Wii Sales Concerns

[brickiemart]

Well, I can't get on board with the cycle argument (or other Wii predictions) because (and this is a bit of a cop out) I can't really make any judgments on the Wii until more time has passed. I have lost faith in game analysts and predictors for some time now and that is because in the gaming community they are mostly wrong. There is little to no journalistic scrutiny and a site like N4G seems to let any blog entry on their front page. This creates interpretations on game news which are often uneducated, misguided, or just plain immature.

Example; Wii declining sales, the console is done. 2008, it will be the year of the PS3. No? 2009, this is the year. How times has the Wii been called a fad, but continue to sell? Most gaming predictions are made by people who have no idea what they are talking about and can not separate what they write from their own fanboy bias. And none of them have the educational background to make educated guesses since to most gamers it is just a hobby. So my point in short is that I can not deem the Wii a wonderful success or a pile of failure until more years have passed and it has a real history.

Also, this is in no way directed at you Mod_Man_Extreme , part of what makes gaming fun is musing about it in forums.

A lot of the doomsayers for the Wii I have read are people who just hate their new image and want to jump on anything they can which predicts their decline.

I think part of it is a general dislike that more people are playing games, because now when we mention our hobby, people with considerably less knowledge and less..."refined" tastes, for lack of a better word, are trying to talk to us about it.

I agree and I can relate to that. When my mother told me she owned a Wii and like it I had mixed feelings. It does suck seeing Baby and mini games galore at the local game mart. How many horse games does a young girl really need? Nintendo’s first-part games are becoming like classic Disney movies, once one is announced a dozen lesser studios crank out a knock-off in hopes of fooling some parent or kid (like the copious amounts of Kart racers targeted at every possible demographic. What's sad is that Wii Sports is so imitated, but it really is just a tech demo. That being said I did get over the lameness of shovelware walls, it is a sign of aging I believe.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

I think in the end the Wii won't turn out bad for Nintendo in the long run but you have to remember their marketing strategy. Slam your product in your customer's face until they stop buying it, change the style, rinse repeat.

You have to remember how long the Wii has been out as well, were hitting two and a half years now and Nintendo has kept a strict policy of only having five year lifespans before that console is either abandoned (N64, Gamecube), or placed into a twilight (NES, SNES). So the time for hoping that console will improve is starting to dry up.

In the end I think that the Wii will go down as the most successful 'faliure' in the industry by signaling developers that it was okay to make a lot of worthless crap for the masses and ignore your core userbase because they'll still cling to them reguardless of how bad it gets.

[andythebadass]

the wii is going to be fine because they have plenty of headroom from a price drop. a $199, $149 and then eventually a $99 wii will continue to bring those casual gamers out of the closet to make a purchase. wii motion plus will be a great addition that will continue to drive more interest and interesting game development. i have high hopes that wii sport games will finally live up to our expectations.

[RCBH928]

The Wii better start getting REAL games than the usual crap, otherwise I see no way how Nintendo is going to survive the next console generation, HD would be expected standard along with online gaming, and the motion controls will no longer be novelty....it will be old news and I bet it is going to be integrated in all the home consoles

[superlarz]

The Wii better start getting REAL games than the usual crap, otherwise I see no way how Nintendo is going to survive the next console generation, HD would be expected standard along with online gaming, and the motion controls will no longer be novelty....it will be old news and I bet it is going to be integrated in all the home consoles

Unfortunately, I think the motion controls are going to be included in all future consoles too... That is unless the fad plays itself out before development on next gen consoles nears completion. I dont think that is going to happen though, as Wii sales remain strong despite being slightly lower than before. Remember, as someone said, Wii still hasnt dropped price, and when it does, its sales will increase dramatically.

Next gen, when everyone has motion controls it will be interesting, because I think that most people who really enjoy the motion controls aren't really gamers, and arent going to be buying a new console every generation.

[molotovwars]

There is no way at all the Wii is going under. This thread sparked my interest http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... &hilit=Wii but even with this years releases aside, there will be plenty of games. People are still looking back and realizing how many great games there are on the N64 and Gamecube. The PSP went through a funk of "no games" and it has gotten past that point and has, as I'm told, a handful of solid titles now. I won't continue comparisons to the PSP or anything, but with Wii Zelda still to be released and the huge number of consoles that have been sold, plus Nintendo knows the fans want games, its only a matter of time before Nintendo puts out a few A+ titles. And when it does it will get more console sales, and all those people with the Wii will be buying games. Even Wii Sports Resort will make an impact. And if that catches the news as the big new upgrade for the Wii sales may go bananas (or even if they don't, Nintendo is doing more than fine)

[Curlypaul]

Nintendo is raking it in, there is no way they are going under this, or the next generation. I love my wii, its the only current gen system I have and I consider myself a core gamer in that I've been playing them all of my life and I know what actual makes a good game. Despite all the shovelware on the wii there are still plenty of good games to play.

I'm sure that the PS3 will continue to get stronger and stronger but unlike all the boring old wii bashers out there, I wont be the one bitching like a playground fanboy about how the opposition is killing my machine of choice or narrowing the choice of games that I have or whatever whatever whatever.

[fast]

I was talking wiht Ack last night about this, but what genres are the Wii missing apart from a standard JRPG, flight sim, and simulation racer? There is so many crying foul about lack of good games, lack of games, and missing critical genres, yet Ive found no examples.

I am not trying to call anyone out, this is mostly for curiosity.

[Ack]

Actually, it does have JRPGs, either currently in the works or already released...

Arc Rise Fantasia
Dokapon Kingdom
Dragon Quest X
Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors
Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Fragile: Sayonara Tsuki no Haikyo
Fushigi no Dungeon - Furai no Shiren 3: Karakuri Yashiki no Nemuri Hime
Little King's Story
Monster Hunter 3
Muramasa: The Demon Blade
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World

There's also 1 Animal Crossing game and 3 Harvest Moons, as well as 2 Marvel Ultimate Alliances.

Also, I did find a few flight sims. The first two are flight combat sims, but the idea is the same. I can't vouch for quality though, as they seem to have been poorly received.

Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
Heatseeker
Wing Island

[fast]

Very few of that list are JRPGs in the classic since. Yes they are RPGs made in Japan, so yes JRPGs, but Dokapon Kingdom is more of a boardgame, and the FFCC games are Action RPGs (though Crystal Bearers looks like an awful attempt at a FFMonsterhunter), and Fire Emblem is an SRPG. Now Dragon Quest 10 and Fragile have great potential, now we just need them released in English...

As a side note, if you like the NeoGeo game Crossed Swords, Dragon Quest Swords is for you.

I stand corrected on flight sims, I forgot about Wing Island - which is an ok game.