How long do people play the Wii games they buy and rent? Here’s the February update, which, as always, includes some crazy stats.
Highlights of my February check of Wii software usage stats:
*“Fire Emblem” Is Hardcore — The average “Fire Emblem” strategy role-playing-game owner logs more time with their game than the average Wii owner plays “Wii Sports“… or “Super Mario Galaxy.”
*Numbers Drop Everywhere – Most hit Wii games saw their average playing time drop in January, the first widespread decline since I started tracking these numbers in September. It’s a clear sign of new users pulling down the averages playing time of old users.
*Except With “Wii Music” — The “Wii Music” weirdness continues, with owners and renters of “Wii Music” racking up even more sessions with the game but still somehow driving the average playing time for the game down. Is this a sign of people not liking what they’re trying?
These are just some of the discoveries in MTV Multiplayer’s sixth monthly breakdown of Wii software usage stats. Remember! I’m not tracking sales. I’m tracking how much time the people who play and rent these games actually play them. Any game can sell. But only good games get played.
Check out the usage stats for more than 40 Wii games:
WII SOFTWARE USAGE AS OF FEBRUARY 1, 2009
The following statistics are pulled from the Wii’s Nintendo Channel, which allows users to persistently share their play history for any disc or downloadable games played on the Wii. These numbers do not reflect overall usage of these games on the Wii but instead reflect usage of the more than 1.9 million Americans who are sharing info with the channel (up from 1.6 million last month). We think that’s a pretty healthy sample size!
Games are ranked in order of average play time. The game we’re tracking that has been played the longest by its average user is at the top of this list.
If there are more games you want us to track, let me know!
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Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Released March 2008)
Current Rank: #1 Last Month’s Rank: #1
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 64 hours, 17 minutes (down 34 minutes)
As of 1/1: 64 hours, 51 minutes
As of 12/1: 64 hours, 10 minutes
As of 11/2: 62 hours, 44 minutes
As of 10/5: 61 hours, 24 minutes
As of 9/1: 59 hours 59 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 27.96 sessions (down .01 sessions )
As of 1/1: 27.97 sessions
As of 12/1: 27.38 sessions
As of 11/2: 26.40
As of 10/5: 25.54
As of 9/1: 24.65
Analysis: “Smash” starts this month’s theme, which is that almost every major game’s numbers dropped. Remember just a couple of months ago when I was noting that all these numbers only seemed to ever go up? Now they’re heading down. Average playtimes dropped for every hit game that I track. What happened? The safest guess is that games like “Super Smash Bros.” got so many new owners who were logging their first few hours with the game in January, that it dragged the overall average down. The only way to have countered that would be for longtime owners to have played even more fervently than before, but they apparently can’t compete with hordes of new game-owners.
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Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Released October 2007)
Current Rank: #2 Last Month’s Rank: #2
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 57 hours, 51 minutes (down 50 minutes)
As of 1/1: 58 hours, 41 minutes
As of 12/1: 58 hours, 31 minutes
As of 11/2: 57 hours, 46 minutes
As of 10/5: 57 hours, 7 minutes
As of 9/1: 56 hours, 30 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 33.86 sessions (down .34 sessions )
As of 1/1: 34.20 sessions
As of 12/1: 33.89 sessions
As of 11/2: 33.20 sessions
As of 10/5: 32.65 sessions
As of 9/1: 32 (est.)
Analysis: A big drop in average play time this month for the 2007 edition of “Guitar Hero” could be an early sign of “GH” fans transitioning to 2008 rhythm games like “Guitar Hero World Tour.”
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The Legend OF Zelda: Twilight Princess (Released November 2006)
Current Rank: #3 Last Month’s Rank: #3
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 46 hours, 5 minutes (down 24 minutes)
As of 1/1: 46 hours, 29 minutes
As of 12/1: 46 hours, 38 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 19.77 sessions (down .21 sessions )
As of 1/1: 19.98 sessions
As of 12/1: 20.05 sessions
Analysis:Since “Zelda” is the kind of game people don’t seem to go back to (look how relatively solid the three months’ worth of numbers are), I think the decline we’re seeing here is a sign of new “Zelda” owners who got the game for the holidays dragging the average play time down.
