[Harry]

Originally Posted by Spank-A-Thon

Problem is, no matter how great the games are, its all for nought if the console itself doesn't sell (see: Cube, Game... MIA: 2004)...

Even if 90% of GameCube owners had have bought Metroid Prime (which of course I did), it would still sell less than if only 25% of PS2 owners bought GTA: Vice City... and it's a damn shame seeing such superlative titles as Metroid reach such a small audience...

I fear the same thing of Wii. Having seen trailers myself, I was massively under-whelmed by the graphics (on a par or slightly better than the Cube) and unfortunately graphics sell systems.

The new controller reeks of gimick. Sure, it'll be entertaining in small doses, but much like Guitar Hero or EyeToy I'm sure it will lose its novelty rather rapidly.

Sometimes you just wanna lounge around, relax and play games - Not stand there gesticulating wildly in a vain attempt to control your on-screen avatar (incidentally I think SONY have made a massive mistake in ditching Dual Shock for motion sensing).

I just really can't see anyone being able to physically (and mentally) use the Wii as it's intended for any great length of time and that will be its downfall.

It's simply too revolutionary a controller...

- S

It's true, games on GameCube do not enjoy the same sales of record sellers on PlayStation 2 like GTA games or Gran Turismo 3 (each of these games has sold roughly 14-15 million copies), but first party games for Nintendo platforms will always sell well, because the audience of the GameCube is more targeted than the one of the PlayStation 2 or the Xbox. In other words, while other platforms attract more casual gamers, GameCube consoles were sold, first of all, among Nintendo fans. A lot of these fans will buy, sooner or later, most of the first-party titles available for the console. We should remember that the GameCube didn't sell so bad - roughly 20 million units, 1-2 million less than the Xbox. The 6 best selling games for GameCube, from Super Smash Bros (which sold 7 million copies) to Metroid Prime (which I think sold something like 2.5/3 million copies), are all first party titles.

Then, we must keep in mind that Nintendo's biggest profits come from the handheld market. The Nintendo DS, criticized in a fashion not too different from how the Revolution/Wii is criticized in this period (many people were saying the console was just an awkward gimmick), has sold something like 15 million units in 15 months, with 7 million units sold in Japan (where the DS has become the fastest selling console of all times). Nintendo sells millions of games for their handheld consoles, and for the most part, these are games with development costs that are much lower than those of any average home console game.

What I meant with my post was that regardless of how they compare with other competitors in the industry, Nintendo will always enjoy relatively strong sales. In fact, if you look at charts of best selling console games, you may often see four or five first party games from Nintendo (including Pokémon or stuff like that) having a position in the top 10. Nintendo is adopting a low-profile approach to this new generation of consoles; the games of their Wii will probably be less flashy than those on other consoles, not boasting characters made of trillions of polygons, but they will focus on gameplay. As you said, graphics sell systems, so all this probably means less console and game units sold, but also comparatively low development costs. If things keep on going like this, a first-class game for PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 may cost like a medium Hollywood production. I really think Nintendo people, instead of fighting a battle they can't win, have decided to stay into their own market, making their own rules, and balancing everything in the most profitable way.

Anyhow, I agree it's a shame that games like Metroid: Prime are not as popular as Grand Theft Auto; after all, Wind Waker is probably my favorite game in this generation of consoles...

About the Wii controller, I have yet to try it, so I can't really tell; but I guess the excitement of developers like Kojima about it means something. And as I wrote in another post, I also think Sony's idea of throwing away the Dual Shock was just bad... and the whole "motion sensor and dual shock won't work together" sounds way too much like an excuse made up to mask this is all a consequence of the vibration function lawsuit Sony lost against Immersion.