"console market share"

Total money spent is an awful metric when you're comparing game systems ...

When EA is considering whether they are producing a version of a game for a platform which is going to be more important a system which has 10,000 users who spent $10,000 on the system or a system with 1,000,000 unsers who each spent $100 for their system. It really doesn't matter if the $10,000 system has Quad Geforce 8800GTX graphics cards, 2 Quad Core processors, 4GB of memory, a HD-DVD/Blu-Ray combo drive and a 500GB hard-drive because the small userbase will never be able to provide the revinues they're looking for.

The same is true (on a lesser scale) when they compare the Wii and PS3; it doesn't matter how much money was spent all that matters is that the Wii has sold twice as many systems as the PS3 ...

I know and you know that ,but the average cosumer? It's reall hard to find a Wii with anything playable in stores. Even at Gamestop you need to ask for the control.

the other thing is although the control is innovative. How many games will be the same thing..? your controller is the steering wheel or sword or bat...how long will that stay innovative I have a Wii and it seems to me the gameplay is just being repeated in most games. I am not saying that its not fun but I was so dissapointed in red steel i really have not played much for it. Zelda was nice but was obviously a gamecube game with some Wii stuff thrown in.

I agree the Wiimote and Price are huge selling points for the Wii now. Some Games that are innovative and use the controls in diferent ways (more that the 8-10 ways we have seen already) will keep sales up. In the future I don't see many games doing that. If the Wii mote gets boring and repeatative ( I think it already has) how long will it be about the wii mote...then what

"Wii mote is the whole point" is a great pun...and marketing tool .BTW

Rather than try to pick and parse the numbers in a way that looks beneficial to one side or another, why not present them all: 

Forgot each segments share, LastGen was 18% of console sales, NextGen 34%, and Handhelds 48%.
Looking at that the most notable thing is that Sony has only 22% share in the two growing and largest segments of the video game world, NextGen and Handheld.  PS2 sales are undoutedly important for now since they are boosting Sony's profits to some extent.  I can't imagine they will be able to rely on it for too much longer though. 

However, why just look at March? We have the numbers for all of the 1st quarter

Not too different.  The key stats again are Sony's inability to even take 1/4 of either of the main video game markets.

The other thing to note is that the Wii sold an incredibly low 52k per week in the US in March.  Given that its sold out everywhere that means Nintendo only shipped 52k a week. Why they did that is anyones guess (met their quota, waiting for an April SPM blitz, counterring PS3 launch in Europe).  Had Nintendo supplied the US with 100k a week like they should be doing then the Wii would have had no trouble hitting half a million for the month. That would have given Nintendo 66 total share, 60% NextGen sale, and 46% home console share. 

Not that it changes March's sales of course but it gives a better idea of where market demand is going than lumping an 8 year old system who got a one month sales boost from a huge game with its moribund nextgen brother while ignoring Nintendo very clearly for unclear reasons under supplying America with Wiis during March.

Honestly, I have expected from the begining that 80% to 90% of games would make poor (or unoriginal) use of the Wiimote (lets face it developers mostly copy what a better developer does) but the other 10% to 20% of the games would make up for it; it is essentially the same problem that faces all systems in that most of the games are garbage.

Even if the Wii only ever received similar support as the gamecube that would mean that it would have 10 to 15 amazing game a year that were only possible on the Wii; if it gets PS2 level support you're talking 50 to 100 games.

Here's a simple test for the next gen consoles we have right now to consider who will be the next PS2 : 360, Wii, and PS3. Consider these markets: Core gamers: minor group but loudest, much more vocal on hardware performance - fanboys and the lot Casual gamers: major group, usually goes with hype and trends in hardware sales - mostly buy sports games and party games, although some can be converted into core gamers with some games (GTA, Halo, Zelda, etc) Lapsed gamers/ non gamers: ??? untapped market - unknown percentage, although can be converted into casual gamers as evidenced by DS If you were a salesman that gets the same commission for any sale of the 3 next gen consoles, how will you be able to do a sale for any of these systems? You can use any leverage: pricing, games, online, graphics, branding, or anything that has to do with the system. So far: Wii is the easiest sale due to sports games, pricing, and family friendly games MS a bit harder due to the lack of lapsed/non gamer interest PS3 is a very very hard sale for any group especially casuals and impossible for lapsed/non gamers.

The point isn't that every game is innovative in its control mechanism nor that the control mechanism stays innovative (something of an impossibility).  The point is that the control mechanism is different and easier to utilize (how much easier and how much better is of course something debatable).  Mario64 was innovative in game play and its control with a analog stick.  The fact that Zelda and Goldeneye controlled the exact same way wasn't a bad thing.  Same with dual analog, innovative and new at first but the fact that every FPS controls the same way isn't bad.

 Kwaad,

              How long have you been in the gaming industry. Seriously?

The leader of the last generation always has longer shelf life than the rest of it's previous competitors.

Do you know how long was NES around for example? NES was first available in 1983, Nintendo of America officially stopped supporting in 1995. In Japan the NES was officially supported until 2003! NES officially was supported for --TWENTY-- years!

Since PS2 has set sales records in the industry, no one expects it to fade away initially. It's really Sony's only saving grace that they decided to continue supporting it. I've seen more PS2 commercials lately then I have PS3...

yeah and the original playstation was first released in 1994, sony stopped making them in 2006 12 years with support likely to continue for a long time, The ps2 first released in 2000 games will continue to be released regualarly for at least 2 years and occasionally for the next 5 i doubt sony will stop production til 2014 or later my point is nintendo arent the only ones with longetivity in their consoles

 Oh I have no doubt that Sony will try and milk Playstation for all it's worth. But I should specify here, Nintendo continued to manufacture NES systems until 2003.