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*NEW ENTRY* Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (November 2007)
Current Rank: #4 Last Month’s Rank: NA
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 43 hours, 58 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 16.0 sessions
Analysis: I added this game at the request of a reader, and it’s a good thing I did. The average play time for this game is an amazing 44 hours! I’ve played through the game and it took me about that long to complete. So what we have here is yet another non-casual single-player Nintendo game, like “Twilight Princess,” “Metroid Prime 3,” and “Super Mario Galaxy” that appears to sell to gamers who intend to complete the thing — no matter how long it takes. (Compare that kind of gaming passion to whatever is keeping Wii purchasers of Capcom’s “Okami” from finishing that game.)
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Wii Sports (Released November 2006)
Current Rank: #5 Last Month’s Rank: #4
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 33 hours, 59 minutes (down 48 minutes)
As of 1/1: 34 hours, 47 minutes
As of 12/1: 35 hours, 23 minutes
As of 11/2: 35 hours, 4 minutes
As of 10/5: 34 hours, 45 minutes
As of 9/1: 34 hours, 25 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 27.40 sessions (down .98 sessions )
As of 1/1: 28.38 sessions
As of 12/1: 29.04 sessions
As of 11/2: 28.9 sessions
As of 10/5: 28.72 sessions
As of 9/1: 28.56
Analysis: Not surprisingly, this game, which comes with every one of those millions of new Wiis that were sold over the last few months, saw a big drop in numbers for the reasons I keep mentioning in this month’s entry.
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*NEW ENTRY* Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (November 2007)
Current Rank: #6 Last Month’s Rank: NA
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 33 hours, 38 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 14.76 sessions
Analysis: Another new entry added at the behest of you readers. And another great suggestion! The “LEGO” games are loaded with content and very easy to play. It’s almost impossible not to be able to progress through to the end and then re-play to access the game’s bonus content. Plus, it has co-op. So look what happens: people binge on this game.
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Rock Band (Released June 2008)
Current Rank: #7 Last Month’s Rank: #5
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 27 hours, 52 minutes (down 63 minutes )
As of 1/1: 28 hours, 55 minutes
As of 12/1: 28 hours, 34 minutes
As of 11/2: 26 hours, 40 minutes
As of 10/5: 24 hours, 43 minutes
As of 9/1: 22 hours 37 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 15.04 sessions (down .37 sessions )
As of 1/1: 15.41 sessions
As of 12/1: 14.94 sessions
As of 11/2: 13.46 sessions
As of 10/5: 12.05 sessions
As of 9/1: 10.52
Analysis: Read my analysis for “Guitar Hero III.” The same ideas apply to “Rock Band“.” Too bad “Rock Band 2″’s numbers aren’t logged on the Nintendo Channel yet. Odd, because I thought the game would have been in there given its Christmas release.
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Animal Crossing: City Folk (Released November 2008)
Current Rank: #8 Last Month’s Rank: #9
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 27 hours, 50 minutes (up 171 minutes)
As of 1/1: 24 hours, 59 minutes
As of 12/1: 15 hours, 22 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 11.56 sessions (up 1.65 sessions )
As of 1/1: 9.91 sessions
As of 12/1: 5.3 sessions
Analysis: Look which game didn’t have a drop! Not surprisingly it’s the amazing “Animal Crossing: City Folk,” which continues to post numbers that show that those who own this game are crazy about it. Average play time of this game has nearly doubled in two months while the stat has caused “AC” to jump over “Super Mario Galaxy,” “Mario Kart Wii” and “Madden.” This game instills obsession in its fans.
