Nintendo Rules February NPD Numbers

I’d like to see hardware figures if supplies weren’t an issue. Imagine that.

While I bet Microsoft would have liked to see those 360 sale numbers a bit higher, I wouldn’t think they would have cause to complain, considering the price point.  

And frankly, if Microsoft is making a strong ‘go’ of it now at the $399.99 price point, just think of what a 1-2 punch a price drop and Halo 3 would be later this year.  I think we’ll see the 360 (finally) outsell the PS2 this year, and likely the Wii too boot (I honestly think the Wii fails the 3rd party test and it ends up being a GameCube 2.0).  

Frankly, until the PS3 gets to the $399.99 price point (or lower), they’re not even going to hit half their overall sales goals (wasn’t it 6 million or so?)

And here’s a question I have–if both Europe and North America make the 360 their #1 console, won’t that impact Japan and help the 360 gain traction there too?  

\"It wont last , Nintendo has once again been a cocky bunch and decided its customers only need a one or two first party titles from them a year .\"

Nintendo has been doing much better in this regard than the GameCube; releasing one first party title for the Wii a month.  And this trend looks to continue with titles like Super Paper Mario, Mario Party 8, and Pokemon taking them thru June.  Just because they aren\’t your cup of tea doesn\’t mean they don\’t agree with the public.  Just looking at the top ten in Feburary for the last couple of first party titles: Wario Ware Smooth Moves 109K, Wii Play w/ Remote 371K.  And you cannot discount the Virtual Console and 100% GCN backward compatibility when rounding out the player\’s options.

\"a home console cant be treaded the same as a handheld , they require two different experiences to keep the player happy .\"

This remains to be seen doesn\’t it?  You seem to be speaking from a hardcore gamer perspective which is only a small part of the market that Nintendo is after.

I do agree that the Wii will need more compelling thrid party experiences to \"win\" this generation.  But I also believe that this is largely up to the third party, especially since Nintendo has now provided the tools for developers to take their Wii titles online.

Btw, I\’m extremely happy to see the 360 outselling the PS3.  It\’s well deserved.

When the tv adverts first came out for the Wii I thought it looked great fun and a possible purchase.

After a few days I realised it was just going to be like the iToy for the PS2 was. Great fun at first, but soon the amusement would ware off.

>releasing one first party title for the Wii a month.

Yeah, but it’s one *second rate* first-party title a month. Sorry, but cup o’ tea or not, Mario Party or Wario Ware aren’t going to move hardware one tenth as much as a new Zelda.

Although, looking at the numbers for Zelda, it doesn’t look like it’s moving hardware that much. 300k consoles, but only 130k titles moved? Ouch. The *ginormous* amount of Wii Plays sold (greater than  1:1!) might mean that people are really interested in this sort of funny little mini-games.

Which also brings the question: will they be interested in anything else? The Wii, right now, risks selling hardware through the roof, but also risks ending up being used as those ’80s pseudoconsoles, with its four or five packed-in games.

That, right now, is what could spell doom for Nintendo. If the Wii’s attachment rate keeps being so low, it’ll push third party support away by itself.

Plus, the influx of DS ports needs to stop. NOW.

>they are also doing a flop in japan and europe.

Flop in Europe? Sure, brand awareness for PS3 is 10 times Xbox, but a failure it isn’t, not by a long shot. Most importantly, Microsoft is the only company actually not trying to screw Europe over – before the Xbox, we had to wait six months to two years to get a title released in the US. After Microsoft, even Sony had to move closer to a two weeks difference, but it’s obvious they can’t keep up.

Waiting a year for FF12 or 2 months for God of War II is just unacceptable.

As for Japan, it’s a small (and shrinking) market. If MS conquers Europe, they can offset Japan entirely.

I’d also very much like to see the same 1-2 week rule enforced even more for Japanese titles, however. It’s time that more companies than Capcom and Konami learn that the world doesn’t revolve around Japan, and that international releases are where the real deal is.

With all the smart things to say, why add something stupid…

"Wii has some cost benefits as well (though by the time you buy extra controllers it’s really not that much cheaper)"

I know you’re an MS employee, and objectivism (not Ayn Rand style) is not always possible, but seriously a full wii controller is $20 more than a full 360 controller, and correct me if I’m wrong, none of the 360 packages come with 2 controllers.

I just grit my teeth when you do this Major.

18,000 units of Viva Pinata?  Forget complaining about Raving Rabbids, there’s the game that clearly needs more attention.  Viva Pinata is a great game that’s getting the short end of the stick…I only hope the demo helps to push sales, because I want to see more games like this on the 360.

