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TWRoO on 05 November 2008
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famousringo said:
mrstickball said:
famousringo said:

But this point isn't really as interesting as you make it out to be. Consoles which sell less hardware usually have a higher software attach ratio.

Wrong. No console in history has ever proved it.

The Playstation 2 (highest selling system of all time) has had a global attatch ratio of over 10 software units to 1 hardware unit. The Gamecube didn't even reach that.

If anything, it's the inverse: A console that leads usually has the better attach ratio since software titles are more abundant, and as the system has a longer lifespan, it gets a better attach ratio, since users still have a reason to play on the old system.

Even the DS is breaking away from the standard handheld mold thanks to the overwhelming support the console has received. Normally, handhelds move a mere 5.0 software units when they are lucky. According to Nintendo (and someone can correct me on this if I'm wrong), the DS has already moved 500,000,000+ units of software on 80,000,000 Nintendo DSes - which would be above a 6.0 attach ratio.

 

It was my understanding that these effects largely kick in towards the end of the generation, and early on the slow sellers end up with a higher attach ratio. Or am I wrong about that, as well as being insufficiently specific in my previous post?

Kind of true, although if you check PS2 WW ratio for the last week it was less than 10:1 for games:consoles (which implies the LTD ratios are decreasing) this could be due to the less reliable data for older systems, PS2 will be missing more titles still selling weekly than the other consoles.

What you can do is check shipment data of Wii vs. PS2 though (ok PS2 is "production shipments" which is a little misleading but it will have to do)

PS2 production shipments after September 2002:
(This puts the launches for Europe and America rouhgly aligned with Wii, but gives PS2 a 7-8 month advantage in Japan)

HW - 41.56 million (likely about 36 to 38 million sold to retail)
SW - 229.0 million (I have no idea... perhaps ~220 million to retail)

Wii sales (shipment to retail) after September 2008

HW - (My estimate is ~ 41 million produced) 34.55 million sold
SW - (??? dunno, maybe ~ 235 million produced) 229.85 million sold

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It's hard to say given the differences in the reporting method.... but ratios using the same type should be ok

PS2 ratio - 5.51

Wii ratio - 6.65 (doesn't include Wii Sports)

Of course the shipments to retail favour a higher attach ratio slightly because games generally won't need to be stored away for long after they are produced.
So for arguments sake:

PS2 ratio estimate - 5.79 to 6.11

Wii ratio estimate - 5.73 (again, not including Wii Sports)

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Thus I think it is fair to say the Wii is selling more software than the PS2 was at the same point in it's life, I even gave the PS2 an advantage of some extra time in Japan (although that won't have made too much of a difference to the total)