Console Wars VI

**Asher** · January 8, 2009, 15:33

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/vide...wards-for-2008

Yahtzee's awards:

Franchise Murder: Metal Gear Solid 4

Most Disappointing: Entire survival horror genre
Stupidest main character: Prince of Persia
Surprisingly poor quality: Grand Theft Auto 4
Unsurprisingly poor quality: Sonic Unleashed
****ing sweet game: Saint's Row 2

**DrSpike** · January 9, 2009, 15:06

I watched that earlier this week - hilarious as usual.

**Straybow** · January 10, 2009, 00:49

Yeah, but Wii Sports is now the #1 selling game of all time! Woohoo!

**DrSpike** · January 10, 2009, 08:24

Asher himself has two copies.

**Alinestra Covelia** · January 10, 2009, 09:05

Asher is at work developing the Wii's latest mature rated title. It'll feature various heterosexual adult situations.

Needless to say he's fervently wishing he was on a different project!

(Just kidding Asher, you know I don't mean it. We're sure you're really okay developing for the Wii. Very professional of you.)

**El_Cid** · January 14, 2009, 06:51

PS2 for the win!

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=21837

**Asher** · January 14, 2009, 13:32

I love gamasutra's obsession with the PS2.

Has anyone told them that PS2 games are not selling at all anymore, and PS2 console sales are in a nosedive?

What a pointless article.

**El_Cid** · January 14, 2009, 15:40

"A lot of what is important now, is the tie ratio of software to hardware, and that tie ratio is significant... it goes anywhere from 11 to about 20 in terms of that tie ratio, so you're looking to everyone doing well there."

Claiming that almost 25 percent of 2008 NPD TRST sales came from PS2 game sales, "the PS2 consumer is still actively purchasing games. Greatest Hits, in a tough economic time like we're in now, which has a proven value message, at $19.99." - a big claim maybe? but that would suggest PS2 games sales are decent still. And shifting thier 50 millionth PS2 is a pretty big landmark in any book. How many 360's are out there? ;-)

**DrSpike** · January 14, 2009, 16:05

But isn't it just the case that there are lots of PS2s hanging around from the last generation, and therefore PS2 game sales still make up a large proportion of total sales?

Unless you have numbers to show that new PS2 hardware sales are also beating the 360 etc.

**Nikolai** · January 14, 2009, 16:27

The sales numbers for consoles (hardware) was released for the Norwegian market 2008 the other day. Wii won over PS3 by a large margin, which is not surprising(although PS3 sells very well on the name over here, a shame really). But what was surprising, was that the 360 was not included in the statistics, as Microsoft has refused to reveal their sales numbers.

**El_Cid** · January 15, 2009, 12:35

@ Dr.Spike, yeah i'm sure the new sales of PS2 is pretty small compared to the current gen. Still unless you are talking the Wii, a console's success can be measured by software sales. The PS2 is holding it's own in the company of the current gen, which i don't find surprising looking at it's range of games.

@ Nikolai, strange for MS to not release their sales figures? especialy as they usualy do well, especialy compared to the PS3. Anyway i got this article on the crazy european fascination with the Wii:

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=21864

Thats alot of Wii's going down in europe!!!

**Alinestra Covelia** · January 15, 2009, 17:16

Well if you have a PS2, that can play PS1 games too. PS3 doesn't have reverse compatibility and it doesn't have a lot of games out yet. Maybe that's the reason?

**Nikolai** · January 15, 2009, 17:20

PS3 can play PS1 and PS2 titles. Or, it could until a few months back. That version is now out of production, officially that is.

**lord of the mark** · January 15, 2009, 19:32

DS 3.04M
Wii 2.15M
X360 1.44M
PSP 1.02M
PS3 726K
PS2 410K

WII PLAY W/ REMOTE 1.46M
360 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR 1.33M
WII FIT W/ BALANCE BOARD 999K
WII MARIO KART W/ WHEEL 878K
WII GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR 859K
360 GEARS OF WAR 2 745K
360 LEFT 4 DEAD 629K
NDS MARIO KART 540K
PS3 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR 533K
WII ANIMAL CROSSING: CITY FOLK 497K

**lord of the mark** · January 15, 2009, 19:33

Originally Posted by DrSpike

But isn't it just the case that there are lots of PS2s hanging around from the last generation, and therefore PS2 game sales still make up a large proportion of total sales?

Unless you have numbers to show that new PS2 hardware sales are also beating the 360 etc.

the 360 outsold the PS2 by 3 to 1 in December in the US. Thats not PS2 beating the 360, but its not exactly the PS2 not selling either.

to look at it another way, the difference in sales between total HD console sales and Wii sales was far smaller than total PS2 sales.

**lord of the mark** · January 15, 2009, 19:35

By the way I played the Wii today for the first time.

Wii Golf. I managed to sink the ball in only 8 strokes

It was fun. And no, I'm not a golfer. One guy I was playing with said that in Wii Bowling his poor throws gave the same results as in actual bowling.

**Nikolai** · January 15, 2009, 19:40

I can assure you that the guy was wrong about the bowling, although the game's not bad.

One can easily get strikes all the way through with three adjustments to the position and a somewhat straight throw.

