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Why do people keep saying that "Wii won last gen?"

Comandr

Comandr

Member
So I guess the argument is that it won because it sold way more units?

Last time I checked, this wasn't a race. It's an endurance test, and being the first one to finish does not make you the winner.

The number of units in that gap between Wii and the HD twins is getting smaller, fast. Both PS3 and 360 are being supported this year and probably well into 2015/2016.

We don't even know if the Wii's SUCCESSOR will be supported by anyone other than Nintendo at that point.

Wii was the candle that burned twice as fast for half as long. It had an abysmal end of life, with next to nothing coming out its last year or so, and then almost everyone that had a Wii sold it off or shelved it.

Aaand the HD twins are still being played and used today, every day. Still getting new games. Still getting support.

So I guess the last gen war is still going, even after Wii folded. But Wii is the winner?
Jon-Hamm-Sure-Thing.gif
 
N

Ninja Scooter

Member
Gotta cling to something.


at the end of the day who "won" is pretty meaningless. This isn't the Olympics. Nintendo made a ton of money last gen but from what we know now, they did a far worse job of establishing a brand with it's users than both MS and Sony did.
 
K

Komo

Banned
Sure, it won in terms of sales, but if you wanted to play anything decent you'd have to sift through the mountains of shovelware
 
Vigilant Walrus

Vigilant Walrus

Member
Comandr said:
So I guess the argument is that it won because it sold way more units?

Last time I checked, this wasn't a race. It's an endurance test, and being the first one to finish does not make you the winner.

The number of units in that gap between Wii and the HD twins is getting smaller, fast. Both PS3 and 360 are being supported this year and probably well into 2015/2016.

We don't even know if the Wii's SUCCESSOR will be supported by anyone other than Nintendo at that point.

Wii was the candle that burned twice as fast for half as long. It had an abysmal end of life, with next to nothing coming out its last year or so, and then almost everyone that had a Wii sold it off or shelved it.

Aaand the HD twins are still being played and used today, every day. Still getting new games. Still getting support.

So I guess the last gen war is still going, even after Wii folded. But Wii is the winner?
Jon-Hamm-Sure-Thing.gif
Click to expand...

Do you know how many people got banned for repeating PP (preaching Patchers) chanting of Wii being a fad?
 
N

ninjarr

Neo Member
Kinda seems like everyone won last generation.

What's winning, again? It means making money (producers) or having fun playing games (consumer), right? Yeah, I think everyone pretty much won.
 
A

adamantypants

Member
In terms of financial success, it's undoubtedly the winner. And since that's the only objective thing that is irrefutable, Wii won last gen.
 
V

Vinterbird

Member
It sold better then the other consoles, and its games defined a generation. Wii Sports is one of the most influential and important games made, and for better or worse it brought games to the masses in the same way mobile games did.
 
S

Synth_floyd

Banned
They sold more units than everyone and made way more money than everyone. What other definition of "winning" is there, unless you're Charlie Sheen?
 
Comandr

Comandr

Member
Vigilant Walrus said:
Do you know how many people got banned for repeating PP (preaching Patchers) chanting of Wii being a fad?
Click to expand...

I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about. I'm asking a legitimate question on a gaming forum. Is that not allowed any more? I didn't read that in the ToS.


sn00zer said:
In sales Wii really did destroy just about everyone. End of story.
Click to expand...

But this doesn't make any sense. You can't calculate sales until everyone has stopped selling. Wii is selling next to nothing as far as units go. Whereas the competitors are still selling millions and will continue to do so for a LONG time. 5-10 years from now, it's going to be a very different picture. I don't think it's possible to give such a definitive answer right now.

Hence the question.
 
N

No Love

Banned
Ninja Scooter said:
Gotta cling to something.


at the end of the day who "won" is pretty meaningless. This isn't the Olympics. Nintendo made a ton of money last gen but from what we know now, they did a far worse job of establishing a brand with it's users than both MS and Sony did.
Click to expand...

Bam, 1st post, thread "won."
 
M

Morfeo

The Chuck Norris of Peace
Azurex said:
Sure, it won in terms of sales, but if you wanted to play anything decent you'd have to sift through the mountains of shovelware
Click to expand...

Do u feel the need to play all the bad games of the ps360 as well? I never understood why people dont just ignore the shovelware, every successful system has it, as it doesnt make the good games and less good or less worth playing.

anyways, the wii won because it sold waaay more units than its competitora, and it would have sold even more had not nintendo stupidly dropped it in 2010.
 
T

To Far Away Times

Member
The Wii sold the most units.

And I think you'll be surprised how history will remember the Wii vs 360/PS3.

Those movie games and FPS' are going to age poorly compared to Nintendo's software.
 
K

kurbaan

Banned
Un sales are the only thing that matter. WII decimated everyone for a long time. It sold the most and made the most profit by far. Nothing else matters.

maybe In 5 years the HD twins will be even closer but Nintendo has moved on.
 
G

Gummb

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about Rayman Legends Wii U.
Does this really matter at all? Is this really worth having a 10 page discussion about?

