• 25Oct 07

  Numbers and Figures; The System Sales

  Here are therecent statements that have been accumulating on my mind and on the boards:

  The company [Nintendo] sold 7.33 million Wii systems inthe first half of their fiscal year

  ...Wii outselling the PS3 4-to-1 over the last six months...

  and the statement that the real reason for dropping the emotion chip is to encourage PS3 owners the pick up PS3 games, rather than playing a fantasic assortment of PS2 titles

  I'm not forgetting the Xbox 360, the 360 has a full year headstart on development, and publishers haveits components figured out quite well, producing a lot of Grade A material. Xbox Live is a service for multiplayer interest and connectivity that can make games last forever if youhave the right friends to play against.It's a good platform. I'm more concerned with the new kids debate, the PS3 and Wii.

  The issue here is not the sales, at least not right off the starting line,but the longevity of investment. Dollar for dollar I'd rate the value of each system as a deadlock, for various reasons.

  Whiles games can last forever if you have the right people to play against, as onLIVE,Nintendo's virtual consolehas gone and outright forced in older games, breathing priceless new life into scores of ****c games andmemories. Easy games to getyoung playershooked, and stuff to settle in former 1980s gamers too. But the numbers backing the Wii don't reflect the proper expected sales for software.

  Most of the Wiis purchased by new, casual, would-be gamers don't reallygo further than that. These players, this market, doesn't really have need for new games.Wii sports is fun, and they can play Super Mario Bros. 3 online, or Ocarina and Twilight Princess if they want more challenge. It's fantasic for Nintendo, but mounds of low production bargain bin titles without story or proper physics aren't going to impress anyone. Suddenly the 4-to-1 sales figure is back at it's 2-to-1 software market. So chin up developers.

  The PS3 sales, on the other hand, reflect people who are ready to play some new games... if they're good. For the most part, these are the guys who know what they want to play, and they'll wait for it, watching Blu-Ray and playing upscaled PS2 games, or curiously downloading the demos and getting their hopes up.

  It'sthe story driven games that need to be developed, they don't have to be played in a new way, they just have to be playable, finished (falling through walls is a let down), andfun. They need to be fresh and exciting takes; plot twists, character development, the things of old, the things that make a book so appealing, and play control (the games i mean, books are all pretty easy to control).

  Halo 3 looks like fun, Wii Sports looks like fun, Guitar Hero and Rock Band look like fun,Resident Evil 4 and Okami look like fun, so does racing and hockey at 1080i and 8-bitTetris. Meanwhile stories like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII, Half Life, and ZELDA:Link to The Past, seal games in the all-time list.

  Caseand point: while Nintendo posts hardware sales, people are content out of the box + the virtual console. PS3 lags but it's audience needs quality writing to go with the outstanding images. Once a few great games hit the PS3, it wouldn't be surprising to see the console and software sales matching up around the millions mark.

  • Posted Oct 25, 2007 4:13 pm PT
  • Category: Opinion
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