Yeah, I really enjoyed that one too.  The other one I really liked was when they quoted Microsoft who claims they have sold 12 million systems haha.

I find it a little unusual that they are complaining about the lack of games for the Wii at (effectively) the end of the gaming drought ...

We're a couple of weeks away from E3 yet IGN has over 100 titles that are expected to be released between now and the end of the year; it is possible that we could average 10 to 20 games a month for a large portion of the rest of the year. Certainly not all of these games will be particularly good but even if only a small portion are worth owning (say 10%) I couldn't see many people running out of games to play in the near future.

Sigh. Another industry "insider" publication that can't see the forest for the trees. I suppose that their "report card" has some validity in the eyes of the traditional, heavy-spending adolescent male gamer. But that group hasn't dominated the market for a very long time now, at the very least since the mid-90s, and as a result the verdict provided here is hopelessly out of touch with actual sales trends. Some of these lines come across as laughable:

A year from now, it's conceivable there'll be more Wii consoles in people's homes than 360s.

It's conceivable?! "Conceivable." Uh, that's not exactly the word I would have used there. It's "conceivable" that there will be more Wii consoles in people's homes than 360s by the end of this July (at least, according to John Lucas). It would require something miraculous for the Wii not to have a gigantic lead over the 360 by this time next year. That is, unless this EW group was talking only about America (?) I saw no indication that that was the case in the article, however.

Other statements like, "Microsoft's machine is still the console to beat. For the most part, they've been doing everything right," are similarly jarring and difficult to understand. EW praises the 360 Elite, and knocks Microsoft for not making HD-DVD standard on its console - huh? It's like they want Microsoft to make the most expensive console possible! Are these analysts learning ANYTHING from the current sales trends?!

And of course, as naznatips and azzer100 have already pointed out, the Wii verdict is hilarious: "While the Wii continues to dominate the sales charts, there are signs that the system is starting to lose a bit of its luster. The reason? Compelling new games have been few and far between." Riiiiight. I mean, it's not like the Wii is outselling 360 + PS3 combined in every region, has done so almost every week this year, and shows no signs of slowing down. Oh wait...  

The myth that Wii software doesn't sell really needs to stop now. The last two weeks in a row, the top selling game in the US has been on the Wii (Resident Evil, Pokemon Battle Revolution). 5 of the top 10 selling games this week were on the Wii - and no, that's not including Wii Sports (6 out of the top 11 if you count it). There is zero sign that the Wii is "losing a bit of its luster." The EW group is just throwing a little temper tantrum that their systems of choice aren't doing as well as the casual-friendly Wii.

And for that matter, how could you possibly give the Wii a B+ at release, and a B- now? How, how, how?! It's shattered every possible sales expectation, yet the grade goes down?!?!?!

Only in a fantasy world do the Wii and PS3 get the same grade at this point. No further comments needed.

I apologize if it seems as though I'm acting like a Nintendo fanboy here - that's not my goal. I think the 360 has a fantastic software library, and the PS3... well, it's making some progress. My focus however is on sales trends, which is why I'm at this website; when I read this kind of garbage from "analysts", it really rubs me the wrong way. From a sales perspective, it's simply inconceivable that the 360 gets a higher grade than the Wii, and that the PS3 is equal to it. Laughable even. Now perhaps that wasn't the goal of the EW group, but surely that needs to factor into the decision in some way, right? Right? Because the current reality of the situation is not reflected by these remarks (or by the comments of many other analysts), and I'm really starting to wonder why so many supposedly intelligent people want to live in a fantasy world where the market is dominated by 360/PS3, rather than acknowledge what consumers are actually buying and playing.

Ok some of the comments made in the article were wildly off the mark while others were spot on. 

One of the few statements close to reality is that compelling games for the Wii have been few and far between.  Lets face it, Mario Party 8, Big Brain: Wii Degree, and Pokemon Battle Revolution aren't exactly setting the World on fire with great reviews and critical acclaim.

Dispite what some people claim about most Wii owners not buying crap (it's the excuse of choice when third party software bombs on the system) the truth is that many do indeed buy crap or just average as long as it has Nintendo's logo on it.

Wow, really? The Emotion Engine is what HAS KEPT the PS2 as the most dominate console in the world as of yet. It's still going pretty strong. A chip SPECIFICALLY designed for gaming can do just that.

I think that the Wii "should" overtake the 360 this year, and probably will. Then the PS3 should do the same next year, not as sure of this one though. I think that if the Wii had HD support it should get an A(-) Who the hell is ew to talk about gaming anyways, don't they need to be worried about Paris or something?

    They corrected the score of the Wii, and the wording about the price difference between the Wii and 360 Core.  They didn't change the Wii's grade, however. 

    I would agree with them that the Wii should get a B- if it was really $349, but I really think that it deserves a better score at $100 less.  Just my opinion.   

Wii with the same score as the PS3.. They even make sure to use the word gimmick, and also say that its losing its luster. Then act like games like Smash and Mario arent as onslaught like as Halo. Bleh. Wii wont ever ever ever get any respect. Ever.

it is? Really? I thought the huge range of games was what kept the PS2 as the most dominant console. All along I've been living in this fantasy world and apparently it's always been THE POWER OF EMOTION ENGINE!!!

Ok, maybe I worded it wrong smartass. But was it not the chipset that enabled them to keep putting better and better games on the same system, and once it was understood some of these games looked like they were on different machines.

from launch Dynasty Warriors 2

God of War 2

The Emotion Engine is what made it possible for them to go from A to B on one system, that's what I meant. It had to have the potential to keep getting better, the same potential that is now in the Cell. :P