@Resident Hazard------> Theres something fishy going on with the PSX launch, did SONY convinced 3rd parties *cough*pay*cough* to make games exclusive for the Playstation? Because  a launch system  have that much AAA titles. So no wonder SONY and MS losing money in every console they sold, they have money to spent it.

@ NiKKoM----> I never thought even PS2 was also a casual console before, i only seen those games on the Wii...

There's a lot of discussion here about what were the killer apps for other consoles, but what is lost is that hardcore games don't dictate the market, its the casual titles, specifically sports & driving games.

If you follow the history of video game consoles all the way back to the 80s, at least in the US, the trend is that the tipping point was hit by the quality of sports titles, and as the Genesis and Super NES went head-to-head, the EA Sports franchises in particular. The most successful consoles have always been the ones that got the staples like Madden, NCAA football, etc ... first. These games, taken individually, don't appear to be system movers in and of themselves, but the games as a collection appeal to a broad market. For example, Madden targets NFL football fans, while the NCAA series targets college football fans. Taken individually, the two games aren't on par with other smash hits in the casual/sports markets. Taken together, however, the two titles move a lot of systems.

The Genesis fared well against the SNES specifically thanks to the overwhelming effort EA threw behind it with the hundreds of sports exclusives it had. The PlayStation brands absolutely crushed everything thanks to EA completely abandoning SEGA, when SEGA foolishly tried to get into the sports act themselves, and Nintendo after the last Madden 64.

As goes EA, so goes the console war. This has repeated itself the last three console cycles.

Nintendo now has EA back in the fold, which is a major coup for them, especially given the limitations in the horsepower of the Wii vs the other two next gen consoles. Nintendo's strategy to bundle Wii Sports was brilliant, and I believe calculated, to tip the sports world back to their favor, which is key.

As for what "killer app" Nintendo needs to make this whole thing a slam dunk: I think it'll be a Madden/NCAA style football game, or some sports game, that leverages the DS as the controller, similar to what Pokemon Battle Revolution does with Diamond and Pearl. I'm thinking of a scenario where you pop in your Madden football disc, start up your DS to connect to the Wii via Download Play, and you have the playbook pushed to the DS, so all of your play selections are 100% discreet. Additionally, the plays can be modified on the fly, such as drawing new routes for the receivers to run, simply by drawing a path on the touch screen with the stylus.

What EA needs is a revolutionary new Madden that finally reminds everyone who bought the last gazillion copies of it that this year, they HAVE to upgrade. The DS/Wii is the only platform where that could happen.

If a football sim had DS interoperability where 100% of the control was moved to a private handheld screen that you could draw/diagram on, the sales numbers, IMHO, would just be absolutely obscene.

In your post Dryden seem EA dictates what console should win the console war, but if not because of Wii Sports Wii wouldnt take off as it did now, and EA wants to take that popularity with their sports games on the Wii...

Wii Sports already has.

monster hunter freedom 3 with special edition of wii with build in sensor bar and 10'' lcd or final fantasy 6/7 remake - this would own everything, mark my word.

Well, that's part of my reasoning why I believe Wii's ace-up-its-sleeve will wind up being a sports game, if it isn't already Wii Sports.

The obvious key is that it has to be something that is (1) not dependant on revolutionary next-gen graphics and (2) a Nintendo exclusive.

Whatever 'one game' Nintendo could conceivably get, its going to be dependant on either motion control, some other revolution in interactive input, and its going to be an exclusive.

IMHO, we haven't scratched the surface of what is capable with the DS-as-Wii-controller. The combo opens up a whole world of games in the home that have previously only been available for play (again, in the US at least) in bars. Trivia games, poker games, etc ... All of these are multiplayer, but also communial, social games. The barrier for all these things working in the past has been the input system: everybody shares one display, so you cannot pass game content to the participants privately.

Another example I've seen in the US: SEGA has a hugely succesful sports franchise popular in barcades with Derby Owners Club. This type of game is now possible in the home. The DSWii gives you:

1. Your own private screen with input

2. A community screen for group ouput

3. A personal storage system to move your game data from location to location

4. Wireless support for up to 8 simultaneous players

5. Online push-content and leaderboards

My head spins at possiblities for new games now possible in the home, especially in the vein of what is seen in barcades/sports bars (BW3, Damon's Grill, D&Bs, etc ...). NTN Trivia or DOC:WE, just two examples. EA though, could make a mint if they'd use the platform. It makes perfect sense. They already make Madden for the Wii, and they already make Madden for the DS. Why not combine the two? It would be a sales juggernaut! You'd have a two player game that requires two people to own three copies of the game and three pieces of hardware, and buyers would lap it up and ask for more!

 i usually try not to be mean on these boards, as i hate it when people are so damn mean on here for no reason, but seriously, that is the stupidest thing i have ever heard.

 so what youre saying is that the reason for nintendo's success isnt because of the wii remote, the price point, or the fact that its just nintendo to begin with, but because of wii sports? and then they werent sure how long that was gonna last so they made mario kart? then wii fit?

i take back what i said to the last person i responded to. this is even more retarded than what he was saying about it would be a good idea if you could trade off between mario and sonic in super mario galaxy 2 which in of itself is a dumb ass idea to begin with.

but i want to get back to what you were saying. i like how so far, nobody at all has mentioned zelda or metroid. one HUGE selling point for the wii when it first came out was ZELDA. the ps3 probably would have outsold it the first couple of weeks if it werent for zelda. but see, that is just one small variable that is contributing to nintendo's success. they got a good head start because they treated the hardcore crowd to a zelda that they felt was for them. after that, they just spent a lot of time making cool games that utilized the wii remote like wii play and warioware while at the same time advertising future titles that were going to kick ass like metroid, super mario, and smash bros. once 2007 was over, and smash bros was right around the corner, they focused more attention on mario kart and wii fit, and now that those two games are out, they dont really want to say much more until e3. who knows why really, most other companies are really eager to let the public know what they have in stock for them. but anyways, this is just the games aspect of why nintendo is kicking ass right now. there are plenty of other reasons, but as you can see, its not, nor ever, going to be just one title that does it. you have to have a consistant flow of AAA titles that are going to keep consumers interested.

You take that back. PSO was one of Dreamcast's best games and when you insult PSO, you insult the greatest system ever created.