Taste in Games - 360 vs Wii - Hard Numbers

Using VG Chartz numbers, the Xbox 360 has 20 games that have sold at least one million copies, and the Wii has 8 such titles. These "million sellers" paint a picture of the system, and give an indication of the taste of the owners of such consoles. These games are also become the titles that publishers seek to emulate when deciding what games to release. Without further ado, here is the complete list of games for each system, along with the Gamespot review score for each:

Xbox 360

• Gears of War (9.6)
• Call of Duty 2 (8.8 )
• Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (9.2)
• Eldar Scrolls IV: Oblivion (9.6)
• Rainbow Six: Vegas (9.1)
• Madden NFL 2007 (7.9)
• Call of Duty 3 (8.8 )
• Fight Night Round 3 (8.3)
• Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (8.1)
• Crackdown (7.8 )
• Dead Rising (8.4)
• Guitar Hero 2 (8.9)
• Perfect Dark Zero (9.0)
• Saints Row (8.3)
• Need For Speed: Most Wanted (8.4)
• Need for Speed: Carbon (7.6)
• Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 (8.7)
• Splinter Cell: Double Agent (8.5)
• Project Gotham Racing 3 (8.8 )
• Forza Motorsport 2 (9.2)

Number of games: 20
Average Score: 8.65

Number of AAA: 6
Number of AA: 11
Number of A: 3

Number below A: 0

Nintendo Wii

• Wii Sports (7.8 )
• Wii Play (5.4)
• Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (8.8 )
• Wario Ware: Smooth Moves (9.1)
• Super Paper Mario (8.8 )
• Mario Party 8 (6.5)
• Rayman Raving Rabbids (8.0)
• Red Steel (5.5)

Number of Games: 8
Average Score: 7.49

Number of AAA: 1
Number of AA: 3
Number of A: 1

Number below A: 3


These numbers are the cold facts, how we interpret the games on each system, and the categorization of each are up for debate, however, frankly, the million seller list for each system speaks for itself. What are your thoughts?

Gamespot =/= the whole world.Metroid_Time

It shows that Wii has more potency in the market. They can have lower scores and less games yet they sell at a much higher rate. hiho24

[QUOTE="hiho24"]It shows that Wii has more potency in the market. They can have lower scores and less games yet they sell at a much higher rate. subrosian

Of course Wii leans towards the casual, but hardcore gamers like me also prefer it. I own both a Wii and 360 and I have to say I play the Wii more. It all comes down to preference, you can make these threads and "analyze" the whole situation but it isnt going to change anything.

I really think you should take Wii play off. I mean those Burger king games on the 360 are about 5 buck and they are million sellers I think. Wii play is also around 5 bucks so why should it be included?Metroid_Time

It seems prety obvious that the majority of X360 consumers are core/traditional players

and the majority of Wii consumers are casual players.

[QUOTE="subrosian"][QUOTE="hiho24"]It shows that Wii has more potency in the market. They can have lower scores and less games yet they sell at a much higher rate. hiho24

Of course Wii leans towards the casual, but hardcore gamers like me also prefer it. I own both a Wii and 360 and I have to say I play the Wii more. It all comes down to preference, you can make these threads and "analyze" the whole situation but it isnt going to change anything.

[QUOTE="hiho24"]

[QUOTE="subrosian"][QUOTE="hiho24"]It shows that Wii has more potency in the market. They can have lower scores and less games yet they sell at a much higher rate. subrosian

Of course Wii leans towards the casual, but hardcore gamers like me also prefer it. I own both a Wii and 360 and I have to say I play the Wii more. It all comes down to preference, you can make these threads and "analyze" the whole situation but it isnt going to change anything.

Given the 360 rely's heavily on 3rd party support. I'd say revisit this arguement in 6 months after the Wii has had a chance to build itself a library.

