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[fernoca]

To the people having meltdowns over the Wii's success:

Thanks for the laughs, but there's no reason to panic. The Wii isn't going to kill your favorite games or genres. There will still be games you like, just so long as you continue to buy them. So what if they get outsold by games you don't like? Big deal. Madden outsells dozens of better games every year.

The Gamecube was my favorite system last gen. Its sales didn't stop me from enjoying its games...in fact, I now own more Gamecube games than I do for any other system (nearly 100), which still just blows my mind. The PS2 was a fairly close 2nd, the Xbox a distant third.

The Wii, despite its market success, will probably not surpass the Cube for me. But the 360 will definitely surpass the Xbox. The PS3 will do fine as well.

See my point? The market doesn't determine your enjoyment, and hardcore games aren't going anywhere, because hardcore gamers aren't going anywhere. There's room for everyone. Nintendo survived in 2nd, then 3rd place, and still made great games. So can Sony and Microsoft (for other reasons, but they can).

Great post!
But you DO know, that common sense doesn't apply to this forums!! :lol

 

[linsivvi]

Why is it that every time that two people are arguing and when one makes an analogue the other claims not understanding? Are people really that stupid or fanboyish that they can't understand some basic analogues or do they like to play dumb?

Anyway all the nonsense aside the PSP just did 3k more than last month with a $30 price drop and one less week to sell. What in the world is a redesign going to do? I think if they do it they should follow through with their focus on the younger gameboy market and try that out.

I see that people keep bringing up this 3K nonsense.

March was a 5-week month, 180K/5 = 36K per week
April was a 4-week month, 183K/4 = 45.75K per week

This applies to all platforms too. The DS actually sold faster in April than in March despite a lower total.

 

[Shaheed79]

Good post. The Wii will not eat your children...

Now you're just jumping to conclusions.

 

[Threi]

Not trying to justify any of this whining, but you're wrong. By its very nature, the "hardcore" contingent as we know it is only going to decrease over time because of their rigidified tastes, and the types of games they enjoy will decrease proportionately. They'll gradually be supplanted by a new hardcore with different inclinations molded by systems like the Wii and DS, and the market will shift towards them. And from there, of course, the cycle will continue.

Not true...the market is just being split according to a new type of gamer entering with different tastes, and so called "hardcore" gamers are bitching because they don't want the games they like taking up less than 90% of the market. Its pretty much the same situation as a baby not wanting to share a cookie, and when being forced to share complains that "MY PIECE IS SMALLER!"

Complex games are NOT going anywhere contrary to popular belief, the Wii is NOT killing so called "hardcore" gaming, and lastly the Wii is not going to be all "Casual" gaming. It is just catering to more than one audience, INCLUDING the so called "hardcore" gaming audience.

 

[greendublin]

Prove it.

If you've played the Wii, you've encountered it not registering your movements properly (Warioware), experienced a jittery pointer (not parkinson's) and that damned blinking cursor in Wii Play (lost signal)... if not, you must have the Super Wii. I've experienced these problems happening across multiple games and 4 different homes. I'll scan my Wii receipt if you want my f'n credentials.

 

[Eteric Rice]

If you've played the Wii, you've encountered it not registering your movements properly (Warioware), experienced a jittery pointer (not parkinson's) and that damned blinking cursor in Wii Play (lost signal)... if not, you must have the Super Wii. I've experienced these problems happening across multiple games and 4 different homes. I'll scan my Wii receipt if you want my f'n credentials.

You and your friends need new Wiis. The only time I've ever had that kind of problem is with Wii Boxing.

 

[Pokeylongo]

I don't personally think that this deserves its own thread, so I'll post it here:

Game publishers buffeted by Nintendo's big April

I feel like third parties are just doing their own thing and expecting it to sell no how the market changes. If you don't want Nintendo to cut into profits, you have to compete with them (and Microsoft and Sony). That means either predicting the market (instead of reacting to it), or affecting it yourself. It's like they're just doing the same old thing they've been doing for twenty years, something new comes along and they just stand there like, "what happen?!"

 

[DefectiveReject]

people were warned the market was changing and heading to a slump, the only one's to read it were Nintendo who offered 2 sets of cheap hardware with a good set of software suiting all price ranges.


Guess who didn't take a drop in sales? Yeah the anti bald space marines company

 

[Kabuki Waq]

Great post!
But you DO know, that common sense doesn't apply to this forums!! :lol

It is not a great post. It is completely wrong. If the GC was a success dont you think you would see a traditional 3d mario game? do you think nintendo would change its direction so radically if GC was a huge hit?

