Console Wars: Mainstream Edition

[Emabulator]

It's safe to say console gaming has become mainstream in society and the media these days. I realized just how mainstream it has become when I found out my parents, both well past retirement age, had been playing Wii Fit with three of their grandsons at my younger brother's house. On top of that they were asking me if they needed a Blu-ray player to go with their HD TV over Christmas dinner (I would have bet money Blu-ray was not part of their vocabulary). To put it in perspective; my parents still have a huge Zenith console stereo from 1966 and the harvest gold refrigerator that came with the house they purchased in 1970.

The reason I have mainstream on the brain is both The Wall Street Journal and YAHOO! Games are talking about the NPD Group sales numbers and the battle being waged by the big three.

You get the idea where the masters of capitalism at The Wall Street Journal are heading with this non-subscriber tease (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123050978162738293.html?mod=googlenews_wsj) of "Hope Fades for PS3 as a Comeback Player":

TOKYO -- For most of this year, Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 videogame console seemed finally to be taking off after a slow start. The PS3, trailing Nintendo Co.'s Wii and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 consoles, was closing in on the No. 2 Xbox 360, with new games and quarterly sales growth at twice the speed of last year.

But early results from this holiday season aren't promising. U.S. sales of the PS3 fell 19% last month from a year earlier, while sales doubled for the Wii console and rose 8% for the Xbox 360, according to research firm NPD.
YAHOO! Games gets in on the action with "Console Wars: Who Won '08? (http://videogames.yahoo.com/feature/console-wars-who-won-08-/1276642)":

According to NPD Group, Nintendo flat-out owned the all-important month of November by selling over 2 million Wiis, better than twice as much as the next closest competitor, Microsoft's Xbox 360 (836,000). And at over 1.5 million DS systems sold, Nintendo tripled the output of Sony's PSP (421,000). While those numbers weren't nearly that high through most of 2008, the general order -- Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony -- held strong throughout.

But this was hardly a banner year for Nintendo in terms of software. The biggest games -- Super Smash Bros. Brawl (http://videogames.yahoo.com/wii/super-smash-bros-brawl/), Mario Kart Wii (http://videogames.yahoo.com/gamemain?cid=1951468448&tab=&page=1&eid=-1) and of course Wii Fit (http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/wii-fit/wii-fit-review/1211635) -- came relatively early in the year, and their biggest holiday release, Wii Music (http://videogames.yahoo.com/wii/wii-music/), has been labeled something of a dud. Miffed that the company was focusing too heavily on catering to its relatively new mass-market audience, the usually loyal Nintendo fans complained about a lack of core games. Meanwhile, Microsoft and Sony enjoyed a wealth of blockbuster games all year long, including top-sellers Grand Theft Auto IV (http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/grand-theft-auto-iv/grand-theft-auto-iv-launch-central/1173460) and Fallout 3 (http://videogames.yahoo.com/xbox360/fallout-3/). So how did Nintendo compete, much less lead the way?

[temmink]

I have to say that those sales figures for the 360 aren't that impressive in light of the price cuts, the 360 arcade is considerably cheaper than a wii and miles cheaper than a ps3 (at least in Aus) and to only go 8% on last year, with a bunch of big Christmas titles to go with? Seems a bit weak to me.

[Meusli]

I did not read the Wall Street Journal past the highlighted text for obvious reasons, why they have to hide there work behind a subscription block is lame. The Yahoo article I did read, as it was there, and agree with it fully.
When this generation is finished I think the positions the consoles are in now will be the same as they are now as Nintendo is uncatchable. Nintendo going after the Mom market this generation was there winning strategy though it will be there undoing next generation. I can not see the same people buying the new Wii console when they release it unless they can recreate the same hype they had with the Wii, which I doubt they will. I also think that they have lost a lot of their core audience with catering to the Mom crowd and the core audience is what gets a console rolling in the first place. I hope I am wrong but basing your market on the Mom angle is like building your house on shifting sand.