**lord of the mark** · January 15, 2009, 19:44

Originally Posted by Nikolai

I can assure you that the guy was wrong about the bowling, although the game's not bad.

One can easily get strikes all the way through with three adjustments to the position and a somewhat straight throw.

I assume he was telling me the truth about his experience (I give people the benefit of the doubt like that, even if I'm not a Christian

) Perhaps he was not aware of the adjustments, or he didn't throw straight.

**Nikolai** · January 15, 2009, 19:55

He probably was in good faith.

My sister has played bowling much lately, she has the habit of throwing nearly sideways, which usually means she only get some 3-5 of the pins.

**DrSpike** · January 15, 2009, 20:13

Wii bowling has no depth whatsoever. I quite like the Golf though.

**lord of the mark** · January 15, 2009, 20:47

top selling console games of 2008

Per Kotaku

01. Wii Play (Wii) - 5,280,000
02. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 5,000,000
03. Wii Fit (Wii) - 4,530,000
04. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) - 4,170,000
05. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360) - 3,290,000
06. Call of Duty: World at War (Xbox 360) - 2,750,000
07. Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360) - 2,310,000
08. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3) - 1,890,000
09. Madden NFL 09 (XBox 360) - 1,870,000
10. Mario Kart DS (DS) - 1,650,000

**Nikolai** · January 15, 2009, 21:20

Originally Posted by DrSpike

Wii bowling has no depth whatsoever. I quite like the Golf though.

Golf is good, but tennis is a true winner.

**El_Cid** · January 16, 2009, 05:16

Yeah i've heard Wii tennis is a great fun mp game. I got some sales stats trends stuff etc, as usual from gamasutra:

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=21891

on sales trends(for hardware it looks like) - things seem to be slowing, but i find the numbers for 2008 odd considering the reported sales of Wii? anyway an interesting analysis to sit along other figures.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=21885

On record sales last year(08) - so kind of why i'm not sure about the details of the first link??

Anyway, i think it safe to assume that computer gaming(especialy console gaming) is reaching a wider audience than ever before.

**El_Cid** · January 16, 2009, 05:20

Originally Posted by Alinestra Covelia

Well if you have a PS2, that can play PS1 games too. PS3 doesn't have reverse compatibility and it doesn't have a lot of games out yet. Maybe that's the reason?

Yeah for a console it is all about the games, thats why the collecovision died a fast death vs the Atari VCS. PS3 still doesnt have a killer game, a game to really sell it over the 360 and that has got to hurt sales. The Wii just is on a different level - it's not competing for the same market share as the 360 and PS3, clever Nintendo.

**El_Cid** · January 30, 2009, 09:52

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=22087

Wii's bubble about to burst? this is a pretty bad downturn so i wouldn't be surprised if all areas saw some shrinkage.

**Alinestra Covelia** · January 30, 2009, 10:39

Makes sense. Wii's main draw was that it would hit the unplumbed newbie gamer demographic. Once that demographic is all plumbed out, its days of growth are over. As Asher and many others have pointed out, there is a relative lack of must-have titles on the Wii compared to XBox360 (and arguably to PS3 as well) so it won't be winning any points among the gamers who finish games quickly and move onto the next. The casual gamer demographic is much more likely to hang onto Wii's various living room party sports for family play so their demand for a constant flow of high-dev games will be correspondingly lower.

So far, I get the impression that Wii's already been a lot more successful than Nintendo initially hoped. (At least that was what they blamed the US side supply shortages on for the past two years.) So in that regard it's been an unexpected success so far. But in order to keep it relevant in the industry they'll have to pull some good games out of their sleeves before long.

I'd give them until summer 2009, not least because that's when I reckon I'll be done with Zelda and Metroid

**DrSpike** · January 30, 2009, 12:50

They must be bringing out a new Zelda this year or next. TP was a release game and that's a while ago.

**El_Cid** · February 4, 2009, 09:33

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=22154

about game prices dropping, which is a good thing. I just didn't find many console games fell into my 'good value' bracket(although with some of the huge(60hour+) Jrpg's i now have on PS2 i'm feeling i've found a console system that does offer a decent amount of value for money gaming).

I guess i'm just tight by nature when it comes to my gaming, and especialy the current gen of consoles did nothing to change my thinking that i wouldn't often get a good bang for buck return. Maybe this article shows that might be changing?

**DrSpike** · February 4, 2009, 15:34

Probably not.

For most of us console gaming already offers great value for money. But given your stated preferences I doubt a few quid off will make a difference for you.

**lord of the mark** · February 4, 2009, 20:30

Originally Posted by DrSpike

Probably not.

For most of us console gaming already offers great value for money.

Evidently not enough at the margin to keep a number of publishers and developers from financial difficulty. Or to avoid major losses at SONY, and so far to recoup MS's losses on the 360.

or to prevent there being a huge market in second sale console game sales, which the publishers hate, and has become a big point of contention between them and retailers.

Clearly a lot of HD console games sell at $60 (and whatever prices they charge you lesser breeds without the law.) But clearly there are huge numbers of "gamers" who won't pay that, whether they play on PC and pirate, play on Wii, buy HD console games later used, etc, etc.