The more Wii succeeds the more Wii Type games we will get and less traditional games. If XBL had failed i can tell you right now PSN would not exist in the form it is now.


Its just the way these things go.

 

[darthbane2k]

Because the Wii is sooooo underpowered that any game that appears on it will never reach its potential.

Waggle doesn't add much to the game, just a new way of pressing A. Despite what you Nintendo boys want to think.

Good for old folks, bad for gamers! But it doesnt matter, Wii will be getting lots of 3rd party mini game support. Thanks to the amazing software sales on 360, i think next gen games are ok (THANK GOD)

You sound just as much of an ass as the person in your avatar.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

If you've played the Wii, you've encountered it not registering your movements properly (Warioware), experienced a jittery pointer (not parkinson's) and that damned blinking cursor in Wii Play (lost signal)... if not, you must have the Super Wii. I've experienced these problems happening across multiple games and 4 different homes. I'll scan my Wii receipt if you want my f'n credentials.

are you using rechargable batteries

 

[SouthernDragon]

Is Wall Street arguing that Nintendo's success is hurting third parties?

Oh dear. Some fanboys just got some credibility.

Well, it seems that the most valid point in their argument is the lackluster sales of Tiger Woods Wii, but... why would people buy TWWii if the console comes prepackaged with a gold simulator already?

Otherwise, I fail to see how third parties are suffering that much. Hell, they mention that the 360's first party strength is damaging 3rd parties, which it isn't.

 

[jarrod]

I don't personally think that this deserves its own thread, so I'll post it here:

Game publishers buffeted by Nintendo's big April

Nintendo's success coming at the expense of the EA/2K/THQ shovelware factories is the best news in this thread! :lol

More seriously though, seems to be mainly a case of (A) Nintendo breaking into newer markets and (B) EA/2K/THQ's traditional markets waning. The two may be related, but it's stretch to assume they correlate so directly. And a good argument can also be made for these port factories putting out comparably substandard or undesireable software on the hott new touch and waggle twins... if that weren't the case, they'd maybe be riding this growth too (y hallo thar Ubi).

 

[levious]

If you've played the Wii, you've encountered it not registering your movements properly (Warioware), experienced a jittery pointer (not parkinson's) and that damned blinking cursor in Wii Play (lost signal)... if not, you must have the Super Wii. I've experienced these problems happening across multiple games and 4 different homes. I'll scan my Wii receipt if you want my f'n credentials.

I've never encountered problems in Wario Ware... the jittery pointer in the Wii Menu seems to be when you're too far away from the sensor or at an angle. I don't recall seeing a blinking cursor or lost signal in Wii Play.

I use rechargeable batteries myself, don't see how that could be a problem.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

You sound just as much of an asshole as the person in your avatar.

personal attack?

 

[Threi]

If you've played the Wii, you've encountered it not registering your movements properly (Warioware), experienced a jittery pointer (not parkinson's) and that damned blinking cursor in Wii Play (lost signal)... if not, you must have the Super Wii. I've experienced these problems happening across multiple games and 4 different homes. I'll scan my Wii receipt if you want my f'n credentials.

I have played the wii. I have played warioware, and the only microgame i have trouble with is the "pass the paper" one. And i feel that has something to do with the way i am holding it. I have never had an experience with a jittery pointer, except when the battery is low.

I don't want to see your Wii receipt, and i don't give a shit about your "f'n credentials", as if owning a console and some anecdotal evidence allows you to completely make shit up.

Here: Take a look at this link - it is a vid of a guy who made a robot to play wii bowling, and bowled a 300 game. If doing the exact same movement everytime on a robot guarantees a strike every time in this game, then i think the innacuracies you are experiences have nothing to do with the wiimote, but rather that you just suck at hand-eye co-ordination more than pushing buttons in a random fashion.

 

[Earthstrike]

If you've played the Wii, you've encountered it not registering your movements properly (Warioware), experienced a jittery pointer (not parkinson's) and that damned blinking cursor in Wii Play (lost signal)... if not, you must have the Super Wii. I've experienced these problems happening across multiple games and 4 different homes. I'll scan my Wii receipt if you want my f'n credentials.

These things have never happened to me. I can understand where you're coming from in terms of Warioware, however, I attribute that to poor design rather than controller flaws. Like I always thought that the minigame where you moved the hole around to make people fall was flawed because I couldn't get the hole near the bottom of the screen, however, I found that displacing my controller also exhibited control over the hole and that is was the programming that was poorly made, not flawed hardware.

Are you sure your not getting to close/far from the Wii? Are you sure the sensor bar is properly placed with nothing obstructing it? Are you sure you're not at too sharp an angle?

