DFC Intelligence - 360 to beat Wii sales in U.S., industr...

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DFC Intelligence - 360 to beat Wii sales in U.S., industry decline Nintendo's fault
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The following comes from a a DFC Intelligence report...

For its generation, the Xbox 360, not the Wii, will end up as the number one selling console system in the U.S. Shockingly it was in the later years of its life that the Xbox 360 really took off.

Much has been made about a steady video game sales decline in the past three years. In reality the decline has mainly been due to the aging console systems and more importantly because of Nintendo’s collapse. Unlike Microsoft, Nintendo has been in a major downward cycle, much of it self-inflicted. Nintendo’s spin for the Wii U focused on how it made more revenue than the Wii at launch. Of course, the Wii was supply constrained at launch and sold at a lower price so that is not surprising. The reality is that many Wii U systems were sitting unsold on shelves at year end. Consumers love games more than ever but a new order of game providers is resulting in market shifts that are proving painful for Nintendo and other established game companies.

There's no denying that the Wii took a hard fall in its later years. Unfortunately, that seems to be the trend with Nintendo consoles in recent memory. It happened with the N64, Cube and now Wii. Will Nintendo really be able to buck that trend with Wii U?

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[M1]

well 360 is aimed at the "hardcore" gamers and suits the American taste in gaming.

[Commander Orbit]

I don't see why it matters if the 360 sells more in the US if the Wii still sells more worldwide. Part of the reason the "hardcore" dont buy/play Nintendo games is because they are branded as kiddie, and lame. IMHO all that matters is if they are fun.

[void3953]

Funny how the Wii is trotted out now that the industry needs a scapegoat to blame for falling sales.

I wonder why the Wii wasn't mentioned as being he driving force for the industry for the several years that it was breaking records. No, when those numbers were mentioned it was in regards to the entire industry. As if it was all the systems that were breaking sales records and not just the Wii.

But now. Now that the industry is tanking because of, not the Wii, but this fixation by developers and publishes with a small vocal minority of gamers, now the Wii is mentioned. But only as the problem.

These people are sick in the head.

[Mike_Intellivision]

Well, given that the Xbox 360 has closed to within 2.3M on North America (based upon numbers from VGChartz) -- 44.3M vs. 42.0M -- it is possible. Last week, the 360 outsold the Wii by about 80,000 units -- it would make up the difference in seven months if that margin were to be maintained.

What we don't know is how the announcement of the "720" will impact sales and support of the Xbox 360. The Wii virtually died when the WiiU was announced.

If the Xbox 360 were to do it, it would have had two more years as Microsoft's main console (one at the beginning of the generation and one at the end). And the great unknown would be how many of those systems were upgrades/replacements rather than new sales.

Mike from Morgantown

[Tendonin]

So...Nintendo was the only one keeping the industry out of decline in the first place? Why didn't someone else step up and take responsibility? Nintendo declining just show the rest of the industry's weakness.

[Gamingboy]

It seems to me like the entire video game industry is in a gigantic circular firing squad, everybody aiming at each other.

Like Void noted, the Wii was for the first half of it's life considered the industry's savior, but now it's blamed for everything, as if the Wii was directly responsible for the economic climate, the rise of mobile games and the stagnation of creativity at 90% of video game studios.

Of course, those 10% that do still try to do anything different- including Nintendo- are then mocked or declared doomed. It's like everyone is on a falling rock that is definitely going to hit the floor, but they think that if somebody jumps onto a different rock, then that different rock CLEARLY will hit the floor before the current falling rock.

[Bobbuffalo]

If you guys are going to copypaste stupid statements, at least try to make some analysis or some comment about how studpid they are:

The xbox is not selling as much as they want to paint it. Check the sales, they are actually stagnating and not moving. They are just moving in circles around the same kind of costumers. The wii is selling less because of it lacks of good games and Nintendo abandoning it (the 3d parties abandoned it long time ago and now they are just forced to make medicore 1 dollar games for phones and free to play games).

