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Why the Wii won

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Pulitzer Laureate
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The Wii is winning because it did what every company has ever wanted to do and they did it well. They sold their product to every type of person out there, it seems this is called selling out. I thought it was called business.

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D_987:

JediMB:

Bourne:
Microsoft Achilles' heel is the immense dislike amongst the Japanese demographic.

But interestingly enough, the Xbox 360 has been outselling both the PS2 and the PS3 in Japan for a while now.

Yeah, I read an article about that recently - Microsoft have been trying very hard to get sales up in Japan, and it seems to be working. They are (as you stated) outselling the PS3, and are deliberately buying exclusives they believe the Japanese will buy.

Whats interesting is that at that same time, the Ps3 was outselling the 360 all over the world. And the Ps3 has resumed kicking the 360's ass now that its next lot of games that appeal to Japanese gamers have come out.

Pulitzer Laureate
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Well, as the old saying goes, "Shit always floats to the top."

Anyways, everyone who's going on about the backward compatibility should remember that the Gamecube kinda failed anyway, so there's not exactly a huge market in that field.

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AuntyEthel:
Well, as the old saying goes, "Shit always floats to the top."

Anyways, everyone who's going on about the backward compatibility should remember that the Gamecube kinda failed anyway, so there's not exactly a huge market in that field.

Metroid Prime 1 and 2
Pikmin 1 and 2
Geist
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
Animal Corssing
Luigis Mansion

Pulitzer Laureate
Posts: 884
Joined: 19 Sep 2008

Indigo_Dingo:

AuntyEthel:
Well, as the old saying goes, "Shit always floats to the top."

Anyways, everyone who's going on about the backward compatibility should remember that the Gamecube kinda failed anyway, so there's not exactly a huge market in that field.

Metroid Prime 1 and 2
Pikmin 1 and 2
Geist
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
Animal Corssing
Luigis Mansion

Yeah, but just cause they had good games doesn't mean a lot of people have a large collection of GC games. I really liked the GC and was disappointed it went the way of the dodo.

Pulitzer Laureate
Posts: 830
Joined: 4 Oct 2007

Depends what you mean by "won".
For the console makers, Wii definitely won because Nintendo makes money off of every box sold. They don't need to sell a single game to turn a profit on the thing. That little machine just prints money for them, which (and people should remember this) gives them a hell of an advantage for the *next* generation, the one in which the PS3 will still be around and competitive for (and finally have a decent library of games to be competing with.. personally I think that Sony chose to more or less skip a generation trying to get the early competitve advantage for the one to come)

Now, why did the Wii take off?

I say it's primarily because of Wii Sports - Bowling.

That sucker is like low quality crack to mom, dad, and the folks. This is a game with a control mechanism they understand, one that works, and hey, it's kind of fun -- especially because they're not being pwned every twenty seconds like they were on that other console the kid uses, and now the family's all having a good time together. That last bit is particularly important.

So they go home and figure "Hey, maybe we should get us one of those Wii things too. They're cheap enough, and won't it be a hoot bowling against Gladys and Henry without having to put on the silly shoes and go to a loud stinky alley," and now Gladys and Henry want one to play with their kids, and around we go.

Yeah, it's got a low attach rate.. Nintendo doesn't care, they made their money on the box. Game sales are just gravy.

Yeah it doesn't get used as much by individual owners as other consoles. So what? When you consider the number of sales of the unit, it probably delivers more gaming hours to the population anyway. They're just spread out.

Will it win the console wars? Wrong question. The Wii isn't in the console wars. They're typically called "wars" because those involved are in direct competition with each other for a share of the gamers. Nintendo probably wouldn't mind getting a bunch of those, but really is going for a completely uncontested audience.

Do later edits mark when they were changed?

Beat Writer
Posts: 150
Joined: 7 Nov 2008

The only thing the wii has one is the award for "Most Likely to Collect Dust" and the hearts of octogenarians and news reporters.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1381
Joined: 18 Sep 2008

Wii didn't win. why? cause it has roughly 5 good games and a bunch of shit. 360 on the other hand has a lot of games and backwards computability to a system I didn't own.

