At E3 Reggie Fils-Aime let the world know he wasn’t satisfied with the sales progress of the Wii or DS in 2007 and hopes Nintendo can do better this year. Perhaps Nintendo is playing the humble card? No doubt they bragged about their 10 million sales of the Wii and 20 million sales of the DS but quickly followed it by saying they’re not satisfied.
Or, is this a threat?
Nintendo has built some steep competition while both Sony and Microsoft scoff at their product and tell everyone its a novelty and it doesn’t really “count” in this next-generation console battle. It doesn’t count… really?
Perhaps Microsoft and Sony are right; maybe every Wii owner that wanted a PlayStation 3 and/or an Xbox 360 purchased their console too. There may be some truth to that as hardcore gamers may purchase a Wii for many reasons:
- They want every console so they have the widest array of game purchases
- They’re hardcore nature forces them to spend money on all products
- They want to get their kids in on gaming early, to grow them up in their image
- Mob mentality, if everyone has a Wii you must as well!
- The technology is cool and you want to be there for its inception
It seems they don’t feel a threat because Wii is a non-gamer console and thus attracts a different crowd… yet they’re both mimicking some of the motion sensing in their own controllers and playing nice towards “casual games” and non-gamers of late. Maybe their not threatened, but impressed?
Fils-Aime isn’t impressed with their sales figures, perhaps because he expected a higher degree of Wii sales by now, but the fact that people cannot purchase them two years into production has hurt sales figures. Although 10 million units sold is an impressive figure, knowing you had such higher potential if the product was actually on the shelves has to hurt a bit of your pride.
The DS sales were impressive considering the product has been in the market for awhile and is easier to find (minus the holiday rush). We’re not sure why he’s not satisfied with the figures, but inspiring a higher degree of DS sales will require some work. Perhaps this is why they’ve gone with the GTA Chinatown approach; using the GTA name to grow their DS sales figures?
It will be interesting to see how Wii does through the next few quarters and if sales slow down now that we’re a few years into the product. What was the last home console Nintendo owned to get this high of a demand?
Perhaps none.
@QuestionOfTheWeek: I wanted to play Phantasy Star Universe (yes, the single player) on a PC but couldn’t because it required an always-on Internet connection for nProtect anti-cheat software. I lived at home at the time in rural Oregon with a poor connection. My mom still only gets a 28.6 kbps modem Internet connection there. Sad.
Yeah, finally finished with my exams, I am overall satisfied with how I did. Now I just have to wait until July for the results.
The 265 hours in Team Fortress 2 are actually spread out mostly over last summer, and the 96 hours in Super Monday Night Combat are from the day it went live, so in the last 37 days. A huge factor in these numbers is that I listen to podcasts such as yours while playing them, getting double the enjoyment. Maybe that’s why I didn’t feel these exams as very heavy, even though they are a huge stepping stone to the future.
As for where I’m getting all this time from, I have plenty of free time between homework and studying because I am quite content in getting 1st place in the subjects that matter to me the most (Maths, Physics, Computer Studies etc…). So yeah, you could say I’m enjoying my teenage life.
@QOTW: To this day, I haven’t had any problems with DRM (except a small one with Mass Effect 3, damn you Origin), so this doesn’t have any effect on my purchase. I still understand the problems and agree that DRM sucks.
@DICE has Frostbite-powered titles for 2013 that “will require a 64-bit OS”
Thing is, I remember hearing that a 64 bit processor can add two sets of two 32 bit integers using the same amount of registers needed by the 32 bit processor adding one set of two 32 bit integer.
Still, I think that the main call for the 64bit os will be the amount of RAM needed to run the game. Think of textures: although the video RAM is the better place to store them, you can still page them from the system RAM.
@Actors confirm return to recording booth for Mass Effect 3
I’m with Dan, it’ll be like moving from “Here’s a crappy ending” to “Here’s an epic crap ending”.
@The truth is DRM does not work
What’s funny is that game companies that want to publish their games on Steam they must remove any form of DRM; sometimes those said companies will simply use a cracked executable when publishing on Steam 😉
Publishing later on a platform actually kicks down the sales. But I agree, pirates are not going to pay for the game anyway.
@QOTW:
Starcraft II.
When they announced full time internet connection required, they lost me. I don’t care about Assasin’s Creed, but the Starcraft universe was interesting.
I’m not interesting in buying the game anymore. First, I hate that type of DRM. And even if I’d accept it, I still run on a 3G modem, so I would then have to deal with technical difficulties.
So, Blizzard can keep the game for itself.
I don’t have much time this week so I’ll go straight for QOTW:
Diablo 3. Tried the free pass, liked it, but I can’t understand that DRM policy. Torchlight2 ftw!