XBOX 360 beats PS3 in July Sales

[Luis_A51]

I do not think the Wii's larger market share will effect the quality of games for the 360 and the PS3. It just means the Wii will get an absolute massive amount of crappy games to go along with some great ones. The wii will get a ton of games, but they wont all be good.

Just look at the DS, its got by far the bigger market share, but for every good game theres like 100 bad ones.

Also it is unfair to compare attach rates for the PS3 and 360 since the 360 not only has more total games, but 360 owners have had (on average) a much longer time to purchase those games. Even if the systems had the same amount of games, you cant expect someone whos had a console for 8months or less to own the same amount of games as someone whos had it for 20 months.

[Icemann]

I don't think any of us can say what will happen if the Wii continues at this rate of growth. Economics at software houses will come into play at some point and if Wii is the outright leader in consoles sold then some companies may decide that either the PS3 or the 360 (whichever has the least adoption) may not be worthwhile developing for. Happened to the GameCube. And although the DS may have 100's of crappy games, at least it has games being developed for it constantly and although the hit rate may be low the chances of getting extremely good games is high from the volume.

[camilos]

Just wanted to add my thoughts on VGCharts. I noticed from the first post that VGCharts claimed that PS3 sales surpassed 360 sales in July. And we now know that this was not the case.

IMO, VGCharts is not a very reputable source. They claim to be professional and to have "analysts" working on their numbers. But from what I've read and seen, they seem to guess most of their numbers.

Whenever VGCharts is quoted, they shouldn't be taken too seriously, since they are almost always wrong when compared to the real numbers from NPD numbers.

[calvin940]

Originally Posted by Bunkhouse

U.S. sales in July.

Wii: 425,000
360: 170,000
PS3: 159,000


Plus as an aside, the Wii has surpased the 360 in lifetime sales worldwide.

So it looks like the Wii is the new leader in console sales.

Not for me. Based on it's technology, it's still last gen and I put its direct competitors as the PS2, xbox, and GC. It has a long way to catch up to them. But as far as current gen, it's just not one.

Cal

[rsambuca]

While the Wii sales are indeed impressive, I agree with calvin that it is really in a different category than the PS3 and XBox.

[james99]

It's next Gen for Nintendo.

High end gamers have 2 options. PS3 and 360.

[JohnnyG]

I really don't understand all this "different category" talk. It contains technology that was not previously available. Does that not make it "next gen"?

[Eluder]

It is a next gen system, but it's just a different style. But also, that's why I think it's a different target market. The Wii is for the casual gamer, lots of my friends that haven't owned a console since the NES days have a Wii, it is a different group of buyers. The PS3 and 360 are towards hardcore gamers, after all, whom other than them are really willing to spend $500+ for a video game system? The Wii is half price, so it's easy to sell more of them.

[romstah]

what makes the wii next gen? the controllers? so if the ps2 have a motion sensing controller too, does it make it next gen?

[JohnnyG]

Oh, you mean those motion sensing controllers for the PS2 that aren't shipping yet?

Regardless, it's an add-on and not an intrinsic part of the system. And I doubt it's as natural feeling as the Wii is.

[BD006]

Originally Posted by romstah

what makes the wii next gen? the controllers? so if the ps2 have a motion sensing controller too, does it make it next gen?

Right, because all PS2 games can be played with that controller.

The Wii is next-gen.

[Icemann]

I agree the Wii is next gen. Its just not next gen for hardcore gamers and that's fine because it certainly wasn't aimed at hardcore gamers because that's a limited audience. The Wii is for younger gamers, casual gamers and group gaming which is a much broader market evidenced by it passing the 360 in such a short time frame.

[calvin940]

I disagree with the apparent categorization of gamers here. Really, there are 3 classifications:

Hardcore Gamer
Regular Gamer
Gamer Lite

The Wii appeals to the "Gamer Lite" crowd, but that doesn't make it on par with this generation. The whole generation concept historically has been about power, performance, play, and capabilities. Not only must each generation succeed it's predecessors by most if not all of those categories, it must also be on par with other vendor's consoles for that current generation. The Wii is like that Sesame Street game: One of these things is not like the other. One of these things just doesn't belong.

You don't have to be a Hardcore gamer to appreciate that. Just a regular gamer.

Cal

[Lou Sytsma]

The whole generation concept historically has been about power, performance, play, and capabilities

Which is the dead end thinking that MS and Sony have continued to pursue. That satisfies a much smaller segment of the market. Nintendo has gone back to basics made games fun and the results speak for themselves.

[calvin940]

Originally Posted by Lou Sytsma

Which is the dead end thinking that MS and Sony have continued to pursue. That satisfies a much smaller segment of the market. Nintendo has gone back to basics made games fun and the results speak for themselves.

I disagree. There have been a number of ground breaking titles that offer all of these features I mentioned and are possibly because of the features I mentioned (ie. you will never see them on the Wii). I have yet to see anything of that calibre on the Wii.

For me, the success of a console is how many games it sells (ie. ones I will buy as an owner), not how many units it pushes to the market. As an end consumer, I could care less and as a software developer ditto. As a developer, installed market base is a great achievement as long as people actually buy my software. I fear that the Wii will not develier on this. Again, remains to be seen.

Cal