Posted on 05/21/2007 9:22:25 AM PDT by HamiltonJay
Wii on winning spree, scores fourth consecutive win over rivals by Shubha Krishnappa - May 19, 2007 - 2 comments
Among the trio of next generation gaming consoles, Nintendo has emerged as the numero uno in April for the fourth consecutive month after selling 360,000 of the popular video game devices in the United States, repeatedly outshining both its rivals Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 in the US video game consoles market.
After attaining the top position in the first three months of the year, Nintendo has once again performed exceptionally well by selling nearly four times as many Wiis as Sony sold PlayStation 3s and more than twice as many as Microsoft did Xbox 360s, a market research firm, NPD Group Inc. said.
According to fresh sales results provided by NPD, US gamers bought 360,000 units of the wii console last month, making it the best-selling video game console in the country.
The more-powerful systems, Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 lagged behind in the fierce battle for dominance in the booming gaming consoles market by moving 82,000 and 174,000 units, respectively.
Nintendo sold 436,000 Wii video game consoles in January, while Xbox 360 sold 294,000 and Sony's PlayStation 3 sold 244,000 units.
In February, US gamers bought 335,000 Wii consoles and 228,000 of Microsoft's Xbox 360, while Sony's PlayStation 3 consoles managed 127,000 units.
In March, Nintendo shipped 259,000 Wii video game consoles, while Microsoft and Sony managed 199,000 and 130,000 units, respectively.
In the hand-held category, Nintendo DS remained the most popular game system of any kind in April, with impressive sales of 471,000 units, ahead of PlayStation Portable, or PSP, with 183,000 units. Nintendo DS is a portable game player that is still selling briskly more than two years after its introduction.
Although, Sony's last-generation PlayStation 2 has outshined Xbox 360 in April by selling 194,000 units, but compared to its last three months’ sales data PS2 did not do well this month.
Sony's 7-year-old gaming console moved 299,000 machines in January 295,000 in February and 280,000 units in March.
After reigning as the champ of hardware sales in United States, Nintendo ruled the software game charts too, with the top four best-selling games belonging to the company.
Games for Nintendo DS, took the top two spots, followed by two games for the Wii.
The four Nintendo titles are: ‘Pokemon Diamond’ and ‘Pokemon Pearl’ for the DS that sold 1.04 million and 712,000 units respectively. ‘Super Paper Mario’ for the Wii came in third with 352,000 games sold in April, while ‘Wii Play With Remote’ recorded 249,000 sales during the month.
"Nothing is more valuable in the entertainment world than an evergreen franchise," says Reggie Fils-Aime, president and COO, Nintendo of America. "These new Pokémon titles have cemented their place alongside the most enduring intellectual properties of the book, music and movie industries. And that appeal will expand even further with the introduction of Pokémon Battle Revolution to our Wii home console next month."
The overall market of video game hardware and software came up with booming results.
Total U.S. sales of video games and hardware reached $838.6 million, a 20% increase from April 2006 ($699 million), according to figures sent Friday from the NPD Group.
However, the sales were down from $1.1 billion in March.
After observing the fresh NPD sales data, it seems that consumers still reacting well to lower cost consoles. Launched in November last year, Nintendo’s Wii console retails for $US250, while PS2 costs only $129.
Xbox 360 and the PS3 start at $299 and $599, respectively, while their high-end versions are priced at $US400 and $US600, respectively.
Besides Nintendo console's U.S. price, which is just half the cost of the least-expensive version of PS3, its motion-sensitive controller that has been popular with mainstream gamers as well as new audiences like senior citizens and very young children has helped build buzz for the machine, and made it more appealing to some consumers.
The three companies are locked in a fierce battle for dominance in the $13 billion U.S. video game market.
>>That’s what interested me. The kids need something physical to do indoors in the New England winters.<<
Michigan too!
I’m not sure graphics are going to keep driving things. Really things got to a point in the PS2 generation where movies were shipping with worse graphics than most games (compare the Fast and Furious movies with Grand Theft Auto, the cars in GTA look better most of the time than in F&F). And that’s one of the reasons Wii is doing so well, they’ve gone for the playability market, designing a system that in most games is just more fun than the competitors seems to have given them the clear advantage. Of course the fact that it’s cheaper to push the interface than the graphics hasn’t hurt them any, being able to sell for less and actually make a profit on the sales has never been a bad thing. The Wii has plenty going for it besides the kids games.