Seeing as how the 360 has been out a full twelve months longer one can't compare the two systems' games equally.briguyb13

Given the 360 rely's heavily on 3rd party support. I'd say revisit this arguement in 6 months after the Wii has had a chance to build itself a library.

hiho24

Nintendo Wii

• Wii Sports (7.8 )
• Wii Play (5.4)
• Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (8.8 )
• Wario Ware: Smooth Moves (9.1)
• Super Paper Mario (8.8 )
• Mario Party 8 (6.5)
• Rayman Raving Rabbids (8.0)
• Red Steel (5.5)

Number of Games: 8
Average Score: 7.49

Number of AAA: 1
Number of AA: 3
Number of A: 1

Number below A: 3


These numbers are the cold facts, how we interpret the games on each system, and the categorization of each are up for debate, however, frankly, the million seller list for each system speaks for itself. What are your thoughts?

subrosian

Look, the only cold hard facts here are that as the Wii increases its userbase more games, and of a more diverse nature will be made. That's just common sense. To deny that is ridiculous. So while the Wii may indeed be attracting a large portion of party-games at the moment, it doesn't mean that the entire catalogue of the system in 5 years time will be dominated by these games. Just because thats what the largest sellers are less then a year into the systems life is no indication on the future of games on the system. Besides, why do you appear to hate the Wii so much?

I agree with you.Its obvious that what drives the wii sales are casual games and despite the X360s' early advantage you can still make a prety clear picture of what kind of gamers buy which console.Great_Ragnarok

There havn't been enough quality games to come out for the wii. When the SMG SSBB and MP3 come out they will all be high on that list. rkay36

[QUOTE="briguyb13"]Seeing as how the 360 has been out a full twelve months longer one can't compare the two systems' games equally.subrosian

Why is every 360 game which will be a million seller a casual game except for Mass Effect?

[QUOTE="subrosian"]

Nintendo Wii

• Wii Sports (7.8 )
• Wii Play (5.4)
• Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (8.8 )
• Wario Ware: Smooth Moves (9.1)
• Super Paper Mario (8.8 )
• Mario Party 8 (6.5)
• Rayman Raving Rabbids (8.0)
• Red Steel (5.5)

Number of Games: 8
Average Score: 7.49

Number of AAA: 1
Number of AA: 3
Number of A: 1

Number below A: 3


These numbers are the cold facts, how we interpret the games on each system, and the categorization of each are up for debate, however, frankly, the million seller list for each system speaks for itself. What are your thoughts?

Aqua-Vitae

Look, the only cold hard facts here are that as the Wii increases its userbase more games, and of a more diverse nature will be made. That's just common sense. To deny that is ridiculous. So while the Wii may indeed be attracting a large portion of party-games at the moment, it doesn't mean that the entire catalogue of the system in 5 years time will be dominated by these games. Just because thats what the largest sellers are less then a year into the systems life is no indication on the future of games on the system. Besides, why do you appear to hate the Wii so much?

• Wii Fitness
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Metroid Prime 3
• Super Smash Brawl

Using VG Chartz numbers, the Xbox 360 has 20 games that have sold at least one million copies, and the Wii has 8 such titles. These "million sellers" paint a picture of the system, and give an indication of the taste of the owners of such consoles. These games are also become the titles that publishers seek to emulate when deciding what games to release. Without further ado, here is the complete list of games for each system, along with the Gamespot review score for each:

Xbox 360

• Gears of War (9.6)
• Call of Duty 2 (8.8 )
• Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (9.2)
• Eldar Scrolls IV: Oblivion (9.6)
• Rainbow Six: Vegas (9.1)
• Madden NFL 2007 (7.9)
• Call of Duty 3 (8.8 )
• Fight Night Round 3 (8.3)
• Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (8.1)
• Crackdown (7.8 )
• Dead Rising (8.4)
• Guitar Hero 2 (8.9)
• Perfect Dark Zero (9.0)
• Saints Row (8.3)
• Need For Speed: Most Wanted (8.4)
• Need for Speed: Carbon (7.6)
• Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 (8.7)
• Splinter Cell: Double Agent (8.5)
• Project Gotham Racing 3 (8.8 )
• Forza Motorsport 2 (9.2)

Number of games: 20
Average Score: 8.65

Number of AAA: 6
Number of AA: 11
Number of A: 3

Number below A: 0

Nintendo Wii

• Wii Sports (7.8 )
• Wii Play (5.4)
• Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (8.8 )
• Wario Ware: Smooth Moves (9.1)
• Super Paper Mario (8.8 )
• Mario Party 8 (6.5)
• Rayman Raving Rabbids (8.0)
• Red Steel (5.5)

Number of Games: 8
Average Score: 7.49

Number of AAA: 1
Number of AA: 3
Number of A: 1

Number below A: 3


These numbers are the cold facts, how we interpret the games on each system, and the categorization of each are up for debate, however, frankly, the million seller list for each system speaks for itself. What are your thoughts?

subrosian

From the two list, it looks to me like Wii has a good balancebetween casual/hardcore games. It has games that can possibly be enjoyed by anyone, such as Wii Sports. Looks to me like it's a game that tries to target everyone, to provide simplistic fun. Mario Party also a good family oriented game, very well suited for the kids and adults. Plenty of simple games and slightly more complex game on the Wii list.