Side note: last month I noted that then 1.6 million Nintendo Channel users we track here had logged 827,262 hours wiht this game. Now the 1.9 million users tracked by the Channel are showing 2,073,276 hours of use.
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Mario Kart Wii (Released April 2008)
Current Rank: #9 Last Month’s Rank: #6
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 27 hours, 8 minutes (down 9 minutes)
As of 1/1: 27 hours, 17 minutes
As of 12/1: 26 hours, 49 minutes
As of 11/2: 25 hours, 47 minutes
As of 10/5: 24 hours, 48 minutes
As of 9/1: 23 hours 42 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 15.95 sessions (up .05 sessions )
As of 1/1: 15.90 sessions
As of 12/1: 15.44 sessions
As of 11/2: 14.61 sessions
As of 10/5: 13.86 sessions
As of 9/1: 13.1 sessions
Analysis: “Mario Kart” finally sees its numbers drop, though its ranking dropped so much mainly because of the two surprising new entrants above in this month’s chart.
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Madden NFL 08 (Released August 2007)
Current Rank: #10 Last Month’s Rank: #7
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 27 hours, 0 minutes (up 11 minutes)
As of 1/1: 26 hours, 49 minutes
As of 12/1: 26 hours, 27 minutes
As of 11/2: 26 hours, 1 minute
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 15.01 sessions (up .16 sessions )
As of 1/1: 14.85 sessions
As of 12/1: 14.6 sessions
As of 11/2: 14.33 sessions
Analysis: The question with this game is whether 2009’s “All-Play” sequel will be able to cacth it. It’s hard to say.
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Super Mario Galaxy (Released November 2007)
Current Rank: #11 Last Month’s Rank:#8
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 26 hours, 31 minutes (down 4 minutes)
As of 1/1: 26 hours, 35 minutes
As of 12/1: 26 hours, 25 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 13.68 sessions (down .01 sessions )
As of 1/1: 13.69 sessions
As of 12/1: 13.57 sessions
Analysis: The numbers held steady for this one.
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Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Released August 2007)
Current Rank: #12 Last Month’s Rank: #10
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 21 hours, 19 minutes (down 4 minutes)
As of 1/1: 21 hours, 23 minutes
As of 12/1: 21 hours, 23 minutes
As of 11/2: 21 hours, 17 minutes
As of 10/5: 21 hours, 14 minutes
As of 9/1: 21 hours, 11 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 9.90 sessions (down .04 sessions )
As of 1/1: 9.94 sessions
As of 12/1: 9.92 sessions
As of 11/2: 9.88 sessions
As of 10/5: 9.84 sessions
As of 9/1: 9.82
Analysis: This game’s numbers seldom move, but here in the list it might bear pointing something out. “Metroid,” “Mario,” “Fire Emblem” and “Zelda” all post big numbers on this list. They clearly satisfy their audience. And they’re all of a similar type of deep primarily single-player-focused game. Their other common trait: none were released in the last year. And no 2008 Wii game of their type from any publisher tops them.
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Guitar Hero: World Tour (Released October 2008)
Current Rank: #13 Last Month’s Rank: #12
Average time played per player:
Guitar Hero: World Tour
As of 2/1: 20 hours, 14 minutes (up 28 minutes)
As of 1/1: 19 hours, 46 minutes
As of 12/1: 19 hours, 55 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 8.91 sessions (up .48 sessions )
As of 1/1: 8.43 sessions
As of 12/1: 7.86 sessions
Analysis: This game’s numbers see a decent increase, especially given the fact that this edition was a big seller.
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Mario Party 8 (May 2007)
Current Rank: #14 Last Month’s Rank: #11
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 19 hours, 52 minutes (unchanged)
As of 1/1: 19 hours, 52 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 11.28 sessions (up .01 sessions )
As of 1/1: 11.27 sessions
Analysis: It’s as if this game was frozen in amber. Did anyone play it last month?