[Meusli]

I have to say that those sales figures for the 360 aren't that impressive in light of the price cuts, the 360 arcade is considerably cheaper than a wii and miles cheaper than a ps3 (at least in Aus) and to only go 8% on last year, with a bunch of big Christmas titles to go with? Seems a bit weak to me.

The sales figures for the 360 last year were called impressive and it also had a lot of killer apps to push them forward. An 8% increase over last years figures is impressive in a way, but when you put them next to the Wii figures it just looks a bit flat.

[Highlar]

The Wii is by far the best selling console this generation. The only hurdle for it left is to see if it can keep up sales and eventually pass the PS2 in terms of over all sales volume. I also think the 360 making an 8% increase in sales over last year is impressive, too. Just not quite as impressive as Nintendo being able to DOUBLE their Wii sales over last year at the same time. That takes some work, with the system going into its 3rd year now. Pretty sad about the PS3, though. I guess people STILL aren't willing to pay those high prices (of which I'm one...just can't afford a PS3).

But with the Yahoo article and general "consensus" on Wii Music...I have to say I'm highly surprised by that "game". I picked it up at Gamestop with their "buy 2 get 1 free" deal this weekend, mostly thinking it would be something my twin 6yo girls would like. Instead, I find that I'M the one most engaged by it! Sure, there are no real goals in the game. There's no princess to save...no space aliens for the marines to take out...no puzzles to be solved by picking apart clues found in obscure locations...but the game is just plain FUN. There's a lot of depth to Wii Music, if you let yourself look into it. Changing around the beats, reworking songs like it lets you do is a lot of fun. I think I spent over an hour, just working on ONE rearrangement of the Zelda theme. Also, as I love music but don't have much knowledge about MAKING music, the lessons are enjoyable for me as well. There's a lot that can be done with Wii Music, but I think most reviewers had their noses turned up towards it before even taking a look at what the game has to offer. I personally consider it a very fun, fantastic addition to my collection of Wii games (of which I picked up 9 this past weekend....yay for Gamestop cards for Christmas gifts!).

[Tikki]

The Wii is more mainstream than any console every made I think. They have 4 Wii Fit setups at the mom and pop gym I go to. It is much more entertaining than using a treadmill.

I agree with what Meusli said to some degree. The Wii will be a tough act to follow. I don't think my gym for example would upgrade the Wii Fit setup for a new one with better graphics.

[vherub]

I think gaming is the winner here. It's pretty rare to hear people say whether they lie "movies" or "television" and while many, many people still say they like or dislike "videogames" that perception has turned. Nintendo figured out how to remove the barriers of entry for more people to have fun gaming and our reaping the largest rewards now, but going forward, the entire industry will continue to benefit.

[Vandenh]

I have to say that those sales figures for the 360 aren't that impressive in light of the price cuts, the 360 arcade is considerably cheaper than a wii and miles cheaper than a ps3 (at least in Aus) and to only go 8% on last year, with a bunch of big Christmas titles to go with? Seems a bit weak to me.

If the 360 keeps on going like this it will end up close to 60M at the "end" of the console cycle. I am sure MS will be very happy with that number.

[Johan]

Each of the "Big Three" has something to crow about. Nintendo can crow about hardware sales of the Wii and DS. MS can crow about software sales (attach rate) and its online community focus, and Sony can crow about its HD-format win (Blu-ray). It's a very interesting generation, with no really clear loser, and multiple "wins" depending upon how you define the term.

Ultimately, Nintendo is kicking ass, though. And taking names. And printing money. And taking more names.

[riposte101]

I am happy about how close this generation is, except for Nintendo (but they are going for a different audience). It reminds me a bit of the Genesis versus SNES days.

[Chimpbot]

Each of the "Big Three" has something to crow about. Nintendo can crow about hardware sales of the Wii and DS. MS can crow about software sales (attach rate) and its online community focus, and Sony can crow about its HD-format win (Blu-ray). It's a very interesting generation, with no really clear loser, and multiple "wins" depending upon how you define the term.

