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.
Halo: ODST Reviews are in
…. Oh yeah my answer to ur question is below 8}
Well a lot of major game developers are where they are today because of making great original games and software. But much like the kernel, he’s gonna keep selling chicken till no wants it no more. Investors don’t like risk. In a financial prospective its probably wiser for a successful developer for example bungie and Activision to keep developing in games they know will sell like Halo and call of duty and leave there next innovative idea for a raining day. Maybe they wanna keep bleeding the well dry til the next generation of consoles. I hope the passion and pace of making new and better games in the industry doesn’t slow down cuz I think the history of gaming since the 80s is amazing. Btw Could you 3 make a time line presentation of what you think were the most epic stages/changes in gaming history.
Thanks for casting
cheers
Our answers to the scary question were in the forum – and you didn’t read mine.
As soon as I heard you saying the dog ate Krud’s post, it occurred to be that none of the posts that were put up in response BEFORE you made the scary game question of the week in a new post.
If you search for the original post by me you should see the responses.
-About the Question of the Week
Short answer, yes. Although, in their defense if it isn’t broke why fix it? Nintendo is living off it’s 20 year old IPs, Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Mario Kart, ect. It seems that Mario continues to bring new elements to the table, but c’mon I’m gonna call a spade a spade; it’s a platformer as it has been from day one.
I do think the nail has been hit squarely on the head though; games are a business just as much as they are art, so when the investors start clamoring new IPs will be developed
—-
Not about the question of the week
What does everyone think about the price cut of the wii, and rumors ( i think they’re rumors) about the upgraded Wii in 2011?
Unreal Tournament, the original 1999 game. I loved it 🙂
http://gamingpodcast.net/forum/suggestions/gaming-flashback-unreal-tournament/#p801