The industry will always blame Nintendo no matter what they do. What is the Wii U but nothing but an attempt to cort the game industry and its niche? The wii was a success, anybody that deny it doesnt lives in the real world, and the industry never liked it. Now that they ignored the wii u, they are more than happy to blame it for something that it's not their fault but the same industry's blame. No one else's.

Nintendo it's wasting time (and money) trying to like the hardcore niche, the 3d parties and analysts. They were on the right path with the wii and now all that it's gone. The industry is imploding slowly and painfully. There's not turning back. Nintendo it's the only one that can stay away and do their own better path but it's seems that they want to be their pet than their leaders.

[misswliu81]

Funny how the Wii is trotted out now that the industry needs a scapegoat to blame for falling sales.

I wonder why the Wii wasn't mentioned as being he driving force for the industry for the several years that it was breaking records. No, when those numbers were mentioned it was in regards to the entire industry. As if it was all the systems that were breaking sales records and not just the Wii.

But now. Now that the industry is tanking because of, not the Wii, but this fixation by developers and publishes with a small vocal minority of gamers, now the Wii is mentioned. But only as the problem.

These people are sick in the head.

the attitude from third party developers and certain gamers towards nintendo these days is shameful; blame the wii for flagging console sales. but then, they have always turned their noses up at nintendo and nintendo owners since say the N64 era.

and besides, if these 3rd parties had made an effort putting their games on the wii, then maybe their sales would've increased.

[Lockdale]

When they say 'indusrty' that also includes 3 parties. When the Wii was selling like hot cakes, third parties complained they were not making money off the system anyway. So the Wii boom was't good for the industry, but rather for Nintendo itself. So how is the Wii to blame for the 'industry' downturn, when the 'others' didn't benefit anyway?

The problem is that Western developers (who have pretty much become the dominant developers) just don’t put out games that appeal to a global audience, but more so a western or American audience. The only western title that has a strong global presence is maybe Call of Duty.

That same could be said of Eastern developers however, however they're the one the put the industry on the map and still have legacy franchises that perform well globally (looks at Nintendo, Capcom, Konami, etc...).

[gamer_thumb]

Of course the xbox 360 is selling more. Most of the original units bricked with the RROD and replacements were bought. What would really be interesting is that out of all these consoles being sold, how much was profit for each company. Not only did nintendo never sell the wii at a loss it didn't need to spend billions making up for faulty hardware.

[LordRoto]

What a silly article. "Wii Sales decline coincidently as they devote all resources torwards new system." Lets look at sony? "PS2 kept selling after PS3 launch because they PS3 couldn't warrent the attention." The Xbox has somethings going for it, since it appears majority of multiplatform games are developed on it first and ported lazily over to the Tripple even in the most recent case of the just released or close to it DmC.

To thine who mentioned the circlefire, it's so true and rediculous. I understand competition can help the drive to better one's creation, but shooting the foot of the industry itself and going to far is well... going to far. The only posative of there being one unified console is so there would be less bickering about this and back to solely everybody's Opinions turned fact on what game is the best or whatever. It's all a joke of a pissing contest and places/people like DFC just throw oil on the unnessessary fire.

[kdognumba1]

It seems to me once 360 released Kinect, it really started taking off as it had the appeal to those interested in online competitive games but also had a new motion sensing device that appealed to an expanded audience. They definitely found their groove.

With that said, Kinect really failed to live up to expectations and didn't see very many quality releases slowing interest in it greatly this past year. Also a lot of people who would of looked to 360 as their main platform for online gaming have been moving towards PS3 for PS+ and PC for Steam. I don't expect 360 to keep up this moment at all tbh.

[ddddd]

I don't see why it matters if the 360 sells more in the US if the Wii still sells more worldwide. Part of the reason the "hardcore" dont buy/play Nintendo games is because they are branded as kiddie, and lame. IMHO all that matters is if they are fun.

If Microsoft trully supports 360 for two or three more years, I can see it catching or even surpassing Wii's worldwide sales (last two months were 2:1 and 3:1 in favor of the 360).
It can be argued if its a fair thing or if its even worth achieving, since Wii pretty much died two years ago.

