April NPD or Everyone Drinks except Nintendo

[Renwood]

I have a Wii. I like it. It has good games. Not enough?

Pushing sales is funny. Stockholder?

[DeathsHand]

Originally Posted by Renwood

I have a Wii. I like it. It has good games. Not enough?

Pushing sales is funny. Stockholder?

I had a Wii! It had some good games! I liked it! Then I got bored! Then I sold it!

Point being: Sales can be a fun thing to follow and discuss... Opinions, predictions, and the ultimate outcome that weighs heavily on the direction of the gaming industry...

If the original Playstation hadn't sold the way it did, would the gaming industry be the same as it is today?

If Wii came out and absolutely nobody cared, would there be speculation that Microsoft is going to be ripping off their controller? Would anybody even want to rip off their controller? Would Nintendo use similar technology, and take a similar approach, to their next console?

*ponders*

[TheGame]

Yeah, even though Wii is at the top of the sales charts, in my opinion its clearly the worst console. I really don't compare it head up with 360 and Ps3 . I feel like Wii is its own thing for casual gamers. Like GBA, or PSP. Just a nice system with a nice gimmick that sold well. Most of what I liked about the home gaming console industy for the last 10+ years isn't represented very well on the Wii.

That change is why its as sucsessful as it is. So grats to nintendo for that one, but I personally wouldn't call it the best console with the best games by a long shot. Nintendo's making their money, but they're not making it by having the best quality in my opinion. Is this good or bad for the industry? We'll see. lol

-EDIT-

By the way, I find my sigature funny now. I remember how ignorant he sounded when he said that years ago, then Wii comes out and just proves his point. It still goes against what I'm personally interested in, and more hardcore gamers. But the casual gamers are probably what drove him to say it.

[Professor S]

Thw Wii's attachment rate compared to its console sales are so disparate, I'm tempted to remove the Wii from the console wars entirely, as its not really the same animal. There are a coupkle of things that don;t bode well for the Wii and the the idea that motion control is the future.

1) The afforementioned attachement rate is not bad, its terrible. people are literally buying the console for for Nintendo franises and Wii sports alone. That's not really an open platform console... it more like a really popular NeoGeo.

2) The "it" factor could be its undoing. As was mentioned before, people grow tirted of it pretty quickly in many cases (not all or even the majority). I thinka good part of its appeal is that its "fashionable", not unlike I think a lot of the appeal of Mac is fashionable. I'd be curious to see any numbers on Wii resales...

3) The most damning evidence is the continued lack of serious third party support. Nintendo has got to feel like the US army did when the conquered Iraq... "Hey everyone, we won! Don't you love us now? What? Wait! Where are you going?" The Wii needs to win the hearts and minds of serious third party developers, and so far they've been resoundingly ignored.

And for the record, I have no rooting interest against the Wii (I'm planning on getting one as my next console in fact), I'm just trying to be as objective as possible, and I welcome any differing arguments and evidence.

[TheGame]

Originally Posted by Professor S

I'm tempted to remove the Wii from the console wars entirely, as its not really the same animal.

You can ask BaB on this one, I've always dismissed Wii from the console war. No matter how good it does, I still can't pull myself to call it in the same league. Its had to find good viable examples for how I feel this way outside of comparing it to handhelds... or kinda like you said, a popular Neo Geo. <_<

[Aladuf]

Originally Posted by TheGame

You can ask BaB on this one, I've always dismissed Wii from the console war. No matter how good it does, I still can't pull myself to call it in the same league. Its had to find good viable examples for how I feel this way outside of comparing it to handhelds... or kinda like you said, a popular Neo Geo. <_<

Yep, I agree. I haven't considered the Wii to be in the same league as the PS3/360 for a long time. I've looked at the console wars as 360 vs. PS3 for a while because the Wii just doesn't offer the same experience as the HD consoles. The Wii is off completely doing its own thing and it's not coming back.

I ditched my Wii a couple of weeks back because I wasn't playing the 3 or 4 first party games I actually had. I didn't own a single 3rd party game and I had/have no interest in any of them coming out or ones that have come out.

