http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article6733956.ece

With Mario in a galaxy far away, Wii sales slide at gloomy Nintendo

The combination of a global downturn and a drought of blockbuster games has dealt a body blow to the Nintendo Wii, the world’s fastest-selling console, with sales down by 57 per cent.

With nothing on the immediate horizon to match the success of hardware-shifting titles such as Wii Fit and Wii Mario Kart, the Japanese company’s hopes now rest on the prospects in America and Europe of Wii Sports Resort — a game which, among other attractions, simulates throwing a frisbee for a dog.

Other potentially lucrative games in the Nintendo pipeline, such as Super Mario Galaxy 2, are not expected to appear before the end of this business year. Analysts believe that the greatest driving force behind Wii sales, its appeal to a broader range of age groups, may be on the wane as families struggle to justify the $250 price (£150 or more in Britain).

Sony’s PlayStation3 machine also fell victim to the collapse of consumer appetite in the April-to-June quarter. The machine’s year-on-year sales collapse of 31 per cent has caused some analysts to speculate that economic strife may have dealt a severe structural blow to the video games industry.

There is rising concern over whether the games studios have the ability profitably to produce must-have titles of the sort that can drive hardware sales when households are struggling under the downturn.

Also contentious, particularly for electronics retailers and software makers, has been the apparent refusal of either Nintendo or Sony to lower their prices in the short term. In Sony’s case, such a move would be financially difficult since it makes a loss on every unit it sells. Sony said yesterday that it would end the 2009 year about Y110 billion (£700 million) in the red.

The change of fortunes for Nintendo, which is among the most abrupt in console history, has raised the stakes for next month’s Tokyo Game Show — the last important showcase event for the video games industry before stores begin stocking up for Christmas. The trade fair was always going to be critical but, with console sales in such sharp decline, announcements of game delays will be badly received.

Nevertheless, Nintendo and others have managed in the past to use the September game show to great advantage, issuing surprise previews and alluring demonstrations, which, at the least, keep the faithful going through the dry season. Sony said yesterday that sales would pick up as the pre-Christmas stream of new titles began to flow and the company is expected to use the event to give gamers a closer look at the new version of its hand-held PSP console.

Nintendo, once the darling of investors, but now languishing with its shares 60 per cent below their peak, said that Wii sales more than halved in the April-to-June quarter compared with a year ago. Revenues also dropped 40 per cent, which was below market consensus.

That comparison — between sales of a console that was then early in its cycle and one now struggling to attract buyers in a consumer slump — was always doomed to be unflattering. Analysts believed it would have taken a miracle for Wii sales to have remained as buoyant as they were in 2008, particularly now that the pipeline of games is looking so anaemic.

Hopes that growth might be driven by Wii Music — the brainchild of Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo’s leading game designer — were dashed. The musical instrument simulator was too simplistic, drew the scorn of critics and badly damaged Mr Miyamoto’s reputation for infallibility.

End of article

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Makes you barely know where to begin, doesn't it? It's pitiful how the author just dismisses WSR with that snide frisbee comment when it is the sequel to the best-selling game of all time and has already sold over a million copies. Then there's the fact that he makes no mention of Wii Fit Plus (the sequel to the other best selling game of this gen!) or New Super Mario Bros Wii (for which it's worth mentioning that the DS version has now sold over 19 million). NSMBWii also undercuts the title of the article, since a Mario game is in fact coming to Wii very soon!!

Throw in the fact that Miyamoto only recently got voted the number one game developer (that's a REALLY damaged reputation right there /sarcasm) and you have an article that is full of fail.

I don't get the article those it mean that the wii isn't selling well? If that the case than imagine the other consoles.Also Wii bashing is illigal now so he'll get fired eventually

The Wii is down 57%? Yet it still outsells the other consoles by a large margin, what does that say for the rest?

Journalists don't care about being wrong they just care about making headlines. He/she will now be able to write the "Nintendo's fortunes turn" article in late September.

The Wii is still selling well. This sales slide happens every summer with all consoles.

It's weird that neither NSMB Wii or WF+ were mentioned as those are huge titles. Wii sales really is down, that's hard to ignore, but I'll have to see what MH3, NSMBWii, WSR and WF+ can do before I say if Wii is doomed or not.

you, mr.writer are so not full of win.

I mean really.

I love how random kids and uneducated people on the internet believe they know more than analysts and the press that get paid to do what they do and have the education that allowed them to get there. The Wii is not going to outsell the PS2. The Wii was never going to have crazy sales forever. The bottom was always going to fall out eventually, especially with a complete lack of decent games. Casual people were always going to move on to something else. These are facts of life that the Ninteno fanboys need to understand. Also, what a few thousand people on an internet forum think means exactly diddly squat to Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, or anyone else in the real world...

Sure it is. You may not want it to, but its damn near inevitable.