It hasn’t been the best couple of months for Nintendo. Profits were down for the six months leading up to September, which the company blames on the strong yen and the Wii’s price cut. Net sales, too, were down, some 34.5 percent. Fair enough, and those reasons are likely to explain Nintendo’s situation, but is there something else going on? I know Pat Buchanan, the older gentlemen that he is, always uses the phrase “the chickens have come home to roost,” and I think it’s applicable here. Perhaps Nintendo’s strategy of selling the Wii to the “casual” crowd (housewives and the like, to simplify this) has finally run out of gas?
How many games were released for the Wii that appeal to the more hardcore among us? I’m thinking back to all the games I’ve played this year—Street Fighter IV, Resident Evil 5, Bioshock, Fallout 3, Race Driver: Grid, Forza Motorsport 3, and maybe one or two others that I’m forgetting—and none of them were available for the Wii. Now, I consider myself a hardcore gamer only in the sense that I’m not going to play something like Mario Party or some sing-along game; I’m not hanging out on NeoGaf debating the merits of Xbox Live vs PSN. So that’s where I’m coming from.
The point? I would say that there have been next to no games released for the Wii that interested me, a gamer who’d rather sit there and try to 100 percent Resident Evil 5 (well, Resident Evil 4… Resident Evil: 5 had too many things that annoyed me) than lose five pounds playing Wii Fit. I’m a gamer, not someone looking to have a fun evening with my grandkids.
I think that’s what it comes down to: Nintendo has made, if I may, mad money over the past few years by positioning the Wii as an entertainment device for the whole family. That’s all well and good, but when Single Professional Woman buys a Wii so she can host a Wii Sports party once a month, what are the odds that she’s going to keep buying game after game?
That’s not to say Nintendo is doomed, of course. I played the New Super Mario Brothers Wii a few weeks ago, and I can honestly say, “Now there’s a game that’ll appeal to the ‘hardcore’ among us.”
But what do I care? I’m most concerned with leveling my warlock in WoW.
i think so.
us gamers buy games. casuals, buy 1 game.
lets see, i have over 25 ps3 games and about 5 wii games (just rebought a used/broken wii last month)
my parents have a wii and have.. 2 games including wii sports and wii play.
casuals buy systems.. gamers buy games.
I agree with seamonkey! The best part of the Wii is the casual gameplay, but thats also what may be killing it. Once you’ve played one Wii game it feels as though you’ve played them all. After all the Wii sold on the gimmick far mode then it did on games.
Sort of like a really fun small car, great for a quick romp, but nothing compared to a Ferrari or Lamborghini. In the end the Wii just doesn’t have the lasting power.
Monica S
Los Angeles Computer Repair
http://www.sebecomputercare.com
Playing regular games on that kind of interface isn’t that enjoyable or as enjoyable as on say, a 360 or PS3. So it’s both a lack of real games as well as the interface in my opinion. The Wii is great for Sports. For the most part, that’s about it. I enjoyed games like Twilight Princess, however I’d have rather than been on a real console.
The gaming market has changed a lot since back in the good old NIntendo days. Nintendo hasn’t changed that much though. They aren’t competitive enough. There is the Wii, then there is the 360/PS3. What’s the difference? Content and interface.
Make the Wii unique and in such a way that it becomes super highly desirable. They’re going to start having to think creatively to stay afloat. Give me something that makes me go “wow, that’s awesome!” 360/PS3 have that with game titles alone. GTAIV, Bioshock, Assassins Creed, Halo, Gears of War, etc etc.
Nintendo always miss out on the big titles that go to Sony and Microsoft.
I wouldn’t say they are down and out, but it is well known that the attach rate of games to consoles for the Wii is significantly lower than that of the 360 and the PS3.
I mean, really, after you have got a game with sports in it, a sword wavy type game and the exercise game, what else is there? Casual gamers aren’t going to buy every new “run on the spot” or “swing a bat” game that comes out are they?
Most people I know with Wii are families with maybe 5-6 games, tops. They don’t need more.
Let’s compare the last quarter’s net income.
MS made $3 billion US.
Nintendo made $450 million US.
Now I know that MS has a lot more divisions compared to Nintendo, but it seems like fanboys.
i realy like u
3453987 mrs.gones
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Couldn’t agree more. We got a Wii specifically for the Fit and Active. It was fun for a while, but got old. My son got a Transformers game for it and was but a watered down imitation of the same game offered to PS3 and XBox. You couldn’t even tranform the robots.