In order to keep selling a franchise like Madden year after year, you've got to offer something more than just updated rosters to get people to dole out $50 or $60 every year. That's why you see them come out with new modes like franchise and high school and college drafts on the EA football games.
Jump 2, 3, or 4 years into the future and the PS3 and XBOX360 will be offering near photo-realistic sports games and Hollywood-movie scale action games that (like you said) have better special effects than their film counterparts, along with their next generation home video offerings like Blu-Ray and hi-def movies over XBOX Live. All this while the Wii offers last generation graphics and no hi-def support.
I think the Wii has it place and its performing beautifully in it. But that place is in the kid's room, not in your home theater setup. They may be making money on it now, but being at the forefront of the American living room's move to hi-definition is a larger battle that offers huge rewards beyond the initial losses.
Yes, the format does, but the cheap players don’t. Want that 1080p you pay a lot more. Doesn’t matter what Blu Ray player you pick up, it supports all HD formats.
Like I said, I firmly believe Sony is going to win the HD Format war, and they used their PS3 as part of that strategy. Yes it has hurt them in early adoption of their system because it has cause a huge price premium for their system, but in the long run I think the PS3 will wind up the #2 system this gen, behind the Wii.
PS3 is the cheapest Blu Ray player on the market, and its price will drop with manufacturing improvements and hardware cost drops. HD-DVD was a dead format and should have stayed there, but MS decided to back it at the last minjute to revive it in an attemp to hurt Sony, I don’t think this will work at all.
US buyers are largely sitting out the HD format war, more than willing to settle for standard DVD format until the winner is clearly decided, and I don’t think Target or Wal Mart or anyone else is going to change that.
IMHO BD is going to win, they clearly have the studios by and large behind them, those in the US that buy a cheap HD-DVD are going to be grossly disappointed when they find most films aren’t being released in the format, and if they paid for a max resolution TV, their cheap player won’t play at the format they have.
It looks like I'm the big winner here 8-)
I gotcha beat, someone gave away his old Nintendo 64 game, with about 15 game cartridges. My young kids love the games, plenty of good game play out of them.
Having said that, I too bought probably the same game device you described above. Kids like those cheeseball games too!
Again, respectfully disagree.
If graphics were the simple driver of games, the DS would be sitting on shelves collecting dust, instead its the PSP that sits, and even with a price drop (long long long overdue BTW) still is getting trounced.
Are there people driven souly by graphics? Sure, some. However fun is the name of the game. Wii expanded the market, Sony and MS are battling for the same “hard core” subgroup, Nintendo is attracting completely new audiences to gaming. Or simply Nintendo is appealing to a MUCH BIGGER CROWD...
Has every game released on the Wii been a hit? or integrated the motion sensing capabilities well? Heck no.. not overly suprising since most 3rd party firms other than Ubisoft, are rushing last minute to port their games to the WII post haste because they completely misread the tea leaves.
However, just as your next batch of 360 and PS3 games will have better graphics, the next batch of Wii will have better integration and entirely new games that would not be possible, or not very practicle under the standard dual analog 10 button controller.
Graphics is all that 360 and PS3 have to offer, the basic interactions are the same as they have been since the PS1. Games in the Wii will evolve around the interface, and new genres will open up. Just like Brain Age would not have been successful or evey very practicle on a GameBoy...it sings on the DS... Graphics only get you so far. I can load up DOOM from 1994 and I’m playing basically the same FPS as these consoles rely on today...nothing fundamental has changes, still mashing buttons... Graphics and horsepower alone will not drive game evolution, it can’t.
When you fundamentally change the way humans interact with a technical system, you open completely new possibilities.
For example, Windows would not be practicle without the MOUSE... which is why windows didn’t evolve in any practicle manner until the Mouse was invented.
I know a lot of fanboys and “hard core” folks thinks that people are simply driven by pixels, history shows if you have 2 same games and one has better graphics than another people will tend toward better graphics, however when you have 2 different games, graphics will not save you if the other game is more interesting or fun.
