Is the Wii bubble beginning to go flat?

Mike Bantick
Monday, 19 February 2007 08:34

Opinion and Analysis

I have been watching the Japanese hardware sales of late, looking for a chink in the Nintendo white plastic armour.  Is there one now that the launch euphoria is beginning to wear off?

I have to admit, that I am becoming slightly tired with Wii Sports tennis, that is not to say the other Wii sports are not a hoot, especially (and this is almost taken as read) played with others.

A recent announcement of development of a “grown-up” ten pin bowling game for the Wii left me somewhat cold.  Dear developers, if you are going to re do a Wii sports game, how about golf?  Oh yeah! We have Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 sometime in Quarter One.

So what we are really waiting for, from Nintendo at least, is Metroid Prime 3 Corruption, and a bunch of Mario titles. Other analysts are beginning to bemone the dearth of Wii software, as this CVG article points out. 

Speaking with MTV last week, American Nintendo President Reggie Fils-Aime outlined the rather bleak software near-future for Wii owners.  No news on any surprise releases, and talk on Metroid Prime 3’s release only hinting at online multiplayer.

"What I will tell you about 'Metroid' is that 'Metroid' will be fabulous," he said. "I think it's fair to say that all of us were disappointed with the sales of 'Metroid Prime 2,' [the game's developer] Retro included. The focus on 'Prime 3' is to make that the stellar game for a first-person experience on the platform. ... What that means is we're going to make sure it's perfect when we launch it. I think this is one where your readers — the fans of Nintendo, the core gamer — need to recognize that when we release it, it will be perfect. And if that's a little later than folks would have liked, I'm hoping they're going to be happy. They certainly seem to be happy that we took our time with 'The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.' " With that kind of talk, the obvious follow-up question was: "If it's perfect, does that mean it's going to be online?" In response, Fils-Aime said: "That's perfect for you."