Are Wii sales slowing?

[dialog_gvf]

Gamestop: $200 Wii with Gamecube trade-in


Seems odd that the hottest game console in the universe needs a trade-in offer to move units.

I expected a big drop off after Xmas, being the demographic it is targetted at. But, this is surprising.

Gary

[hyperdine]

Yes. They are. At least in Japan anyway, and it looks like here in the states too...

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6164439...stnews;title;0

"Latest Media-Create figures show retail volume of new consoles is dwindling across the Pacific; Xbox 360 runs a distant third."

[Banjo]

Still don't see any Wii units around here. Even accessories are still scarce.

[Heresy]

Apparently there's gonna be at least 20 at every Best Buy come Sunday; check the top right story in the picture here: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=5064

[Dave Mack]

I don't know. I was walking home from work here in Berkely monday nite at midnite and there were, I'm Not exaggerating at least 50 people lined up outside Gamestop for the morning. I asked and sure enough, it was for the wii...
That's pretty damned impressive.

[Iceman_II]

There was a blog of a guy who claims that half an hour of wii play a day for 6 weeks took off 9 pounds.... I believe it!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070119/tc_nm/nintendo_wii_weightloss_dc

[JTK]

Nothing new here.

The Christmas and holiday hype and crunch are over with.

The Wii has one great game going for it in the form of Zelda. Just about everyone that wanted a Wii and wanted to play Zelda got it, so now we see if this momentum has any longevity or not.

I hope it does. I want to see this console race tight all the way around.

[Guinness7]

CC is also having wiis on sunday i think like 9 or 11 per store +/- and siad they are handing out tickets an hour before so i guess they figure a lot of people still want to get their hands on one

[theknub]

i was at BB today and there had to be about 30 units sitting around. funny enough, the 360's were sitting on what looked like a clearance table

[MrBogey]

The biggest slow to their sales comes the lack of availability. It's a cheap little unit which makes it attractive to casual gamers. Really in terms of power it's nowhere near the 360 and PS3. It's a niche console.

[GasCat]

They'll keep selling out in stores as long as people can make money off of them on eBay. I can wait.

[Iceman_II]

Originally Posted by MrBogey

The biggest slow to their sales comes the lack of availability. It's a cheap little unit which makes it attractive to casual gamers. Really in terms of power it's nowhere near the 360 and PS3. It's a niche console.

True, but don't discount its market presence because if that... Hell, I picked one up this weekend, and the damn thing is FUN! Sure the graphics are nowhere near the level of the 360 or the PS3, but so what?

Don't get me wrong, I love my PS3, but you really can't compare it to the Wii when looking at gameplay.. the Wii games are simply "different"

[dialog_gvf]

Thing is, how hard would it be for Sony and Microsoft to add a similar controller option? (In fact, I would consider it likely this is underway). Heck, the SixAxis has motion capability. Some sort of attachment (or set of attachments) would probably do the trick.

e.g. A bat to which the SixAxis can be FIRMLY attached: Baseball.

Dance Dance Revolution is a huge seller for the PS/2. And it comes with a mat in a box.

And, imagine the "fun" in front of the big family HDTV. More encouragement to hook it up there (PS/3 graphics quality). Great for BD.

Gary

[phranctoast]

not to far fetched of an idea. They released a guitar with guitar hero.

[blitz6speed]

If the Wii could do 720p games, it would be the leader of the next gen. Because its 480p max, and most of the games not even widescreen and most not even 480p, its a horrible attempt by them. The main thing is, people who've owned the wii since launch are bored out of their minds with it at this point. They realise a flick of the wrist = pressing the A button, and its not as fun. But i digress, i hope sony brings out something similar, 1080p is where its at.

[ProvenFlipper]

Originally Posted by blitz6speed

If the Wii could do 720p games, it would be the leader of the next gen. Because its 480p max, and most of the games not even widescreen and most not even 480p, its a horrible attempt by them. The main thing is, people who've owned the wii since launch are bored out of their minds with it at this point. They realise a flick of the wrist = pressing the A button, and its not as fun. But i digress, i hope sony brings out something similar, 1080p is where its at.

