Another quote from Hiroshi Kamide from 06/17/08:

"Casual gaming growth has been the primary driver for the industry over the last three years, the key player being the Nintendo DS. We believe DS hardware demand has now peaked globally. A downturn in software demand is likely to follow, as casual gamers are ‘happy with their lot’ and do not need to consume more. We feel that the same predicament awaits the Wii console with its similar market expansion angle. Titles such as ‘Brain Training’ and ‘Wii Fit’ do not act as ‘gateway drugs’ to turn non-traditional gamers to core repeat users. We feel this is a structural industry issue that cannot be easily changed."

Link

He's saying essentially the same thing again in the OP.

While factually true I agree that article is slanted towards a predetermined viewpoint. Plus it's confusing because it pulls NA info to substanciate it's Japan only conclusion.

The Wii is steadily slowing in Japan whereas PS3 and 360 are showing some growth.

And the point about the casual market being fickle is correct. Wii was all that for a while and now they are more distracted by other things. But Nintendo knew this and planned for this.

Iwata himself has said repeatedly, they must continue to surprise the consumer and give them new experiences. Wii Music fell flat - that was the problem here and the chink in Nintendo's armour. But don't think for a second that Nintendo does not have the next big thing lined up (Wii Sports Resort) to boost the market, and the next and the next.

nail on coffin for PS3?

1) drop wii price

2) release wii version 2

3) release colours

4) games of 2009

cya sony

The article isnt misleading. It's stating the truth about Japanese market. Console sales drop more than 60% YoY only if people lost interest in it, which means the craze is over. There's nothing you can say to prove me wrong, and it's the first time a console drops that bad YoY in history. Plus without any near future games being released to revitalize the situation, the Wii could end up struggling to sell 1.5 million in 2009 in Japan.

And about MHG, why do people say it's going to be huge? The Source said it was going to debut with sales of about 50k. Damn terrible sales. I will find the post so you don't say Im making things up.

Edit: Here's the link http://vgchartz.com/forum/post.php?id=1987342

Why people got so mad over this article? He said 2-3 years, which is about 2011-2012. Even if Wii start getting outsold by the HD twins by there, it will still hold a large lead over both and nearly impossible to be reached by PS3/X360 alone...

It's news to me... link?

Given the installed base, I thought the attach rate was pretty good.

Wii's attach ratio on Japan is higher than that of the PS3 there.

The wii needs good games, and lots of them, instead of relentless shovelware that people wont buy

Wii Sports Resort was just announced for June. So 1.5 millions shouldn't be a problem.

Also, while the article's statement about Japanese market might be true, it's statement like below provide misleading information.

"Nintendo has sold roughly 6.9 games for every Wii console while Sony has sold 7.3 software titles per PlayStation 3 machine as of the end of December. Nintendo's figures would be even lower if not for the inclusion of Wii Sports, which comes free with the Wii console, and Wii Play, which is bundled with an additional controller.

Microsoft said in March that it had sold 8.2 games per Xbox 360 machine though it didn't specify over what time period. However, those figures are only for the U.S. and are helped by a one-year head start on the PS3 and Wii, allowing it more time to sell games."

The information above is not for Japan and as you stated earlier, Wii's attach ratio on Japan is higher than that of the PS3 there. Wii Sports is not free with the console in Japan either. If the writer used these information, it would not support his point. Therefore, he chose the WW data to support his arguement without mentioning that it's WW and not just Japan. To me, that's misleading.