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[giggas]

I think the number one thing responsible for Wii's decline is that unlike the PS2 at the time, it has extremely stiff competition.

Love or hate Kinect, MS knocked it out of the park. Between that and the console redesign, they've essentially relaunched the 360. Kinect obviously aims at that same demographic Wii was aimed at, and those people that have had their balance boards stuffed into closets for the last few years were ready for the next big thing. It worked.

But that's only one factor. There is of course the lack of great compelling software. As someone that has absolutely loved the shit out of their Wii since launch, even I had a hard time finding anything worth while this year (although I had a good time going back to games I originally missed out on like PoP Forgotten Sands and Little King'd Story).

There is the obvious price drop that would have helped. There is the fact that people have "smartened up" a bit and want an HD console for their HD TVs.

It's a very different landscape compared to what the PS2 was competing against.

 

[lefantome]

The two eras are different:

ps2 was dominant, wii it's not, but the market has widen consistently,so who knows.

The fact is that now wii is selling good at low prices because there are a lot of people who haven't bought a console because of the high prices, sensibly high compared to the old gen and due to recession.

I'm sure sony and M$ are going to announce important price drops at E3 2012.

like

xbox 4gb 150$
xbox 250gb 200$ or even 180$

4g+kinect 200$
250+kinect 250$

(final price drop at the release of xbox 720)


I think that in this case wii will sell even fewer units, there is no point in buying it with better consoles with family services available for few $ more.

Xbox and ps3 will have a lont tail of sales comparable to the ps2'one (together) in the end in this generation I think around 250 mln of consoles will be sold, even more if they will keep selling in new markets.

the next gen could imho aim to ship 500 mln of consoles.

 

[bigtroyjon]

the next gen could imho aim to ship 500 mln of consoles.

wat?

 

[markatisu]

I don't understand people's needs for the Wii to dominate or come close to the PS2, different eras and different context

The Gamecube and Xbox were nowhere near the same popularity wise as the Wii and the 360, or even the PS3 since its disc format did win the media war.

If anything comparing the two generations makes the Wii and 360 look awesome and the PS3 just look sad since Sony owned the last generation....there is your BOMBA

 

[SmokedMeat]

The whole Wii experiment has failed everyone. I bet Nintendo wished they had scrapped the idea altogether.

Huh? It was a smashing success for them! A racehorse that exploded out of the gate, fueled by sales to everyone's aunt, grandma, and nongaming coworker that either wanted to lose weight, or see what all of the fuss was about.

No suprise the horse collapsed, but the fact remains it made a quick, easy buck for Nintendo. Now it's hopefully onto the next quick moneymaker, because that's more important than supporting a system with games.

 

[Celine]

wat?

In the end DS+PSP+Wii+360+PS3 should do almost that amount.

 

[daviyoung]

What? No It hasn't. Casual and gesture based gaming is huge now.

I believe that was what's known in the trade as "a joke".

 

[Like the hat?]

how many years has wii been doomed now?

I think for a console that got shit for new games in the past year, selling that many consoles is pretty damn good.

 

[bigtroyjon]

In the end DS+PSP+Wii+360+PS3 should do almost that amount.

I don't think he was talking about handhelds

Xbox and ps3 will have a lont tail of sales comparable to the ps2'one (together) in the end in this generation I think around 250 mln of consoles will be sold,

 

[Josh7289]

I think it would be a good idea if they dropped the price of the Wii to $100 this year. And if they released the Wii U at $300.

 

[larvi]

Another factor when comparing against the PS2 is there really hasn't been a good reason for existing owners to replace or upgrade their existing Wii's. Between the slim and bad optical drives I bought 3 PS2's but I'm still on my first Wii.

 

[Celine]

I don't think he was talking about handhelds

Then he is a fool.
Also is the 250M thing for only PS3 and 360?

 

[cajunator]

Has there been any news of the game Sky Night Rodea?
Last I heard in September they were trying to get it published.
Other than Last Guardian, its the only game I'm looking forward to at all on any system really.

 

[PetriP-TNT]

I bought Gamecube for 99e and it was pretty damn good deal, it's also the same price point I will get the Wii at

 

[LosDaddie]

This gen is vastly different from last gen. And the Wii shouldn't be compared to the PS2, but rather its predecessor, the GCN.

I'm sure sony and M$

:lol
But I guess this should be expected in a sales-age thread.

 

[duk]

price drop badly needed

my my how the wii has fallen so quickly

 

[Plinko]

price drop badly needed

my my how the wii has fallen so quickly

LOL...right..."so quickly." Unless you weren't joking, in which case you're out of your mind.

I've actually been shocked it has sold so well, to be honest. The thing has absolutely no decent games on the horizon. Other, better motion-control options are out there.

 

[Meier]

It has been years now that I've said (not that I'm alone by any means) they needed to re-design the Wii in some capacity and add a DVD playing capability to it to provide another bonus to it since it is essentially a Netflix (and could be Redbox) machine for many. If they had made it look significantly different, there is no doubt that it would have sold additional units to people with existing Wiis. I absolutely would have replaced my launch unit at some point just because.

