There have been a lot of arguments on this forum over which console sells more software.  Most of the time, you see the term attach ratio or tie ratio.  This ratio is obtained by dividing the amount of software sold by the number of consoles sold.  While an attach ratio is a simple calculation, it does not tell the whole story.  The most glarring problem is that it does not account for the fact that the 360 has been out longer than the other two consoles.

The best way to get arround this problem is to use a different statistic.  The best way to compare the consoles is by using Total Weeks of Ownership, or TWO.  As far as I know, Sqrl was the first person to develop this stat and he used it in this post here.  As Sqrl explains in his post, TWO is better because it not only reflects how many people own a console, but also how long they have owned the console.  This is important because software is not purchased all at once, but over time during the life of the console.

In his post, Sqrl uses percentages to try and compare the consoles.  Although it gives a decent view of what is going on, I think there is a better way.  By dividing TWO by the total amount of software sold, we can obtain the average number of weeks between software purchases (I haven't come up with any good abreviations for this so any suggestions are welcome).  The average number of weeks between software purchases can then be compared between the three consoles.

The first graph has been aligned by date, and is for the whole world.

The second graph has been aligned from launch, and is also for the whole world.

The big drops that can be seen in the graphs are the holiday periods.  The smaller drops are big games like GTA IV or MGS 4.  This is to be expected, since a lot of software is sold during these times.

What most people would not expect however, is that the average Wii owner buys games more often then the average 360 owner.  Currently, the average Wii owner has bought a game once every 9.07 weeks, the average PS3 owner has bought a game once every 9.47 weeks, and the average 360 owner has bought a game every 9.75 weeks.  Historically, the Wii owners have always been buying games at the fastest rate, and 360 owners have been buying games at the slowest rate.  PS3 owners have been in the middle.

This new information challenges some of the "common sense" that has been preached on this forum.

Maybe the "hardcore gamers" don't buy as many games as we assumed they did.
Maybe the "casual gamers" buy more games than we assumed they did.
Maybe the 360 and PS3 owners are not as "hardcore" as some thought.
Maybe the Wii owners are not as "casual" as some thought.

Do "hardcore" and "casual" even mean anything anymore?

Whatever the answer, it is clear that some of our assumptions about the market were wrong and need to change.  Wii owners are buying games at a faster rate than everyone else.  360 owners are buying games at a slower rate than everyone else.  Somehow, we did not see this before.  What else does this new info change?

Please discuss, and feel free to ask any questions about my methodology.

(All numbers came from the Worldwide Weekly Chart here at VG Chartz.)

I guess it depends upon what you're looking for. Games like Gears and Halo III sell in large amounts on the 360 while games like Madworld and No More Heroes that would pass 1 million on 360 don't do so well on Wii.

On the other hand games like Brazt Party Babies, Wii Fit, and jrpgs sell much better on the Wii than they would on the 360.

Ps3 holds up well. Glad to see that.

 Those games were builded around the motion, you can't make those game in a normal controller, is like Wii Sports in any other console, it is not the same and I doubt they would sold better on 360. 

Excellent work. Bookmarking this one.

 I don't know.  The 360's audience seems geared more towards hyper violent games to me than the Wii one is.

You picked two very poor examples. Madworld's predecessor, God Hand, sold like s*** on the PS2. No More Heroes predecessors sold like s*** on several platforms, including the PS2.

Neither one would have a chance in hell of passing a million on the 360.

Interesting....

i dont get the whole TWO i have to check it out some other time wen i have more time but did u factor in the wii sports that comes with every wii i know the hds also had bundles but you need to come up with some kind of % to take out for the wii sports maybe like 75% I dont know something

Right ... So what games similar to MadWorld have sold Millions on any console?

Your rhetoric is getting pretty old though, even though Okami sold more on the Wii than PS2 and No More Heroes is Suda 51's best selling game you're still under the delusion that these games would be more popular on another console. The question is why would they be more successful ...