Thanks to the Wii, Nintendo now leads the console war for the first time in 17 years and the company has surpassed Sony in market capitalisation for the first time.
Sales of Nintendo’s incredibly successful Wii have now surpassed sales of Microsoft’s Xbox 360, according to a report published by the
Financial Times.
Consumers across the world have bought nine million Nintendo Wiis, 8.9 million Xbox 360s and 3.7 million PlayStation 3 consoles.
Thus, despite Microsoft’s year-long head start, Nintendo’s innovative take on the next-generation console has led to it re-taking a position in the market that it last held 17 years ago with the Nintendo and Super Nintendo consoles.
Following the end of the 16-bit era, Sony has dominated the market with the PlayStation brand, which originally launched in Japan in 1994, before moving over to Europe and North America in 1995.
One analyst in Tokyo said that “The fact of the matter is that, despite the Xbox’s earlier launch in November 2005, it only sells in two markets – Europe and the US.
“Japan is home turf to Sony and Nintendo, so the Xbox is not a player at all. In contrast, Nintendo has been selling well in all three major markets.”
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36 Comments
Discuss in the forums ReplyAmazing how a console with so few notable games has sold so well.
It is a good system, and yes my Gran has had a go. :D
I have one and it's great fun when you have a group of people round enjoying the novelty of the Wii remotes, etc.
But as far as true gaming fun goes, I don't rate it that high as I never use the Wii on my own -- it's either the PS3 or the X360 (or the PC!).
So I can see why it's sold very well: entirely new UI which makes its fun and easy for non-gaming/hardcore people to use, socially-centric games like Wii Sports & Wario and is also significantly cheaper than the other two. But I couldn't see it being based on it being the "best" console out there. Not even for a second. It simply has mass market appeal.
EDIT: Woops that was a bit big
Direct link
Power and hardcore ability are nothing without the ability to have some fun with a console. This is what the Wii has in spades. I'd buy one without hesitation if we didn't have one at our uni house already. It's a great little console tbh.
dont forget that 50$ for a game is cheap compared to other consoles....
It's not really possible though, not with the hardware, and it doesn't matter anyway, I think Wii level of graphics are perfectly adequate, although I'm not complaining how Mass Effect is shaping up in the graphics department.
look at Resident Evil 4 for the game cube
But everyone has their Wii and Wii sports, and they will be, if not already be getting board of that demo and are looking for games.
Im enjoying my 360 alot and I own 15 games in the 9 months of ownership and there are still loads of games I want that are out and alot more coming out this year. I cant keep up and its a shame the Wii aint like that at the moment.
Im sure it will have a huge libary after a couple of years but its slow getting there.
The Wiis only letdown is the lack of games on the system at the moment but i sit patiently as i look forward to a hardcore tennis game to other sports and adventure games to play.
The problem with it is at the moment the games are too far between and thin. Theres only Zelda which is the only "great" game on the console. Im waiting for super smash brawl but even that can have limited appeal. Where are the adventure games or other great games to look forward to? I want metal gear solid and final fantasy and hell even Gears of War on my wii but that wont happen anytime soon unfortunately.
I read an interesting article somewhere where one person called on the big 3 (nintendo, sony and microsoft) to make one console together so developers can market to a wider audience instead of a niche. Its an interesting idea since if there was ONE universal console - all the games could be on there and thus the prices could be cheaper too, the sales would be higher and everyone pretty much wins.
I just want better games on the Wii now, if that doesnt happen or looks to happen i will be looking at other consoles - il give it another year or two though since im patient.
9 months of ownership yes but it's been out almost 2 years now so it's no suprise it has lots of good games.
DS took ages to get going but look at it now, many great games, Zelda out next month etc.
Wii has Resident evil 4, super paper mario, mario football, metroid prime 3 (usa anyway), Zelda twilight princess big brain academy, cooking mama, trauma center, rayman raving rabbids, sonic and the secret rings.
Sure they're not all big epic games, but I've heard good things about all of them, and even if they're not games you'd buy personally, they are games that gamers are buying and playing, to say the Wii doesn't have any games worth buying after playing Wii sports is just completely untrue. I realise some are ports but gamers are buying them, hell I bought RE4 despite owning it on Cube, it's such a great game and the wii controls are brilliant.
Wii games Coming out this year: Mario galaxy, Smash bros brawl (not sure about Europe), Resident evil umbrella chronicles, zack and wiki, beautiful katamari (think its out 07, could be wrong), my sims, Table tennis.