I have no idea what they were thinking in these past few years with the Wii. It's been a colossal failure in every regard. As someone who grew up a diehard Nintendo fan, it really makes me pretty sad to see how incredibly they've mishandled it.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Uh, isn't the console life cycle kind of like, you know, coming to a close soon?

Why would anyone buy a console if it's going to stop being supported soon?

 

[Doc Holliday]

You guys are looking at this the wrong way. Remember the Wii is a freaking overclocked Gamecube with motion controls. They have been using the same hardware since 2001!!! Talk about a return on your investment. Nintendo has been playing with house money for a looooong time.

 

[jcm]

This time last year, Nintendo thought the 3DS in the US would be selling this Christmas for the equivalent of 21,250 JPY ($250 with an exchange rate of 85 JPY per USD). Instead they are selling here for the equivalent of 13,045 JPY ($170 with an exchange rate of 76.74 JPY per USD). The Wii doesn't get priced in a vacuum. When they nuked the 3DS margin, they lost flexibility in Wii pricing.

 

[cajunator]

Nintendo made money on the wii from the very beginning.
The system has been nothing but a financial success, so it really doesnt matter a whole lot if it is still selling, although I'm pretty sure nintendo would want it to continue to sell ideally until WiiU comes out. I'm pretty anxious to see what Nintendo comes up with when they take the WiiU into DEFCON 3. HD Nintendo future is glorious future.

 

[Shig]

Uh, isn't the console life cycle kind of like, you know, coming to a close soon?

Why would anyone buy a console if it's going to stop being supported soon?

The average consumer doesn't know there's a successor on the way until it's on the shelves. And even then, it takes them a while to get the message. DSes are still selling quite well.

 

[Vinci]

Hell the Wii holds the record for every month of the year methinks in unit sales. Nintendo was selling in a month worldwide what Sony and MS were selling for a fiscal quarter. At one time unit sales were really really one sided. On a scale the PS2 didn't see. Which was saying a lot because the second place console was doing a lot better than the last gen second placer.

I say this a lot but publishers, developers, and Nintendo screwed the pooch with the Wii. Nintendo by not trying to money out some exclusives, and pubs for not spending big money making sure a huge thriving market with cheap to dev for hardware stayed at the top.

The pace that system was selling at makes the 360 rebound look quaint in comparison.

Great, concise post. More people should have responded to it. I completely agree that pretty much everyone made disastrous decisions regarding the Wii - it really could have become a helluva cash cow.

 

[crazy monkey]

I thought wii has been remarkably successful for it was. It should be actually a good business lesson to everyone.

 

[REMEMBER CITADEL]

Uh, isn't the console life cycle kind of like, you know, coming to a close soon?

Why would anyone buy a console if it's going to stop being supported soon?

I don't know, maybe you should ask all those people who kept buying PS2 well into PS3's life cycle.

 

[cajunator]

I thought wii has been remarkably successful for it was. It should be actually a good business lesson to everyone.

It sold almost 95 million with highly dated tech. Kind of amazing actually, and still my favorite console of this gen by far. Even now that I have Blurays and HD TVs and shit like that.

 

[Version 3.0]

I don't blame the price. It's the support. Nintendo stopped supporting the Wii as fast as they stopped supporting the struggling Gamecube, only the Wii, of course, was the market leader. It's baffling.

The only price I'd point any fingers at is the 1st-party game prices - they took way too long to introduce the Players Choice line.

 

[cajunator]

I don't blame the price. It's the support. Nintendo stopped supporting the Wii as fast as they stopped supporting the struggling Gamecube, only the Wii, of course, was the market leader. It's baffling.

The only price I'd point any fingers at is the 1st-party game prices - they took way too long to introduce the Players Choice line.

I'm quite pleased with Nintendo first party offerings on Wii. The only think it really is missing is an Fzero and a Starfox game of some sort, although those are certainly glaring omissions.

 

[Omegasquash]

I don't blame the price. It's the support. Nintendo stopped supporting the Wii as fast as they stopped supporting the struggling Gamecube, only the Wii, of course, was the market leader. It's baffling.

The only price I'd point any fingers at is the 1st-party game prices - they took way too long to introduce the Players Choice line.

And you'll still be paying $50 for Mario Galaxy 2 for like, another few years. Nintendo has traditionally kept a high price on first party hits for a loooooong time.

 

[MarkMclovin]

I thought wii has been remarkably successful for it was. It should be actually a good business lesson to everyone.

Pretty much. Would we have the PS Move and Kinect if the Wii wasn't born?

 

[Version 3.0]

I'm quite pleased with Nintendo first party offerings on Wii. The only think it really is missing is an Fzero and a Starfox game of some sort, although those are certainly glaring omissions.

I should clarify: it's Nintendo of America's localization that really stinks.

 

[Elios83]

It was not lost, people have to deal with the fact that Wii is a different product from PS3/360. It's a product which has based it's mass market success on the novelty effect, it was bound to have a shorter lifecycle than a traditional console. Also the fact that Nintendo ceased support and announced WiiU in June 2011 didn't help.

 

[cajunator]

I should clarify: it's Nintendo of America's localization that really stinks.

