Nintendo president Satoru Iwata adjusts his crotch, spits off to the side, and then steps up to the mic to say that the PlayStation 2 sales are nothing compared to what the Wii's could be. Okay, maybe it was less like that and more like forum postings by a fanboy, but yes, Iwata just brought it. In a recent interview with Reuters:
"Sony's PS2 sales of 100 million units is an extraordinary number that our home game console business has not achieved. But if we can make our bid to expand the gaming population a continued success, we could exceed that.”
So, Iwata says that the Nintendo Wii could exceed the total lifetime sales of Sony's PlayStation 2. Those are very strong words as the PS2 is the most successful home console in history. Keep in mind that Nintendo does have some ammo to back up the statement.
Gamasutra says that the Wii is currently beating out the PS3 and Xbox 360 in most major markets and is likely to have the largest user base in the next half year.
For now, the PS2 is still on top. It continues to outsell the PS3 and Xbox 360 in both the United States and Japan, racking up sales of 120 million units worldwide.
Iwata lays a bit more smack down, this time commenting on the $100 price drop as well as the new, redesigned PSP:
"I wouldn't say there is no overlap between the group of customers Sony is targeting and the group of users that Nintendo is targeting. But that overlap is quite small."
Do you think it is possible for the Wii to overcome the PS3? Is Nintendo being overconfident? Sony had a good head start on the PS2, and it demolished the sales of both the Xbox and the GameCube. Both Xbox and GameCube releases have since dried up, while the PS2 still enjoys a steady stream of titles. The Wii had a strong release out of the gate, but will its specialized gameplay and limited third-party support allow it to overcome Sony's pride and joy?
[via
Gamasutra]
Contest:
11:59 AM on 07.16.2007
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"Look I rhyme.."
Grandmas would love it, though.
Zelda, Super Paper, Brawl, Galaxy, Excite Truck, Mario Kart, Corruption, etc. etc.
Those are all minigame collections, aren't they?
This Christmas could be an interesting time seeing as we already know some major titles are headed for then and with the promise that by the end of the year there will be another 100 titles for the Wii.
Plus, it'll be interesting to see how the balance board pans out. I must say I thought it was lame at first but after a while I started imagining what we thought the wii would be like a long time ago. Specifically, a Time Crisis style game where you duck to take cover and stand to shoot. With the balance board that's entirely possible.
I just wonder whether developers will think of awesome ideas like that or just fob it off as a fitness peripheral.
Didn't you see where I wrote "CONFIRMED" in all caps? That means Jesus told me, so it has to be true. Or do you hate Jesus?
With a market potential like this, if Ninty continues to support the Wii with good software and hardware (hardcore AND casual, WiiFit being genius) then it has the chance to blow the PS2 out of the water in terms of lifetime sales, NEVER has a system appealed to as many types of people as the Wii.
So fanboys (*cough cough, magesx), you have to pick one or the other;
1) either the Wii is "too hardcore" and won't sell to everyone
2) OR IT ISN'T hardcore enough cause it appeals to "grandma."
If you hate the Wii cause it's targeted for "everyone," you have to concede that it's going to sell far more than any console cause it's TARGETED FOR EVERYONE... Not to mention the price, it released cheaper than the PS2 seven years later.
PS. Rayman was an ALL mini-game game and it was fucking awesome.
Nintendo held back this generation by not going to HD/high-graphics/etc... In theory, in 4 or 5 years nintendo may be able to release a wii-mote console with the same power as the 360 but at only like $300 (give of take depending on if nintendo wants to sell at a profit or if they are willing to sell at a loss); though they may have to hold back on hddvd/blu-ray to stay that low, which nintnedo would be willing to do... The question is, if that were to happen then what would be the fate of the wii... Its is very popular and affordable like the PS2, but the PS2 probably gains much survial from the high price and poor library of the PS3 (very little insentive to move on to next-gen), factors that the next nintendo would not have (library could be questionable)...so death in the shadow of the successor like most last gen consoles, or survival like the PS2... If the answer is death, then the wii would need to beat the PS2's overall sales before that happens...