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Okami (Released April 2008)
Current Rank: #15 Last Month’s Rank: #13
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 19 hours, 44 minutes (up 1 minute)
As of 1/1: 19 hours, 43 minutes
As of 12/1: 19 hours, 31 minutes
As of 11/2: 18 hours, 56 minutes
As of 10/5: 18 hours, 28 minutes
As of 9/1: 17 hours, 51 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 7.64 sessions (unchanged )
As of 1/1: 7.64 sessions
As of 12/1: 7.54 sessions
As of 11/2: 7.32 sessions
As of 10/5: 7.12 sessions
As of 9/1: 6.9
Analysis: Come on, people! You’re getting closer to this game’s ending, one minute at a time!
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Call of Duty: World At War (Released November 2008)
Current Rank: #16 Last Month’s Rank: #15
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 19 hours, 40 minutes (down 25 minutes)
As of 1/1: 19 hours, 15 minutes
As of 12/1: 14 hours, 30 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 7.98 sessions (up .58 sessions )
As of 1/1: 7.40 sessions
As of 12/1: 5.22 sessions
Analysis:The incredible boost in average playing time we saw in last month’s version of this column was a little undone in January. Still, this is as close to a hardcore single-player-focused success for a 2008 Wii game as you can find on this list. And that’s assuming that people didn’t actually log their playing time in this game’s multiplayer modes, which they may well have done.
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Madden All-Play (Released August 2008)
Current Rank: #17 Last Month’s Rank: #14
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 18 hours, 38 minutes (down 53 minutes)
As of 1/1: 19 hours, 31 minutes
As of 12/1: 18 hours, 14 minutes
As of 11/2: 15 hours, 18 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 9.33 sessions (down .25 sessions )
As of 1/1: 9.58 sessions
As of 12/1: 8.86 sessions
As of 11/2: 7.3 sessions
Analysis:Trouble for the previously amazing 2008 edition of “Madden”? Say it ain’t so. And let’s see if this game goes back to rocketing up the charts next month.
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Wii Fit (Released May 2008)
Current Rank: #16 Last Month’s Rank: #13
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 15 hours, 52 minutes (down 23 minutes)
As of 1/1: 16 hours, 15 minutes
As of 12/1: 16 hours, 16 minutes
As of 11/2: 15 hours, 41 minutes
As of 10/5: 15 hours, 26 minutes
As of 9/1: 14 hours, 26 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 12.61 sessions (down .39 sessions )
As of 1/1: 13.0 sessions
As of 12/1: 12.84 sessions
As of 11/2: 12.09 sessions
As of 10/5: 11.33 sessions
As of 9/1: 10.59
Analysis:Gobs of people bought “Wii Fit” in January, so of course the average playing time numbers went down. Now if only the “Wii Fit” owners showed the dedication to this software that the “Animal Crossing” owners do to their game.
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Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Released September 2008)
Current Rank: #17 Last Month’s Rank: #17
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 13 hours, 9 minutes (down 24 minutes)
As of 1/1: 13 hours, 33 minutes
As of 12/1: 13 hours, 30 minutes
As of 11/2: 12 hours, 33 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 5.92 sessions (down .05 sessions )
As of 1/1: 5.97 sessions
As of 12/1: 5.82 sessions
As of 11/2: 5.17 sessions
Analysis: “Star Wars” drops in stats. You know the pattern by now for this month. Blame the new users.
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Boom Blox (Released May 2008)
Current Rank: #18 Last Month’s Rank: #19
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 12 hours, 26 minutes (up 1 minute)
As of 1/1: 12 hours, 25 minutes
As of 12/1: 12 hours, 15 minutes
As of 11/2: 11 hours, 53 minutes
As of 10/5: 11 hours, 32 minutes
As of 9/1: 11 hours, 8 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 6.11 sessions (up .07 sessions )
As of 1/1: 6.04 sessions
As of 12/1: 5.9 sessions
As of 11/2: 5.65 sessions
As of 10/5: 5.41 sessions
As of 9/1: 5.16 sessions
Analysis:The sequel’s been announced. In just two months we’ll see if “Boom Blox Bash Party” proves more addictive than this first edition.
