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Businesses The Almighty Buck Entertainment Games

January Game Sales Explode, Wii Dominates 478

Posted by Zonk from the wii're-in-the-money dept.
njkid1, as he does from time to time, passed us a link to a story on the GameDaily site. Today they're discussing the January NPD numbers for the games industry. In short, they're terrific. Software sales totaled $549 million for the month, up a staggering 53 percent over last year. Hardware sales were brisk as well, with the Wii selling around 436,000 units. Trailing behind were Microsoft and Sony, with 360 hitting 294,000 units sold and the PS3 selling 244,000 units. January had an extra week, which resulted in 'inflated' sales, but even after normalizing the data things were tremendous for the games industry in a month where there's normally a post-holiday slump.
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January Game Sales Explode, Wii Dominates More

January Game Sales Explode, Wii Dominates

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  • Troubling for Sony (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Itchyeyes ( 908311 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @03:50PM (#18099944) Homepage
    Sales wise, Sony has a problem. They've sold fewer units than either of their competitors and they're selling them at a slower rate, which means that gulf will only increase. If this continues, more and more franchises that were exclusive to Sony will move to become multi platform. Assassin's Creed, GTA, and VF have already done so. The PS3 may be a great system with great games, but from a sales perspective their situation is dire.

    If Nintendo keeps numbers like this up though, the PS3/360 debate becomes moot. They would be the undisputed sales leader by the middle of next year. Even the PS2 rarely broke 400,000 units during a non-holiday-season month. And who knows what they Wii sales figures would be if they could keep up with demand.

    • Re:Troubling for Sony (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Lane.exe ( 672783 ) * on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @03:54PM (#18099978) Homepage
      Most games I've seen on Gamespot and IGN that I am interest in are listed as coming out for the PS3 have X360 versions as well (Armored Core 4, Bladestorm, etc.). In fact, if Square will move Final Fantasy XIII to the X360 (or even the Wii) then I would have absolutely zero reason to buy a PS3. A developer shift to other platforms would devastate Sony in the console market.

      • Re:Troubling for Sony (Score:4, Interesting)

        by dcam ( 615646 ) <david AT uberconcept DOT com> on Thursday February 22, 2007 @12:47AM (#18105254) Homepage
        This is doubly troubling for Sony. The developers are likely to build cross platform games, which means they won't be taking full advantage of the cell processor. In other words most games will look similar on the PS3 and Xbox 360, which removes one of the major advantages of the PS3.

    • Re:Troubling for Sony (Score:5, Insightful)

      by jackharrer ( 972403 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @04:03PM (#18100102)
      Sony thought that PS2 will sell PS3. And that would happened if not that they put prices well over the limit.
      Wii is a winner because people CAN afford it. Exactly the same happened with "inferior" Nintendo DS. Strange that Sony didn't learn the lesson.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Sacrelicious2 ( 1064224 )
      As far as the 'low' sales figure for the xbox 360, remember, unlike the wii/ps3, it has already been out for about 16 months, compared to 3-4 months. The fact that the Xbox 360 is STILL outselling the PS3 is quite amazing
      • I don't think that the 360's numbers are all that low. Outside of Nov. and Dec. 200k-300k units is about what a console would normally sell. By that, the PS3's numbers aren't even that low. At this point in the game though, it's not enough for Sony to be selling the average amount. They're behind, and they need to make up ground. At this point they're still losing it.
    • Nintendo might be by the middle of next year, but how about 4 years from now? It's way too early to be predicting a victory for any company, or defeat for that matter.

      • Re:Troubling for Sony? Doubtful (Score:4, Insightful)

        by tuffy ( 10202 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @04:14PM (#18100274) Homepage Journal
        If Nintendo's ahead by the middle of next year, they're going to stay there. Console sales are a matter of momentum. Selling a lot of consoles attracts developers, which make the console more attractive to customers, which sells more consoles. While it's certainly possible for one to come from far behind and take the lead with some killer app that appears long after launch, I can't remember any instances of that happening.

        • Re:Troubling for Sony? Doubtful (Score:4, Insightful)

          by LiquidCoooled ( 634315 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @05:44PM (#18101514) Homepage Journal
          Who says there can only be one winner?

