it is a thing that sells a lot but dies down quickly.

There was a guy (I forgot his name) that predicted it would outsell the whole PS family lol. Many thought that 200m was a given at some point too.

OT: I wouldn't call a console a fad. The concept of motion gaming maybe, but I still think motion gaming has some potential.

Best is see a defensor say it sold 100M in 6 years... When almost 80M were in 3 years, a drop like that shows a fad the same WiiU reinstated latter by a even bigger drop... From 2M in 2 months to 300k in the next quarter.

oh please PS4 just came out. Wii was tracking ahead of PS2 for at least 2 years. years, big difference. And I never said it was a fad, dont put words in my mouth. But people swore that Wii would pass PS2 or at the very least match it. Neither happened and no one has yet to explain why. PS1 is a crap comparison anyway becasue the market was smaller, there was no blue ocean

All consoles are fads...

the wii sold cause of motion controls, motion controls are not gonna sell consoles anymore, the motion control fad is over with now.

thats a fair assestment, but i think its wrong to call an entire console a fad. Wii just happened to tie up their entire identity on that motion control fad and IMHO it hurt them in the end. They are kinda paying for it now.

I think the Wii wasn't a fad, the article makes a good point though. What if gaming as a whole was a fad?

Btw you need to read his articles before judging him. He is extremely critical of the Wii U. Go ahead and read his articles, there is lots of stuff to read.

I bought the Wii and thought it was a generation behind in visual fidelity.

Then I had a PS3, and thought I was still stuck in the 90's with an undercover psone pad in my hands, not having that fresh feel Wii gave me for what next gen should be.

Then I realized: Wii has the most next gen interaction, PS3 has the most next gen visuals. And I was happy.

By your logic the Playstation 2 would also have been a fad considering that its successor sold far less than it did and had a rough start for the first two years. For the first six months of their successor's lives the DS and Gameboy Advance were fads because how their succeding system sold far below expectations during the early protions of their life.

Of course, neither of these systems were fads because they sustained long-term momentum (much like the Wii did for 6 years) and I feel there are other reasons why the Wii dropped off so quickly at the end of its life. Firstly, notice the big drop-off that took place between 2011-2012, it coincides with the drop-off in first-party Nintendo software the last major Wii title to be published from Nintendo for Wii was in 2011 (Zelda: SS). Secondly, Wii software continued to sell over its life and even now that the system is close to death (this year we saw continued high sales of Just Dance and Skylanders), if people only bought Wii for Wii Sports then Wii software sales would have been far lower than they are now. The PS3 and Xbox 360 are both continuing to see sustained support from both first-parties and third-parties alike which is why they have not dropped off so quickly. Furthermore, I attribute the lack of Wii U sales to the price of the console and lack of content to justify its price to most people (software and price is what sells hardware) rather than its predecessor being a dead fad; if you were to ask me why the 3DS, PSP, PS3 did not do so well at the start of their life I would give you the same reason why the Wii U is not doing so well.