As for the XBox 360 games, looks to me like they are mostly targetting teens, young adults and adults (males, not female), AND they have this "American" feeling to them. As you can see and quite shockingly, most of these XBox 360 million seller's were bought by people in the US, even if you add up the number of games purchased by the rest of the world, US sales still win in a LANDSLIDE.

My conclusion is that XBox 360 games (the better selling ones), don't seem to have that "everyone" appeal to them. XBox 360 games are in a niche market so to speak, compare to how the top Wii games are selling.

I don't want to comment on the score too much, simply because scores don't mean much. You can say that since the average score of these XBox 360 games is one point higher than the average of these 8 Wii games, XBox 360 gamer's gaming taste is one point higher, or something like that? Or Xbox 360 gamer are smarter? If that's the case, the people who never played Zelda: OOT, a game that scored perfect 10 here, their gaming taste are worse than those who played Zelda: OOT? Who wouldn't want to play Zelda: OOT, it scored a freaking 10!! But apparently, most gamers didn't, but all this comparing scores stuff is kinda irrelivent, when you are looking at a list of many games, especially when manyWii games are targetting many different group of people, unlike most of these best selling XBox 360 games.

I did see something funny today. I went to EB games and Gamestop looking for a copy of timesplitters future perfect today, and I browsed through all of the sections just for the heck of it, and in both stores There were at least 6 redsteel used boxes sitting on the shelves no telling how many they have under the table. I think even the casuals figured out tht red steel is shovelware.

and if you are trying to say wii play is a true reflection of what gamers actually want you are wrong and you know it. that game wouldnt have broken 50k had it not come with a controler. I bought it because I needed a controler and there werent any other wiimotes.

and am I the only one who finds it rediculus that there are only 3 games on the 360s list that arentshooters or sports/racing games.

It seems prety obvious that the majority of X360 consumers are core/traditional players

and the majority of Wii consumers are casual players.

Great_Ragnarok

I think the numbers could speak much more than that.

The major difference between the numbers of the 360 and the Wii is that the 360 figures represent the buying trend of a year long install base, whilst the Wii figures represent the purchases of the early adoptors.

To say that 360 and Wii owners are dichotomized into the "hardcore" and "casual", though true, is hardly as simple. These numbers simply state what the Wii early adopters are currently buying and what the 360 owners have been buying for a year.

On first glance you would think that Wii owners are of "lesser" taste than the 360 owners, stooping to the level of purchasing Red Steel and Wii Play. But we miss the fact that more than half of the 8 Wii games the TC mentioned are part of the more highly rated games curently on the system. As bigger and better titles are released, I'm pretty sure the TC's "average score" for the Wii will dramatically increase.

The numbers aren't only indicative of what's popular, but also, more importantly, what's available.

er the xbox 360 has plenty of casual games including XBLA.but if you read that list once again you'll notice how that is the result of people buying.despite there been casual titles the X360 community seems to have aprefernce to traditional/core games.Thats not a question of availability. Great_Ragnarok

The also seem to prefer higher quality games.

I agree that the results will largely be influenced by the new comers.but I wouldn't call casual gamers as people having lesser taste just a group that prefer a less intensive expereince.:)

I guess we'll have to wait a little while for a better analasis.

[QUOTE="Great_Ragnarok"]er the xbox 360 has plenty of casual games including XBLA.but if you read that list once again you'll notice how that is the result of people buying.despite there been casual titles the X360 community seems to have aprefernce to traditional/core games.Thats not a question of availability. emawk

The also seem to prefer higher quality games.

Half of which involve shooting people, a large chunk of sports and racing and very little else. Thats not the way you want a console to go. It creates a very narrow audience which can hurt sales in the long run which in turn hurts the games later on.

this is bad for people like me who own a 360 and are tired of shooters and sports games.

[QUOTE="emawk"]

[QUOTE="Great_Ragnarok"]er the xbox 360 has plenty of casual games including XBLA.but if you read that list once again you'll notice how that is the result of people buying.despite there been casual titles the X360 community seems to have aprefernce to traditional/core games.Thats not a question of availability. laughingman42

The also seem to prefer higher quality games.