          I think the Wii is something entirely different and if done correctly Sony could still retain their core gamer generation market who like fast action zillions of polygons and l337 skills whilst Nintendo will exist happily with their more family oriented gaming set.

          Its capturing an entire class of gamers which just wouldn't even have purchased a console before, its a similar story with the DS - you have people playing on these things that wouldn't even consider another game system.

          I cannot ever imagine my parents owning any playstation or xbox, but I think Nintendo might just have themselves another sale based upon their reaction to our Wii when they played last night.

        • I don't think anyone can predict exactly which console will be the most dominant (short of the DS and it's successor wink wink nudge nudge) in a year and a half's time from now. These figures showing the wii so far out in front have to get under Sony's collar, and were probably part of their 'worst case scenario' or something like that amounting to miscalculating their launch and the power of Nintendo to surge ahead in the initial leg of this race. It's all going to come down to titles, in the long run, if

      • Re:Troubling for Sony? Doubtful (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Itchyeyes ( 908311 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @04:24PM (#18100396) Homepage
        It might be to early to predict the exact outcome, but the positioning in this first year is crucial for all companies involved. If Sony can't reach a critical mass with the PS3 fast enough, then developers will stop making exclusive games since they can't make a profit without a large enough install base. As I've stated we've already seen this with VF and GTA. Without exclusive games, the incentive to buy a PS3 diminishes and their sales lag even further behind the competitors. As sales lag more, even more exclusives flee the console to recoup their investments on other systems. It's circular. It's exponentially more difficult to reclaim ground you've lost than it is to keep ground you've already made. At this point, I don't think Sony's fate is written in stone. The margins are still narrow enough that they could come out on top. However, it's going to require a significant price drop or a plethora of excellent exclusive games to regain the ground that they have already lost, neither of which is on the horizon any time soon.

      • Publishers (Score:4, Insightful)

        by HappySqurriel ( 1010623 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @04:31PM (#18100492)
        Something that a lot of Sony fans miss is that publishers hold the purse strings (and determine what games get made) and the only performance they care about is sales performance. Certainly, the outcome can not be determined after 3 months but (unless something changes soon) things will snowball out of controll and the PS3 will be in serious trouble.

        The fact is that (if the Wii continues to sell like it has been) the Wii will be the best selling platform in the World by Christmas 2007, and probably will be the best selling platform in every region by Christmas 2008; if this happens every publisher who has worldwide interests (think every major publisher) will focus on the Wii by Christmas 2007, and every publisher will be focusing on the Wii by Christmas 2008.
      • 4 years from now, we'll be thinking about the next generation of consoles. PS2 was announced in 1999 and released in 2000. the original xbox was announced in 2000 and released in 2001 (the xbox 360 was released 4 years after the original xbox, and the PS3 was released 6 years after the PS2, which didn't come far after the original playstation... and the gamecube was released in 2001, 5 years before the wii). 4 years from now, there'll be at least an announcement for the next generation of consoles. by t

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by k_187 ( 61692 )
          No, I think in 4 years we'll see announcements by Nintendo for Wii2 or whatever. I don't think that MS and Sony will have the ability to push out another update in 4 years. Nintendo has that breathing room for hardware upgrades.

        • Re:Troubling for Sony? Doubtful (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Beardo the Bearded ( 321478 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @06:31PM (#18102152)
          That's exactly it for me.

          I want a game that's fun. I don't really care about how it looks. If there's a great storyline with a reasonable interface, that's fun.

          It's got to be a "droppable" game, too. I don't want to have to run around for another 30-60 minutes trying to find a save point. That stops being fun pretty damned fast. It's one of the reasons I've cut down on playing video games and moved to mostly playing board games.

          My wife and I are getting a Wii next December, once all the plebeians have found the bugs. Sure, it doesn't have the HD power of the PS3. Who cares? Nintendo decided to stop chasing the eye-candy tech and go back to the core of games.

          Games should be fun.

          If you want pretty, then watch a movie. Oh, wait. You are, since the ads and the box art are usually stills or pre-rendered video that looks nothing like the actual game.