One of the things that led me to sell the Wii is the fact that there was this one night in particular about a month ago where I was bored and wanted to play some game, ANYTHING really. So I got up and went over to my games and I looked through them for a little bit just trying to figure out what I wanted to play. Eventually I found something for the 360. But a few minutes later I realized that I didn't even for a second consider looking at the Wii games. I didn't even entertain the possibility of playing that console. So that led me to say right then "Why do I even own this fucking console?"

Originally Posted by Renwood

Also, the only thing worse than Sales-Age is retarded Sales-Age. Please, all of you, stop.

There's nothing retarded about this, this thread is kind of a discussion about where the Wii's spot is in gaming today and all of that.

[BreakABone]

O for the first time in a long time. The top 20!

March/April ranks……… Title/platform/publisher
**/1 ………………Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360) Take-Two*
**/2 ……………….Mario Kart (Wii) Nintendo
**/3 ……………….GTA IV (PS3) Take-Two*
4/4 ……………….Wii Play/with remote (Wii) Nintendo
1/5 ……………….Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) Nintendo
**/6 ……………….Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (PS3) Sony
**/7 ……………….Pokemon/Explorers of Darkness (DS) Nintendo
**/8 ……………….Pokemon/Explorers of Time (DS) Nintendo
7/9 ……………….Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii) Activision
9/10 ……………….Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360) Activision*
6/11 ……………….Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP) Square Enix
2/12 ……………….Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 (Xbox 360) Ubisoft*
20/13 ………………..Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 (PS2) Namco Bandai
19/14 ………………..Game Party (Wii) Midway
14/15 ………………..Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2) Activision*
18/16 ………………..New Super Mario Bros. (DS) Nintendo
**/17 ………………..Mario Kart (DS) Nintendo
**/18 ………………..Rock Band (Xbox 360) MTV/Electronic Arts*
13/19 ………………..Mario Party (DS) Nintendo
**/20 ……………….Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) Nintendo

And since someone did the work.
Wii-6
DS-5
360-4
PS3-2
PS2-2
PSP-1

http://www.themanandhischeese.pwp.bl.../aprilnpd.html

[gekko]

Originally Posted by Professor S

I'm tempted to remove the Wii from the console wars entirely

And this is what's wrong with gamers. What war? I must've missed it on CNN. There is no war, no battle, it's simply two companies with competing products. The only people who should care are the ones working for those companies. The rest of you simply decided you wanted to cheer for an electronics box that hooks up to your TV and then suddenly became hooligans fighting with each other.

Now the modified GameCube is outselling cotton and you don't know what to do. Your telling me the solution is to remove it from your imaginary battlefield? This is a joke.

But instead of just sitting back and watching in amazement, you now want to argue that the console is a horrible failure and it's not what third-parties want. Thank you for being the voice of third parties around the world, I was hoping someone would step up to the plate sooner or later.

But you're right, on so many levels. Wii is a complete failure... oh, and wasn't Nintendo supposed to go bankrupt this generation?

[TheGame]

Originally Posted by gekko

And this is what's wrong with gamers. What war? I must've missed it on CNN. There is no war, no battle, it's simply two companies with competing products. The only people who should care are the ones working for those companies. The rest of you simply decided you wanted to cheer for an electronics box that hooks up to your TV and then suddenly became hooligans fighting with each other.

Now the modified GameCube is outselling cotton and you don't know what to do. Your telling me the solution is to remove it from your imaginary battlefield? This is a joke.

But instead of just sitting back and watching in amazement, you now want to argue that the console is a horrible failure and it's not what third-parties want. Thank you for being the voice of third parties around the world, I was hoping someone would step up to the plate sooner or later.

But you're right, on so many levels. Wii is a complete failure... oh, and wasn't Nintendo supposed to go bankrupt this generation?

Wow what a huge over reaction lol. Nobody's saying Wii is a failure, people are just saying its different and isn't exactly competing head up with Ps3 or 360. Just like the Tekken arcade machine at the mall is different, and isn't competing head up with the 360 or Ps3. Or like Sony PSP or GBA is different and isn't cometing head up with them.

Nobody's saying Wii failed or its crap, you're just jumping the gun way too hard.

[BreakABone]

Originally Posted by Aladuf

I classify a non-game as:

Wario Ware
Game Party
Wii Sports
Wii Play
Wii Fit
Carnival Games
and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on...