Try switching up how you play and looking out for these things, it may make a difference.

 

[darthbane2k]

personal attack?

No. I dont know him/her personally. So calm down.

 

[greendublin]

are you using rechargable batteries

Nope; regular batteries, 3 different systems... you don't get the flashing cursor in Warioware and Wii Play? (especially playing pool)

 

[Kabuki Waq]

No. I dont know him/her personally. So calm down.

:lol

 

[Gekkonidae]

If you've played the Wii, you've encountered it not registering your movements properly (Warioware), experienced a jittery pointer (not parkinson's) and that damned blinking cursor in Wii Play (lost signal)... if not, you must have the Super Wii. I've experienced these problems happening across multiple games and 4 different homes. I'll scan my Wii receipt if you want my f'n credentials.

That's the fault of development difficulties rather than hardware issues. For every problem you mention, I can point to examples where those same things work perfectly. I had no problem aiming in Zelda. Had no problem registering my movements precisely in Wii baseball or Tennis (sometimes too precisely, that's a legitimate complaint.)

What people have to remember is that the Wii controller is very precise, but what developers have to deal with is hundreds of measurements per second that they have to convert in to intelligent output. This is not easy and a lot of early efforts have been crap. However, like any new thing, with time developers will develop better ways of doing things and reliable middleware will emerge that will make everything much easier.

If it were a hardware issue, I would agree that the Wii has no potential, but it's not.

 

[Earthstrike]

I have played the wii. I have played warioware, and the only microgame i have trouble with is the "pass the paper" one. And i feel that has something to do with the way i am holding it. I have never had an experience with a jittery pointer, except when the battery is low.

Yeah, I had trouble with pass the paper too, the trick is the wii mote must undergo a 180 degree rotation to be in the face up position, kinda like how you'd hand out a flyer so its face up. Handing out the paper face down causes it to not register.

 

[darthbane2k]

Nope; regular batteries, 3 different systems... you don't get the flashing cursor in Warioware and Wii Play? (especially playing pool)

Maybe you're standing too far away from your sensor bar, or have some sort of light source intefering...

 

[linsivvi]

Isn't it normal that software sales suffer during the early phase of a generation due to the last gen phasing out and the low userbase of the new one?

All it proves is that Nintendo managed to reverse that trend somewhat, and that is with the help of Pokemon.

 

[borghe]

The more Wii succeeds the more Wii Type games we will get and less traditional games. If XBL had failed i can tell you right now PSN would not exist in the form it is now.

who the hell cares if there are LESS traditional games? Do you really play to completion every single traditional game released in a year that gets 9 or higher? 8 or higher? 7 or higher? I can understand if we were facing getting no traditional games in a year, but this goes back to what others are saying.. Even though you don't play and complete all 40+ great games released in a year, you are still going to be pissed if ones that you might never even play are shelved so that other people can play different types of games that appeal to them.

good thing the industry is smarter than this, or it wouldn't even last another 10 years.

 

[greendublin]

These things have never happened to me. I can understand where you're coming from in terms of Warioware, however, I attribute that to poor design rather than controller flaws. Like I always thought that the minigame where you moved the hole around to make people fall was flawed because I couldn't get the hole near the bottom of the screen, however, I found that displacing my controller also exhibited control over the hole and that is was the programming that was poorly made, not flawed hardware.

Are you sure your not getting to close/far from the Wii? Are you sure the sensor bar is properly placed with nothing obstructing it? Are you sure you're not at too sharp an angle?

Try switching up how you play and looking out for these things, it may make a difference.

Sometimes sitting, sometimes standing, and as close as 3 ft. from the system the problems with signal have arisen... I guess I'm just expecting perfection -- I mean, there's no question when you press a button or move an analog stick your movement will be interpreted. I guess we'll always have a margin of error for input from motion control devices.

 

[levious]

Nope; regular batteries, 3 different systems... you don't get the flashing cursor in Warioware and Wii Play? (especially playing pool)

in Wii Play pool, you mean while you're in the middle of performing a shot? I'm pretty sure you're supposed to keep the wiimote pointed at the sensor bar during the shot.

 

[Terrell]

Because the Wii is sooooo underpowered that any game that appears on it will never reach its potential.

Waggle doesn't add much to the game, just a new way of pressing A. Despite what you Nintendo boys want to think.

Good for old folks, bad for gamers! But it doesnt matter, Wii will be getting lots of 3rd party mini game support. Thanks to the amazing software sales on 360, i think next gen games are ok (THANK GOD)

Rygar and Soul Calibur Legends mini-game compilations confirmed? Or is that a salt that's too strong for you to handle in your deep deep wounds?