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This is why the Wii won:

image

Since Nintendo is an industry and since the goal of industries is making money I'm pretty sure Nintendo won.

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...B,b,bbububut Microsoft or Sony might pull a fast one!

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 4636
Joined: 15 Jun 2008

Indigo_Dingo:

D_987:

JediMB:

Bourne:
Microsoft Achilles' heel is the immense dislike among st the Japanese demographic.

But interestingly enough, the Xbox 360 has been outselling both the PS2 and the PS3 in Japan for a while now.

Yeah, I read an article about that recently - Microsoft have been trying very hard to get sales up in Japan, and it seems to be working. They are (as you stated) outselling the PS3, and are deliberately buying exclusives they believe the Japanese will buy.

Whats interesting is that at that same time, the Ps3 was outselling the 360 all over the world. And the Ps3 has resumed kicking the 360's ass now that its next lot of games that appeal to Japanese gamers have come out.

Evidence? Coming from the keyboard of the biggest fanboy on The Escapist (as in you),I want evidence or some form of proof...

Pulitzer Laureate
Posts: 869
Joined: 7 Nov 2007

quickpaw:

Ultrajoe:
Won is a relative term, and depends on what you call a 'win'.

In sales, certainly, but in sales to actual 'gamers'? Well, i haven't seen the statistics to make a call on that.

At the end of the day console makers don't give a stuff who's buying their consoles so long as they are buying them.

No, consoles sales are not what makes money. Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft all lose money whenever they sell a unit. It's the games sales that tell how successful a console is.
In terms of quantity of games sold per console owned.

Press Junketeer
Posts: 426
Joined: 23 Apr 2008

If you are going to buy a system, you would buy any one of the three. If you were going to buy a second system, it would be the Wii because of how much more affordable it is. The Wii has won nothing, except for cool looking device that has very little memory and can't play DVD's.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 2768
Joined: 18 Sep 2007

kanada514:
No, consoles sales are not what makes money. Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft all lose money whenever they sell a unit. It's the games sales that tell how successful a console is.

Not quite correct. I think Microsoft breaks even on an Elite model and only loses a bit on Arcade and Pro models; I know that Nintendo actually makes a profit on the Wii. Last I'd heard the PS3 was still priced well below cost, though the margin of the loss had shrunk even with the price cuts.

Nintendo can quite happily continue to sell the Wii and make money even if no one buys another game of theirs; the Wii is an anomoly that way.

-- Steve

Copy Clerk
Posts: 125
Joined: 24 Oct 2008

I think that the Wii is outselling Microsoft and Sony, because of it's potential as a to quote the speaker at E3 this year "Paradigm Shift". However in my personal opinion (the Wii being the only next-gen console i own) it doesn't pull through as many of it's games are very picky about the movements and sometimes not very responsive.

Copy Clerk
Posts: 52
Joined: 5 Nov 2008

the wii did not win

Pulitzer Laureate
Posts: 869
Joined: 7 Nov 2007

Richard Groovy Pants:
This is why the Wii won:

image

Since Nintendo is an industry and since the goal of industries is making money I'm pretty sure Nintendo won.

Like I said, every console unit is sold with deficit. Your graph only shows that Nintendo has more deficit than the other two.
It's the games that make money for a console company.
From what I am hearing on this very forum, people are complaining about the Wii games and saying that their Wii is collecting cobwebs in a dark corner of the living room.
I read that countless times, and a gaming forum has a tendency to be very good at representing the population of potential players or gamers.
I dunno, but If I keep reading that, I'll seriously question the doninance of the Wii.
By the way, the Birdmen's article is a large truck of bullshit. He's right on a lot of stuff, but the biggest mistake in his little calculations and theories is that he forgot to take into account the intelligence of people.
Do not under-estimate the population. Gamers are not complete fools you know. Besides, he seemed a little too biased not to sound like a class 1 fanboy.