The lack of HD gaming and Dolby Digital is what turned me off from the Wii. I agree with you blitz... at least give me 720p, 480p just doesn't cut it. Even if they raised the price to about $299-$349, I probably still would have purchased one just because it was in HD. Maybe they should have tried the Sony and Microsoft approach and release two different configurations. One that is 480p and another that is 720p. Release a small amount of the lower config and make everyone see the value in the higher priced one. I can't remember the last time I saw a 20gb PS3 on the shelf, Sony was smart, they put out the 20gb units to say they have a console/Blu-ray player at $500, but only the 60gb units are really on the shelves.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by phranctoast

not to far fetched of an idea. They released a guitar with guitar hero.

Now THAT is a brilliant idea. Hitting the right chords scores you points. I'll bet this leads to a whole new way of "reading" music. An electronic song sheet just like the game.

Gary

[JTK]

Originally Posted by ProvenFlipper

The lack of HD gaming and Dolby Digital is what turned me off from the Wii. I agree with you blitz... at least give me 720p, 480p just doesn't cut it. Even if they raised the price to about $299-$349, I probably still would have purchased one just because it was in HD. Maybe they should have tried the Sony and Microsoft approach and release two different configurations. One that is 480p and another that is 720p. Release a small amount of the lower config and make everyone see the value in the higher priced one. I can't remember the last time I saw a 20gb PS3 on the shelf, Sony was smart, they put out the 20gb units to say they have a console/Blu-ray player at $500, but only the 60gb units are really on the shelves.

I know I speak for a lot of people when I say: I would own a Wii today, right now, and would have gladly paid the extra $50, at most, to have that system with HD and Dolby Digital, at least.

Yes, I know these things do not make great games, but why not put it all over the top and finish it?

Of course, this is the same Nintendo that viewed the Internet as a "niche fad" with the GameCube and released a $50 Broadband Adapter for one game (Phantasy Star Online) and then the BBA joined the mountain of useless and forgotten Nintendo peripherals dating all the way back to R.O.B.

So I guess HD and Dolby Digital are niche fads...

[hyperdine]

Originally Posted by JTK

I know I speak for a lot of people when I say: I would own a Wii today, right now, and would have gladly paid the extra $50, at most, to have that system with HD and Dolby Digital, at least.

Yes, I know these things do not make great games, but why not put it all over the top and finish it?

Yep. I don't get it either. They did the same thing with Gamecube. I had all three systems and I ended up playing the Gamecube the least because of this, even though the graphics were actually better than the PS2's.

In fact, I had the component video adapter for it. When I traded in my Gamecube, the guy at EBGames said they had either stopped making the component adapter for Gamecube or they had stopped making Gamecubes that would work with the component adapter (I can't remember which one). Either way, it's like they're going backwards. Why would you make a revolutionary system like the Wii, but take a step backwards in technology?

Maybe that's why the changed the name from Nintendo Revolution to Nintendo Wii?

[JTK]

Originally Posted by hyperdine

Yep. I don't get it either. They did the same thing with Gamecube. I had all three systems and I ended up playing the Gamecube the least because of this, even though the graphics were actually better than the PS2's.

In fact, I had the component video adapter for it. When I traded in my Gamecube, the guy at EBGames said they had either stopped making the component adapter for Gamecube or they had stopped making Gamecubes that would work with the component adapter (I can't remember which one). Either way, it's like they're going backwards. Why would you make a revolutionary system like the Wii, but take a step backwards in technology?

Maybe that's why the changed the name from Nintendo Revolution to Nintendo Wii?

Could be. They knew they couldn't get away with a name like that with a straight face, gimmicky controller aside.

I had the same trade in experience as well. I'd had the GC and the component adapter and all that. Those newer GC's had the component video output completely eliminated altogether!