Three holiday seasons later, Nintendo's Wii console is showing little signs of letting its market dominance slip away, despite the strides of its competition.
Taking a look at Amazon.com's top ten bestselling items in the videogame category two days before Christmas, Wii hardware and software is dominating the charts. Take a look:
- Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board
- New Super Mario Bros. Wii
- Wii Starter Bundle
- Wii Console
- Wii Sports Resort
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
- Assassin's Creed II (Xbox 360)
- Wii MotionPlus
- Wii Nunchuk Controler - White
- Wii Remote Controller
That's right, eight out of the ten items on Amazon's top ten list are Wii-related. For comparison, Sony's PlayStation 3 120 GB model lands at #21 (beating out the Official Nintendo Wii Wheel which is outselling Uncharted 2: Among Thieves); the Xbox 360 Elite Winter 2009 Lego Batman/Pure bundle is currently at #46.
Jesse Divnich, Director of Analyst services for EEDAR, doesn't find this surprising, saying that it's "typical for Nintendo to dominate the December month."
"Nintendo's game have a diverse appeal, are family friendly, and of course are fun to play," he tells me. "All of which are [qualities] gift givers look for in games. If you know someone that has a Nintendo Wii, you can never go from with a Nintendo given product."
"For as long as I can remember," he continues, "Nintendo has dominated every Christmas."
But he also warns that Amazon's sales numbers aren't entirely indicative of the bigger picture when it comes to gaming.
"Surprisingly, Amazon's market share on the gaming sector is small," Divnich explains. "They rank 7th to 9th among USA retailers depending upon the game, which makes their top-sellers list for videogames misleading."
There's little doubt, though, that Nintendo is likely to have a "green" Christmas; we'll just have to wait for the after-holiday rush of sales numbers and PR spin before a true "winner" can be determined.
Contest:
11:00 AM on 12.23.2009
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Also, would it be possible to start separating the casual Wii games to what we gamers would classify as games? I don't see how something like Uncharted 2 or GoW can really be stuck in the same category as Wii Fit Plus.
Of course, Muscle March comes out soon.
The people I see still buying Wii's are either still under the impression that it's hard to find and we know people just gobble that shit up or are buying their second one. I swear to god lady next door has three kids and this Christmas she bought two Wii's on top of the one she already bought so each kid could have their own.
People are strange. -Jim Morrison
True, and seeing as how siblings usually resort to the '____ got one, so I want one too' argument, I suppose that explains how these paperweights are still selling. Although if anyone thinks they're hard to find, they best pay a visit to my city. Where Wii's are stacked high in every store around.
But three Wii's in one house? Your neighbor is crazy.
It's a great present for non-adult children, or families looking for some Christmas day fun. My aunt bought one last Christmas and it only gets brought out during the holidays. They don't mind that it's not getting used, so I can't give them a hard time.
The power of casual!
@Uzzy
I classify it as a game. A game in a COMPLETELY different genre to Uncharted 2 (I don't think anyone was claiming they were like GoW or UC2 but whatever...) but still a game and it's much easier for you to not read articles that don't interest you than it is for Dtoid editors to sort through everything and wonder "Is it hardcore enough?"
@bluexy
I think people think of the Wii like an expensive lawnmover or watch. They don't care if they don't use it that much as long as it works and they can look at it.
We live in a pretty well to do area so the people around here blow cash on ridiculous shit quite often just because they can.
I mean, the numbers speak for themselves from hardware and software down to the peripherals.
I predict Nintendo will be pleased by December's NPD sales.
The obstacle course alone makes me wish we had a whole mario game like that, I'm not joking. It's like Nick Arcade realized
....people still do the console war thing? Really?