Amazon's video game top 100 for '09 (evilbore annihilated)

[Don Flamenco]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/2009/videogames/ref=zg_bs_cal
 
That top 10 is ugh

[Third]

Depressing.

But expectable. The Wii will be here for a long time. I don't think Wii's successor will be as successful as the Wii, though. The majority of Wii owners won't buy a second game console.

[magus]

well if nintendo pull off something to make people wanting to buy another console,they will buy it problem is i don't think nintendo can pull it off,when they re-release freakin wii fit i can't help but think that they run out of gas

anyway most people would say that wii fit appearing on the list three time is depressing but you know what really depressing? scribblenauts at 25,really it makes me sick

[Stoney Mason]

Depressing.

But expectable. The Wii will be here for a long time. I don't think Wii's successor will be as successful as the Wii, though. The majority of Wii owners won't buy a second game console.

I'll go ahead and say you have no idea what you're talking about. Of course perhaps we should leave the future sales prognostication stuff to GAF and Nostradamus.

[Don Flamenco]

well if nintendo pull off something to make people wanting to buy another console,they will buy it problem is i don't think nintendo can pull it off,when they re-release freakin wii fit i can't help but think that they run out of gas

anyway most people would say that wii fit appearing on the list three time is depressing but you know what really depressing? scribblenauts at 25,really it makes me sick

yeah, I was surprised to see Scribblenauts that high.  That game is completely unplayable.  what a piece of shit that turned out to be. probably the biggest disparity between gaf-hype and quality I've ever seen.

[Third]

It will only go downhill for Nintendo after the Wii. Most people have tried the motion controls and are tired of it.
I don't think my mother is interested in buying a Wii 2, since she hasn't touched her Wii for over a year or so.

Most Wii owners bought the console because of the craze surrounding it. But from my own personal experience, the majority of Wii owners get bored by its novelty rather quickly. So buying a new Nintendo console with motion controls is unappealing to them.

The same thing happenned with Sony. So many casuals bought a Ps2, but the majority of the Ps2 userbase doesn't seems to be interested in Ps3. Same thing can happen to Nintendo.

[Don Flamenco]

I don't think the failure of the PS3 was because of a lack of interest.  Everyone was super interested until they announced the price tag.  Even then, it sold out completely and systems were selling for thousands a piece on ebay.  Then came the complete lack of games for the next 3 years or so, while Microsoft systematically stole every single sony exclusive IP, besides MGS4 (which is okay, because it's actually a movie and not a game) and improved XBL while Sony was trying to play catch-up.  The PS3 still isn't as feature complete as a freaking launch 360.  It's clearing up, but I've never seen so much bad will towards a system as the PS3.  I would be shocked if Nintendo fucked up that bad. 

[archie4208]

The PS3 was set to steamroll the competition until $599 was announced.

[Stoney Mason]

As long as Microsoft and Sony decide to stuff the latest tech into their systems so they start at retail at $399 or greater Nintendo whatever they do will be able to carve out a large section of the market. There is simply a large group of people who buy this stuff beyond the hardcore who aren't going to spend that much money. The lesson Nintendo learned from the Wii should obviously not only be Motion control which was definitely part of the hype factor but price for average mainstream consumers.

[Third]

It'll be Nintendo's own fault when the Wii 2 fails, or when it does much worse than the Wii. They are banking too much on the casual market. And that market is very unstable and gets bored quickly.

If Nintendo doesn't do anything new next gen, the casuals won't be interested anymore. A new Wii Sports, WiiFit etc won't save the Wii 2. I personally don't think casuals want to buy the same console again.

[Stoney Mason]

It'll be Nintendo's own fault when the Wii 2 fails, or when it does much worse than the Wii. They are banking too much on the casual market. And that market is very unstable and gets bored quickly.

If Nintendo doesn't do anything new next gen, the casuals won't be interested anymore. A new Wii Sports, WiiFit etc won't save the Wii 2. I personally don't think casuals want to buy the same console again.

I would argue you have a mis-impression of "casuals" which is a lot of parents who simply don't want to break the bank for their children when buying a game console and like the family friendly alternative that Nintendo represents in their mind.

[Eel O'Brian]

no one's going to make the mistake of launching another system above $399 next time

i'll go so far as to say no one's going to launch above $350

[Stoney Mason]

no one's going to make the mistake of launching another system above $399 next time

i'll go so far as to say no one's going to launch above $350

Cue GAF thread about how next gen systems are gimped because they are too cheap and don't push the technology hard enough since they are cheap.


For what its worth I mostly agree with this belief (I mean Eel's post) although whatever price they come in at, if Nintendo is smart you can bet they will be well beneath that and still have a strong price advantage.

[Eel O'Brian]

if anything, the 360 and PS3 price points gave Nintendo the license to jack up the Wii price a bit

i'd bet anything that before the 360 and PS3 prices were announced the initial price of the Wii was targetted at $199

more than likely we'll see a small boost in power (just enough to do 1080p justice), standard fat hard drives, and full installs for games will be the norm

the next generation of consoles is gonna be all about getting you to download all your games right from the start

[demi]

Casuals

[cool breeze]

I wonder what would happen if Nintendo manages to match the next Playstation/Xbox in terms of power.  For all the people that complain that the Wii doesn't get ports of current gen games, it's mostly because Nintendo was cheap and stuck to the decade old hardware.  If it was in the same league as the the other two and remained popular, would third party devs make games with it as the lead platform? And Sony and Microsoft both are trying their own gimmicky interfaces to attach that crowd.   Next gen is going to be a mess.

