A lot of people like to act like the Wii is some monster of sales and popularity. By some points sure, it is. But there are a lot of weak points to the console I believe it's fanboys can no longer ignore.

1. It's starting to sell extremely poorly in Japan. Last week Media Create numbers it barely beat the 360! The numbers selling in Japan are just poor now. It's probably selling 1/10 (maybe 60k per month) in Japan what it is in USA. These are severely hurting Nintendo Wii shipments to the point they are missing targets worldwide IIRC. I mean when 1 of the 3 main legs of the videogame market is getting shipped almost no Wii's, that hurts. Further shocking some people Iwata recently made some comments aknowledging the problem. Worse, videogame trends have a habit of starting in Japan and spreading.

2. As pointed out in a recent Yahoo article, Nintendos two most recent Wii first party games, Animal Crossing and Wii Music, arent selling nearly as well as their earlier ones.

3. The Wii's userbase is 19+ million in the USA. The combined PS360 userbase is ~22 million. Fairly similar. Yet in the recent March NPD top 20, the 360 had 7 games, the PS3 had 4, and the Wii had 4. Something is very wrong here for Wii. Combined the PS360 on a similar userbase places 11 titles in the top 20 versus 4 for the Wii. Or the PS3 with a ~ 7 million base placed the same numbers as the Wii with nearly 3 times as much consoles sold. And those 4 Wii titles in the top 20? Typically mostly the same ones every single month. Wii play, Fit, and Mario Kart. Meaning new Wii titles in the top 20 almost are very rare, worse if you then eliminated Guitar Hero games. This isn't a new trend, it's the same in every NPD. I think it's time to realize the userbase of the PS360 is really more active. The fact is the Wii userbase IS casual, probably in large part female, and they ARENT buying software nearly as much as users of the other machines.

4. Although the Wii has a gigantic install base edge over the 360 already, and 360 hardware is selling about 50% as well as Wii monthly, the 360 routinely has the #1 game, not Wii. We see it again in March with RE5 360 taking the top slot, but it's not new it's the norm.

5. The Wii finally reached enough supply to meet demand just two months ago, in February. February and March NPD were the first 2 NPD's EVER that the Wii wasnt supply constrained. That's a very big deal. Yet March Wii sales were down 22% from February, and down as well from March 08. Wii is still selling very, very well. Yet it also appears to be showing the first signs of lukewarm hardware sales performance in the USA imo. 600k is a ridiculous number by normal videogame history, but considering it's not supply constrained, is down from Feb and down YoY, it is a unspectacular, even slightly disappointing number by Wii standards. I've heard the economy blamed for Wii's moderating hardware sales, yet PS3 was down the same month to month in March (22%), and 360 less (16%), as Wii.

So in conclusion, the Wii has an embarrassing top 20 software problem, a ton of hardware being sold not translating into software sales, a casual female oriented userbase that mostly buys fitness games when they buy games at all, slumping sales in Japan, and what could be the first signs of a slump in America.

Are some of the letters in the OP showing up red for you guys or just me?

It seems google spellchecker and vgchartz forum software dont get along..whenever I run spellchecker, for whatever reason it doesnt turn off when I press stop on this forum, so the words stay highlighted..

We know its a bit overrated. But integrating IR support into EVERY game rather then simply a few for a console led to a huge number of new fans to video games, and new ways to play, and the Wii should be given the credit of bringing so many new gamers into, well, gaming. So cut it some slack. And Nintendo first party games aren't letting up sales.

"The Wii's popularity is overrated, there I said it"

Was it waiting to be said? It's the fastest selling console of all time.. How can it's success be overrated when it's actually the best seller ever?

Can't any console been put in here, and soild points made to back it up?

"PS3 is overrated because.."
"XB360 is overrated because..."

Videogames and the consoles they are played on are overrated all the time, because there are intense fans of each.

I would like to point out in Sharky's point #1 - If the difference of 3-5k consoles per week from the leader is "selling poorly", then wouldn't it then imply that HD gaming is dead in the Americas, as seeing as each HD system is 30-50k beind the leader?

Wow you have an issue with females enjoying video gaming? Just because the Wii sells to a different demographic to you... your profile says you're male and nothing else.. Well anyway whatever demographics you fall into.. It doesn't matter but I think it's great that females are enjoying videogaming more than ever before!

What how could I say such a thing!? It's furthering the industry as a whole and it's making sure it truly is a viable entertainment activity in the future, one which can be enjoyed by everyone just as books, movies and TV programming can be. Also did you take a look at the releases for Wii in the last oh.. 8 - 10 months compared to the first 24? I think you'll find the reason why sales are a bit slow at the moment ;)

OMG he said what should not have been said!! We do not use that sentence here…

lol

You say the Wii hardware sales aren't complementing the software like the PS360.

What software? How many high-profile games like Resident Evil 5and stuff have you seen on the Wii in the last several months anyways. Or let me rephrase that, any game with a similar budget?

There are so many holes in your argument, I don't know where to start.......

Is this a joke thread?

Let's think about it this way: The HD consoles have to have big releases from some of the biggest series of all time just to compete with year old games week after week. I'm not trying to trash any console, but come on. The Wii is a beast.