Ultimately, Nintendo is kicking ass, though. And taking names. And printing money. And taking more names.

Nintendo sure has sold a shitstorm of Wiis...but it sat disconnected entirely for about two months after I got my HD set. I hooked it up only to try out a game I for got free(thanks, Evil!)...and that was the last time its been on since Thanksgiving. The last games I've actually put any time into on the console were Mario Galaxy and Smash Bros.

There just isn't a lot of worthwhile software for the damn thing...but the other two just keep cranking out badass games left and right. I almost regret buying a Wii...but not the other two. My 360 and PS3 are two of the best purchases I've made and I definitely can't say that about the Wii.

[JazGalaxy]

I can't be the only person who is frustrated to no end by "journalists" use of "core" and "casual" when talking about gaming, and specifically the wii.

These words have absolutely no meaning.

I don't think any intelligent conversation can be had on the topic until someone actually sets some definitions to the terms.

Afterall, the majority of nintendo's games are "casual games". Casual and "barely a game" or "bad" should not be synonomous.

[JazGalaxy]

Each of the "Big Three" has something to crow about. Nintendo can crow about hardware sales of the Wii and DS. MS can crow about software sales (attach rate) and its online community focus, and Sony can crow about its HD-format win (Blu-ray). It's a very interesting generation, with no really clear loser, and multiple "wins" depending upon how you define the term.

Ultimately, Nintendo is kicking ass, though. And taking names. And printing money. And taking more names.

I'm not sure I can agree with your assessment on Sony "winning" anything. they're the clear loser of this generation. They went from the top of the hill to the very bottom in a collossal display of having no idea what it is that they're even selling. Sony BOUGHT the "win" for blu-ray and even that win is fairly unimpressive since digital distribution made much more impressive gains over the year.

Sony overcoming HD-DVD is more them being able to leave with some dignity than it is any sort of win.

[bulldozer.sweden]

I realized just how mainstream it has become when I found out my parents, both well past retirement age, had been playing Wii Fit with three of their grandsons at my younger brother's house. On top of that they were asking me if they needed a Blu-ray player to go with their HD TV over Christmas dinner (I would have bet money Blu-ray was not part of their vocabulary).

Nearly the same happened to me this x-mas. I got Wii-fit in x-mas present and my girlfriends parents (both well over 60 and live on a farm in) knew what it was (I guess from commercials) and they wanted to play right away. So I played skiing and snowboarding and so on with them and they really enjoyed it. I also started up the new Rayman Rabbid game and they loved it *lol.

This year I also noticed that many of my female friends have bought Wii:s and Playstation to play games like singstar and mario kart (more for social gaming). I thought this was never gonna happen.

I think games like Singstar, guitar hero and the Wii console really have made gaming accessible to everyone. I guess most people like to play games, they just have to try it and have games that they might like to play.

[vallor]

I plan on making one of those traditional resolutions this year to lose 20 pounds. I plan on using Wii Fit to make that happen.

I've had my PS/3 for 8 months but have yet to buy any games (Uncharted tempts me now and then, but not quite enough); more and more games are multiplatform and I prefer the 360 versions and the exclusives don't interest me that much. Though I am an advid movie collector I own less than 10 Blu-ray movies compared to 700 DVDs.

I have a ton of games for my 360 and over the holidays watched a bunch of movies and documentaries, which I don't usually buy, thanks to the Netflix integration. If I watch DVDs I usually use my 360 since I don't want to risk the wear and tear on the PS/3 drive (the PS/2 had drive problems and I can't afford to replace the PS/3 if it breaks).

I don't care what the NPD, YAHOO, or WSJ say. The only opinion that counts to me is mine, and IMHO I paid more for the PS/3 but have gotten much less value. That is a "fail" in my book.

[Flatpicker]

I have to ask about the WSJ article.
Has Patcher been right about anything in 08?
If not, why does he still have a job doing what he does?
We could all pull opinions out our asses with as much accuracy as he has lately.