    • Re:Troubling for Sony (Score:5, Funny)

      by TheRaven64 ( 641858 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @04:59PM (#18100846) Journal

      Sony has a problem. They've sold fewer units than either of their competitors and they're selling them at a slower rate
      It's not that bad. They make a loss on each one they sell, so the fact that they are selling fewer of them means they aren't making as much of a loss as they could be...

    • Not Troubling for Sony (Score:4, Interesting)

      by fistfullast33l ( 819270 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @05:29PM (#18101282) Homepage Journal
      This is not troubling for Sony - let's check Xbox 360 last year at this time. Gamasutra [gamasutra.com] reports that last January 2006 Xbox 360 sold approximately 250,000 units, about the same as PS3 this year. That's without a competitor with an excellent games library or a competitor which is the newest fad and phenomenon that outsold you 2:1. In fact, this January the Xbox only sold 40,000 more than last January. And that's without the supply issue that last year's sales displayed. So basically, the 360 isn't exactly red hot either. If the 360 was so amazing, it'd be killing the PS3. As it is, it's barely holding on.

      • Re:Not Troubling for Sony (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Itchyeyes ( 908311 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @06:11PM (#18101922) Homepage
        People make this comparison a lot, and I don't think it applies. The 360 had pretty bad launch, but they didn't have to have a good launch. They launched in a vacuum with a whole year to get their crap together. They didn't have to worry about exclusives fleeing to other consoles or pressure to drop the price. They were the only game in town. That's why they did it so soon.

        The PS3 is in an entirely different environment. It doesn't matter if it's selling better than the 360 did at launch. It's not competing against the 360 one year ago. It's competing against the 360 (and the Wii) now. It has to sell better than the 360 is selling now, not last year. If two people are racing, and one is given a head start, it doesn't make much sense for the second person to say, "well I'm running faster than he was when he started out". It might be a nice consolation, but he's still going to lose the race. The PS3 has a lot of ground to make up and they're not doing it. In fact they're losing ground.

        Sony is in a bad position. They need to make some corrections to their plan. A price drop is the most obvious, but a good library would help too. It can't just be a good library though. It has to be a better library than the 360's, and they have to remember that that's a moving target. The Titanic is sinking and Sony's on deck playing classical music. All this spinning the numbers and looking at things through rose colored glasses isn't helping. It's just keeping people from seeing the problems.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by dank zappingly ( 975064 )
      I guess I don't see it the way you do. I would argue that for a $600 console with one exclusive title worth playing, it is selling pretty darn well. After they iron out the bugs and more titles start to come out, I think that they'll easily overtake Microsoft. Although the Blu Ray format is virtually worthless right now, as more people get HDTV's and more Blu Ray's are released the feature will be more valuable to consumers. The system is supposed to be able to last for a while. The 360 has been out for
  • The reason this month wasn't a slump is because people are still excited about the new consoles (whether it be Wii or PS3). I bet February will be just as strong!

    That doesn't mean it isn't good news for the industry though, but I just thought it was a little obvious. However, it's interesting to see that Nintendo seems to be making more units than PS3, or PS3 isn't selling all of their units they make.

  • A story in itself... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by KingSkippus ( 799657 ) * on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @03:55PM (#18099986) Homepage Journal

    Hardware sales were brisk as well, with the Wii selling around 436,000 units. Trailing behind were Microsoft and Sony, with 360 hitting 294,000 units sold and the PS3 selling 244,000 units.

    This in itself is good story. Keep in mind that Sony PS3's and Microsoft Xbox 360's are widely available and on stores shelves everywhere, while the Wii's are still in short supply. In spite of that, the Wii is still outselling both. If you're Microsoft, you can always claim that it's because the 360 has been out for a year, and it's total sales are (of course) much higher at this point.

    But if you're Sony, that's just got to hurt.

    /still wants a Wii...

    • Re:A story in itself... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Leviance ( 1001065 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @04:08PM (#18100180)
      Yeah, the biggest story is the differential between the 360 and the ps3. Sony can't be liking that the gulf between the ps3 their self-proclaimed "competitor" is getting even wider.