The Wii is considered by some to have won because it sold the most. It has almost a billion sales in software. Whether it was "good" or not is subjective and depends on who you ask.

The other consoles are considered to have won by some because of other reasons.

There will never be a conclusion in the minds of all.
 
X

xXUndeadChickXx

Banned
GameCube: 20 Mil
Wii: 100 mil
Difference: 80 Mil

Xbox: 25 mil
Xbox 360: 80 mil and still going
Difference: 55 mil

PS2: 150 mil
PS3: 80 mil and still going
Difference: -70 mil

Based on numbers, I say the Wii did the best, than the 360, and then the PS3. It's very likely though that PS4 will smash Wii U's and Xbones numbers though.
 
W

Wurdfurd

Member
TBH I would say that Xbox 360 "won" last gen. Rewind to 2005. PS2 was the killer, Gamecube was meh, OG Xbox had a small and slightly growing user base. Today, the Xbox 360 is a huge player in the console world.

While PS3 and Wii ended up outselling the 360, the ground that MS made up was substantial.
 
A

Anth0ny

Member
Well, it outsold the competition. Can't dispute that.

It's weird though. There's never been a winner of a gen that totally rolled over a mere 4 years into its life. NES, SNES, PS1 and PS2 definitely didn't have that problem.

You know it didn't have much momentum at the end of it's life when the successor is on pace to sell 1/10th of its total lifetime units. One fucking tenth.
 
A

ameleco

Member
Nintendo didn't just sell more Wii's, but it also sold them at a higher profit. I also don't know the software numbers specifically, but I know a lot of Nintendo's games (Mario Kart Wii for instance) sold a lot so they made a ton of money with software too.
 
W

Watashiwa

Member
Because by every metric that people look at it did? It made its makers the most money, it sold the most units, it had more games that people played, it had games that created and redefined genres. The Wii won last generation.

Now, did it win the hearts and minds of the hardcore gamer? No. But hearts and minds of hardcore gamers are not one of the metrics that counts in deciding who wins a generation.
 
I

IdreamofHIME

Member
Nintendo the company won last gen.
Nintendo's fans lost.

It's that simple.

Yes, I know Nintendo fans got some amazing games from the Wii, but the console was abandoned so quickly that it never found it's potential.
It's kinda funny how Nintendo gave up on the 800lb Wii Gorilla and yet seem determined to back the weakling WiiU till the bitter end.
 
G

GamerJM

Banned
I doubt the 360/PS3 will ever fully catch up the way sales are right now. But we'll see. In a way, yes, it's not really over.

But uh, yeah, who "wins" a "console war" is generally determined by sales, mainly because literally every other measurement is based on subjectivity. Also whenever people talk about every other console war and who "won," (gen 6, 5, 4, and 3), they always refer to sales (NES outselling other competing consoles, SNES outselling Genesis, PS1 outselling N64 and Saturn, PS2 outselling Xbox and Gamecube). I'd like to add that this is a perfect example of why console wars are so stupid in the first place. You're either arguing over which console won over the market better (which is a stupid as hell thing to argue about) or you're having an argument over which console was better, which pretty much always comes down to "this console had more games I like vs. this console has more games you like".
 
S

Slayven

Member
It always makes the Wii U look more tragic. Instead of striking while the iron was hot. Nintendo did nothing for 2 years and released Water World.
 
Z

ZeroX03

Banned
Comandr said:
So I guess the argument is that it won because it sold way more units?
Click to expand...

There isn't another objective factor to compare them by, except for hardware specs I suppose. You can argue quality of support or games but it all gets into subjective territory. Then there's discussing the profit earned from sale of those machines, a whole different can of worms. Number of units sold is the most clear cut indicator of 'winning' and until the 360 and PS3 reach 100 million then there's no real point arguing about it.
 
C

Cow Goes Moo

Member
it baffles me how [Nintendo] screwed up after the wii, but then again maybe it wasn't really screwing up, rather than continuing their paces
 
Metallix87

Metallix87

Member
This thread reeks of desperation. Wii won in terms of sales, Nintendo arguably had the best exclusives last gen, and arguably the best first party content. Wii forever shifted the gaming landscape, and as much as people want to pretend otherwise, motion gaming is here to stay, though I do suspect it'll be a while until it finds the right way to "function" in the market after the abandonment of the Wii and the Kinect.
 
E

EatinOlives

Member
Gummb said:
Does this really matter at all? Is this really worth having a 10 page discussion about?
Click to expand...

Not that I think this discussion is entirely fruitful but where the hell are you getting the bolded from?

At any rate, the WiiU's failing for the same reason that the Wii won: sales. Hell, pretty much the only functional difference between the WiiU and the Wii is the abysmal sales. They both were underpowered for the generation they were in, had anemic third party support, respectable but scarce first party support, severely undercooked online infrastructure, and revolved around a hardware innovation that after a while even Nintendo themselves lost interest in.
 
N

nhlducks35

Member
The Wii won last gen, especially in terms of profit and sales.

In terms of building a brand name and momentum is a different story entirely...
 
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