Wii at 35 million worldwide XBOX 360 at 29 million Jan 1st 2009

[Dodece]

I applaud Resident Evil 4 it was a unexpected success. However the exception hardly proves the rule. Other mainstream ports on the console have done poorly. All this particular game has proved is that a very good port at a low price in the middle of a dead season can do well for itself. Even so it has taken months for it to drag itself to its current sales. Even then it has only accomplished a six percent attachment rate.

To some that might be acceptable, but that is hardly note worthy. Even the vaunted Metroid Prime 3 has yet to break four percent. In the plainest terms possible Resident Evil 4 proves nothing. Yes there appears to be a market for such games, but it is not showing itself to be a large market. Meanwhile Mario Party 8 is fast approaching a twenty percent attachment rate. I can site the attachment rates all day long comparing the demographics. Needless to say though there is no proof that the Wii has anything approaching a strong core or hardcore presence.

Which just does not sound right based on what Nintendo has told the press about their consoles demographics. I think Famitsu brought us a very valid point not too long ago. The machines are selling, but the systems are getting abandoned after a few months. They are collecting dust, and honestly I am really starting to wonder if it is true.

Could the Wii really be all flash and no substance. In other words does it look pretty to new buyers. They buy it buy a couple games, and then they are done with it. I will admit I have not touched my Wii in months. Nobody in my house has touched it in over a month. Now of the four other Wii owners I know in real life three are just like me, and the forth is playing the thing all the time with his very young children.

Anyway none of this is what I was discussing to begin with. Which is for whatever reason, and Nintendo has said it themselves the majority of their current owners are returning console owners. These were people that owned consoles last generation. While the new consumer demographic while significantly stronger then last generation do by no stretch comprise a majority of the user base, and probably never will.

Now if thats not the case, and these new demographics end up constituting a larger percentage of the install base, and they prove themselves shoppers then developers will support that market at the expense of the core market. Were the console composed of twenty percent older women. Roughly twenty percent of the games should end up being geared towards that demographic. Which in turn means that developers making those games are not making traditional games.

Think of the console like a television channel, and for example sake lets say its a channel that shows horror movies nonstop. Then lets say the market explodes, because for a couple hours each week they run a my little pony marathon. Hey the guys in charge are demented, or seriously depressed. No matter what the reason suddenly twenty percent of that weeks viewers tune in for my little pony. The network is pleased, and wants more viewers. So they start airing more programs like my little pony. Unfortunately for the horror buffs that takes hours of the schedule that might have been dedicated to oh Gothic horror. Eventually if twenty percent of the fans like that they are going to get twenty percent of the channel whether you like it or not.

The same holds true for any console that has a sizable demographic of consumers that have different interests. Developers will cater to them proportionately. They are not going to ignore them. There is money to be made by appealing to a large demographic. That is why some genres are over represented in the market as is. you will find many first person shooters. While relatively few platformers. More people want more first person shooters. While fewer people want platformers. Your still going to get platformers, but not on par with first person shooters. They will get fifteen and you will get four.