http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/troubled-times-for-the-wii-/1306341 In the three years since it first launched, the Nintendo Wii has sailed past competing systems from Sony and Microsoft to consistently claim the top spot in the console war. But if a recent rash of troubling stories about the Wii is a vision of things to come, the tide might be turning for the seemingly unbeatable machine. Kinks in the system's shiny white armor starting showing last month. Despite steady success in Japan, the Wii fell into second place in March as the underdog Playstation 3 clambered atop the region's sales charts for the first time in 16 months. That was enough to garner some uncharacteristically somber comments from Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, who deemed the climate in Japan "unhealthy" for the Wii. But to Cowan & Company analyst Doug Creutz, the U.S. market isn’t necessarily any healthier, at least if you're thinking of investing in a console game. In an interview with Gamasutra, Creutz called the Wii "fool's gold" for third-party game developers. "The choice here is really between investing for the Xbox 360 and PS3 -- since their capabilities are fairly similar -- or the Wii," he said. "I would caution investors and developers that the larger installed base of the Wii is really a bit of a red herring." Crueutz goes on to point out that while the 19 million Wiis in North America trounce competing consoles individually, combined sales of the 360 and PS3 actually top 22 million. That represents a larger chunk of the pie for game developers who can more easily port games back and forth from the two systems. Additionally, Creutz notes that Nintendo's first-party games and the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises account for nearly one-half of all Wii software sales, a far larger percentage than what's found on the other consoles. Comparatively, the Wii is simply a tougher nut to crack for third-party developers. Peter Moore, president of enormous third-party game maker EA Sports, echoed Creutz's concerns while speaking at a recent conference. "You simply can't take what you're doing on the PS3 and Xbox and port - that's a dirty word - down to the Wii," he said, insisting that instead you have to build Wii games "from the ground up." He's not the only one at EA with issues. Earlier in the month, an EA producer confessed to having trouble incorporating Nintendo's upcoming Wii MotionPlus control attachment into its Grand Slam Tennis game, raising questions about when the tech would be ready for consumers. Nintendo answered that by officially announcing a release date only to curiously push back the release of the game they've repeatedly used to show off the new technology, surefire smash sequel Wii Sports: Resort. Of course, it's not all doom and gloom. NPD Group reports that the Wii again led the way in March 2009, outselling both the 360 and PS3 by a wide margin. Nintendo is also enjoying strong numbers for its newly released DSi handheld, with the company reporting first-week sales of over 600,000 units in the U.S. and Europe. Mario's checking account won't run out of funds any time soon. The question is, will gamers run out of interest? The last two major first-party Wii games, Wii Music and Animal Crossing: City Folk, failed to generate the kind of excitement (and, in turn, sales) that Nintendo is accustomed to, a fact that analyst Ed Barton of Screen Digest believes is a big reason why the Wii is struggling. While older blockbusters like Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii are still selling well, Barton points out that the company needs new experiences to drive new sales. Nintendo hopes to deliver exactly that with upcoming high-profile games like the aforementioned Wii Sports sequel and a remake of classic boxing game Punch Out!, but that still leaves plenty of wiggle room for the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360 to continue closing the gap. And if Japan is any indication (and it usually is), that gap can disappear in a heartbeat. So what do you think? Is the Wii destined for a downfall, or is this just a mid-life crisis?
I think that all consoles die. This should be expected of the Wii, as well as the PS3 and the Xbox 360. It wasn't that long ago that people were clamoring and paying a ton of money for a PS2 or original Xbox, and all of their games. Now, I'll admit that the lifespan of each generation of console seems to be directly related to how advanced its technology is: more advanced systems seem to have a longer lifespan. Thus, of the three major consoles, I would think that the Wii would die first. As the article stated, it's too difficult for 3rd party developers to design for the Wi, The Wii's infererior hardware will continue to result in many top games not being released for the Wii (like Street Fighter). And if my statement above is true, then the converse is also true. Meanning, since the Wii has inferior hardware compared to the PS3 and Xbox 360, the Wii's lifespan will not be as long as theirs. But I'm not concerned about it too much. I bought a Wii and have 23 games for it that I didn't pay for. I'm only investing in the hardware and I'm pretty sure we'll get our money's worth of enjoyment out of it.
I'm not sure how much I would deem it "in trouble," but I wouldn't be shocked if it never reached the heights of the PS2. It's not even that close yet to half the units sold that the PS2 has. I realize that over the same period of time it's doing even better, but perhaps people will lose interest sooner.
Street Fighter? *yawn* I dunno, it's not as if the wii was ever the most powerful box, it's that it's unique that has made it popular as a console, and I'd say the technology on that part of it is a strength. That said, the point in the article about the ease of porting across two systems in the xbox and ps3 does put the wii at a disadvantage. Still, the lesser "tech" of the DS hasn't slowed it down, or developers either. My guess is that there are enough wii consoles out there that it should be lucrative enough to produce a game for it, but those dev's that are looking for bang on their investment buck might shy from it. It's almost similar to the macintosh situation... make a PC game and you have a huge client base. Yes there is a large mac constituency that want the same games to release for their platform, but it's a tougher decision for developers to want to port those games to the mac platform, and often results in delayed releases, or no release at all. I suspect a few strong title releases would prove the article is perhaps premature and short changing, but there is truth to the exclusive nature of the console.
Wii is a fad and will die soon. Just like that fake Bowflex that's out in the garage that no one uses. That's how the Wii fit will end up. Going to end up like the Gamecube, Nin64, etc.