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Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (Released June 2008)
Current Rank: #19 Last Month’s Rank: #18
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 12 hours, 15 minutes (down 16 minutes)
As of 1/1: 12 hours, 31 minutes
As of 12/1: 12 hours, 24 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 7.93 sessions (down .07 sessions )
As of 1/1: 8.00 sessions
As of 12/1: 7.79 sessions
Analysis: “Boom Blox” passed this game this month, but do you really think “No More Heroes” has a chance of slipping past it? No way.
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No More Heroes (Released January 2008)
Current Rank: #20 Last Month’s Rank: #20
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 11 hours, 32 minutes (down 3 minutes)
As of 1/1: 11 hours, 35 minutes
As of 12/1: 11 hours, 35 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 5.46 sessions (down .01 sessions )
As of 1/1: 5.47 sessions
As of 12/1: 5.46 sessions
Analysis: Not much movement here, so let’s run an experiment. As of Feb 1, the Nintendo Channel users have logged 1,160,072 hours in this game. Check back next month to see how many hours they spent on it.
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Sonic Unleashed (Released November 2008)
Current Rank: #21 Last Month’s Rank: #21
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 11 hours, 24 minutes (up 20 minutes)
As of 12/1: 11 hours, 4 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 5.25 sessions (up .64 sessions )
As of 12/1: 4.61 sessions
Analysis:Well… here was a single-player Wii game release in 2008, and look how much people played it? Not much time with it at all. I didn’t play it. Was it that short?
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*NEW ENTRY* Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (January 2008)
Current Rank: #22 Last Month’s Rank: NA
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 10 hours, 46 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 8.09 sessions
Analysis: Another new reader-requested entry, this game doesn’t have quite the impressive debut that some of the new games way higher in the list did. Clearly “Mario and Sonic” is no “Wii Sports.” And now the average playing time stats prove it.
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Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 (Released November 2007)
Current Rank: #23 Last Month’s Rank: #22
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 10 hours, 30 minutes (up 7 minutes)
As of 1/1: 10 hours, 23 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 6.74 sessions (up .09 sessions )
As of 1/1: 6.65 sessions
Analysis: Middling numbers for this party game. What’s worth watching is if it’s sequel, “Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party,” which debuts in this month’s chart at an alarmingly low spot, can catch it.
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*NEW ENTRY* Sonic and the Secret Rings (February 2007)
Current Rank: #24 Last Month’s Rank: NA
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 10 hours, 5 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 6.88 sessions
Analysis: I thought this “Sonic” game was better than “Sonic Unleashed,” but “Unleashed” has already had its owners play it longer. Was I wrong?
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Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (Released November 2007)
Current Rank: #25 Last Month’s Rank: #23
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 9 hours, 50 minutes (unchanged)
As of 1/1: 9 hours, 50 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 6.25 sessions (unchanged )
As of 1/1: 6.25 sessions
Analysis: Here’s we’ve got the first game to show zero month-to-month movement since I started tracking these things. The Nintendo Channel users logged 1,638,919 hours wiht the game at last count. Let’s see if that number changes next month.
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Wii Play (Released February 2007)
Current Rank: #26 Last Month’s Rank: #20
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 9 hours, 30 minutes (down 14 minutes)
As of 1/1: 9 hours, 44 minutes
As of 12/1: 9 hours, 45 minutes
As of 11/2: 9 hours, 36 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 10.13 sessions (down .25 sessions )
As of 1/1: 10.38 sessions
As of 12/1: 10.42 sessions
As of 11/2: 10.28 sessions
Analysis: Ah, “Wii Play.” Let me defend you again! More than one million hors of new playtime were logged by Nintendo Channel users for this game since one month ago, pushing the total hours to 10.3 million.
