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Killiana1a on 10 December 2010
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mortono said:
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.

I have already acknowledged software was the main reason why the Wii has sold so well. As for it being a "fad," I most likely used the wrong language I should not have.

The Wii is on the downslope every aging system goes through towards the end of its' generation. If it is not, then why has it declined year over year since 2008? Heck, the latest numbers have their November 2010 hardware numbers down from November 2009 and there are more and better games out this November than there were last year. Last year, the Wii rode off of New Super Mario Bros. Wii all year. This year we have Metroid: Other M, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Epic Mickey, Just Dance 2, Wii Party, Kirby's Epic Yarn and on, yet the Wii has sold 10,000 less units in November 2010 than in November 2009.

After 4 years, the Wii has reached a saturation point where it cannot post an increase in year over year numbers. Microsoft and Sony can because they were built to last longer in terms of graphics. With the release of Kinect and Move gives the 360 and PS3 another solid 2 years, unless Nintendo drops the Wii 2 in 2012. If this is the case, then history has shown that systems who launch 18 months or more after their competition starts the latest generation find it harder to gain a solid market share. Timing, entry level price point, and launch software are the biggest reasons in determining who leads in any given generation. 

The PS3 failed in large part this generation not because it waited a year after the 360 was released, but because it launched at an exorbitant $600 entry level price point and had a lackluster launch library with Metal Gear Solid 4 being the only must have game. I may be wrong on this, but I am sticking by it.