Half of which involve shooting people, a large chunk of sports and racing and very little else. Thats not the way you want a console to go. It creates a very narrow audience which can hurt sales in the long run which in turn hurts the games later on.

yeah but what can ms do about it? they've already provided content for a broad audience, but its up to gamers to decide what they want. However a large majority of casual games come from the XBLA and so would be interesting to see what the download rate is like? maybe geometry wars sold a million times?

um...first off....wii has been out only about 7-8 months...and nintendo forced developers to come up with new types of games...

if you look at the choices to choose from...and the events of the time period...you will see that one, redsteel sold because of hype...zelda is the best selling full game....warioware was actually good (AAA)...and wiiplay came with a wiimote...and no one new really how it was going to be....

[QUOTE="emawk"]

[QUOTE="Great_Ragnarok"]er the xbox 360 has plenty of casual games including XBLA.but if you read that list once again you'll notice how that is the result of people buying.despite there been casual titles the X360 community seems to have aprefernce to traditional/core games.Thats not a question of availability. laughingman42

The also seem to prefer higher quality games.

Half of which involve shooting people, a large chunk of sports and racing and very little else. Thats not the way you want a console to go. It creates a very narrow audience which can hurt sales in the long run which in turn hurts the games later on.

this is bad for people like me who own a 360 and are tired of shooters and sports games.

[QUOTE="laughingman42"][QUOTE="emawk"]

[QUOTE="Great_Ragnarok"]er the xbox 360 has plenty of casual games including XBLA.but if you read that list once again you'll notice how that is the result of people buying.despite there been casual titles the X360 community seems to have aprefernce to traditional/core games.Thats not a question of availability. Great_Ragnarok

The also seem to prefer higher quality games.

Half of which involve shooting people, a large chunk of sports and racing and very little else. Thats not the way you want a console to go. It creates a very narrow audience which can hurt sales in the long run which in turn hurts the games later on.

yeah but what can ms do about it? they've already provided content for a broad audience, but its up to gamers to decide what they want. However a large majority of casual games come from the XBLA and so would be interesting to see what the download rate is like? maybe geometry wars sold a million times?

I would say use their first and second party to influence the direction of games but they are only further inforcing the narrowing of the genres of games. (Except RARE, but the quality of their stuff has been dropping)

I would bet that GW has sold a million, its freaking addictive.

um...first off....wii has been out only about 7-8 months...and nintendo forced developers to come up with new types of games...

if you look at the choices to choose from...and the events of the time period...you will see that one, redsteel sold because of hype...zelda is the best selling full game....warioware was actually good (AAA)...and wiiplay came with a wiimote...and no one new really how it was going to be....

anasbouzid

[QUOTE="laughingman42"][QUOTE="emawk"]

[QUOTE="Great_Ragnarok"]er the xbox 360 has plenty of casual games including XBLA.but if you read that list once again you'll notice how that is the result of people buying.despite there been casual titles the X360 community seems to have aprefernce to traditional/core games.Thats not a question of availability. subrosian

The also seem to prefer higher quality games.

Half of which involve shooting people, a large chunk of sports and racing and very little else. Thats not the way you want a console to go. It creates a very narrow audience which can hurt sales in the long run which in turn hurts the games later on.

this is bad for people like me who own a 360 and are tired of shooters and sports games.

Both systems are definfitly getting a large boost in quality games this fall/winter and I'm going to go so freaking broke buying all of the games I want.

I would say use their first and second party to influence the direction of games but they are only further inforcing the narrowing of the genres of games. (Except RARE, but the quality of their stuff has been dropping)

I would bet that GW has sold a million, its freaking addictive.

laughingman42

Lets go by a more reliable scoring source, Gamerankings ...