Basically, mini-game collections (edit: games you wouldn't actually sit down and play by yourself), games where you don't actually play (Wii Fit). Shovelware.

You see your definition is very loose and I don't believe befitting of the term.
The way I see most people define a non-game such as Brain Age or Wii Fit is there are no real goals. You just kind of play the game.

Most of those games have some goal whether it is a high score or beating your friends or unlocking new mini-games.

A mini-game collection doesn't equal a non-game.
And your definition of games you wouldn't sit down and play by yourself is too subjective.
I wouldn't mind playing Wii Sports by myself every now and then. Same deal with Wario Ware (especially since you have to to unlock multiplayer) so I really don't like that definition.
Hell by your definition TF 2 is a non-game as well.

Originally Posted by DeathsHand

Nintendo fans have always bought Nintendo consoles for Nintendo's offerings... With the Wii, you're still getting those; so from a Nintendo fan's perspective, you have everything you've always loved, only now it's selling like hotcakes...

I'm not gonna disagree with this statement, but how is playing a Nintendo console for Nintendo games any different than people who bought 360s for Halo 3 or people who buy Ps3 for MGS 4 and GTA IV?

I mean the argument always seems to pop up and just because people buy a console for first party efforts (who would have thunk it) doesn't make it a negative.

Now I know the arguement will lead down the well its the only games they buy category, but that isn't true either. The problem is not many 3rd parties want to put compelling content on the Wii and see if it sells because they have this stigma.

But I will champion several 3rd party efforts on the Wii and I own them like they deserve. Developers need to have confidence in their games being about to sell under any condition.

As for Game Party/Carnival Games' success, of course there's a chance that someone will actually enjoy it (maybe somewhere along the lines of a 21% chance)... Especially among the new market Nintendo's discovered...
See though, I can't help but feel a bit like a snooty, elitist longtime gamer, but I personally don't want the future of gaming to be made up of by poorly thrown together mini-game compilations...

That is the same feeling Aladuf shares.
And for some reason the creation of Wii Play and Game Party hasn't stopped stuff like Gears 2 or Prototype or hell even Mad World from being announced. Epic isn't all of sudden turning GoW 2 into Gears Party or Halo Play.

And from where I'm standing, the only difference between Wii and last generation is the success of that type of game, the mainstream hype, a dryer market of quality third-party titles, and a new controller that, IMO, hasn't quite lived up to the hype as the "future of gaming"...

I will give you the Wii hasn't lived up to its true potential yet, but there have been many bright lights of hope.

Just need someone to grab hold of it.

Originally Posted by Aladuf

I would consider them different but most shovelware seems to be mini-games these days so it just seems to be an negative association I have. I'm ignorant towards the Wii, what can I say? My blind hate for the system prevents me from knowing anything past first party games.

Well your hatred of Wii shines through all the time, but why are shovelware/non-games a Nintendo-only factor?
I have pointed out there is a ton of crap on the ps3/360 as well, but no one ever wants to call them on that.

No its big bad Nintendo who has nothing but crap on their console. Even though, I personally feel the console has a rather decent library at the moment, you are so intent on focusing on the games you don't like on the console that you won't even give the other ones a chance.

I mean what were the chances of you buying/playing Game Party anyhow? But here is an entire discussion on it.

How was NO More Heroes? How was Okami Wii? How was Medal of Honor Heroes 2?

My point being don't point fingers at the crap and then ignore the quality stuff because it suits your arguement.

Yeah, the Wii has crap. It isn't a new story. And it isn't one that will change anytime soon. They are the most dominant console on the market right now it makes sense for the most crap to go there. You have a better chance of selling it to a wider audience.

Originally Posted by TheGame

Wow what a huge over reaction lol. Nobody's saying Wii is a failure, people are just saying its different and isn't exactly competing head up with Ps3 or 360. Just like the Tekken arcade machine at the mall is different, and isn't competing head up with the 360 or Ps3. Or like Sony PSP or GBA is different and isn't cometing head up with them.

Nobody's saying Wii failed or its crap, you're just jumping the gun way too hard.

Justin defending the Wii.
Now I've seen it all.