Console Wars IV

[Asher]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker


Both Pikmin and Pikmin 2 sold over a million copies, and are "real games". So, once again, you assume that because you're ignorant about something it's irrelevant.

I'm familiar with Pikmin.

Look at the sales statistics. Pikmin 2 sold far less than Pikmin 1, which tells you a lot about retention of fans.

Pikmin had about a 5% sellthrough rate for Gamecube owners. Please don't overstate its importance. It will be far less than 5% for the Wii.

[Guynemer]

For the record, both Pikmin games were outstanding, and I'm very much looking forward to another.

[El_Cid]

hmmmm....Nintendo is still winning......ah yes.....that's confirmed

[Asher]

I urge you to actually watch Nintendo's press conference and call them the winner.

[Nostromo]

Here, let me save you some time.

No doubt the proprietors of Ladies' Home Journal were breathless during Nintendo's presentation, but those outside of that august body may derive less enjoyment. This is the deep-dish, delicious irony endured by the Nintendo stalwart: to see their platform of choice ascendant, even as their bright God turns his face away. Though it contained very little sustenance for our kind, the presentation was (as is typical) a confident, refined affair. The salvo was not a failure. It was simply aimed elsewhere.

As for Sony, well, let's talk about Sony.

There is nothing I hate more than a foregone conclusion. Beneath every vicious (that is to say, factual) statement I have ever made regarding the company, there has existed the indubitable truth of their ultimate victory. This certainty extends, yea, even unto the company itself, which is why they have done so little to earn your love. The rumble-free controller with built-in batteries, the one that turns off while you're updating your console every other week, that one that inexplicably loses signal from time to time but everyone is too chivalrous to discuss it, the one that is now obsolete because two years ago they tried to save money on something they knew they would have to pay anyway - this "six axis" is the icon of a system coasting on global brand inertia. Announcing features that your competitors have had for coming up on two years does not a riveting presentation make. Exclusive PSN content (like a movie length Ratchet and Clank game, or thatgamecompany's Flower) is still the company's most compelling asset.

There are a total of two interesting, relevant announcements from these three presentations combined. The first is that Microsoft has decided, three years into the system's lifespan, that they made the wrong console. Without warning, in the middle of a presentation jutting with skewers of sizzling beef for the faithful, the entire presentation devolved into a series of gruesome outtakes from the ****ing Today Show. They have seen the future, and it is the past. To that end, they have committed to a radical alteration of the user experience. I have no idea what to make of it yet, and the product as shown is in turbulent flux: this single walkthrough clearly shows as many as three versions of the future Dashboard. Gabriel tells me that the Avatars are alright. I don't know.

The second is that Square Enix has recognized it's never going to make its money back only selling Final Fantasy XIII to the Playstation. I don't think most Xbox owners really want Final Fantasy, but this is the kind of pro-consumer maneuver that we assumed would be the hallmark of this generation. You can take it as a compliment to the Xbox as a platform if you like, but it has more to do with the brutal, jungle law of the market. All it actually means is that SquareEnix has recognized the platform exists.

MAG - hilariously, "Massive Action Game" - would have made this list if Sony had shown even a frame of in-game footage. Zipper Interactive, these guys are local - I've got nothing but love for them. I firmly believe that the people who made SOCOM can deliver a multi-theater shooter on that hardware. Just like the God of War III "trailer," though - another virtually content-free pirouette - pre-rendered footage has no effect on me. In this epic context, the value of such materials was substantially less than zero. They needed something incredible, yet tangible. What we received instead was a promise of a promise of a promise.

[Asher]

Here's Nintendo's conference in a nutshell:

[Wiglaf]

That is hilarious but it isn't like having a Fischer Price guitar is any cooler.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by Asher

I think the four people who played the original are probably thrilled.

I'm not a fan, but this is disngenuous as everyone knows the original Pikmin game was pretty popular.

Less bias please.

[Asher]

The Nintendo E3 conference is now legendary.

It has supplanted the MASSIVE DAMAGE conference of 2006 for Sony:

[Asher]

Originally posted by DrSpike


I'm not a fan, but this is disngenuous as everyone knows the original Pikmin game was pretty popular.

Less bias please.

Yes, it was almost as popular as the legendary Need for Speed Underground and Star Wars Battlefront.

And Pikmin 2 was almost as popular as megapopular hits Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (for Xbox1), Simpsons: Hit and Run, and Sonic Heroes.

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by Asher
I urge you to actually watch Nintendo's press conference and call them the winner.

scoreboard?

[Asher]

Only one I've seen so far was on IGN's wii board and after hundreds of votes, 85% of them rated Nintendo's conference "1" out of 10.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Asher
I don't think Spore counts as a casual game. Wii Sports, Wii Music, Wii Fit are casual "games" in that they are far more toys than games.

Spore is a genuine game that may have mass appeal.

Very different things.

I'm not sure why you think the argument is "popular=bad". I don't give a **** if a game is popular. I hate the "casual games" Nintendo is focusing on because they tend not to be games at all. They're simplified toys that use video game hardware to run.

Will Wright has always called SimCity a software toy, and I think he called The Sims that too. How "gamey" Spore will really be is something Spikey and I have discussed, I didnt realize you had an opinion on it.

As someone in some forum or other I saw said, whats the big deal = to the rest of the world these are ALL toys, Mario, Halo, Civ.

Its something you do for fun, for entertainment, maybe even to learn something. What difference does it make if it has a goal or not?

[lord of the mark]

June 2008 NPD Sales Data #1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Care of the NPD Group (hattip to neogaf)


PlayStation 3 405.5k
PSP 337.4k
Playstation 2 188.8k
Xbox 360 219.8k
Wii 666.7k
Nintendo DS 783k



(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)

01. PS3 METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUN OF THE PATRIOTS KONAMI 774.6K (Does not include bundles with PS3 hardware)
02. NDS GUITAR HERO ON TOUR ACTIVISION 422.3K
03. 360 NINJA GAIDEN II MICROSOFT 372.7K
04. WII FIT W/BALANCE BOARD NINTENDO OF AMERICA 372.7K
05. WII PLAY W/ REMOTE NINTENDO OF AMERICA 359.1K
06. 360 BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY ELECTRONIC ARTS 346.8K
07. WII MARIO KART W/WHEEL NINTENDO OF AMERICA 322.4K
08. WII LEGO INDIANA JONES: THE ORIGINAL ADVENTURE LUCASARTS 294.5K
09. NDS LEGO INDIANA JONES: THE ORIGINAL ADVENTURE LUCASARTS 267.8K
10. PS2 LEGO INDIANA JONES: THE ORIGINAL ADVENTURE LUCASARTS 260.3K

[Asher]

Looks like a lot of PS3 fans finally splurged with MGS4.