      On a positive note, the PS3 has passed up the 3DO in sales (*thumbs up!*)

      Another hidden story, from the article:
      "And the PS2 also continues to outperform the PS3; Sony's six-year-old system sold 299K units."
    • I wouldn't call the PS3 'Widely' available, it occasionally see a unit or two in stores in my area but it's not as available as say the 360. (it's prob as available as say the DS which is pretty damn hard to find for a year+ old system)

      • Let me know if you want one. They've got pallets of them at my local Fry's. (Atlanta, GA)

        • HELL NO! (assuming you are talking about the ps3 and not the DS):D

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ivan256 ( 17499 )
      So your comment essentially translates to:

      Keep in mind all this irrelevant useless data. The result is the Wii is in the lead.

      Here's the hard truth: Games sell consoles. Not brands, not power, not fanboys. Games.

      There are no compelling games for the PS3 yet, so it is not selling. End of story.

      The only "news" on the availability front is that Nintendo can't meet demand after their system has been on the market for three months. It's not news because it means demand is high (that's an acceptable excuse the fi

      • Re:A story in itself... (Score:5, Interesting)

        by AKAImBatman ( 238306 ) * <akaimbatman AT gmail DOT com> on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @05:24PM (#18101224) Homepage Journal

        It's not news because it means demand is high (that's an acceptable excuse the first month and a half). It's news because it means Nintendo has dropped the ball.

        When was the last time Nintendo sold 500,000 consoles per month during a non-holiday season in just North America? Dude, that is a LOT of consoles. So many that the Wii has sold almost half as many units as the XBox 360 has sold in its entire lifetime. So many that Nintendo has already sold about 1/4 of the units that the Gamecube sold in its entire lifetime.

        Think about that. 1/4 the number of Gamecubes in 1/4 of a year. Wow. I'd hate to be the guy who management is leaning on to improve Nintendo's production capacity.

        • When was the last time Nintendo sold 500,000 consoles per month during a non-holiday season in just North America? Dude, that is a LOT of consoles.

          And here's the fact you don't see in the press--combined with the sales of the DS and GBA, that makes Nintendo the #1 console manufacturer in the world.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Cheapy ( 809643 )
      Strange, all the game store around here have had full shelves of Wii consoles for the past few weeks.

      They've also had full shelves of PS3s for the past...month and a half.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Rycross ( 836649 )
        I ask the gamestop around where I live every month or so what the status of Wiis are, and it seems like you still have to be there when they open the boxes where I live. They have had PS3s available in the last month that I know of, but I'm waiting at least until end of 2007 for that purchase... probably until a price drop or two hit.

  • Wii Games Need More Selection (Score:5, Insightful)

    by SlashdotOgre ( 739181 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @04:01PM (#18100066) Journal
    I was fortunate enough to get a Wii at launch (hour and a half in line at Costco), but I have become someone disappointed at the selection of games thus far. In my opinion there's too many mini-games (Wii Sports, Wii Play, Rayman, Wario, Mario Party, etc.), and not enough full fledged ones like Zelda. Now I'm not saying the mini-games are horrible (they're excellent for when you have multiple people over), however they are starting to make the Wii feel more like a gimmick.

    I picked up Madden over Christmas, and I was quite impressed; in fact it's the first Madden that's impressed me since the 16 bit era (I always liked the NFL 2K/ESPN sports more). I wish more sports titles come out and are able to execute as well. I'm definitely interested in a dedicated tennis/golf game, and I'm a bit concerned that I haven't heard of any coming out. I hope it's not due to the lack of accuracy of the wiimote. The Wii has a ton of potential, I just hope the Wii lives up to it.

    • Re:Wii Games Need More Selection (Score:4, Insightful)

      by AbsoluteXyro ( 1048620 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @04:16PM (#18100288)

      I agree completely, but buying any console at launch is going to leave you feeling the bite of scarce game variety. When a console has only been out a number of months you can count on one hand, there just hasn't been time for the breadth and depth of software we like to choose from to reach the market.

      Right now is a ripe time to pick up a 360 however, I'd imagine that has something to do with the stronger-than-PS3 sales. For many, I'm betting the marginal utility of a PS3 is far smaller than the price. That makes the 360 look pretty tasty to those in the market for a more traditional graphics powerhouse gaming machine.