That I would agree with, although very little of what I cared about playing didnt make it to the US. I even got Ivy the Kiwi and that rocked my soul.

 

[Version 3.0]

And you'll still be paying $50 for Mario Galaxy 2 for like, another few years. Nintendo has traditionally kept a high price on first party hits for a loooooong time.

Yes, and that makes sense to a degree since they do sell well for a long window. But this gen, they actually announced that they wouldn't have a budget line at all. That's nuts. I can't believe they thought they could "force" people to pay the $50 price. There's a huge demographic that they just wrote off.

 

[test_account]

console 2 |ˈkänˌsōl| |ˈkɑnˈsoʊl| |ˈkɒnsəʊl|
noun
1 a panel or unit accommodating a set of controls for electronic or mechanical equipment.
• a cabinet for television or radio equipment.
• the cabinet or enclosure containing the keyboards, stops, pedals, etc., of an organ.

It's a pretty vague definition, but anyway I don't want to derail the thread with this discussion so please ignore it.

Yeah, it is somewhat vague indeed. Personally, i think it sounds more like a device that is standalone, not something that is being carried around, nor being portable in that sense.

I also feel there is a difference between handheld and consoles, because handheld are usually one unit per person while consoles are usually one unit per household.

But regardless of the definition, they are at least all dedicated gaming device.

 

[[Nintex]]

Nintendo and third parties didn't release shit all year, no wonder it's dead.

 

[electroplankton]

I have no idea what they were thinking in these past few years with the Wii. It's been a colossal failure in every regard. As someone who grew up a diehard Nintendo fan, it really makes me pretty sad to see how incredibly they've mishandled it.

??
Wii has a great line-up, for both new gamers and hardcore gamers who grew up with Nintendo. Look at how many beautiful 2D platform the platform has, plus two good Zeldas, and a lot of niche stuff (Sin and Punishment, Punch-Out, Xenoblade, Fire Emblem), plus a lot of other things. If the GC satisfied you, there's no way you are not satisfied by the Wii.

 

[iamaustrian]

No one knows the Wii U exists.

That's not true at all.

 

[cajunator]

Nintendo and third parties didn't release shit all year, no wonder it's dead.

They released a certain game with a hero wearing a green tunic. It might be pretty good.

 

[evilromero]

I'll never understand why Nintendo couldn't get more software out for the holiday. Mario Party 9 just made way too much sense as a fall release. They just sat on the system all year until around October when their software lineup finally arrived. With the PS2 the system had a constant stream of games. It wasn't beholden to the casual market. So I have to wonder why Nintendo didn't have more "Wii" titles planned for 2011.

 

[LosDaddie]

Great, concise post. More people should have responded to it. I completely agree that pretty much everyone made disastrous decisions regarding the Wii - it really could have become a helluva cash cow.

huh? The Wii was/is a helluva cash cow. Nintendo made a ton of money with the Wii.

Sure, Nintendo could've made more money if they courted 3rd parties more aggressively and had a better online service, but the Wii printed money for a long time for Ninty.

I don't blame the price. It's the support. Nintendo stopped supporting the Wii as fast as they stopped supporting the struggling Gamecube, only the Wii, of course, was the market leader. It's baffling..

Nintendo supported the Wii pretty damn good. 2 Zeldas, 3 Mario games, a new DK game, the obligatory Mario Kart and Mario Party games.

 

[LOCK]

Two things that are noticeably lacking from Nintendo this holiday is a price drop on the Wii and DS units, and also marketing in general.

Zelda SS needed more marketing.

Nintendo screwed up this holiday on everything but the 3DS.

 

[ascii42]

I don't know, maybe you should ask all those people who kept buying PS2 well into PS3's life cycle.

who keep buying, really. It's not quite dead yet.

 

[Always-honest]

Also WiiU is coming.

And every household in the world, including those in third world countries, allready has a Wii.

 

[bigtroyjon]

LOL...right..."so quickly." Unless you weren't joking, in which case you're out of your mind.

I've actually been shocked it has sold so well, to be honest. The thing has absolutely no decent games on the horizon. Other, better motion-control options are out there.

It has fallen quickly, here's some evidence

 

[FrankT]

So Xbox will finally take the overall year and the last 12 months of NPD. 2012 shall be interesting.

 

[jcm]

??
If the GC satisfied you, there's no way you are not satisfied by the Wii.

There might be 10M people who were satisfied* by the GC. That's not exactly a ringing endorsement.

* Bought one, didn't buy any other console.

 

[Vinci]

huh? The Wii was/is a helluva cash cow. Nintendo made a ton of money with the Wii.

Sure, Nintendo could've made more money if they courted 3rd parties more aggressively and had a better online service, but the Wii printed money for a long time for Ninty.

The point is that they could've made far more. And 3rd parties definitely could've utilized the Wii more effectively. Money was left on the table by the tonnage with the system.

 

[electroplankton]

There might be 10M people who were satisfied* by the GC. That's not exactly a ringing endorsement.

* Bought one, didn't buy any other console.

Just saying; I see people complaining about Wii line-up when it has been actually far better than GC one, and third-party wise surely better than N64.