I agree with your overall assessment on BD vs. HD-DVD, but the $200 add on to the XBOX360 will do 1080p if you use the VGA cables. I picked it up because if you want to watch anything from Universal in hi-def within the next 2 or 3 years, you’re going to need one. That’s probably not a big deal for most people, but it was worth $200 to me since Universal has some of the best movie franchises.
But if it’s a better controller it won’t need novelty, and for some stuff it seems to clearly be a better controller. I’m not sure how the gaming world got addicted to the current model of gamepad controller, they actually kind of suck, their only real advantage is they do a lot of things so-so but they don’t really do anything well. Shooters are still better with keyboard and mouse than they’ll ever be with a gamepad.
Actually there’s a lot of criticism of EA for adding so little to the Madden series the last few year, doesn’t seem to impact sales any just creates a lot of bitching.
3 or 4 years from now the Wii could easily have an upgrade for hi-def. Skipping that for now is I think one of their smart moves. It saved costs which helps lower the price, and it means there’s no chance they picked the wrong/losing side in that fight (which I still think HD-DVD is going to win, not for any technical reason, I’ve just learned to never bet against Sony screwing up a clear market advantage).
Also it positions them to be able to do a major upgrade (from a marketing perspective, from a technical perspective if probably won’t be that big) off the cycle of everybody else, they could get a Wii2 out a year or two before the next gens of XBox and PS and when the HD market is really full fledged. Skipping the battle over the early adopters and and being half a technical step ahead when the market is fully expressed could be the better long term strategy.
You are totally correct here, and I think it is overall a great thing for the gaming industry and will open up whole new dynamics like you mentioned.
There was some story further up the thread where some guy mentioned that his mother had never touched a video game in her life, but when she started playing around with the Wii with her granddaughter, they had a blast. I think that's great; I certainly can't imagine my grandmother jumping into a Halo multiplayer match, but that's not the segment Sony and MS are looking to grow into.
My main gripe with the whole article is that they implied that there had to be one clear winner, and Nintendo is beating the socks off of everyone. This isn't the 16-bit days and there are multiple markets to be won over. To me its like saying Lexus and Acura are losing the automobile battle to Saturn because they are cheaper and are selling cars.
I would never suggest that one of the manufacturers will be washed out in this generation such as what happened with SEGA, or countless others in previous generations.
I will say that, from an installed base perspective, Wii is going to win this generation hands down, just as PS2 did in the previous one.
I would not suggest that Sony or MS will stop making systems.. though 7 years and $20 BILLION in losses, you do have to wonder WTF MS is doing????? I know if I was a stock holder I’d be POd over this entire devision and demand its elimination. I know that will rile up the XBOX fanbase, but its true.
I am sure you know as well as anyone, numbers are what speaks, and based on numbers, Wii is certainly on track to be the big winner in terms of systems installed. Just as the DS is in the handheld market. Lets face it, if they could manufacture enough of them, they would have knocked off the entire years head start the 360 had... According to Game Charts, Wii has sold over 7 Million units in about 6 months... 360 is at < 10 Million in 18 months. Its unbelievable that a gaming system is still out of stock virtually everywhere 6 months after release, when its being manufactured at peak capacity.
I’ve said it many times, in this thread and others, this is how I see the market breakdown: (and this is installed systems)
1) Wii.. this is the system everyone will own, newbie, intermediate and hard core. Hard core gamers may complain about the graphics, but there will be killer apps for it they will buy it for.
2) The intermediate gamer will have a Wii and one other system, either a PS3 or a 360.
3) the hard core gamer who will own all 3, because that’s what they do.
PS3 and 360 are in a battle for second, I don’t see any way they will be able to move into first, the dynamic and target market they are going after is just too small relative to the Wii.
Now, what is going to differenciate these 2? Not a whole hell of a lot actually. Going purely on Graphics, PS3 will win. Blu Ray player gives it an edge, back catalogue of PS2 games cannot be underestimated. Online stores and environments can give them some distinction, but not a whole lot. Other than those things the only thing that will differenciate will be total number of titles.... but more importantly the amount of exclusive killer app content that they have. HALO is nice, but its not enough to carry MS over Sony’s proven track record in that territory.
But effictively they are interchangeable, other than content.
360 had a nice price point, but alienated some of its installed base, and priced itself closer to the PS3, undercutting itself with the Elite (which is classing MS nonsense, and I wouldn’t expect it to change).