[duckman2000]

They still wouldn't. The Gamecube was not all that far from Xbox in sales or power, and it was still shunned. Nintendo home consoles just aren't attractive platforms for other developers.

And of course, if there was parity in power and features, there would also be parity in price, which I think would affect the popularity a bit.

[WrikaWrek]

The Wii...still don't know what to think of it.

[demi]

The Wii...still don't know what to think of it.

You think "shit it was so difficult to pirate Gamecube but thanks to the Wii I can do both at the same time!"

Nintendo making progress

[magus]

The Wii...still don't know what to think of it.

You think "shit it was so difficult to pirate Gamecube but thanks to the Wii I can do both at the same time!"

Nintendo making progress

best reply of the thread
but demi forgot to mention all the cool emulator you can play on it!  :'(

[cool breeze]

They still wouldn't. The Gamecube was not all that far from Xbox in sales or power, and it was still shunned. Nintendo home consoles just aren't attractive platforms for other developers.

And of course, if there was parity in power and features, there would also be parity in price, which I think would affect the popularity a bit.

but Gamecube was a failure (sales).  The Wii is a success (sales).

[demi]

The Wii...still don't know what to think of it.

You think "shit it was so difficult to pirate Gamecube but thanks to the Wii I can do both at the same time!"

Nintendo making progress

best reply of the thread
but demi forgot to mention all the cool emulator you can play on it!  :'(

I use it to play fan translations. I saw they released Glory of Heracles 3 but I want to play the first 2 and the first game isnt translated. So I use it to play DQ2 and 3 (havent touched 4 or 5 DS because of this)

[drew]

mw2

[OptimoPeach]

Who would want to play MW2 on a PS3? Multiplayer FPSes tend to feel inferior with console controls as it is, and I can't even imagine trying to play with a DualShock pad

[maxy]

PS3 gamerz...if you combine Nov. NPD and first week UK sales,you get around 2.6 million...its probably now close to 4 million ww
They love it like crazy.

[duckman2000]

Who would want to play MW2 on a PS3? Multiplayer FPSes tend to feel inferior with console controls as it is, and I can't even imagine trying to play with a DualShock pad

It plays fine on PS3. I'm sure the magnet-aim helps there, but I suffer very little performance when going between versions. Well, console versions.

[duckman2000]

They still wouldn't. The Gamecube was not all that far from Xbox in sales or power, and it was still shunned. Nintendo home consoles just aren't attractive platforms for other developers.

And of course, if there was parity in power and features, there would also be parity in price, which I think would affect the popularity a bit.

but Gamecube was a failure (sales).  The Wii is a success (sales).

Right, but would it be a success of this level had it launched at a price similar to 360, let alone PS3? Word of mouth and TV appearances did a lot for the system, but I doubt all of that would have happened without the relatively reasonable price point. That was part of the "Revolution" thing, and this new group of customers really aren't the types that are going to regularly shell out money on big, "AAA" games of the PS360 type.

[Nintendosbooger]

Looks good, for the exception of 9

[Purple Filth]

well if nintendo pull off something to make people wanting to buy another console,they will buy it problem is i don't think nintendo can pull it off,when they re-release freakin wii fit i can't help but think that they run out of gas

anyway most people would say that wii fit appearing on the list three time is depressing but you know what really depressing? scribblenauts at 25,really it makes me sick

yeah, I was surprised to see Scribblenauts that high.  That game is completely unplayable.  what a piece of shit that turned out to be. probably the biggest disparity between gaf-hype and quality I've ever seen.

Agreed, only game i can think of currently is resistance 2.

[Human Snorenado]

Holy crap.

MW2 at #9?

Wii stuff = 90% of top ten?

Are we enjoying the same hobby as them?

No.

[M3wThr33]

Holy crap.

MW2 at #9?

Wii stuff = 90% of top ten?

Are we enjoying the same hobby as them?

It's like when you go to the PC section at Target.
Marble Jewel Drop III: Adventures in the Pacific and Petz Rapist are like 90% of the games, because they're for idiots and $10.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I agree that Nintendo will probably offer a cheaper alternative than whatever Microsoft and Sony are currently cooking up.  The latter fan group have much higher expectations than the former fan group.  The biggest selling titles on the Wii could be done on Flash but they eat it up.  Not so for the 360 and PS3.  Microsoft and Sony fans will expect top of the line shit and I think they will buckle under the pressure and come up with a compromise that probably resembles what is the latest and greatest for the PC now.  All Nintendo has to do is offer a minor upgrade to their previous hardware, put it in tiny or Apple inspired designed hardware casing and they're done and can ship it out for $199.

I think the PS3 failed initially because of the price but later because of the 360's stronger software lineup.  360 titles are for the most part, the multiplatform title of choice for years now and shows no signs of changing.  Even if does change, Microsoft is well ahead of Sony in the US, it would take years for them to catch up - probably not even making it worth it.  I wouldn't be surprised if Sony (internally) is pinning their hopes on PS4 doing big thangs rather than turning the PS3 around.