Nintendo must be high.
The rumour band-wagon is hastily moving forward that a gyroscopic controller from Microsoft will fulfill the role of the Wii’s innovative control scheme. Nintendo doesn’t feel particularly threatened, however, because they’re keen on pointing out how they did it first, and somehow, this first-to-market strategy is what they believe to be key to market success.
Sadly, Nintendo must not have realized that first-to-market does not mean ultimate success. Look at the Dreamcast for a recent example, as it was quickly dismissed for the PS2, which had fewer games, no online strategy, and much less of a homebrew community. The reality is that a console is only as good as its games, and even that reality is dwarfed by the hype that needs to be built through marketing and word-of-mouth.
While Nintendo can gladly claim they envisioned the Wii-mote’s functionality first, and that they received excellent word-of-mouth from the get-go, things are different now. The Wii has a couple of exclusives that are worth playing, though all of these were developed in-house by Nintendo, and none of them are receiving the same types of ratings that the big-name titles on the XBox 360 and PS3 are getting. Sure, it’s true that Wii Sports was a phenomenal success, but for a free title that was bundled along with the Wii, it didn’t exactly manage to sell titles, which consoles are supposed to do.
Aside from Zelda, Smash Bros, Super Mario Galaxy, and the new Mario Kart, what’s really worth even looking at on the Wii? All but one of our gaming friends in San Francisco have allowed their Wii consoles to collect dust, while their 360s are receiving more play than ever. Even the XBox Live Arcade options are more appealing than what’s available on Virtual Console. In fact, after the BluRay vs. HD DVD debacle ended, we’ve seen more people buy PS3s than Wii titles, with no one picking up new Wii units since they were in high demand. In fact, we couldn’t even sell ours on craigslist, unless we were willing to take a major monetary hit.
Our point is simple: if Microsoft releases a Wii-mote clone and has even two solid titles that will maximize it (ala Wii Sports) at launch, the Wii is dead in North America. We may give Nintendo one more sale with Wii Fit just to see how great the novelty is compared to when the Wii first hit shelves, but with a poor library of games, there’s little reason to dump money Nintendo’s way when the 360’s library is not only established, but expanding.
The only thing that Nintendo’s shown with the Wii-mote is that the technology can be used well in a handful of games, and that’s all MS needs to gain a few more sales and ultimately oust the Wii’s growth in the North American market: a handful of games. Beyond that, MS has owned the competition in every which way aside from their banking on HD DVD. Nevertheless, they still have the best library of games, and it’s still a big question as to whether or not Sony can meet Microsoft’s sales in North America by the time the next generation of consoles is released. With a Wii-mote clone, we’re thinking that MS will firmly secure their lead.
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Although I wholeheartedly agree that Nintendo’s “next gen” system has been massivly disappointing to real gamers, I still see tons of folks proudly buying a Wii and enjoying one of the party games. And by party games, I mean all of them. The Wii is trendy and easy to play with recognizable characters. Nintendo has all but abandoned real game buyers and aimed for the lowest denomination tech user. They will be successful because their console is not a loss leader and five games, an extra controller, and Wii fit sold to every Wii owner will make them millions. Me personally, a real gamer, will enjoy the 360 for what it is, the best gaming system I have ever owned.
I’d hardly say that Wii gamers are buying all of the system’s party games, especially under your definition. During GTA4 weekend, only one Wii game made GameFly’s top ten list of most-rented titles, and it’s the expected Mario Kart title. On the recent Japanese charts, every Wii title in the top 30 is expected (which I previously mentioned) except for Deca Sports, a Japanese exclusive, which happens to be very similar to Wii Sports (developed by Hudson).
Ironically, the Wii is doing much better in Britain, where it’s dominating the charts. In North America, however, the Wii’s top games are again, quite expected. I’m not even sure why third-party developers even try on Nintendo’s non-portable platforms anymore.
Most telling, however, is the overall quality of games. Among the Wii’s top current titles, only three score above 89%, one of which is a release title. Compare that to six titles in the 360’s top ten, all of which are relatively new.