Not surprised I have a wii next to my PS3 and haven't touched it in about 5 months. It's literrally catching dust. It's dirty as heck. I play my Ps3 everyday. I want to play nba2k9, killzone, gran turismo, etc. I don't care for any wii games. I can't see nintendo coming out with a wii 2 if it's the same with better graphics.
The value of the Wii is mostly for kids......but there are TONS of gamecube games that work on it, so you can get many for under $10 used and go to town. My kids love it....I love Mario Kart Wii...but not much else....... We have all 3 systems in our game room...the Wii gets the most play followed by the 360, and lastly the PS3. But that is only because the kids play it the most....I play my 360 more...but mostly PC games for me. DD
I really don't know what to think of the Wii. When it was first announced I was highly dissappointed with the decision to not even really try to upgrade the hardware. Then they had a pretty damn good launch and the first year and a half or so they pumped out a solid lineup of 1st party games. But since then, pfft. N hasn't managed to get any 3rd party support, and without that support, the Wii is a lost cause. I see excuses from developers that people don't buy their games on the Wii, but really, what good 3rd party games have been made for the Wii so far? I mean really good AAA quality games? So you put out shovelware and half assed efforts then blame the consumers when it doesn't sell? Cmon. Not that Nintendo doesn't have its own share of blame. They should be active in attracting 3rd parties, or even acquiring 3rd parties to develop for the wii. But it just doesn't seem like that's in their nature I guess. Yet people keep scooping up the Wii. It's like its succeeding in spite of itself. Honestly, I can't think of one game on the Wii that I'm interested in that couldn't have been done just as well on the Gamecube. And it's ridiculous that some of the best games for it have no real use for the wiimote.
Trauma Center. RE4. Warioware: Smooth Moves. Rayman Ravin' Rabbids. Mario Party 8. Okami. Those are 6 games that benefit GREATLY from the functionality. It's not a lot, but they're out there. Now someone just needs to dream up more good ideas.
Don't really think there is anything too concerning at this point. Sales are slow in Japan, but that's pretty much across the board (except for the 360 for some reason). PS3 only managed to outsell it because it has been getting some great games lately (RE5, SFIV, Yakuza 3, etc., and now FF13 demo), while the Wii hasn't really had much of anything. After another month or so, I can see Wii taking the top spot again (barring some major announcement during that time). Most of the other stuff doesn't really seem like a big deal. It has more or less been happening since day 1 (well...except maybe Nintendo's output of games). Yeah, 3rd parties are still a little weary about making AAA exclusives for the system, but they've been like that the whole time pretty much. Granted, I guess it might be worrisome that these are still issues, but I don't know if it will really hurt sales too much. At least wait a little longer before trying to make a prediction. Most Wii predictions up to this point have been completely wrong. There have been a few games that, while probably not AAA, were original and pretty good (Zack & Wiki, No More Heroes, and possibly now MadWorld). Although except for maybe Zack & Wiki, I don't think the sales numbers were seen as a negative, partly due to the small development teams (500K worldwide can be seen as a success). Regardless, probably too small of a sample size to really make a judgment. Of course, publishers would probably prefer to see a few original games with great sales (1M+ maybe?) before they decide to commit.
Pretty ridiculous line right here. Wii is in trouble because it doesn't kick enough ass. It's as if that expert analyst thinks all gamers are the same.
Keep in mind this is after a month where the Wii still sold more than half a million units and more than the 360+PS3 combined. It's like saying that the Wii has been selling amazing but this month only sold mostly amazing. Sales were a little bit down but this was all over. I kind of wonder if we are going to finally see exactly how the economy is going to hit gaming soon. Now, I do think that Drexlerfan is right and eventually the drop off will occur be cause it won't be hitting PS2 like numbers in the end. But I don't really think there is going to be a complete 180 at this point. Some of the points about software can be made, but other than that this article doesn't make much sense. Heh. The 'Wii is a fad' cry had made it's appearance by fanboys on console wars message boards back when the Wii started selling well. That was three years ago. Going the way of the Gamecube is already not possible. The install base is huge and the units out there are well past 'fad' stage. Video game systems just don't work that way. To put it simply, if we are talking in console warz sales terms (unfortunately); it's over. The Wii has 'won' this generation.
I really need to try that. As an aside, does anyone have MadWorld? It was an interesting change (stylistic, violent) and I was curious how it turned out.
I found/find the Wii interesting, but that's about it. I want a Nintendo system for two reasons: Metroid and Zelda, and neither one of those by themselves are reason for me to purchase a Wii. I want a 360 for only a handful of reasons as well such as Fable, Gears, and (maybe) Halo. Not trying to bash those systems at all....I'd own all three plus a bad-ass PC gaming rig if I had the money. In the meantime, I'll stick with my PS2....but I'm getting a PS3 when this semester is over as a reward to myself.
Nobody's played MadWorld? <object classId="clsid27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="480" height="418" id="VideoPlayerLg37156"><param name="movie" value="http://g4tv.com/lv3/37156" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed src="http://g4tv.com/lv3/37156" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" name="VideoPlayer" width="480" height="418" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" /></object>
The thing is that the parent companies make their money on games, not on the console itself, so even though the Wii has sold through more units, the conversion rates for people that buy multiple Wii games is fairly low in comparison to the other two consoles. DD
The Wii will die because senior citizens won't buy that bowling game sequels and the Wii fit will be kept stored in the garage. Nintendo doesn't really have much 3rd party support and have always relied on their first party software like Zelda, Metroid, Mario Bros, etc. Sales of the system are good for now but do you think their software will outsell Ps3s and Xboxs in the long run?
