With PS3 about to go global, will the Wii stay on top?

by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Thursday, 22 February 2007

After reports of a 50% drop in new Wii sales in Japan blamed on a lack of new games titles, while the Wii outsells the PS3 and Xbox 360 in the US, coupled with the spectre of the second PS3 launch, can the world-beating success of the Wii continue for Nintendo?

Nintendo Wii has so far made every post a winner, confounding the critics who initially laughed at the name and scoffed at suggestions that the comparatively underpowered "toy" with the novel remote controller could compete, let alone beat the next-gen Sony and Microsoft consoles.

While Japanese consumers are showing some signs of impatience regarding new software titles and game availability, US sales are impressive even though supplies are still tight at 436,000 sales, compared with 244,000 for the PS3, nearly 300,000 for the PS2 and 294,000 for the Xbox 360.

But Sony’s PS2 sales can’t be ignored – combine the PS2 and PS3 units and Sony sold almost 544,000 units, beating Nintendo and Microsoft soundly – and with the PS2, there are no shortages to contend with, there’s a massive software library available at inexpensive prices on store shelves and the price is much cheaper.

Much of the massive PS2 library can be played on the PS3 until more games arrive, and while the same can be said of the Wii with Gamecube compatibility and a paid online video game library, the chances of a PS2 owner with lots of titles upgrading to a new PS3 is a much more likely scenario given the PS2’s massive global popularity with well over 100m units sold worldwide.

Nintendo knows the pressure is on and is promising that exciting new titles are on the way soon, generating a fresh round of interest once again. And while some have derided the simple game play of Nintendo’s Wii Sports and Wii Play titles, repeated gameplay in my household and at friend’s places hasn’t diminished the fun factor, with satisfaction levels as high as ever.

As explained in an answer to a question I posed in an interview posted earlier today with Michael Ephraim, the MD of SCE Australia, following the media launch of the PS3 in Sydney, Australia Sony is expecting this year’s battle for console domination to be fierce, with Ephraim confident that Sony will do well based on having something to offer in all categories – handheld gaming with PSP, family gaming with PS2 and the total digital experience that is the PS3.

Nintendo can answer back and say they have the even more popular Nintendo DS and the Wii which offers its own unique experience, while Microsoft goes after both Sony and Nintendo not only with the Xbox 360 but also the rich world of PC gaming, now enhanced by Vista, with 200 million Windows gamers the largest gaming community of them all.

All three consoles – and the PC gaming platform – will do well this year – of that there can be no doubt. The battle won’t be definitely lost or won over the next year, with all three companies and all the games companies doing their utmost to grow the gaming pie as quickly as possible.

Right now, it’s the golden age of gaming once more, with the big declarations of gaming supremacy still far off into the future. Grab your games controller and get ready – the match has only just begun.
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