The games could be a fair bit better yes, but hell it's not even a year old yet so I'm giving it the chance it deserves, just like the DS I'm very sure a great flow of quality games will come, and with Paper Mario being out today, I believe it's already started!
Also several games worthy of purchase on the Virtual console!
Also the Wii is a dream for all those animation movie spin off games as the graphics arn't demanding and the markets are much more suited to the console and movies than with the other contenders.
To be honest I still think the price is too high and many feel that way but it is the 'cheaper' of the consoles so demanding kids get that from their parents and older audiences get it for the social 'fun' aspects
The wii also is the perfect party console, it is easy to switch off with other people and is a snap to learn. None of these crazy button combos involving 3 mini joysticks and 18 buttons. It's nice having a console that non-gamers can learn to play in just a few minutes.
If I want amazing visuals then I go to my PC, as it is they blow all of the consoles out of the water. If I want to kill some time with out getting too involved or play a game with some friends then its all about the wii (though I am thinking about picking up an xbox 360.)
I'm sure there's some other good stuff out there, but it just doesn't greatly appeal to me. Largely because I'm just not doing much gaming anymore.
Actually, if someone is still looking for one, make an offer. I've got the console with four remotes, two nunchucks, classic controller, several virtual console titles, and a component out cable (along with Zelda, Wii Play+Sports, and COD3).
I'm certainly in the bracket of not having bought many games, since I've only gotten twilight princess!
Basically I'm doing a bit here and there on the first one when the mood strikes me, and will buy more when I finish it, unlike the PC where I have honestly stacks of games I've not played/much/completed (When you get them for 2/3 for £10 or relatively recent for £9.99 the impetus to finish isn't quite what it was when you have to spend £30 I've found)
Edit add (half the post I forgot to make in the first try ;p)
My to-buy list going on my favourite types and reviews is now :
RE4
Trauma center: second opinion
Super paper mario
Metroid prime : corruption
Super mario galaxy
Half of them not out in the UK yet, sadly, though Its hard to find more than the occasional oddball of a bad review for any of them. (Like with RE4 the last time I looked at metacritic there were 29 reviews in the 92% - 100% category and a single guy who gave it 70%, who made clear in the text of the review that he absolutely hated the wii outright and had to try pretty hard to slate RE4 ;p)
I consider myself a gamer, and the fried graphics cards and cpus left in my wake attest to my desire for good graphics, but we all know that good graphics dont make a game good. The opposite is also true. Some of the funnest games I have ever played are considered " bad graphics ", GTA 2 springs immediately to mind. Near the end of a long lan party, my buds and I popped this in, we had more fun trying to run eachother over then we did playing all manner of " nice graphics " games.
To all those who say that there are no good games for the Wii, all I can say is that there are exponentially more right now than on the " superior console ". Yes I have played it, and no I wasnt amazed.
So basically it's like the Volkswagen (people's car) lol
I have young kids, so I will probably buy a Wii, as there seems more kids games for it.
For other games, I have 2 PCs in the house, which I use for RPGs, shooters etc for myself.
My son currently has a Gamecube, (he's only 7) and he enjoys playing on that and the games are dirt cheap.
After saying that, I will probably buy a Wiii towards the end of the year or early next year.
yup, Volkskonsole (peoples console..) leave the geek market to the others, target the mass market... it seems to work out
you ask for worthwhile games then say they don't appeal to you and that your not doing much gaming anymore? :?
Theres a few games out worth owning:
Super Paper mario
Resident evil 4
Metroid prime 3: corruption
trauma center
mario strikers charged
and several decent Virtual console games
Volkskonsole probably would have been a better name. :) But the idea does work. Personally, I can't justify paying $4-600 for systems that just do the same thing as last gen, only purtier, but coming up with $250 for a new gaming experience is more fesable. It appears that I am not the only one who thinks this way, creating a good sized base market for the wii. To top it off, as sales continue, more third party developers will be looking at the Wii, making the possibility of bringing more "hardcore" games to the console more likely. The whole concept is a rarity in the business world called forward thinking.
The bowling is great fun (I can even get my wife to play it for multiple games and she sneers at my PC gaming) plus the two player boxing is hilarious. Set this up if your having a party or a few folk over, crack open a couple of beers and what a giggle you have. Just make sure that anything breakable is well out of the way and get the silicone skins for the remotes, it helps keep the sticky stains off the white plastic and with any accidental spilages.