 

[jjasper]

TP wasn't programmed to take advantage of the controllers capabilities. Very poor example. Wait for the next Zelda.

Yeah well I only had a problem with the swinging mechanic which was no improvement from pressing the button, but the aiming we much better with the pointer. I really hope they have an option for 1:1 and no preset combos in the next one.

Above all thought I hope Metroid is able to have a great control set up since it is the first tradition Nintendo game build from the ground up with the Wii in mind.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

who the hell cares if there are LESS traditional games? Do you really play to completion every single traditional game released in a year that gets 9 or higher? 8 or higher? 7 or higher? I can understand if we were facing getting no traditional games in a year, but this goes back to what others are saying.. Even though you don't play and complete all 40+ great games released in a year, you are still going to be pissed if ones that you might never even play are shelved so that other people can play different types of games that appeal to them.

good thing the industry is smarter than this, or it wouldn't even last another 10 years.

you are absolutely making no sense. Less traditional games means less chance of Quality traditional games. I dont complete all the games i buy but that does not mean i dont enjoy them

 

[STG!]

I feel like third parties are just doing their own thing and expecting it to sell no how the market changes. If you don't want Nintendo to cut into profits, you have to compete with them (and Microsoft and Sony). That means either predicting the market (instead of reacting to it), or affecting it yourself. It's like they're just doing the same old thing they've been doing for twenty years, something new comes along and they just stand there like, "what happen?!"

Totally agree with you there. 3rd parties need to step it up if they want to compete with the Wii Sports of the console and come up with something new, fun and unique instead of blaming 1st party sales.

 

[Linkup]

I see that people keep bringing up this 3K nonsense.

March was a 5-week month, 180K/5 = 36K per week
April was a 4-week month, 183K/4 = 45.75K per week

This applies to all platforms too. The DS actually sold faster in April than in March despite a lower total.

I mentioned the one week less, doesn't change what I said. I expect the effect of that price drop to be short live, but we won't know that for another month or two.

 

[Earthstrike]

Sometimes sitting, sometimes standing, and as close as 3 ft. from the system the problems with signal have arisen... I guess I'm just expecting perfection -- I mean, there's no question when you press a button or move an analog stick your movement will be interpreted. I guess we'll always have a margin of error for input from motion control devices.

3 ft? That's your problem, you're way to close. The signal does not get better the closer you are, it gets worse. Try being 5-6 ft away and it will work perfectly. The Wii works by using triangulation from emitting UV rays fromt he Sensor bar. The controller then calculates its position and sends that to the wii. If your to close, the UV rays don't make it inside the Wiimote, and so the Wiimote can't process its position.

Edit: I kept saying Ultraviolet, but it may be infrared. Can't seem to remember right now.

 

[Maxwell House]

Is there anyway someone could add a line to this graph for PS2, Gamecube, and Dreamcast? It would be very interesting to compare sales for all 6 at their respective points in life.

Maybe change the X axis to read "Months after launch" or "Age in months."

Or, if someone knows the sales of PS2, Gamecube, and Dreamcast at their 1 to 18 month points, I could make the graph myself.

 

[Eteric Rice]

Yeah well I only had a problem with the swinging mechanic which was no improvement from pressing the button, but the aiming we much better with the pointer. I really hope they have an option for 1:1 and no preset combos in the next one.

Above all thought I hope Metroid is able to have a great control set up since it is the first tradition Nintendo game build from the ground up with the Wii in mind.

I don't know if 1:1 is even possible without SOME kind of lag.

 

[No6]

Nintendo's success coming at the expense of the EA/2K/THQ shovelware factories is the best news in this thread! :lol

More seriously though, seems to be mainly a case of (A) Nintendo breaking into newer markets and (B) EA/2K/THQ's traditional markets waning. The two may be related, but it's stretch to assume they correlate so directly. And a good argument can also be made for these port factories putting out comparably substandard or undesireable software on the hott new touch and waggle twins... if that weren't the case, they'd maybe be riding this growth too (y hallo thar Ubi).

Ubisoft maybe, but the last few months have been full of the N-faithful declaring that EA "gets it" with games like Madden, SSX Blur and Godfather, and strong marketing like with Tiger Woods. Having your Wii-specific games getting crushed by a last-gen carryover and an accessory doesn't exactly send the signal that you should put even more resources into Wii-exclusive development.

 

[Salmonax]

Nope; regular batteries, 3 different systems... you don't get the flashing cursor in Warioware and Wii Play? (especially playing pool)

No such issue here in Warioware. I don't have Wii Play, so I can't speak for that.

