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Techradar: How the Nintendo Wii won the console war

T

Tripon

Member
The PS3 didn't win the console war, and the Xbox 360 definitely didn't either.

No, it was the Nintendo Wii that defined this gaming generation.

Did it have the graphical might to stand shoulder to shoulder with the PS3 and Xbox 360? Hell no. Did it have the hardcore library of the GameCube? Nope. Did it have a stupid name? Yeah, we sniggered.

And guys, it couldn't even play DVDs.

But the Wii won this generation by doing something much, much bigger: it got the whole world playing videogames.

It brought families together in the living room to share a round of virtual bowling, it got grandparents and grandkids going head to head for some Wii Tennis. It was Nintendo's plan from the start and it worked marvelously.

Like so many great ideas before it, the Wii had a tough time getting people to take it seriously at first. "What a funny name" and "Is that a NES controller?" But then it actually happened, and Nintendo set the living room ablaze, shaking up an industry that really needed it.

The PS3 and Xbox 360 were souped-up versions of their predecessors - Nintendo dared to be different. Perhaps the Wii should have clutched onto its development codename of "The Revolution." In an industry that was becoming more averse to risk taking, it truly was.
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http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/consoles/how-the-nintendo-wii-won-the-console-war-1197348
 
The console everyone bought that collected the biggest amount if dust from not being played after the 1st few days
 
If Wii won last generation why have this article now instead of when Wii U came out?

Seems to me that the timing of article which coincides with the end of PS3 and Xbox 360 means that those system defined and won the generation, not the Wii.
 
The war isn't over. Well, for the Wii it is, it died of being too outdated. PS3 will surpass it in the end.
 
Perkel said:
It won battle but lost the war.
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*nods in agreement*

Yeah. They won alright. Developers loved how much money they got from their third party Wii game sales.

It's why the WIi U is such a popular spot for third parties now. Because the Wii was so successful.
 
Perkel said:
It won battle but lost the war.
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lolwut? If anything, it's the opposite. It lost many battles (didn't have as many exclusives, poor third-party support, crummy graphics, wonky controls that lost a lot of people), but won the overall console war.
 
Not reading, but I assume "it was cheap and the motion controls enticed grannies and kids alike" is the jist of it.
 
DragonSworne said:
If Wii won last generation why have this article now instead of when Wii U came out?

Seems to me that the timing of article which coincides with the end of PS3 and Xbox 360 means that those system defined and won the generation, not the Wii.
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PS3 and 360 only picked up because they both had to revitalize their brands. Slimmer, cheaper, less intimidating consoles. Family- and casual-oriented campaigns like Move and Kinect.

Nope, they weren't after that Wii/DS $$$ at all.
 
Hardware sales alone do not decide a console generation.

Correct me if I'm horribly wrong, but it was dead last in terms of software sales, right?
 
Zefah said:
Hardware sales alone do not decide a console generation.

Correct me if I'm horribly wrong, but it was dead last in terms of software sales, right?
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And how much overal profit did Xbox 360 and PS3 make for Sony and Microsoft? Nintendo won, Nintendo made the most money, software wise (only 1 and 2nd party titles) and hardware wise.
 
wpid3384-console-war.jpg
 
Ishida said:
Had the most sales.

Had the worst overall game catalog, by far.
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That's the way I see it.

By the way, I was a Wii owner. Walk into a store and you basically saw Nintendo games and then whole shelves of casual/shovelware crap.
 
TwEE-N-Toast said:
This is going to piss of a lot of people here.
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not really. this has been debated to death already.

If it's a win, that victory is clearly Pyrrhic, since Wii sales fell off a cliff in 2011, never recovered, and the wii strategy re: third parties and hardcore gamers has made it impossible for the WiiU to be anything more than a historical curiosity.

Sony and Microsoft are in MUCH better shape as their current gen consoles are still selling and will continue to sell for several more years, and their next gen consoles are poised to break records at release.

For "losing" consoles, they seem to be doing pretty well, and the "winner" is in very, very dire straits.
 
okayfrog said:
lolwut? If anything, it's the opposite. It lost many battles (didn't have as many exclusives, poor third-party support, crummy graphics, wonky controls that lost a lot of people), but won the overall console war.
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Yeah, I'm going to go with this. EDIT: Except on the exclusive count. I completely disagree with that one.

Nintendo have since lost their position a bit, but that doesn't take their win away from them.
 
Nilaul said:
And how much overal profit did Xbox 360 and PS3 make for Sony and Microsoft? Nintendo won, Nintendo made the most money, software wise (only 1 and 2nd party titles) and hardware wise.
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Why does profit matter ? Most of the games people played this gen were on X360/PS3.


It sold a lot but it wasn't NES or PS2. Most of games this gen were on other platforms than Wii.
 
WOw some of you can't just rewrite history because your "HD twins" got their asses kicked an entire generation by a freaking Gamecube. it did win the last gen console war. Arguing about it is like arguing if GTA is a popular series and you say no because "you hate it". guess what, it won, move on.

It sold the most units, it sold a SHIT TON of games, it changed the industry forever as now both Sony and MS wil ALWAYS have motion in their games. It brought about the real term "casual" taking it from the real casual crowd of COD/Madden/popular flavor of the month.

Face it salty people, it won. Give it up.
 
Manmademan said:
not really. this has been debated to death already.

If it's a win, that victory is clearly Pyrrhic, since Wii sales fell off a cliff in 2011, never recovered, and the wii strategy re: third parties and hardcore gamers has made it impossible for the WiiU to be anything more than a historical curiosity.

Sony and Microsoft are in MUCH better shape as their current gen consoles are still selling and will continue to sell for several more years, and their next gen consoles are poised to break records at release.

For "losing" consoles, they seem to be doing pretty well, and the "winner" is in very, very dire straits.
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Therefore: PS2 won the battle but lost the war.
 
Overall speaking lots of wii's were sold to non gaming people and as gifts for young children. Which leads to lots of consoles collecting dust in the end.
I surely believe nintendo didnt expect the massive sales of the wii when it launched.
Trying to emulate this with thd wiiU.. no such luck this time..waggle was a fase. doing something different for the sake of being different is not enough anymore
 
Kyon said:
The console everyone bought that collected the biggest amount if dust from not being played after the 1st few days
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This is BS. The attach rate was basically on the same level than the HD consoles.

Atolm said:
The war isn't over. Well, for the Wii it is, it died of being too outdated. PS3 will surpass it in the end.
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This is insane, the PS3 won't sell 20 million more units even if you keep it in the market for five years.
 
Manmademan said:
not really. this has been debated to death already.

If it's a win, that victory is clearly Pyrrhic, since Wii sales fell off a cliff in 2011, never recovered, and the wii strategy re: third parties and hardcore gamers has made it impossible for the WiiU to be anything more than a historical curiosity.

Sony and Microsoft are in MUCH better shape as their current gen consoles are still selling and will continue to sell for several more years, and their next gen consoles are poised to break records at release.

For "losing" consoles, they seem to be doing pretty well, and the "winner" is in very, very dire straits.
Click to expand...

It's a matter of perspective I suppose, since you can spin it however you'd like. Sales dropped off in 2011 and the other systems STILL haven't caught up.

Nintendo, also, isn't in "very, very dire straits". The Wii U, specifically, might be, but the company will be fine.
 
Will be plenty of salt in this thread if early returns are any indication.

It's not really a case of "won the battle, lost the war."

It's more like, "won the game, then pulled their starters while the other teams put up some points in garbage time."
 
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