According to sales tracking group Media Create, the Wii's weekly sell-through rate in Japan has dropped to an all-time low. Screen Digest Games Analyst Ed Barton says this is largely because of two underachievers.
Though Animal Crossing: City Folk was Japan’s eighth biggest-selling game of 2008, and Wii Music sold 92,000 copies during its debut week, Barton believes that Nintendo expected more of both games.
“If we look at the types of games which are still selling well for the Wii in Japan, we’re seeing software such as Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii,” he says.
“These are older games that obviously have shown tremendous stamina, but Nintendo always needs to bring out new ways to drive console sales forward, and we just didn’t see that with Wii Music and City Folk.”
Right now, City Folk sits at number 35 in the Japanese charts, while Wii Music has disappeared entirely. Wii Fit, on the other hand, sits at tenth while Mario Kart Wii is at number 22.
Though this shows the impressive lasting appeal of both games, it also shows how old Nintendo’s biggest attractions are, and Barton believes Nintendo had invested a lot of trust in Wii Music and City Folk to carry Wii sales through this dry patch. “That obviously hasn’t happened and that’s a big reason why Nintendo is in the situation it’s in.”
Barton added, however, that the Wii’s current selling rate is in no way a 'failure'. “Obviously, we’re using the Wii’s incredibly high past performances as a comparison here. By conventional methods the Wii is doing very well. It is selling over 15,000 units each week.”
But in the months ahead, Barton isn’t sure how exactly the Wii is going to pick up sales. “Looking ahead I don’t think the system has a particularly stellar software line-up, though I’m sure more will be seen at E3.”
Monster Hunter Wii is been touted as the game which will pull the Wii back on top, but Barton has reservations. He says that the game isn’t a guaranteed success because the appeal of Monster Hunter has always lied in the mobility of its host console.
“The way Japanese teenagers love playing Monster Hunter is by getting together as a group and play some local multiplayer via the PSP. That system itself has also been remarkably successful for Phantasy Star Online as well.”
“I agree that Monster Hunter is a massive title, it was the best-selling game in Japan last year,” he says. “But with the Wii version you’re taking a huge title, which one-in-four PSP owners have, and you’re trying to transfer that userbase from handheld to home console. And so I feel there’s a relatively large risk that it won’t have the same level of success that it had on the PSP.”
And even though Monster Hunter Wii was shown to be remarkably popular at trade shows (where the most dedicated game enthusiasts attend), Barton adds that the wider Wii userbase has largely different tastes from that of the PSP’s.
link:
http://www.gamebizblog.com/gamebizblog/2009/04/wii-downturn-continues-in-japan-why.html
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