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.
While full PlayStation Network service is expected to return by May 31, Eurogamer is
@Microsoft Points
This makes more sense, doesn’t it? I’m not sure what the deal was previously – did the games cost a different number of points in different regions? If so, it doesn’t make a difference which way you make transactions but for the customer it’s always easier to think in their native currency rather than some arbitrary points. And, if you get some extra $$$ when converting, that’s even better.
@Origin return policy
Are you sure, Jonah, that they will be able to monitor if you played through the game? One would have to read the fine print, probably, and I’m too lazy to do it 😉 They should implement some fail-safes into the user agreement if they don’t want the policy to be abused.
Anyway, seems like a good idea to demo games. People will buy them thinking they will return it if they don’t like it but a part of them will be too lazy to do that later 🙂 Win some, lose some for EA, but should result in a net gain. However, this may mean they won’t win the Worst Company in America Award next year…
@Borderlands 2 on Vita
YAY! I played the first Borderlands on my PS3 and I really liked it. It wasn’t as boring as Diablo, although the core mechanic of both games is similar – kill, get loot, upgrade weapons. Rinse and repeat. The second part coming to Vita is great news and I really hope they add some DLCs to the bundle. Still, it’s another non-exclusive game for the Vita so why even bother, right? 😉
@Next gen launch titles
As much as I enjoy indie games there’s one thing that I don’t like about the industry moving in that direction as much as it is. It’s simple – I don’t need a 1.6 GHz, 8-core, 8GB RAM machine to play Limbo… I understand that games are games and there are a multitude of great games with simple graphics but that doesn’t justify creating a new generation of gaming consoles. Unless there are developers and publishers willing to break the boundaries of what the current gen can support, I don’t even see why we need ‘next gen’ hardware. Hopefully, what’s happening now means that we will get as many AAA titles as before and, in addition, a slew of amazing indie titles.
QOTW: Nothing’s changed since last week 😛
Podcast
@Microsoft getting some sense
Microsoft points were a barrier to many people I know. Awkward unspendable amounts. Having to buy more points then needed. Not to mention that a game that is £7 looks more cost effective than a game that is 800MS points (equivalent prices). I am glad they are gone. Just have to cash in my codes and good riddance.
@Gamers can return digital titles on Origin after a week
What’s Origin?
@Bungie’s Destiny
I am really looking forward to it. I have great respect for Bungie. Destiny is an ambitious project. However, I can’t speculate on whether it will outshine Halo. Let alone Star Wars. So far all it looks like is a Halo MMOFPS. Prove me wrong Bungie.
@Borderlands 2 coming to PlayStation Vita
What’s Playstation Vita? Is it somehow related to Origin?
@Sony/Microsoft announces launch titles/line-up/window (the Internet has no clue either)
I pre-ordered a PS4 because by the time Xbox comes out in Europe my exam period will start and I will have no time. The line-up is impressive but makes not much difference. In the end, launch titles are pointless. What will sell the console are the exclusives which will come out much later in the console cycle. By the time Halo 5 comes out I will probably already own both consoles. So, for now I am going for the cheaper one that comes out earlier.
@QOTW
Very console gamer. I own practically every console that came in the past 10 years (minus PS vita which sucks). I have a laptop but it has crap specks. Much like Pavel, I stopped chasing performance as it is a very expensive business. Especially if you are not a teckie. I still have a 100 or so games on my Steam account (bloody sales), which I sometimes play.