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mortono on 09 December 2010
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Killiana1a said:
mortono said:

To be successful, Nintendo has to stop trying to appease these journalists and core gamers. This is all they've done this year. Look:

 

  • They told them to make more core games on Wii and they did. (SMG2, M:OM)
  • They told them to make a Black Wii and they did (with Wii Motion included)
  • They told them to release a good online game on the Wii and they did. (MH3)

Result: Wii sales fall even lower than last year.

To Nintendo: STOP listening to these morons. START listening to the sales charts that you have lit up for the past 4 years. Here's what you should do:

-Release yearly or at least bi-yearly Wii Sports and Wii Fit sequels.

-Release yearly 2d Mario Games with NEW worlds in each one.

-Make the Wii Vitality Sensor happen very soon!

I agree 100%. What made the Wii successful is that it is essentially a retro console. Where any given generation one can expect Sony to go for the highest graphics and Microsoft to try and turn their console into a PC gaming experience, Nintendo with the Wii said screw all that, tried something against the best advice of the industry, and hit a bonanza.

I do have some reservations and it revolves around the attach ratio for the Wii compared to the 360 and PS3. From what I have read, the Wii has the lowest attach ratio of all the current consoles meaning the individuals who buy the Wii buy it for a game like Wii Sports or Wii Fit and then they rarely if ever purchase another Wii game. Contrary, those who game 360 and/or PS3 can be counted on to buy 2 or more new 360/PS3 games a year.

I am sure Nintendo catered to their "core" with Other M because their internal data shows the Blue Ocean is full of fickle consumers who buy on fad, not love for gaming. Thusforth, Nintendo with their 2010 lineup has shown even they doubt the market which made the Wii such a hit.

Could it be the Wii is an annual fad around Christmas time? If so, then it was inevitable for the Wii to experience a year over year decline from 2008 to 2009, 2009 to 2010 and so on.

By fad, let me give you an example. One of my co-workers loves Harry Potter and when she heard of a Harry Potter game coming out for the Wii she was talking about buying a Wii. Her and I hang out on our days off and never before has the Wii come up in conversation. Fast forward 2 weeks and she is no longer enthusiastically talking about buying a Wii.

Take into account her boyfriend, also a co-worker and friend of mine, is a big 360 user. I am fairly sure he saw a review of the game and talked her out of buying the Wii for various reasons, the most important being the money would be better saved than spent.

Fads like the situation I described above do not last and are not as dependable as that lowly, "hardcore" gamer who exclusively games on the 360 and/or PS3.

The sales of games like Wii Fit Plus and Wii Sports Resort show that the expanded audience is actively looking for more games that match the direction that the Wii originally took. Most of the games that have sold over a million on the Wii are in some way copying Wii Sports, Wii Play, or Wii Fit. There are very few "core" games that have sold over 1 million.

The problem is that 3rd parties think they can just dump motion-controlled shovelware on the expanded audience and that they'll be too dumb to notice. (game party, deca sports, etc.) This is why the attach rate is slightly lower than normal. People are being very cautious because the library of the Wii is a sea of shovel-ware.

But let's just get one thing straight: THE WII IS NOT A FAD.

It's been four years and the Wii has sold out every holiday. Up until last summer it regularly trounced the HD consoles combined. Only now, after the HD consoles have finally copied Nintendo, are they starting to actually compete.

Anybody who is still saying "Wii is a fad" has their head buried in the sand. Fads go away. Motion gaming is here to stay.