Xbox 360

• Gears of War (9.6) - 93.8
• Call of Duty 2 (8.8 ) - 90
• Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (9.2) - 90.7
• Eldar Scrolls IV: Oblivion (9.6) - 94.1
• Rainbow Six: Vegas (9.1) - 88.9
• Madden NFL 2007 (7.9) 80.7
• Call of Duty 3 (8.8 ) 83.1
• Fight Night Round 3 (8.3) 85.3
• Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (8.1) 79.8
• Crackdown (7.8 ) 83.5
• Dead Rising (8.4) 85.2
• Guitar Hero 2 (8.9) 92.2
• Perfect Dark Zero (9.0) 80.9
• Saints Row (8.3) 82.1
• Need For Speed: Most Wanted (8.4) 83.3
• Need for Speed: Carbon (7.6) 78
• Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 (8.7) 86.5
• Splinter Cell: Double Agent (8.5) 84.7
• Project Gotham Racing 3 (8.8 ) 88.4
• Forza Motorsport 2 (9.2) 89.9

Number of games: 20
Average Score: 8.65 - 86.5 (86.0%)

Number of AAA: 6
Number of AA: 11
Number of A: 3

Number below A: 0

Nintendo Wii

• Wii Sports (7.8 ) 76.6
• Wii Play (5.4) 53.9
• Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (8.8 ) 94.6
• Wario Ware: Smooth Moves (9.1) 81.7
• Super Paper Mario (8.8 ) 86.3
• Mario Party 8 (6.5) 66.2
• Rayman Raving Rabbids (8.0) 76.4
• Red Steel (5.5) 64.9

Number of Games: 8
Average Score: 7.49 - 74.9% (75.0%)

Number of AAA: 1
Number of AA: 3
Number of A: 1

Number below A: 3

subrosian

Hey, at least the Wii has so many sold over 1 million, the PS3 only has one ...

I notice a slight incongruity with your conclusions, the 360 has been out a full year longer than the Wii. Added to this the unexpected success of the Wii which left third parties groping to put any software possible on the system, and you have a flawed argument.

Not to mention you only use one source, Gamespot, for your scoring.

I admit the 360 has far more quality games than the Wii at present but there are factors to account for this.

Seeing as how the 360 has been out a full twelve months longer one can't compare the two systems' games equally.briguyb13

Agreed.

I notice a slight incongruity with your conclusions, the 360 has been out a full year longer than the Wii. Added to this the unexpected success of the Wii which left third parties groping to put any software possible on the system, and you have a flawed argument.

Not to mention you only use one source, Gamespot, for your scoring.

I admit the 360 has far more quality games than the Wii at present but there are factors to account for this.

Caviglia

God knows why you put Wii Play in there.Eponique

One - The 360 has more good games. FACT. Not surprising that they have a higher general score.

Two - You should've used gamerankings for a thread like this.

One - The 360 has more good games. FACT. Not surprising that they have a higher general score.

Two - You should've used gamerankings for a thread like this.

Ah. Already done with same conclusions. Carry on.. Jandurin

Interesting to say the least but not at all surprising. The 360 gamers have chosen great games and the Wii owners not so much.

That said, for the many Wii fans making the excuse ( they always want to have it both ways ) that the 360 been out longer are probably the very ones who love to site " teh sales " !!

If the Wii has almost the same number of units sold as the 360 like the Wii fans like to say than what the hell does it matter that the 360 launched first ?

The Wii has been out long enough and should have already had dozens of great games if it was really a great system - it's not !

It's a good thing Nintendo makes a killing on the hardware b/c they sure cant rely on software sales.

The OP states the cold hard facts - deal with it and enough with all the excuses already.

[QUOTE="Aqua-Vitae"][QUOTE="subrosian"]

Nintendo Wii

• Wii Sports (7.8 )
• Wii Play (5.4)
• Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (8.8 )
• Wario Ware: Smooth Moves (9.1)
• Super Paper Mario (8.8 )
• Mario Party 8 (6.5)
• Rayman Raving Rabbids (8.0)
• Red Steel (5.5)

Number of Games: 8
Average Score: 7.49

Number of AAA: 1
Number of AA: 3
Number of A: 1

Number below A: 3


These numbers are the cold facts, how we interpret the games on each system, and the categorization of each are up for debate, however, frankly, the million seller list for each system speaks for itself. What are your thoughts?

subrosian

Look, the only cold hard facts here are that as the Wii increases its userbase more games, and of a more diverse nature will be made. That's just common sense. To deny that is ridiculous. So while the Wii may indeed be attracting a large portion of party-games at the moment, it doesn't mean that the entire catalogue of the system in 5 years time will be dominated by these games. Just because thats what the largest sellers are less then a year into the systems life is no indication on the future of games on the system. Besides, why do you appear to hate the Wii so much?

• Wii Fitness
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Metroid Prime 3
• Super Smash Brawl