For the Wiin

[kickaha]

Just ran across this nifty chart showing sales of the Wii, XBox 360, and PS3.

http://vgchartz.com/hwcomps.php

Note total Wii sales passing total 360 sales in the previous week or so.

Now here's one aligning launch dates, with two things to note: slope of PS3 sales is almost identical to slope of 360 sales. ie, neither is really selling better, the 360 just had a one year lead. Secondly, slope of Wii is, um, a bit steeper.

http://vgchartz.com/hwcomps.php?cons1=Wii®1=All&cons2=PS3®2=All&cons3=X360®3=All&align=1

Even if the data is off by a few % pts here and there, it's kind of stunning.

Comments

[kickaha.livejournal.com]

Hey, I hang out with you... :D

While it is possible to make bad games for it, sure, it's possible to make games for it that simply *won't translate* to other consoles because of the interface. Tennis as a button-driven video game in general sucks. Tennis on the Wii is a *blast*.

"Less space than a Nomad, no WiFi, lame." Remember that quote? Comparing feature lists and specs is a losing proposition any more - usability is finally getting its due.

Look at it this way - I freaking loved Gears... not because of the art (come on, I was in a VR research lab for *how* long? Pixels don't impress me anymore), even though it was *gorgeously* done, but because of the *controls*. No shit. Yeah, I sucked at it compared to you (duh), but with a bit of practice, I could see myself getting really proficient at that control system. It was well thought out, well planned, and obviously the product of a lot of feedback. It was heads and shoulders above most FPS games I've played that reduce to button mashing. Button mashing is boring. A bad control layout will kill a game faster than anything for me.

But give me even a mediocre pixel count and AI system, with an interface that I can feel like I can *use*? Hell yeah. I'm there.

I think most people are in the same boat... and I think the sales figures reflect that.

You guys make a top-tier product for a particular genre, and you've pushed that genre *far*... but it's not the only genre. The PS3, and I think even more so, the 360, have been driven in a particular direction of gaming just as the PC gaming world has -> FPS and pixel count uber alles. At some point, the vast majority of people stop caring about pixel count, just like they have with CPU GHz. Ten years ago, it was one of the driving factors of the PC world. Now? Meh. Some people need every bit of raw power they can get, and always will, but *most don't*... and they're finally realizing that. I think the console industry is seeing a similar maturing now - you're hitting, or have passed, the limits of what most people figure is baseline acceptable for their gaming experience. Will there always be folks pushing that? Hell yes, and more power to them... but they're going to be increasingly 'out there' on that edge, and less mainstream as time goes on.

It's not about whether it's possible to make bad games for a console, it's whether a console offers an experience that people think is worth the cost. I mean hell, for $50k per unit, I could whip up a system that makes the military flight simulators I worked on in '95 look lame, but I don't think I'd sell many, even if the games were good.

The GameCube at $249 wouldn't sell today. The Wii does. As you point out, it's much the same hardware, so obviously the difference is the interface, and it's potential for pulling in people who have no desire to button-mash, and have no desire to play games that buttons are best suited for. The Wii Remote opens up the playing field to developers being really innovative again in *new* ways other than graphics and AI algorithms. Will some games suck? Oh hell yes. I'm just interested to see what gems come out of it.

I mean come on - DDR? How fricking lame of a concept is that?

But it's fun. :)