Creator of Unforgotten Realms
Posts: 581
Joined: 15 Apr 2008

Oh the Wii won? I didn't know they had 10 million subscribers to there online aspect of the Wii throwing 15 dollars a month at them.

Ohhhh waittttt a second. They don't. Oh whats this... a little birdie is telling me that if your console sells but your games don't the system isn't winning? What what what?

If you only look at the North American market, Nintendo is barely winning in console sales but doesn't have the software sales like Microsoft. Not like Nintendo cares since they make more money off the DS then all three core systems combined.

Pulitzer Laureate
Posts: 925
Joined: 3 Oct 2007

The Wii doesn't really feel like a long term console. After all, when was the last time the Wii had a release like Wii Sports, or Super Mario Galaxy. Also they really need to make the online component of the Wii a little more user friendly.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1853
Joined: 7 Jul 2008

bue519:
The Wii doesn't really feel like a long term console. After all, when was the last time the Wii had a release like Wii Sports, or Super Mario Galaxy.

Or Super Smash Bros. Brawl, or Wii Fit, or Metroid Prime 3, or...

Pulitzer Laureate
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AceDiamond:

bue519:
The Wii doesn't really feel like a long term console. After all, when was the last time the Wii had a release like Wii Sports, or Super Mario Galaxy.

Or Super Smash Bros. Brawl, or Wii Fit, or Metroid Prime 3, or...

I just wish that they released quality games more often, its the same problem nintendo had with the game cube. Awesome games, but not enough of them.

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SirSchmoopy:
Oh the Wii won? I didn't know they had 10 million subscribers to there online aspect of the Wii throwing 15 dollars a month at them.

Ohhhh waittttt a second. They don't. Oh whats this... a little birdie is telling me that if your console sells but your games don't the system isn't winning? What what what?

If you only look at the North American market, Nintendo is barely winning in console sales but doesn't have the software sales like Microsoft. Not like Nintendo cares since they make more money off the DS then all three core systems combined.

Isn't their average attach rate 5 to 1? Only 1 less than the 360's average?

And aren't the sales of Wii fit continuing to be through the roof worldwide? Becoming the highest selling game this generation that doesn't come bundled?

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D_987:

Indigo_Dingo:

D_987:

JediMB:

Bourne:
Microsoft Achilles' heel is the immense dislike among st the Japanese demographic.

But interestingly enough, the Xbox 360 has been outselling both the PS2 and the PS3 in Japan for a while now.

Yeah, I read an article about that recently - Microsoft have been trying very hard to get sales up in Japan, and it seems to be working. They are (as you stated) outselling the PS3, and are deliberately buying exclusives they believe the Japanese will buy.

Whats interesting is that at that same time, the Ps3 was outselling the 360 all over the world. And the Ps3 has resumed kicking the 360's ass now that its next lot of games that appeal to Japanese gamers have come out.

Evidence? Coming from the keyboard of the biggest fanboy on The Escapist (as in you),I want evidence or some form of proof...

http://play.tm/news/22027/ps3-outselling-xbox-360-globally/
When have I ever bullshitted?

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 2078
Joined: 1 Jan 2008

Graustein:

GenHellspawn:
Am I the only one who laughs at people that use the virtual console because they're (presumably) too stupid to use an emulator?

Or maybe they don't like pirating their games?
Did that not occur to you?

That's why I said presumably.

Pulitzer Laureate
Posts: 830
Joined: 4 Oct 2007

kanada514:

Like I said, every console unit is sold with deficit. Your graph only shows that Nintendo has more deficit than the other two.

You can repeat it all you want, but you're still wrong. Nintendo makes, and has made, a profit on every single Wii unit sold.

It's true the typical wisdom is that the consoles are loss leaders for the company, at least until economies of scale kick in, but the Wii never has been. Nintendo realized in the design that if they were going to leave behind the audience of "gamers" it would be quite likely that the loss-leader console model just wouldn't work, because the casual audience doesn't need to invest in the newest thing all the time.

What I find most interesting about that graph isn't the size of the gap, but rather that the gap is continuing to widen. This tends to back up my theory that the Wii is selling primarily on people experiencing it with their friends.