I believe long term, Sony will wind up #2 in terms of sales, and that’s for a lot of reasons. However the big winner is without question Nintendo this generation if trends continue as I expect.
2) The intermediate gamer will have a Wii and one other system, either a PS3 or a 360.
3) the hard core gamer who will own all 3, because that’s what they do.
You forgot the 3rd category; those who own a 360 and a PS3, but not the Wii.
This segment is larger than you imagine and encompasses the 20's and 30's age guys who want to see the next bloody shooter and sports game, and want to have the latest generation optical players.
I see this generation as the extension of the last generation, where there was a niche for all 3 consoles. PS2 was the clear winner, but the XBOX was a startup that was driven by better graphics, XBOXLive, and Halo, whereas the Gamecube had great kid oriented stuff and innovative new games like Pikmin and Animal Crossing(gag!).
The average age of a video game player is 29 years old, and anyone out of their teen years who is not buying for their kids will not be buying a Wii. I personally don't know anyone who has one; there simply aren't any games or franchises on there that interest me. The new Metroid Prime looks good, but the Gamecube versions were difficult enough with the GC controller. I can't imagine the frustration of trying to play through it with the nunchuk.
I don’t think the solo PS3 and 360 crowd will be that large.
Sure there will be some, but everyone I know that had a 360, has gotten a Wii thus far, and yes I’m 35.. and I don’t mind it at all.
Zelda is beyond insane. Metroid has been great, and I expect MP 3 to be even better, based simply on how much nicer and elegant TOLZ:TP is, compared to WindWaker in terms of control, its night and day, especially when dealing with projectile weapons. I look forward to MP3 with much anticipation, and yes I do look forward to Super Mario Galaxy as well.
I could care less about Pokemon Revolution, but I damned well know my son will, as will every kid in his class.
The single PS3 or 360 crowd I don’t think is going to be substantial... will there be some? Sure, but I think you overestimate the size of this group.
Yes, today there may not be much there, but again, as I stated before, most 3rd party development shops were completely caught off guard, this won’t be the case going forward. You cannot tell me if you enjoy FPS, that RE:IV (which was originally a Cube game, and was to be exclusive to the cube) would not appeal to the 20 something crowd.
If it were $600 as the PS3/360 I would say you are right, a killer app would not cause a PS3 to buy a 360 just because of a game if they were intermediate.. but when that RE:IV type game is launched on the Wii, and sooner or later it will be, many folks like you will break down and get one. Had Capcom not changed and would up releasing ports for the PS2 for RE:IV you would have seen more cube sales, and yes in 05 it did drive some cube sales among that crowd, and frankly the PS2 port sucks compared to the Cube original.
So, while yes, for now there may not be much at the moment, with all the 3rd party support, its only a matter of time until it does. With game development costs at 20-50% of the cost of 360 and PS3 games there are going to be a LOT of new development for this system.
I think there will be very few PS3 or 360 ONLY owners as time goes on.
The turning point, hopefully for those of us who aren't part of the Wii revolution.
First profitable quarter != net profit.
They have to profit over $20 Billion to break overall even on the XBOX division.
Have to have many many many more profitable quarters to make a net profit on these boondoggles.
But it is a start... I know if I was a MS stockholder, I’d be all over the company for losing so much money and being nowhere near seeing a return on it.
Hey, it took Amazon.com 10 years to make a profit, and MS went in against heavyweights like Sony and Nintendo. They were able to grab a great share of the console market where Phillips, Sega, Atari had failed. Who knew this would be a 3 console decade.
Amazon didn’t burn $20 BILLION before it made a quarterly profit.. and there is no guarantee the profits will continue... next hardware revision will likely mean more losses overall.
Like I said, I've been gaming since I could walk, and I've owned every single console. The Wii offers nothing that makes me want to buy one, and the same goes for all the gamers I know. The PS3 and XBOX360 are constantly picking up the PC gamer market, of which the Wii offers nothing. I just don't see it maintaining any type of market share over a 5 year period.
There are social things.
Japanese won't buy XBox.
Sony will sell there.
Microsoft haters
won't buy XBox. More Sony.
I think Nintendo
will remain strong, but
the PS franchise will grow.
"HOME" sounds intriguing.
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