[void3953]

It seems to me once 360 released Kinect, it really started taking off as it had the appeal to those interested in online competitive games but also had a new motion sensing device that appealed to an expanded audience. They definitely found their groove.

With that said, Kinect really failed to live up to expectations and didn't see very many quality releases slowing interest in it greatly this past year. Also a lot of people who would of looked to 360 as their main platform for online gaming have been moving towards PS3 for PS+ and PC for Steam. I don't expect 360 to keep up this moment at all tbh.

Kinect never pushed software though, and that's what the industry is supposed to be about, selling games... right?

Recent Kinect comercials have been selling it as a multimedia device, used mainly to control your media center, or XBox 360. None of that is going to sell games though. I wonder why 3rd parties continue to ignore the fact that both Sony and MS have sold them up the river.

If Microsoft trully supports 360 for two or three more years, I can see it catching or even surpassing Wii's worldwide sales (last two months were 2:1 and 3:1 in favor of the 360).
It can be argued if its a fair thing or if its even worth achieving, since Wii pretty much died two years ago.

~25 million systems in that time frame? Only if they don't release another system. And even then it's highly doubtful.

But even so, the damage is already done. The hardcore industry has collapsed significantly from the PS2/XBox/GC generation. Remember, all 3 systems were aimed squarely at the hardcore, even the GC. Total numbers from all 3 reached ~200 million in 6 years. We're currently looking at ~150 million in 8 years (if you don't count the Wii, and the industry doesn't). That's a contraction of ~25%. No matter how many systems they sell they have to admit that the PS360 business model is failing.

[ecco6t9]

These people should compare the 360 to the Wii in Japan.

[Mike_Intellivision]

In 2007, DFC said PS3 would own this generation in software, Wii in hardware and Xbox a distant third. And that PSP would catch DS.

In other words, the crystal ball there is not perfect.

Mike from Morgantown

[WesFX]

Nintendo "collapsed?"

Pbpbpb. News to me. Are they filing for bankruptcy soon, then?

[Entity]

Let us not forget that the Xbox IS American. Many American gamers would get an Xbox just for that.

[Mako]

It is entirely possible that the 360 will pass the Wii in the US. It just depends on when the 720 comes out and if Nintendo wants to decrease the price of the Wii. I imagine they could sell the system with one wiimote for a lot cheaper than they currently are while still making profits.

[bearded OTP]

360 might be the best selling, but I needed to buy 3 of them and I know I'm not alone in this!

[XCWarrior]

@bearded OTP Well yeah, how else do you increase sales other than by making a product that isn't going to last?

As long as Nintendo is making money - which they are - than that's all that matters. We've seen a lot of companies go under the last couple of years for various reasons. Making bad games, going way over a budget to make a game, not advertising well, etc.

The landscape of gaming isn't changing as much as people think. Until NPD includes digital sales, we don't really know how much money the VG industry is losing year to year. Clearly more and more people are turning to digital, even Nintendo fans. Eventually NPD will need to reflect this.

Oh, and I expect 2013 to be really bad for hardware sales outside of 3DS. Not sure if Wii U will have great sales until the killer game comes out - whatever that is.

[XCWarrior]

One final thought: Who do you think will deserve the blame for the industry sales drop at the end of the year when the PS4 and Xbox720 are out and cost $700 a piece? I'm sure it will be Nintendo again... but in reality it will be Sony and Microsoft, who shot themselves in the foot as their consoles continue to go skyrocketing in price.

[delpiero]

How pointless is the "360 will beat Wii in the U.S." How about check cities too? The point is that the Wii will be by FAR the best selling World Wide. World Champion.

[delpiero]

I don't see why it matters if the 360 sells more in the US if the Wii still sells more worldwide. Part of the reason the "hardcore" dont buy/play Nintendo games is because they are branded as kiddie, and lame. IMHO all that matters is if they are fun.

yep