      Things could be looking different give a year or so. As is always, only time will tell.

      For now though, I wouldn't want to be Sony.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Sparr0 ( 451780 )
      I think the mini games are a sign of the amount of time that is being spent exploring the possibilities of the new controller. A lot of game ideas that couldn't have been proven (or not) without a lot of R&D are now obviously feasible or not based on a single mini game.

      I also think that most people are ignoring the majority of games for the Wii due to gaming preferences... If you only like sports and zelda then youre missing out on quite a few driving/racing games.

      IMHO, when online play starts working
    • Yeah, but I sort of expected this to happen. Try looking at it a year ago from a publisher's point of view. Nintendo (who's had dropping marketshare for a couple generations) is releasing a new console with significantly inferior graphics capabilities, and an entirely new control mechanism that is not only untested, but will also make cross-platform games more difficult... you have no idea how this console is going to do in the marketplace. It'll either sell like hotcakes, or it'll totally bomb. Committing

  • The killer stat (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Hawthorne01 ( 575586 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @04:05PM (#18100118)
    "Wii's total software sales reached almost a million units at 977,225, while total PS3 software sales came in at 662, 847."

    Sony loses money on each PS/3, in the hopes that they'll make it up with licensing fees from the games they sell.

    Nintendo doesn't. AFAIK, they've yet to sell any of their consoles at a loss in an effort to gain marketshare.

    So Sony is losing money to Nintendo on the front end (hardware) and the back end (software).

    That's gonna hurt...

  • Hopefully... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by KenshoDude ( 1001993 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @04:09PM (#18100182)
    With the Wii's success, one could only hope that developers will start paying more attention to gameplay innovation rather than graphical innovation. I think the success of Nintendo's new console underscores a revolution that has been waiting to take place in the gaming industry: an emphasis on playability and fun over impressive visuals. Now, if we could just combine next-gen visuals with next-gen gameplay -- a gamers' nirvana!

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by evilbessie ( 873633 )
      I think Nintendo have it right, not everybody has a HDTV just yet, but they do have a TV and the Wii is by all accounts FUN for all the family. So By using old tech comparitively they have developed a system people want. And by not spunking all that money on HD graphics this generation they can spend the time and money developing the console for a Wii 2 with HD graphics in 4 or 5 years time when more people will have the capability to use them to the full potential. Meanwhile the 360 and PS3 spent huge amo

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Overly Critical Guy ( 663429 )
      Well, it was inevitable that the usefulness of multimedia capabilities would plateau after a certain point, and some of us have been publicly expecting it to happen soon. There's not enough return on investment for a game to have high-quality HD graphics when the gameplay is the same or crippled. Look at the backlash against Oblivion. I'm tired of playing games with the exact same gamepad. After getting used to the Wii remote, my hands feel weird being cramped together on a gamepad.

      I think this is also

  • The most telling number (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @04:41PM (#18100598)
    The most interesting number to me in this report is that the Wii beat out the real 800 pound gorilla, Sony's PS2. While I've been a proponent of not calling off the console race until after the next holiday season, I'm surprised that the Wii is already outselling the PS2. If they keep this up over the next couple of months, I'll be ready to declare the Wii the winner and champion of this round of console sales. Sony has yet to move more PS3s off the shelves than PS2s for a single month. Not even the XBOX 360 has managed to outsell the PS2 on a regular basis despite being out for over a year and having what now amounts to a good catalog of games.

    February's numbers should be interesting.

  • They're dominating even more in Japan (Score:5, Interesting)

    by FleaPlus ( 6935 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @04:46PM (#18100692) Journal
    From Kotaku:

    http://kotaku.com/gaming/nintendo/hardware-wars-ds -wii-continue-to-print-yen-237481.php [kotaku.com]

    Here are the current hardware sales in the land of the rising sun for the week of February 4th to the 11th.