Paperboy
Posts: 25
Joined: 11 Jun 2008

Several things contributed to the wii's success. One of them was the marketing and the other was that at the time all the other consoles were bland.

Pulitzer Laureate
Posts: 869
Joined: 7 Nov 2007

Kwil:

kanada514:

Like I said, every console unit is sold with deficit. Your graph only shows that Nintendo has more deficit than the other two.

You can repeat it all you want, but you're still wrong. Nintendo makes, and has made, a profit on every single Wii unit sold.

It's true the typical wisdom is that the consoles are loss leaders for the company, at least until economies of scale kick in, but the Wii never has been. Nintendo realized in the design that if they were going to leave behind the audience of "gamers" it would be quite likely that the loss-leader console model just wouldn't work, because the casual audience doesn't need to invest in the newest thing all the time.

What I find most interesting about that graph isn't the size of the gap, but rather that the gap is continuing to widen. This tends to back up my theory that the Wii is selling primarily on people experiencing it with their friends.

It all doesn't matter anyway. If you don't sell games, you're going where? "In a place"...yes..say it with me.."called Nowhere".
Ok, great, they're making 20 dollars on each Wii they sell. Lucky Bawlers.
If only they sold games too. They could get franchise money from developers, they could get a large cut of money on a game they made 0 dollars making. But yet, all they are interested in doing is selling consoles.
Not games. I once explained to them that selling games was a good business approach, but they didn't believe me. They said they only wanted to sell consoles and were even considering stopping any game production altogether.
So yeah, they're selling a lot of consoles and they are winning that war alright. Yet, it is not the right war to fight.
And I can repeat that all I want, it's true.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 4636
Joined: 15 Jun 2008

Indigo_Dingo:

D_987:

Indigo_Dingo:

D_987:

JediMB:

Bourne:
Microsoft Achilles' heel is the immense dislike among st the Japanese demographic.

But interestingly enough, the Xbox 360 has been outselling both the PS2 and the PS3 in Japan for a while now.

Yeah, I read an article about that recently - Microsoft have been trying very hard to get sales up in Japan, and it seems to be working. They are (as you stated) outselling the PS3, and are deliberately buying exclusives they believe the Japanese will buy.

Whats interesting is that at that same time, the Ps3 was outselling the 360 all over the world. And the Ps3 has resumed kicking the 360's ass now that its next lot of games that appeal to Japanese gamers have come out.

Evidence? Coming from the keyboard of the biggest fanboy on The Escapist (as in you),I want evidence or some form of proof...

http://play.tm/news/22027/ps3-outselling-xbox-360-globally/
When have I ever bullshitted?

You do tend to present your opinion as fact. But ok, cheers for the source.

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Joined: 30 Jan 2008

kanada514:

Kwil:

kanada514:

Like I said, every console unit is sold with deficit. Your graph only shows that Nintendo has more deficit than the other two.

You can repeat it all you want, but you're still wrong. Nintendo makes, and has made, a profit on every single Wii unit sold.

It's true the typical wisdom is that the consoles are loss leaders for the company, at least until economies of scale kick in, but the Wii never has been. Nintendo realized in the design that if they were going to leave behind the audience of "gamers" it would be quite likely that the loss-leader console model just wouldn't work, because the casual audience doesn't need to invest in the newest thing all the time.

What I find most interesting about that graph isn't the size of the gap, but rather that the gap is continuing to widen. This tends to back up my theory that the Wii is selling primarily on people experiencing it with their friends.

It all doesn't matter anyway. If you don't sell games, you're going where? "In a place"...yes..say it with me.."called Nowhere".
Ok, great, they're making 20 dollars on each Wii they sell. Lucky Bawlers.
If only they sold games too. They could get franchise money from developers, they could get a large cut of money on a game they made 0 dollars making. But yet, all they are interested in doing is selling consoles.
Not games. I once explained to them that selling games was a good business approach, but they didn't believe me. They said they only wanted to sell consoles and were even considering stopping any game production altogether.
So yeah, they're selling a lot of consoles and they are winning that war alright. Yet, it is not the right war to fight.
And I can repeat that all I want, it's true.

