I LoVE MY WIII!!!!!

Only now the Nintendo-fans are also unhappy, because they got not much games last year. Although, I'm happy with the rainfall-games and I have a backlog to play, so this pause is not too bad for me.

i'm saying "short-lived" is relative.  if a child dies at age 10 then yes, that was short-lived as expectations are a person can live well past their 50's.

the wii was massively popular for a couple years outselling the (360 + ps3)*2 every week consistantly.  then, unlike any generational leader before it, sales slowed massively untill eventually both the 360 and ps3 consistantly outsell it every week.  also it did this on a time scale shorter (couple years) then what one would expect a typcial console life-cycle would be (5-6 years). 

i don't think i can argue that the wii was certainly a fad.  but i don't think you can argue that certainly it wasn't.  i think it's in the middle ground.  i think it's debatable.

FAD: 

- A fashion that is taken up with great enthusiasm for a brief period of time; a craze.

- a thing that becomes very popular in a short amount of time, and then is forgotten at about the same speed.

- Something that will become HUGE then fizzle into nothingness and be totally forgotten. 

- A desirable trend characterized with lots of enthusiasm and energy over a short period of time. Fads are often seen with common consumer items, especially around a holiday season.

By definition the Wii is a fad.

The wrong question is being asked. The question should be why do the Xbox 360 and PS3 continue to sell so well.

The Wii is the third-best selling gaming console of all times ... trailing only the PS2 and original Playstation. It is going to top 100M in sales when all is done., becoming only the third console to do so. That puts it near a saturation point. But as it was introduced almost six years ago and was using standard (rather than cutting-edge) technology at the time, it is somewhat dated in what it can do. It is also being phased out as Nintendo's main console at about the usual point in time when consoles are replaced, so the decline is not unexpected.

Meanwhile, the Xbox 360 and PS3 are the fourth and fifth best selling consoles of all time. But they still trail the declining Wii by around 30M units sold and it is highly unlikely that the gap will ever be bridged. They too have been on the market a long time (nearly seven and nearly six years respectively). But unlike the Wii, they saw slight gains/level sales in 2011. Cutting edge technology at their introduction (which led to lower original sales and higher prices) have kept them relavent long after most consoles have been "retired" from manufacturing (or at least serving as the lead console.

There are some other factors helping them as well. There has been some success (especially for the Xbox 360) with add-on hardware has extended unit life. A replacement has not been announced, stunting sales of the current console. And given the account strcuture and repair issues, some units being bought today are probably replacement units or upgrades rather than new placements.

[The Wii not allowing DLC and DLGames to be transferred via an account has led many people -- myself included -- to send in their units for repair rather than buy a new console. It was cheaper (just over half the price of a Wii with shipping) and took 10 days.]

Mike from Morgantown

I didn't know 5 years was a short period of time.

It died just as fast as it came out really. The Wii peaked after being out for two years, which usually a console peaks at 3 or 4 years and it had one of the biggest declines in sales for a console ever especially for a first place console. To go from highest selling every week to a third place console and second place console both doubling its sales weekly in such a short period of time tells you something.

It's not a fad, and the strongest proof is that motion control is here to stay, it's just Ninty to blame if after designing a console with good chances to outsell PS2, it let instead its sales drop so badly. Just like it's Sony to blame if it doesn't push PS Move more to exploit WiiMote Plus weakness on the market (overwhelmed by its predecessor the plain WiiMote) and Ninty's mistakes about it. While it's MS' merit to more effectively fill with Kinect the space left vacant by its competitors.

Probably you are right. not only many predicted the Wii would lead on, also that the sales HD-twins would diminish as the console-wars are decided. In these old trheads I found Rol claiming, that the XBOX360 would have a hard time to reach 30 million. That was a sane prediction back then. The usual generational pattern shows, that the winner can outlast the competition. Look at the PS2, that is sellign until today. But this generation is very unusual. it looks strongly, that PS3 and XBOX360 can outlast the Wii in sales. That is a strange pattern. If we could find the resons for that, we could get more insight into the workings of the industry and draw conclusions for future generations.

Nintendo has drawn conclusions. It tries a strategy of mixed focusing on core and casual-gamers alike this time with the 3DS and Wii-U. If this strategy is the right way is hotly debated also here at the forums.

Last year was the first calendar year in which the Wii was not the top selling home console. That's five years after launch, not 'a couple'.