This same statement could've been made in reference to the ps2, yet all these franchises sold far better there than they do on the Wii.  On the ps2 there was a endless avalanche of new games to play in Japan, yet these franchises still managed to make names for themselves.  There's more to this than there simply being more games to choose from on Wii.

We don't seem to have any data for the lightgun series in our database, which is why I went for the only other Resident Evil spin-off I could think of.  It was a rather ill chosen comparison, I agree.

Keep in mind that with older lightgun games you actually had to buy the lightgun in addition to the game.  With the Wii, you simply use the standard controller, which is why lightgun games have shown far greater success on the Wii than ever before.  The Time Crisis series did pretty well on the ps1 and ps2, but that was the only big thing since Duck Hunt.  The Wii's success in this regard has little bearing on where the Resident Evil fanbase now lies.

This is an excellent point, and one that I had completely forgotten about.  It basically invalidates the example I used.

This same statement could've been made in reference to the ps2, yet all these franchises sold far better there than they do on the Wii.  On the ps2 there was a endless avalanche of new games to play in Japan, yet these franchises still managed to make names for themselves.  There's more to this than there simply being more games to choose from on Wii.

We don't seem to have any data for the lightgun series in our database, which is why I went for the only other Resident Evil spin-off I could think of.  It was a rather ill chosen comparison, I agree.

Keep in mind that with older lightgun games you actually had to buy the lightgun in addition to the game.  With the Wii, you simply use the standard controller, which is why lightgun games have shown far greater success on the Wii than ever before.  The Time Crisis series did pretty well on the ps1 and ps2, but that was the only big thing since Duck Hunt.  The Wii's success in this regard has little bearing on where the Resident Evil fanbase now lies.

This is an excellent point, and one that I had completely forgotten about.  It basically invalidates the example I used.

It couldn't of been said on the PS2.  In fact I was comparing it to the PS2 in this comment.

There was nothing like the emergence of the Wii franchise on the PS2.  A franchise that actually created entire new ways to play and new genres.

The Wii has everything the PS2 did + completly new types of games that have become huge hits.

PS2 owners who now own the Wii basically have to either decide to buy less "mid level franchises" to try the new Wii franchises or spend more money... or both.  Not to mention the return of mainline Nintendo games.

Here is something to consider.

Take a look at the top selling games on the PS2.

http://vgchartz.com/games/index.php?&results=50&name=&console=PS2&keyword=&publisher=&genre=&order=Sales&boxart=Both&showdeleted=&region=Japan&alphasort=

Now take a look at the top selling Wii games.

http://vgchartz.com/games/index.php?&results=50&name=&console=Wii&keyword=&publisher=&genre=&order=Sales&boxart=Both&showdeleted=&region=Japan&alphasort=

The Wii has 12 games that have already sold 1 million copies in japan.

The PS2 has a total of 18 games that have sold 1 million copies japan.

The Wii has only sold 9 Million consoles so far... the Wii will CRUSH the PS2 in million sellers in Japan by the end of this generation... despite the reality that it's going to sell less consoles then the PS2.  The games market in Japan isn't depressed.  It's larger then ever.

Why?  The new franchises and new games invogorate sales.  Even so... the Wii can only sell so many games.

Final Fantasy is not a game that would have to worry about this.

The Wii has 12 games over 1 million in your list and 6 more over 500k. Of those only 4 are non Nintendo published games

The PS2 has 18 games over 1 million and 52 more over 500k.... All 70 of those were non Nintendo published games..

So don't tell us they are in any way comparable... 70 vs 4 isn't the same as saying 'The Wii has everything the PS2 did + completly new types of games that have become huge hits.'

The Wii does not have the huge majority of the successfull titles that were on the PS2 ( 4 vs 70 can't really be argued..)

It couldn't of been said on the PS2.  In fact I was comparing it to the PS2 in this comment.

There was nothing like the emergence of the Wii franchise on the PS2.  A franchise that actually created entire new ways to play and new genres.

The Wii has everything the PS2 did + completly new types of games that have become huge hits.

PS2 owners who now own the Wii basically have to either decide to buy less "mid level franchises" to try the new Wii franchises or spend more money... or both.  Not to mention the return of mainline Nintendo games.

Here is something to consider.

Take a look at the top selling games on the PS2.

http://vgchartz.com/games/index.php?&results=50&name=&console=PS2&keyword=&publisher=&genre=&order=Sales&boxart=Both&showdeleted=&region=Japan&alphasort=

Now take a look at the top selling Wii games.

http://vgchartz.com/games/index.php?&results=50&name=&console=Wii&keyword=&publisher=&genre=&order=Sales&boxart=Both&showdeleted=&region=Japan&alphasort=

The Wii has 12 games that have already sold 1 million copies in japan.

The PS2 has a total of 18 games that have sold 1 million copies japan.

The Wii has only sold 9 Million consoles so far... the Wii will CRUSH the PS2 in million sellers in Japan by the end of this generation... despite the reality that it's going to sell less consoles then the PS2.  The games market in Japan isn't depressed.  It's larger then ever.

Why?  The new franchises and new games invogorate sales.  Even so... the Wii can only sell so many games.

Final Fantasy is not a game that would have to worry about this.

Nice post.

To add to this, Kasz, you're assuming that those 9 million Wii gamers were former ps2 owners that are buying these Nintendo franchises instead of old ps2 franchises, when it's very possible that millions of those 9 million are blue ocean gamers that Nintendo has brought to gaming through the Wii, much like they have managed to do so in the West, and these people are much more inclined to buy something like Wii Sports, Wii Fit, or the ever loveable Super Mario Bros. and Mario Kart over Final Fantasy or Tales, whether due to the style of gameplay or simply because they're not familiar with the latter franchises.