if there isn't a new nintendo coming remotely that soon, then it comes down to how long the Wii stays highly popular and how long until the PS2 finally phases out... it's kind of up in the air in those regards... I think if the wii could attract A LOT more "hardcore" games that would clinch it... again, assuming a future new nintendo console doesn't cause it to die early
the wii is fun now, but it will soon be boring and repetative to the people that support the industry the most. right now its just a fad, just like tickle me elmo and furbys. once the kid is sick of mini games, the soccer mom will end up buying the next best thing.
i am on my 2nd ps2, making it the 3rd in my household.
the wii is just too last generation to hold up for 7 years like the ps2 has, lets be real here.
buy a ps3 or a 360 if you want solid games for the next 4-5 years, buy the wii if you want to play mini games, stare a shitty graphics, wait for a "gem" to come out every 6 months, or want your grandma to sit in a chair and play wii tennis instead of reading a book or making you bomb christmas sweaters.
Yeah, right. Shut up.
Another factor to think about is the other companies getting on on some of this mass appeal. Microsoft have already said they wanted to get more casual games out there on the system.
If they do well enough then Sony aren't gonna just sit there and miss out on some market share either and so then you have all three companies duking it out for the casual and the core market which not only reduces Nintendo's share but also ends up fulfilling one of Nintendo's goals, which is the evolution of the Gaming market.
I doubt Microsoft or Sony could really compete in the casual games area... Even at at $400, the 360 console itself doesn't appeal to casual gamers... those gamers don't really want anything remotely expensive, part of why they love the wii... Second of all, the 360 is showing no signs of getting the kind of games the causal market wants... i think the only company MS has that is helping them is Rare, with games like viva pinata and banjo kazzooie... but a small handful of games will not get casual gmers to buy anything close to what the 360 is selling for... MS would need A LOT of those kind of games and so far it's nothing more than a small handful, and it doesn't look like that's changing much... those same exact things can be said about PS3, except worst being more costly and having even less casual support...
i think the only way for MS to actually stand a chance in the casual gamer market is if they like created a few game development studios, with a good team, that work directly under MS and focus ONLY on making the kind of games that appeal to the casual market (mini-games and more family-friendly games seems to be their trend)... i think only then will the 360 be able to pump out a strong line of titles that would allow them to be even considered competition in the market that nintendo has grab a hold of.
One thing I've noticed is that having a Wii and a girlfriend are a good combination. Alot of Wii games are ones I can play with the missus, and its waaay easier for me to spend $50 on a game we will both play than Bloody FPS #136, where she will complain about the front room being filled with gunfire all night. Trauma Center Co-op is going to be awesome for the two of us, its a series both of us love and now we can play together.
So your little gaming world is expanding. Suck it up. The more people who are into videogames, the more diverse games we will get on all systems.
That said, Iwata is being a blowhard, par for the course for him.
The Wii will never reach such sales, the PS2 is on top because of the content it offered, there was basically games for everyone, some of the best exclusives ever and its an RPG's gamer heaven.
The Wii's gimmicky little remote limits what it can do quite a bit then there's the fact that its underpowered, tout INNVASHUN all you want, give the Wii a couple of years, it will show its age.
Let's not mention minigames, the Wii will never get any canonical franchises, just side stories, without system sellers outside of the big 3 Nintendo isn't going to reach the top anytime soon.
@Rosseh
The DS is also a portable system with the Nintendo name behind it and more importantly, GAMES FOR ALL, the Wii does not and probably never will.
Enjoy your minigames and sidestories people, the rest will enjoy actual sequels.
All in good humour. But seriously, All of these points against the Wii selling seem to be based on Sequels, Games with storyline, etc. you can't say stuff like "The Wii does not and probably never will" how do you know that? They have a lot of games in the works with storyline/ Incredibly involving games like Metroid. Go have a look at Dragon Quest Swords, that looks awesome and is still a full Dragon Quest RPG.
They have stated that the biggest selling games so far have been Third Party but that could be because first party sucks atm.
Still, the general public are fickle and they could well fall into the fad trap but I'm guessing they, being a business, have thought of that and have plans to try and keep the mainstream audience interested. Whether they succeed or not is another thing.
Sure the Wii is underpowered, it can't make complex AI calculations or overlay bloom on brown very well. But when that's an issue I turn to the 360.