            * Nintendo DS Lite - 201,177
            * Wii - 78,550
            * PSP - 32,175
            * PLAYSTATION 3 - 23,431
            * PlayStation 2 - 16,033
            * Xbox 360 - 4,811
            * Game Boy Advance SP - 980
            * Game Boy micro - 884

    I rather like the comment which noted the following:

    Wii Sales > PSP sales + PS3 sales + PS2 sales + 360 sales + GBA sales + Micro sales

    DS Sales > Wii Sales + PSP sales + PS3 sales + PS2 sales + 360 sales + GBA sales + Micro sales

  • It is far more important how dramatic the drop in xBox360 and PS3 sales was.

    In other words, those stacks of boxes you see in gameshops are not an illusion, but just the tip of the stockroom iceberg.

    Now if I could only find a Wii LAN adapter and WiiPlay ... at least I am starting to see one or two Wii consoles at various stores in Seattle, but they tend to disappear quickly. Can't even get the LAN adapter or Wii Play if I drive to the store when they say they have them - gone by the time I get there.

    Guess p

    • Wii LAN Adapter (Score:3, Informative)

      by zCyl ( 14362 )

      Now if I could only find a Wii LAN adapter

      You can get identical functionality with certain Non-Nintendo LAN adapters. [nintendo.com] As the thread describes, it appears that you simply need one with matching vid/pid numers, and there appear to be several matching brands.

      (I have used one of these with my Wii, and it works flawlessly, but at less expense and with fewer supply shortages.)

  • PS3/360 vs WII (Score:3, Insightful)

    by king-manic ( 409855 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @06:08PM (#18101864)
    It should be noted that while Wii is smacking around the PS3/360, it may not actually be competing for the same customers. Wii's target a "casual" gamer. Who enojoyed playing it at an earlier adopters hosue wante done for themselves. PS3/360 target the existing market. Generally gamers will get 2. I have a Ps2/GC, the last gen I had a PS1/N64. We might see the core gamer market go Ps3/Wii or 360/wii.

    Casual gamers are likely to have a lower attach rate for games because it takes them longer to go through them. Mario Galaxy might only last a gamer a weekend but a casual three months. So we may see a 3:1:1 install base and still have PS3/360 get more exclusives because they can still sell more games. Hard to say. I myself spend between $100-$225 (a new games costs $69.99 CND for the ps2 on avg) CND a mo for games. I'm not sure what a casual gamer will spend.

  • My Perspective (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Riquez ( 917372 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @07:31PM (#18102830) Homepage
    I own a PS3, an xBox360 & a Wii. I also play them on a 720p TV. Here is my perspective...

    I bought the PS3 first (11th Nov 2006) & was pretty impressed from day one. Of the few games I owned back then, I felt that gameplay & atmosphere was superior to that on the xBox360 (that I had played at friends houses)
    When I talk about "gameplay & atmosphere" I mean this - the way that a game can draw you in, inspire you to play, leave you wanting more, a compelling story with rewarding/challenging gameplay.
    I consider Resistance to have a moderate amount of this, CoD3 lots, Halo very little.

    Some months later I bought an xBox360. I was disappointed at range of games available on the PS3 & their slow appearance. I expect this to pick up in the next few months, but at the moment only MGS has me drooling.
    I was pleasantly surprised with the xBox360. I picked up a few decent games right away & at the moment I play the xBox360 much more that the other two consoles. Deadrising is fiendishly difficult, but very addictive & compelling. It even inspired me to watch "Dawn of the Dead" on a saturday morning before diving into some zombie chopping action.
    xBox live is a great feature, despite my previous opinion that it wasnt something I would use - the demos etc are a real bonus.
    My 2 small gripes about the xBox360 are the subscription fee for online play & the noise of the xbox fans. It is very noisy compared to the silent PS3.
    Otherwise, I put the xBox360 above the PS3. More games & more fun. But I wouldnt rule out the PS3 yet, I think there will still be some nice things to come.

    The Wii was a bit of a novelty buy. I didnt expect it to form a big part of my gaming life - & I was right. The innovative control system is indeed inspired & great fun, but the games are just time fillers. Wii sports is, erm, well not much more than a demo. I can see it being nice for children aged 3-8, but beyond that it's not really for serious games.
    I have this great Marble game though, you are a marble & you roll around on various floating mazes to reach the goal. This game really does get addictive & I often play it for 10 mins or so to warm up before getting into some real hi-def arcade action on the xBox360 or PS3.
    The Wii is selling well. It's cheap. I put this down to: people don't look beyond the price for their purchase / or / they are crap at games

  • What Sony needs (Score:3, Interesting)

    by kahrytan ( 913147 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @08:17PM (#18103294)
    Is a new PS3 console.