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*NEW ENTRY* Skate It (November 2008)
Current Rank: #27 Last Month’s Rank: NA
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 9 hours, 19 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 4.9 sessions
Analysis: I never played the finished version of EA’s Wii version of its “Skate” series, but I had read and heard mixed things. For it to still log that much playtime despite such a lukewarm critical reception must mean it’s pleasing to its owners.
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Carnival Games (Released August 2007)
Current Rank: #28 Last Month’s Rank: #21
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 8 hours, 56 minutes (up 1 minute)
As of 1/1: 8 hours, 55 minutes
As of 12/1: 8 hours, 48 minutes
As of 11/2: 8 hours, 37 minutes
As of 10/5: 8 hours, 30 minutes
As of 9/1: 8 hours, 21 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 6.64 sessions (up .05 sessions )
As of 1/1: 6.59 sessions
As of 12/1: 6.48 sessions
As of 11/2: 6.31 sessions
As of 10/5: 6.19 sessions
As of 9/1: 6.07
Analysis: The legendary “Carnival Games” continues to do what it always does in this list — post just about the same numbers as it did last month.
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Wii Music (Released October 2008)
Current Rank: #29 Last Month’s Rank:#26
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 6 hours, 58 minutes (down 5 minutes)
As of 1/1: 7 hours, 3 minutes
As of 12/1: 7 hours, 28 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 4.38 sessions (up .30 sessions )
As of 1/1: 4.08 sessions
As of 12/1: 4.05 sessions
Analysis: This one’s an odd one. I’m not referring to “Wii Music” itself, though I could be. No. I’m referring to the fact that even though, on average, people tried playing this game more times than they had a month ago, they, on average, played the game less. Compare that to the patterns of “Wii Sports” and “Smash Bros.” and you’ll see that this is a different and unencouraging scenario.
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Cooking Mama Cook Off (Released March 2007)
Current Rank: #30 Last Month’s Rank: #27
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 6 hours, 53 minutes (down 3 minutes)
As of 1/1: 6 hours, 56 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 5.88 sessions (down .01 sessions )
As of 1/1: 5.89 sessions
Analysis:This game charts. It’s sequel, released last fall, still does not.
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Wario Land: Shake It (Released September 2008)
Current Rank: #31 Last Month’s Rank: #28
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 6 hours, 49 minutes (unchanged )
As of 1/1: 6 hours, 49 minutes
As of 12/1: 6 hours, 45 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 4.0 sessions (up .05 sessions )
As of 1/1: 3.95 sessions
As of 12/1: 3.9 sessions
Analysis: How many hours have the 1.9 million Nintendo Channel users who we track played this game? The answer’s scarily low: 167,659 hours
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Ghost Squad (Released October 2007)
Current Rank: #32 Last Month’s Rank: #29
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 6 hours, 30 minutes (up 2 minutes)
As of 1/1: 6 hours, 28 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 5.18 sessions (up .02 sessions )
As of 1/1: 5.16 sessions
Analysis:People don’t play light-gun games for a lot of time.
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*NEW ENTRY* Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party (November 2008)
Current Rank: #33 Last Month’s Rank: NA
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 5 hours, 25 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 3.2 sessions
Analysis: Not much of a debut for a sequel to a known franchise. Let’s give it another month before deciding that people who buy this game don’t bother to play it.
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House of the Dead 2 and 3: The Return (Released March 2008)
Current Rank: #34 Last Month’s Rank: #30
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 5 hours, 23 minutes (up 5 minutes)
As of 12/1: 5 hours, 18 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 4.45 sessions (up .07 sessions )
As of 12/1: 4.38 sessions
Analysis: This light-gun game has a sequel coming from Sega shortly.
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Link’s Crossbow Training (Released November 2007)
Current Rank: #35 Last Month’s Rank: #31
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 4 hours, 39 minutes (up 1 minute)
As of 1/1: 4 hours, 38 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 4.38 sessions (unchanged)
As of 1/1: 4.38 sessions
Analysis: The bundled game that you get with the Wii Zapper doesn’t keep people entertained for long. Sure it’s short, but so is “Wii Sports.”