Have you looked at the top ten lists lately?

Pulitzer Laureate
Posts: 830
Joined: 4 Oct 2007

kanada514:

It all doesn't matter anyway. If you don't sell games, you're going where? "In a place"...yes..say it with me.."called Nowhere".

This boost brings the life-to-date attach rate of Nintendo's unit up to 4.64, while the PlayStation 3 is currently at 4.26 and the Xbox 360 is at 7.0.

4.64 x 36m console sales = 167m games sold (Wii)
7.0 x 22.5m console sales = 157m games sold (Xbox)
4.26 x 16.7m console sales = 71m games sold (PS3)

You were saying about selling games?

And I can repeat that all I want, it's true.

You certainly can repeat it. But it's still not true.

Copy Clerk
Posts: 80
Joined: 20 May 2008

Altorin:
Well, the Wii hasn't won yet

but if it does win (and it may), it's because it catered to the absolutely lowest common denominator.

Sony looked at who the 360 were selling to and were like "Idiot fratboys! Screw that! We're catering to the elites!"

then they both saw who the Wii was selling too and laughed "Old men and housewives? You can have them! LULULUL"

Then the Wii started outselling them and they're like "OH SHIT! MAKE SOME SHITTY GAMES LIKE NINTENDO DID FOR THE WIVES AND OLD MEN TO PLAY! Hey! Nintendo Fans! We have crappy games too! Just like Nintendo!"

but it was too late.

funniest post today, the ending sentence makes it

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Kwil:

kanada514:

It all doesn't matter anyway. If you don't sell games, you're going where? "In a place"...yes..say it with me.."called Nowhere".

This boost brings the life-to-date attach rate of Nintendo's unit up to 4.64, while the PlayStation 3 is currently at 4.26 and the Xbox 360 is at 7.0.

4.64 x 36m console sales = 167m games sold (Wii)
7.0 x 22.5m console sales = 157m games sold (Xbox)
4.26 x 16.7m console sales = 71m games sold (PS3)

You were saying about selling games?

And I can repeat that all I want, it's true.

You certainly can repeat it. But it's still not true.

Win!

Oh wait, that's a year old.

Still (this is not directed at the post I quoted) I love how fanboys just ignore facts when they're put right in front of their nose. Why would it be so hard to believe that the wii sold more? It appeals to more casual gamers, and those are the majority. Besides the Wii has attachments and all that bullcrap, those things are expensive.

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Beat Writer
Posts: 212
Joined: 16 Oct 2008

Shovelware, shovelware upon shovelware. Thats why the Wii lost.

Sure they have lots of sales, but 360 games and even PS3 games are better.
To be honest Nintendo should go back to making hardcore games, instead of casual ones.

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Kwil:

kanada514:

It all doesn't matter anyway. If you don't sell games, you're going where? "In a place"...yes..say it with me.."called Nowhere".

This boost brings the life-to-date attach rate of Nintendo's unit up to 4.64, while the PlayStation 3 is currently at 4.26 and the Xbox 360 is at 7.0.

4.64 x 36m console sales = 167m games sold (Wii)
7.0 x 22.5m console sales = 157m games sold (Xbox)
4.26 x 16.7m console sales = 71m games sold (PS3)

You were saying about selling games?

And I can repeat that all I want, it's true.

You certainly can repeat it. But it's still not true.

Didn't Decoy have an article a while back that gave very different figures than those?

Pulitzer Laureate
Posts: 830
Joined: 4 Oct 2007

Good spot! Thanks for that Richard.

I poked around a bit and found more updated figures: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3841/the_mushroom_growth_plan_inside_.php?page=6

From that article, it looks like they're putting the total Wii attach rate at 5.1, with the Xbox attach rate (over the full life of the console) at 8.1

Plugging in these new numbers we get 183.6m Wii games sold and 182.25 Xbox games sold, even though the Xbox has been selling them for an extra year.

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