Userbase does matter.  But it for the first few weeks is "hardly" matter.  Userbase generally only matters for legs.  I mean a game on a userbae of 3 million can't sell 30,000 a week for too long.  Userbase limits legs which is why not too many PS3 or 360 games generally have games with strong legs, especially if thye opened decently.  Mainstream brands aside, of course.

However on you opening weeks userbase is almost worthless.  Usually consoles, by now, have sold more than 10 million and because titles rarely open to more than 4 million in their opening week you can see why userbase means nothing.  It won't open up to half it's userbase nor will it set any records meaning as long as it has the hype and the will it could theoretically open to 3 million on  console with only 10 million in sales.  However this generally doesn't happen but that's why userbase doesn't matter.  It sets feasible limits for openers but usually those limits are out of reach in the first place giving a lot of open room. 

Userbase limits lenght of time on the market with good sales.  This is why a lot of Wii and DS software can sell for long periods of time at decent numbers.  Same for PS2 before it.  Understanding the difference is important.  It's why GTA IV on 360 and PS3 can open to huge numbers while Wii Fit can still sell over 300k a week.

blazinhead89 said: Zucas said: blazinhead89 said: @shams. If install base has nothing to do with software sales, then why did Final Fantasy XIII, Tekken 6, DMC4, etc. go Multiplat? To get less sales, please explain. I Mean i know a certain few people say that's why they went Multiplat, because of the PS3 Limited userbase.   Userbase does matter. But it for the first few weeks is "hardly" matter. Userbase generally only matters for legs. I mean a game on a userbae of 3 million can't sell 30,000 a week for too long. Userbase limits legs which is why not too many PS3 or 360 games generally have games with strong legs, especially if thye opened decently. Mainstream brands aside, of course. However on you opening weeks userbase is almost worthless. Usually consoles, by now, have sold more than 10 million and because titles rarely open to more than 4 million in their opening week you can see why userbase means nothing. It won't open up to half it's userbase nor will it set any records meaning as long as it has the hype and the will it could theoretically open to 3 million on console with only 10 million in sales. However this generally doesn't happen but that's why userbase doesn't matter. It sets feasible limits for openers but usually those limits are out of reach in the first place giving a lot of open room. Userbase limits lenght of time on the market with good sales. This is why a lot of Wii and DS software can sell for long periods of time at decent numbers. Same for PS2 before it. Understanding the difference is important. It's why GTA IV on 360 and PS3 can open to huge numbers while Wii Fit can still sell over 300k a week.   Yeah that clears things up, Had Shams explained in detail like you, i would of had no issue with his statement

Hey, it's what I'm here for.

We've been having this discussion all week.  Those graphs show that the Wii doesn't sell 3rd party games very well.  The only 3rd party big sellers are Carnival Games, Game Party (?!?!), Mario and Sonic (still Mario, though), and Guitar Hero.

We Ski and Legos have done fairly well.

Otherwise it's wasteland of 300k-selling games on an install base of HOW many? 

But it's not the Wii's fault.  It's developer/publishers/marketers AND Nntendo's (and they don't much care at this point - they prefer the percentage being tilted toward first party, obviously).  No one can come up with an original IP game that breaks out on this platform?  You can argue Carnival Games is, technically, but be real - it's Wii Play/Sports in a diffferent box.  We Ski is, I guess.  (I don't know what Game Party is, but it sounds like more mini games.)

But where are sales for Boom Blox, and Sam and Max, and Zack and Wiki, and No More Heroes etc. etc.?

Oh and by the way, I am in the camp that says Wii Sports doesn't count, except for places like Japan where it's separate.  So add in Japan, and then the other Asian ones like Korea balance out some of the 360/PS3 bundles so then it's a wash there.

Just my two cents.

Wii Play counts, but we all know that it would have sold more like all the other minigame collections instead of the giant it is had it been sold separately only.  (And I bought it.)

 so the wii sold 38 million and the Xbox360 35 million 3rd party games. Well I never doubted that the wii would sell more than Xbox360, but the Wii is selling not that much in relation to the Userbase. So the wii sold 3 million copies more than the Xbox360 with 13.5 million more users. Do you think that is impressive?

second graph: don't know if NPD includes Wii Sports or Wii Play. If not, they have a worse ratio than X360, if so, take the 5.3 (or whatever) - 1 for Wii Sports or Wii Play. Or -1.5 for both (because almost every second wii has an extra controller - and wii play. 36 million wiis sold, 16.2m wii play.) Well that would bring the wii to the 3rd place.

anyway it all depends if you count bundled software, that you HAVE to buy, if you want the console (at least in Europe). For me it is stupid to say the wii moved software because of this and a game you get for extra 10$ for a new remote. That is like including Arcade sales to the Xbox360 software sales. Acutally latest arcade-games might be more expensive. ^^

What we need is that GTAIV hardware impact chart, you know the one where it said,

Week of the game of the generation GTAIV, then it showed PS3 and Xbox360 hardware sales.

Then it showed Wii hardware, and said just another week.

Except someone should do a new one for this month. ^_^ I know evil.

Aaand that's where I stopped reading. Really, you should do your homework before you say things like this.

Dude... NPD.. US's Userbase... Not the entire World.. SO yes it's impressive..

This thread makes my head hurt... why do you have to make a thread that's been made countless times before and has been debunked every time since? Really? I thought there was a rule about making this thread by now... like I mean the rule should be thread gets locked, trollers get banned, and thread starter gets shot end of discussion.