Console Wars!!!

[Asher]

Originally posted by asleepathewheel


out now boss:



The fun is that the xbox madden beat the wii madden. I'm sure you'll dig that, Asher.

Looks to me like the Xbox 360 is spanking the Wii in software sales yet again.

In particular, look how Bioshock (a no-name franchise) spanked Metroid Prime 3 (a flagship franchise).

Not to mention Madden, with its AWESOME WIIMOTE CONTROLS, bombed rather spectacularly on the Wii.

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by Asher
I'm curious why you are asking such inane questions?

Its what I do.



You were counting npd top 10 titles, so I did the same.

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by Asher


Looks to me like the Xbox 360 is spanking the Wii in software sales yet again.

In particular, look how Bioshock (a no-name franchise) spanked Metroid Prime 3 (a flagship franchise).

Not to mention Madden, with its AWESOME WIIMOTE CONTROLS, bombed rather spectacularly on the Wii.

Metroid was out 4 days compared to Bioshock's 1.5 weeks, on a system that has nearly 2 million fewer consoles sold, are these results a suprise? Eventually, I think they will probably move similar units, with Bioshock ahead by 50-100k.

Madden was pretty much all around panned, and most people wanting that game probably want the graphics rather than waggle, I know I would if I were buying it this year.

[Asher]

I think Bioshock will spank Metroid in the long run. Metroid 2 only sold what, 700,000 total with ~20 mil consoles?

And where is Aggie? He was comparing Warhawk to Halo, and it sold like 50,000 units?

Of course, Halo 3 will spank them all.

And, 3rd party Wii sales continue to be disastrous. How long til they give up altogether?

[Kuciwalker]

Bioshock isn't franchiseless. It was always known as the successor to System Shock 2.

[Asher]

System Shock is a rather no-name mass market franchise. It's a cult classic, if anything -- no Metroid.

[Apocalypse]

Originally posted by Agathon


How is a chart that I took a screenshot of in my browser, supposed to be blamed on Apple, who to my knowledge do not own vgchartz, nor supply their online graphing software?

You just answered your own question.

[snoopy369]

Bioshock was a huge media push. I would suggest it got substantially more press than Metroid Prime...

[Kuciwalker]

Deserved it, though.

[DrSpike]

The console war debate is going in circles again (since Asher got back ). Obviously you can cut the numbers different ways to make different points (as many have) but I think everyone should just accept that the consistent facts that come from the data are:

i) the Wii is spanking all in hardware
ii) but has few good games and a worse attach rate.

I hereby declare that no more points can be scored by making these arguments, or derivatives of these arguments. The interesting questions as far as I can see (feel free to add more) are:

1) Given the facts i) and ii) was Nintendo smart or stupid to release a less powerful machine to a wider group of gamers less likely to buy lots of games as a whole.

2) For more traditional gamers such as ourselves (to varying degrees) is the Wii a good prospect, or will it be shortly?

FWIW I think the answer to 1) has to be yes. Nintendo realised a 3 way war for the traditional console middle ground would be expensive and painful and went for something different. This seems to have paid off - I've love to see some bottom line figures but they must be making more than either MS or PS3 right now with the losses they take on the consoles.

On the Wii they may sell less per game but they've set themselves up to have a much wider market and ultimately it probably doesn't matter from Nintendo's perspective.

On 2) I'm still not sure to be honest, but have been leaning towards thinking it's a good complement to my PC and Xbox. Like Asher I was a bit sceptical about the Wii-mote but RE4 and MP3 have managed to use it really well by all accounts and it offers a different gaming experience.

A few big games are on the horizon, but I'm still concerned about the depth. On the Xbox I know that there will be more good games than I can play for the next year or so at least. It's tricky and I don't see myself making a decision until SSBB and Galaxy are both out.

[Asher]

RE4's Wiimote application is still not that great. The fundamental problem with the Wiimote is it'll always have a margin of error in its use. Some will have you to believe it's a precision device, but it's not. Same with Sixaxis controls on the PS3 (and is one reason Lair got nailed in reviews).

Control schemes need to be 100% reliable and consistent. On the PS3, Sixaxis is twitchy and on the Wii, every game I've played seems to have at least a 20% error rate at recognizing gesture for what it's intended to do. For simple games that use gestures to trigger a very small number of actions (eg, Wii Sports), this is fine...but for games like RE4, it's frustrating. When you die because the Wiimote thinks you're doing something you're not, and you could have easily done it accurately with the gamepad, some of the fun slips out of the game.

I haven't played Metroid Prime 3, because it looks overrated like its predecessors. I'll give it a rent sometime, but a game relying on backtracking is a fundamentally flawed game.

[Asher]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned here is how the Wii's sales in Japan are falling pretty systematically over the year.

Wii outsold PS3 by 3 to 1 during August, but the ratio was 4 to 1 the previous month and 6 to 1 in May and June. And this isn't because the PS3 is selling well.

[Nikolai]

Pretty steep fall during the summer. OTOH, isn't sales always down during summer? Still doesn't explain why PS3 didn't fall though.

[Asher]

Here we go: Xbox 360 sold more games in August than Wii and PS3 combined.

http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/news/?id=17422

MS on August NPD: Xbox 360 Software Sales More than Wii and PS3 Combined

Redmond quite pleased with the August surge for Xbox 360

Following the thoroughly impressive August results from The NPD Group, Microsoft was the first of the big three console manufacturers to chime in on its performance for the month.

The main highlights were outlined by Microsoft as follows:

# Xbox 360 unit sales are up 63 percent, versus an 18 percent decline for PS3 and 5 percent decline for Wii month over month

# Xbox 360 outsells PS3 more than 2:1

# Xbox 360 software sales are more than PS3 and Wii software sales combined

# Madden NFL '08 on Xbox 360 outsold all other versions of the title, including the PS2 by more than 250,000 units, and PS3 by more than 560,000

# Xbox 360 held the top two titles across all next generation consoles with Madden NFL '08 (EA) at #1 and BioShock (2K Games) at #2

# Halo 3 preorders continue on a trajectory to eclipse Halo 2 preorders

Microsoft also said that since last November when the Wii and PS3 launched, gamers have spent more dollars on Xbox 360 software ($24.3 million) than on software for PS3 and Wii combined ($19.8 million).

In addition, the company proudly stated that it maintained the Xbox 360's launch price point "for longer than any other console in videogame history holding the record at 21 months." The previous record was held by PS2 at 19 months.

[Asher]

This holiday season is going to be MASSIVE for the 360 also:

September 25th: Halo 3 (projected $150M in first day sales alone., 3 million units in 12 days)
October 2nd: PGR4
October 29: Guitar Hero III
November 5th: Call of Duty 4
November 13th: Assassin's Creed
November 20th: Mass Effect
November 20th: Rock Band

For the Wii, the only software releases coming soon in the same stratosphere are:
October 29th: Guitar Hero III (good luck with downloadable content though...)
November 12th: Super Mario Galaxy
December 3rd: Super Smash Brothers Brawl