      Remove the hard drive and bluray drive. Replace blu-ray with a Sony DVD drive and make the HDD optional add on if possible.

      If Sony removed those two components with lower cost solutions, they could knock off $100-$200. They could easily sell a PS3 at $299-$399 instead. That is a much better price point. PS3 could compete with both 360 and Wii better.

  • 'Dominates'? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by atomicstrawberry ( 955148 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @09:46PM (#18103996)
    I don't think it's fair to say that Wii is 'dominating'. They are playing for a different core audience (while there is crossover between 'casual' and 'hardcore' gamers, they are not the same market). In terms of sales they've got a leg up for January of about 40% over MS and 45% over Sony, but it's worth keeping in mind that the Wii retails for close to 40% less than 360 and 60% less than PS3. Anyone can flog a product that's less than half the price of the competition. Additionally there's a massive amount of media hype surrounding it, which won't be sustained. There is continued demand because they were unable to manufacture enough over Christmas - people who missed out on one to put under the tree are likely still trying to grab one. Finally, Nintendo systems have always sold well out of the blocks. Wake me up in six months and we'll see if they've kept their momentum. They're going to need some substantial third-party support too, something which they've really shown no signs of having at all. The hardware sales aren't nearly as important as the software sales, and on that front Wii only had one of the top 5, and it wasn't close to the top-seller for the month (Lost Planet).

    Personally, I'm skeptical as to whether Nintendo can keep the same momentum going given the lack of software in the pipeline. And additionally, as a gamer I hope that everyone is dead wrong about them dominating the market. I'm not a casual gamer, and while a few fun gimmicky toy games like Wii sports are great, I would die if everything was like that. For me, the games Nintendo seem to be pushing are like candy - they taste great, but they burn away pretty quickly and in the end you can't sustain yourself on them.

  • Sony Australia tries "Sweeteners" to soften blow (Score:3, Informative)

    by Guzzitza ( 1000386 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @11:11PM (#18104650)
    The PR campaign is gearing up here in Aus for the launch, theres an article in todays paper trying to tell me how Sony is giving us Aussies special treatment by giving us a free Bond DVD and free download of GT:HD (both things that as far as I was aware were available to all regions)

    FTA: The launch of Sony's PlayStation 3 next month will be accompanied by a host of freebies that Sony hopes will take the sting out of the game console's $999 price tag. The James Bond film Casino Royale will be offered free to the first 20,000 buyers who register their PS3 online. Additionally the game Gran Turismo: HD will be available to all PS3 buyers as a free download from the PlayStation Network.

    Article: http://www.smh.com.au/news/games/sony-unveils-play station-sweetners/2007/02/22/1171733923601.html [smh.com.au]

  • Wii had better improve quickly (Score:3, Interesting)

    by nbahi15 ( 163501 ) on Thursday February 22, 2007 @01:22AM (#18105454) Homepage
    Wii has issues in my opinion. The wii is novelty and if doesn't get some decent games soon it is screwed. I already prefer my Demo of Gran Turismo HD (PS3) to anything I have played on my Wii. Initially I was sucked in by the novel game play but somewhere around the 60th hour of Zelda I was done with it. I only enjoy playing with the weather globe at this point. The key issue with the Wii is that most of the people that come over and play with it want to play Super Mario Brothers. That is not exactly the group of people that buy $60 games by the cart load.

    So my feeling is that PS3, and 360 may lose the early rounds this year, but based upon the kind of games on the gamecube, the wii games so far, and my boredom with controller, Nintendo should be moderately successful but never enjoy numeric dominance of the market. PS3 has the best platform, and once it gets some more games under its belt will begin to dominate the game market for yet another generation. 360 will come in second, once again hampered by the kind of dumb design decisions Microsoft makes, and Nintendo will be the console that kids and parents like but never buy enough games to matter. But Nintendo likes its niche, so I can't say that it is a bad thing for them.

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