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*NEW ENTRY* NERF N-Strike (October 2008)
Current Rank: #36 Last Month’s Rank: NA
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 3 hours, 40 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 2.89 sessions
Analysis: We’ve got a new game for the cellar of this list. But at least EA’s NERF-gun-bundled light-gun shooter charts this month. That’s more than I can say for another fall 2008 EA exclusive, “Celebrity Sports Showdown.” While I haven’t asked Nintendo, it seems that games have to be played a certain number of hours before they chart on the Channel. Those that don’t show up here may well be below such a threshold.
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WII WARE LISTINGS
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Final Fantasy: My Life As A King (Released May 2008)
Current Rank: #1 Last Month’s Rank: #1
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 15 hours, 22 minutes (up 3 minutes)
As of 1/1: 15 hours, 19 minutes
As of 12/1: 15 hours, 11 minutes
As of 11/2: 14 hours, 53 minutes
As of 10/5: 14 hours, 39 minutes
As of 9/1: 14 hours 16 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 7.05 sessions (up .06 sessions )
As of 1/1: 6.99 sessions
As of 12/1: 6.87 sessions
As of 11/2: 6.67 sessions
As of 10/5: 6.49 sessions
As of 9/1: 6.25
Analysis: I expect that this will be “Final Fantasy“’s final month atop the WiiWare rankings here.
***
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Dr. Mario Online Rx (Released May 2008)
Current Rank: #2 Last Month’s Rank: #2
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 15 hours, 12 minutes (up 26 minutes)
As of 1/1: 14 hours, 46 minutes
As of 12/1: 14 hours, 1 minute
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 11.37 sessions (up .27 sessions )
As of 1/1: 11.10 sessions
As of 12/1: 10.56 sessions
Analysis:This game’s still on the rise and about to take the top spot.
***
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Tetris Party (Released October 2008)
Current Rank: #3 Last Month’s Rank: #3
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 9 hours, 12 minutes (up 30 minutes)
As of 1/1: 8 hours, 42 minutes
As of 12/1: 7 hours, 4 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 7.08 sessions (up .43 sessions )
As of 1/1: 6.65 sessions
As of 12/1: 5.33 sessions
Analysis: “Tetris” garners another nice increase, but do note that the new-holiday-users phenomenon that affected almost every Wii disc game that I chart seems to have had no effect on these top WiiWare games.
***
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My Pokemon Ranch (Released September 2008)
Current Rank: #4 Last Month’s Rank: #4
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 8 hours, 37 minutes (up 2 minutes)
As of 1/1: 8 hours, 35 minutes
As of 12/1: 8 hours, 21 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 20.28 sessions (up .37 sessions )
As of 1/1: 19.91 sessions
As of 12/1: 18.91 sessions
Analysis: Not much to note here.
***
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Mega Man 9 (Released August 2008)
Current Rank: #5 Last Month’s Rank: #4
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 7 hours, 58 minutes (up 2 minutes)
As of 1/1: 7 hours, 56 minutes
As of 12/1: 7 hours, 39 minutes
As of 11/2: 6 hours, 48 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 7.43 sessions (up .25 sessions )
As of 1/1: 7.18 sessions
As of 12/1: 6.64 sessions
As of 11/2: 5.37 sessions
Analysis: The numbers for this one appear to have finally leveled off.
***
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World of Goo (Released October 2008)
Current Rank: #6 Last Month’s Rank: #5
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 7 hours, 51 minutes (up 1 minute)
As of 1/1: 7 hours, 50 minutes
As of 12/1: 7 hours, 27 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 5.38 sessions (up .14 sessions )
As of 1/1: 5.24 sessions
As of 12/1: 4.8 sessions
Analysis: I still feel guilty about not finishing this game. I assume it takes almmost eight hours?