You know with all the energy people put in to bashing other systems they could get a job and buy the others. The only reason I haven't got a 360 yet is because of the technical problems and I'm waiting for the new 65nm.
If anything outstanding for the PS3 came out I would most likely get that too when the price dropped like I did with the PS2. I got mine for £50 second hand and then built up a big collection of great games for only £10-£20 each some even £5. When I think about it I probably have just over the original retail price of the console itself in games (incld console).
I'm not rich or anything, far from it, but I still don't understand why people need to owe allegience to a single console. It's not like you hear people going in the streets going "Oh I only go ODEON Cinemas, what? You go to Warner Bros?! OMG FAG LOLOLOL"
I'm also still kinda skeptical about the other consoles. The Wii, well I had to get it for zelda but it offers experiences I can't get anywhere else. Sometimes I still feel torn between whether I want a 360 or a PS3 or any at all. Especially when every day I don't get a 360 another thing comes and tells me I don't need one. Gears for PC, Lost Planet for PC, Crysis for PC, Bioshock for PC. Why get a 360 when I can play those games, at full frame rate rather than the lagfest they look like on 360 and probably better looking? Then the PS3 does something amazing but the 360 does something in turn. Which is surprising in this world of competition for your money.
Right now though, nothing has really impressed me apart from PC games. The Wii still frustrates me and disappoints me at regular intervals but so do the other consoles when I play them at a friend's house, read about them or see trailers.
I dunno really where I was going with this but I guess what I'm trying to say is nothing is really worth judging yet/still. Maybe late next year we will have a clearer idea of each systems future but right now, lets just talk about possibilities, hopes, fears. Not "They will NEVER do this cause i have telepathic powers and can read the company's minds!"
Holy shit that's a lot of text.
"You know with all the energy people put in to bashing other systems they could get a job and buy the others."
Porbaly because poeple have other more important expences that need to come first. Collage students have huge loans and tuitions to payoff, many want to get a nice high end computer, those just out of collage are saving money in hopes of buying a house or a car (teens aswell), and other adults loose a lot of money paying for bills, food and such... hell, i'm getting ready to spend about $800 of software that i'm gonna need away at school... even WITH a job it's hard for many poeple to afford one system much less two or three; not to mention the cost of games or things to help give them a more full expereince such as an HDTV... Sure, maybe if i was 16 again, when i had a part time job but had my parents covering many of my expences i could afford it, but right now i am not; it would be highly irresponsible to spend my money on something as expensive as a game console, when i got more important things to get
"They have a lot of games in the works with storyline/ Incredibly involving games like Metroid. Go have a look at Dragon Quest Swords, that looks awesome and is still a full Dragon Quest RPG."
frankly, from what i heard, i only see a handful of those kinds of games. and a handful is not enough to attract a certain group of gamers... it will make the gamers that like those games who got the system for other reasons happy, but it won't attract new ones who did not have strong interest in the wii already... in order to attract a gamer the console needs to show that it will have A LOT of the kind of things a gamer wants... kinda like how Blue Dragon and one or two other RPG's won't be enough to pull RPG gamers to the 360 (but it will make the ones who already have a 360, rather happy)
i myself, have little interest in the wii... since Zelda can be played on Gamecube, i think smash bros. and possibly dragon quest are the only things that really appeals to me. perhaps a few others but overall, not much
Plus my comment was more directed at the people whose comments make them seem like 16/17/18 year old unemployed and their parents get them everything anyway lol.
4 or 5 games is a lot to me.
Metroid
Dragon Quest
Disaster (I think is supposed to be story driven)
Sadness (Although that won't be out for ages probably)
With a bunch of other games like Smash Bros and RE4 as well it's an alright library. Although, after playing it, I kinda wish I had bought Zelda on the Gamecube. I'm still worried about it. They say they want to keep the core gamers but I just have a bad feeling they will forget about them. But then the casual games are kind of fun but leave me feeling empty after about 20 minutes.
I guess for more specific people it can be more frustrating but I like a wide range of games. I like Gears but I enjoy a good RPG too as well as simple fun games like monkey ball.
Sometimes I wish they wouldn't bring games out so I don't fall behind everyone else lol.
Seeing as I can't even get anything yet I kinda don't mind waiting to see what comes out.