Generally speaking, though, I've found the controller to be extremely responsive and reliable. It never glitched out on me in 50+ hours of Zelda, so that's got to count for something.

 

[bycha]

price

Seriously though it feels like Sony don't want it to sell. Not a single franchise from Sony in 1st half-year, 200+ losses on every console, 65nm summer, and main job is done: blu-ray won.

I'm sure it'll be okay this autumn. Not 360like ok, but ok.

 

[Earthstrike]

Ubisoft maybe, but the last few months have been full of the N-faithful declaring that EA "gets it" with games like Madden, SSX Blur and Godfather, and strong marketing like with Tiger Woods. Having your Wii-specific games getting crushed by a last-gen carryover and an accessory doesn't exactly send the signal that you should put even more resources into Wii-exclusive development.

Companies aim to be profitable. Succes isn't only measured in sales, it's revenue minus expenses. If EA were to make all those games for PS3 and 360 they would cost a lot more to develop. Sure they may have sold a bit more, but would they have been as profitable? That's the question to be answered.

 

[Eteric Rice]

Ubisoft maybe, but the last few months have been full of the N-faithful declaring that EA "gets it" with games like Madden, SSX Blur and Godfather, and strong marketing like with Tiger Woods. Having your Wii-specific games getting crushed by a last-gen carryover and an accessory doesn't exactly send the signal that you should put even more resources into Wii-exclusive development.

Which carryover?

 

[jjasper]

I don't know if 1:1 is even possible without SOME kind of lag.

well someone at nintendo better be thinking of a way to improve the combat somehow.

 

[Father_Brain]

they'd maybe be riding this growth too (y hallo thar Ubi).

I don't understand what's up with Ubisoft and Wii. They released two ground-up Wii games at launch which sold quite well, but since then, all they've announced and released has been godawful shovelware. Hopefully, that'll change after Ubi's press event.

 

[jarrod]

Ubisoft maybe, but the last few months have been full of the N-faithful declaring that EA "gets it" with games like Madden, SSX Blur and Godfather, and strong marketing like with Tiger Woods. Having your Wii-specific games getting crushed by a last-gen carryover and an accessory doesn't exactly send the signal that you should put even more resources into Wii-exclusive development.

EA "gets it" with crusty PS2 hand me downs? Seriously now, I wouldn't take the diehard faithful's word for what mainstream perception brings... stuff like MySims and Boogie at least imply that EA's on the right track now, but if they had the foresight Ubi did, they'd have been launching with those.

Fact is, the few 3rd parties to really bring anything stand out or notable to Wii (pretty much just Ubisoft & SEGA so far) have been rewarded for it. Even still firms like EA, Bandai or Activision have down well enough with port across products like Madden, DBZ or COD. Besides which, what does the message 3rd parties are getting from the PS3 software results bring when even the high profile marquee exclusives are tanking left and right? At this point, PS3 is shockingly 1st party dominated sales wise as well actually...

 

[greendublin]

price
Not a single franchise from Sony in 1st half-year

Ja mean not a single new franchise or not a single franchise sequel? Motorstorm is great and a new franchise, but to have only one major first party release in a period of 6 months is a damn shame.

What about next month predictions? Will 360 stop the downward slide? How low can PS3 go? Will Sigma or Lair bring PS3 back up to respectable numbers?

 

[Eteric Rice]

How badly did SSX Blur do?...

 

[Uncooked]

price

Seriously though it feels like Sony don't want it to sell. Not a single franchise from Sony in 1st half-year, 200+ losses on every console, 65nm summer, and main job is done: blu-ray won.

I'm sure it'll be okay this autumn. Not 360like ok, but ok.

Doesn't Blu-Ray still have to beat DVD to win the format war? How do you know most people won't simply reject both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD? Just because it is technologically more advanced doesn't mean it is better (see Wii beating PS3).

 

[jarrod]

How badly did SSX Blur do?...

It outsold VF5 iirc. :lol

 

[Eteric Rice]

It outsold VF5 iirc. :lol

:lol

Which one costs more to make, I wonder?

 

[Linkup]

I don't understand what's up with Ubisoft and Wii. They released two ground-up Wii games at launch which sold quite well, but since then, all they've announced and released has been godawful shovelware. Hopefully, that'll change after Ubi's press event.

Is that anytime soon?

 

[Aeris130]

What about next month predictions? Will 360 stop the downward slide? How low can PS3 go? Will Sigma or Lair bring PS3 back up to respectable numbers?

At the very least, Lair will be some sort of indication as to wether or not VF5 was the exeption or the rule.