***
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*NEW ENTRY* Bomberman Blast (September 2008)
Current Rank: #7 Last Month’s Rank: NA
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 5 hours, 26 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 5.89 sessions
Analysis: Finally, a new WiiWare game! This game didn’t chart last month.
***
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Strongbad Episode 1 (Released August 2008)
Current Rank: #8 Last Month’s Rank: #7
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 5 hours, 23 minutes (unchanged )
As of 1/1: 5 hours, 23 minutes
As of 12/1: 5 hours, 21 minutes
As of 11/2: 5 hours, 19 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 4.05 sessions (up .05 sessions )
As of 1/1: 4.0 sessions
As of 12/1: 3.91 sessions
As of 11/2: 3.77 sessions
Analysis: This game charts. But none of its four sequels do. Yikes.
***
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Lost Winds (Released May 2008)
Current Rank: #9 Last Month’s Rank: #8
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 3 hours, 45 minutes (up 2 minutes)
As of 1/1: 3 hours, 43 minutes
As of 12/1: 3 hours, 39 minutes
As of 11/2: 3 hours, 35 minutes
As of 10/5: 3 hours, 31 minutes
As of 9/1: [not logged last month]
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 3.69 sessions (up .04 sessions )
As of 1/1: 3.65 sessions
As of 12/1: 3.57 sessions
As of 11/2: 3.48 sessions
As of 10/5: 3.38 sessions
As of 9/1: 3.2 (est.)
Analysis: These numbers don’t change. (Neither does this commentary.)
***
VIRTUAL CONSOLE LISTINGS
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Super Mario 64
[Numbers drawn from Virtual Console usage, not the N64 release]
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 11 hours, 23 minutes (up 2 minutes)
As of 1/1: 11 hours, 21 minutes
As of 12/1: 11 hours, 14 minutes
As of 11/2: 11 hours, 3 minutes
As of 10/5: 10 hours, 56 minutes
As of 9/1: 10 hours 49 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 10.64 sessions (unchanged)
As of 1/1: 10.64 sessions
As of 12/1: 10.57 sessions
As of 11/2: 10.44 sessions
As of 10/5: 10.36 sessions
As of 9/1: 10.28
Analysis: I want to run an experiment here as well. Take note that as of this month, Nintendo Channel users logged 1,906,701 hours with the game. We’ll see next month how much that changes.
***
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Sin & Punishment
[Numbers drawn from Virtual Console usage, not the N64 release]
Average time played per player:
As of 2/1: 2 hours, 12 minutes (up 1 minute)
As of 1/1: 2 hours, 11 minutes
As of 12/1: 2 hours, 11 minutes
As of 11/2: 2 hours, 9 minutes
As of 10/5: 2 hours, 8 minutes
Average number of sessions per player:
As of 2/1: 3.54 sessions (up .01 sessions )
As of 1/1: 3.53 sessions
As of 12/1: 3.5 sessions
As of 11/2: 3.46 sessions
As of 10/5: 3.42 sessions
Analysis: Static
***
Games I wanted to track that do not have usage data listed on the Nintendo Channel yet: Celebrity Sports Showdown, Nerf N-Strike, Bomberman Blast, Strongbad Episodes 2-5, Blastworks, Rock Band 2, Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party, Game Party 2, Skate It, Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip, Cooking Mama World Kitchen
Games I wanted to track that are not listed on the Nintendo Channel: Resident Evil 4, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Game Party
CONCLUSION
This was a confusing month. I track these numbers because I think they indicate something about a game’s quality. If you take a game home, even a game that barely sold any copies, but you play it a lot, that should count for something. It does in these stats. But in a month like January 2009, everything was obscured by what was clearly a huge influx of players for most of the top games. So which games proved to be crowd-pleasers this month? Aside from “Animal Crossing: City Folk” I can’t confidently call out any. Hopefully the numbers will be more clear next month. Though… how about that “Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn“?
