly cheaper, there's still no games to warrant purchasing it!
It's just the games are so bland.
I love the Blu-ray drive, and the recent firmware update finally gives it hd-upconverting capabilities (not much use to me as my TV already does that - but it was glaringly missing from the PS3 feature list).
I have the cheaper version, and swapped out the HD with a 60gbyte drive I was using for media storage.
But I haven't played more than an hour on each of the three games I've bought for it, and I won't be buying any more until something worthwhile is released.
Every single title for the PS3 is just a superficially enhanced copy of games available on any console from the last 10 years. In fact most are worse, despite the pretty gfx, and not a single one of the shooter developers had the common sense to include keyboard/mouse usability with their boring games.
At least the 360 has a couple of innovative titles. But if I was buying now with the advantage of hindsight - I'd definitely be buying a Wii.
It may not have the processors or graphics capabilities - but at least it has some decent games that haven't been churned out of the mass production plants of EA and whoever else the other indistinguishable developers happen to be.
Shooters and car racing.. yawn. Platform games and retro titles? Sold my Amiga a decade ago.
Shit, if you're going to copy everything predictable out there, at least ask Blizzard to port WoW.
I have, fairly recently, spent 1500 euros on a brand new computer, for the exclusive purpose of gaming.
I have also, when it came out back in december, bought a Wii and have since spent around 400 euros on it and its games. My reason for buying the Wii is simple. I have an excellent, top of the line computer, that makes both the PS3 and the XboX 360 look like toys, as they lack both sheer graphical quality (720P vs 1280*1024 on a 17" high constrast LCD), versatility (IRC, web browsing, tons of old free games and tons of old games I bought ages ago, but that are still fun) and controlability (Nothing beats the good ol' mouse and keyboard).
So what use do I have for a console? Well, for one, my single computer doesn't feature multiplayer capability with the guy next to me, that's a rather big falling (Well, some games do, but they're far and in between). Secondly, I can carry my Wii, all of its games, controllers and the necessary cables in an old shoebox. I need 2 large shopping bags for my computer and that's without the games. So I can take the Wii with me when I go to visit someone, when I go camping, etc.
And thirdly, there's the break with traditional console gaming, which I whole heartedly support. Wii sports, along with several other games, are simply great fun, even if you won't catch me spending hours upon hours playing them.
The Wii is so popular, I bought one last week as I am completely bored with the 360, the games on the 360 are pretty poor showings, very very dull, yes some of them look pretty but I've never been one for FPS' on console (thats what my pc is for, could never get to grips with controllers!) coming from the old days of home computing, never really been a console fan. The PS3 for me is a no way hosay! This is due to price, poor games and I just really am not a fan of Sony (even though I own a psp!) due to their very high prices, generally poor quality (on a price vs quality basis!).
So I bought a Wii for the innovative controller, the fun factor that consoles are missing and I am very very happy with it, I wiped myself out buying it until the next payday so am stuck with Wii Sports for now but I love it, the GF loves it, people round for drinks love it and generally I think it's a winner.
I think the Wii will show that companies should be investing in gameplay rather than pretty gfx with dull short-lived games that cost a fortune, maybe it's going to be the kick up the backside they need? I'm bored with pc games, bored with the 360 (and hugely disappointed, seriously thinking of selling it), hardly turn the PSP on except when in bed and cant sleep and for me the Wii is a breath of fresh air.
Well done Nintendo.
Lack of games, high price. A losing combination.
I'd also say that some of the smaller details have also hit it: the Rumble / Dual Shock feature was one of the really cool features on the PS1/2, seeing it gone kind of takes away some of the coolness the console had.
I have no HDTV, and probably will not have one for years to come.
Sports games bore me to death (ok, Wii Sports doesn't, but that is different), I have long since passed FPS', though I do play Doom3 and still fire up my old Quake1/2/3 installs from time to time. But Halo? After the um... 10th room that looks identical to the previous one I just quit, plus it is really easy to get killed with the weird HP system they have. Even the half-baked Quake levels I made back in '97 are more entertaining than these!
Maybe we are in the "decadence of videogaming" era, and the Wii is what the market needs to wake up and shine.
I've got a Wii and a 360, i bought the 360 when it first came out and i've never gone mad on them like many people - i have 10 or so games, but i've bought 6 for the Wii since buying it, mainly as i get intrigued by how they make the gameplay work for different things.
The joy in the Wii is the instant entertainment, the games on Wii Sports, Wii Play etc are so simple but you can play them for hours, and they do seem to appeal to girlfriends and girls in general... i mean you also get a workout (note here, if the girlfriend does enjoy it make sure she stops in good time or she'll be so worn out you'll get no nookie that night!)
I've recently been trying Raymans Rabbid Rabbits which is hilarious, dancing rabbits is great fun, out of interest i rented the same game for the 360 and it was crap by comparison, the sort of thing i'd have regretted buying, but because the the way the Wii makes it work it's brilliant fun.
Anyone in to Snowboarding/Skiiing really should try SSX Blur for a very good take on the reality - for a computer game anyway.
For me, i'm happy with what i have the quality of the 360 and the games i have on fills one side for me, but the Wii is just great fun!
quite why sony felt the need to have the most powerful console - with the subesquent cost, is a mystery.
the ps1 was less powerful than the rival N64 - and yet was more succesful
the ps2 was beaten in the power stakes by the xbox - but once again dominated
the lesson is, you dont win the console war by building an expensive, powerful console.
if you take a look at the japanese software top ten it's dominated by Nintendo DS games - which presumably cost far less to create than PS3 or even Wii games - which makes you wonder if the PS3 will ever turn a profit for Sony.
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