The Wii is one of those things people buy ’cause it looks fun in ads, and it’s relatively cheap. Once they’ve tried it and found it’s fun for only so long, there’s nothing more to do with theh Wii, and the semi-functional browser, weather channel and news channels aren’t prolonging the fun either.

Just like Richard Whitehouse and corleone, my Wii is collecting dust. And I’m thinking about selling my Wii. There are bound to be enough takers, and I wouldn’t even mind losing a little money on it.

Well, I am still considering getting a Wii (now that I’ve finally got my 360). However, I am still very unsure of the future of the console after Wii Sports. I think it was one of the core guys of the Unreal team that said he was expecting a ton of bad games to use the Wii controller without any sense and, although it is still early, I think they guy got it spot on.

Robin, knowing Nintendo I would bet a couple of those games don’t make their target release dates.

Let me make this clear, Nintendo is great for one thing, first party games, but you have to realize they are so few and far between that even I don’t consider that a strong poing of the system.

When a handfull of games (mario, zelda, metriod) are the only reason to own the system… call me less than impressed.

Even with Zelda, I just wished I had a 360 controller to play it with.  The novelty of the Wiimote is short lived, its not even that responsive in my opinion.

But third party support will make the system live on, just funny when I will hands down buy the 360 version of any third party game on both systems, Wiimote be damned, gaming still involves buttons and analogs in my opinion… I don’t want that to change, I honestly don’t think most hardcore gamers do either.

When the novelty of Wii Sports and the promise of a couple good games a year sets in, I’m not sure where the Wii stands.  But Nintendo fans prove rabid time after time, so what do I know?

All I know is to me "gaming" is more about the deepness of the experience, Zelda aside Nintendo is not offereing "deep" games, and when they do I’ll still hand my money to Blue Dragon any day of the week before I go buy "stupid anime graphic novel game about lawyers or doctors."

Same reason I don’t own a DS anymore, I want deep involving games, not quirky novelty titles with "unique" control. But obviously Nintendo sales right now show you that I’m aparently not in the majority of gamers right now.

People complain about the PSP’s lack of titles but what can I say, at least the good PSP titles out their in the last couple months (Rachet and Clank, Marvel Trading Card game) involve traditional control with solid gameplay, that’s more than the DS, or the Wii for that matter, offers.

But gaming is no longer about deep involving 60 hour gameplay, it seems to have shifted to 5 minute quick fix games. So the Wii is perfectly poised to take the lead here.

Alright, I’ll shut up, I’m just bored cause I have sworn off playing Marvel TCG online… main reason being that you HAVE to spend lots of money on cards to compete, and I’m tired of getting owned over and over for being stupid enough to think my 10 dollar deck was enough to win a game. Give me the skill-based evened battlefield of most deathmatch games a welcome distraction to games where the amount of money you spend on cards dictates how good your rank is. Such a shame though cause I could have played that game every day all day if it weren’t for the sad truth of losing based on your wallet’s capability.

five of the top ten software titles might turn some heads…

8/

Hmph, …well, like i said elsewhere; Wii software isn’t selling proportionately to hardware like 360 and PS3 is. The reason, casual & non-gamers who don’t buy software in the numbers the mainstream audience do.

5 360 games in the top 10, …all 3rd party developed, 2 published by MGS. Crackdown, Gears of War, Lost Planet, and going back further to Dead Rising… 3rd party success with new IP’s like these is traditionally unheard of.

Wii will burn out eventually.

See to me the first thought I had of the Wii was that its version of "pointing a cursor" in either First person shooters or just pointing the arrow around in the menus feels clunky to me. However as a PC gamer and a console guy, neither analog or mouse ever feels clunky to me.

Hense me thinking Wii sports was pretty cool cause that wasn’t an issue. For Zelda I would have rather had an analog than a remote.  No biggie just my opinion.

But is it possible to take 1 Wii sold back off their numbers now? I traded it in yesterday for bill money and enough credit to snag call of duty 3 for the box

Both types of gamers in the store, jaw dropped Nintnedo fans who couldn’t believe I was trading it in, and other more Xbox friendly gamers that agreed EXACTLY with me that the control was over hyped and more annoying than anything else.

Look bravo to Nintendo, keep kicking Sony’s butt, give Microsoft a strong run, whatever but Nintendo can count me out after their lack of steady (note the word steady) games on the Gamecube and N64, already on the Wii.  Maybe their titles do it for you but I look at release lists and cringe at the thought of still owning one. Then I look at the upcoming 360 games and get moist )

One interesting fact is that I’m still looking for a reason to either buy an Xbox or Xbox360. Although they both have some nice features, games wise I haven’t found a set of games that make me want the console.

Perhaps that is because I’m more into RPG and Platform games, and not FPS/TPS, simulation (sports).