Which is the toaster?

The Wii is a paradox. My kids reaction and use of it is a good example of that. They had and have to one. But they don't play it often. In fact, rarely. They prefer the 360 first, PS3 second and the Wii a distant third. Why? Because they say the Wii has "crappy" games. What this translates to is a huge base of Wii consoles sold. This allows for games to come up with some odd sales numbers.

And those sales figures for Sports. Those just come with the console. They haven't touched that game for a year. Same with Wii play, they wanted another controller so they got that game. It hasn't seen use for a long, long time.

They do prefer the Nintendo first party software for the Wii. But if you give them a choice they won't pick a AAA Nintendo title over a AAA 360 title.

So, what you have is a really high installed base and a low number of games bought Wii console. Is that called attachment rate?

I am sorry to say that the Wii IMO is basically the toaster of three consoles. You have to have one, but you rarely get all that excited about a toaster.

Flame on if you like but this is how it is in my house.

UPDATE: The Wii is wildly popular and sells a lot of games. I am calling it a toaster--which is popular but not as exciting as a toaster oven or microwave. But poptarts are great like Mario. But regular third party toast not so great. My kids prefer microwave popcorn. Or pizza pockets from the toaster oven.

That is a metaphor. The statistics are really interesting about these consoles. How can the Wii have such huge sales but not huge individual numbers? Is the installed base so diluted?

Did the installed base just buy it to get to Nintendo only games? Have developers recognized this and that has contributed to the lower quality of 3rd party titles? Or do the third party developers just miscalculate and think that the installed base would buy just about anything?

Go ahead and use your experiences and stastics to ponder this question. If you want to speculate do so. But don't say that I am saying that the Wii is crap and doesn't sell well because I am not saying that.

Paradox is not a dirty word.

But, acording to Nielsen, the Wii is right nowthe most played console of this generation:

http://kotaku.com/5222086/ps3-tie-ratio-overtakes-wii-tie-ratio

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20988

http://vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=69324

Based on your graph, I just looked up on the net about attach rates and tie ratios. First, they aren't the same things. Second, whether you are looking at tie ratios or attach rates, the Wii is last.

Also, I am certain that the Wii really lags in tie ration and attach rates for Third Party titles. That is really significant.

Nintendo is the toaster, but I would say that would make the 360 a microwave oven and the PS3 toaster oven. LOL.

I am not trying to insult the Wii or Nintendo. It is just a funnymetaphor to get the discussion started about the fact that the Wii sells a huge number of consoles but not a huge number of individual third pary games.

It seems proven that huge market penetration dilutes third pary sales. But the raw number of consoles out there helps keep the raw sales figures high per title.

Therefore, the Wii is a paradox. It is wildly popular, that popularity, drags down indidual third party title says per unit, but the high number of units increase the number of titles sold. Do you see what I mean?

I suppose this is because the Wii is bought by people who normally just don't buy that many video games. But it increase the number of video games sold because it taps into a normally tight fisted bunch of consumers.

That is why I call it a toaster. Please note I am not calling it a coaster! That would be negative.

http://kotaku.com/5222086/ps3-tie-ratio-overtakes-wii-tie-ratio

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20988

http://vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=69324

Based on your graph, I just looked up on the net about attach rates and tie ratios. First, they aren't the same things. Second, whether you are looking at tie ratios or attach rates, the Wii is last.

Also, I am certain that the Wii really lags in tie ration and attach rates for Third Party titles. That is really significant.

Nintendo is the toaster, but I would say that would make the 360 a microwave oven and the PS3 toaster oven. LOL.

I am not trying to insult the Wii or Nintendo. It is just a funnymetaphor to get the discussion started about the fact that the Wii sells a huge number of consoles but not a huge number of individual third pary games.

It seems proven that huge market penetration dilutes third pary sales. But the raw number of consoles out there helps keep the raw sales figures high per title.

Therefore, the Wii is a paradox. It is wildly popular, that popularity, drags down indidual third party title says per unit, but the high number of units increase the number of titles sold. Do you see what I mean?

I suppose this is because the Wii is bought by people who normally just don't buy that many video games. But it increase the number of video games sold because it taps into a normally tight fisted bunch of consumers.

That is why I call it a toaster. Please note I am not calling it a coaster! That would be negative.

steveroger

But, acording to Nielsen, the Wii is right nowthe most played console of this generation:

IronBass

You are didn't read my post correctly. See my second post for further clarification. I called the Wii a paradox. My kids have a Wii, they play first party Wii titles only as a preference. So they contribute the high use numbers but they prefer the 360 and PS3. But they aren't like the population that normally wouldn't buy so many video games. That graph really poses more questions than answers.

[QUOTE="IronBass"]

But, acording to Nielsen, the Wii is right nowthe most played console of this generation:

You are didn't read my post correctly. See my second post for further clarification. I called the Wii a paradox. My kids have a Wii, they play first party Wii titles only as a preference. So they contribute the high use numbers but they prefer the 360 and PS3. But they aren't like the population that normally wouldn't buy so many video games. That graph really poses more questions than answers.

Fine, play a semantics game. I never said the Wii wasn't a success. The point of the metaphor is that everybody wants a toaster. Toasters are a success. Give me a break, this is a systems wars thread. There is supposed to be some competitive discussion.

But like I said, if I was really trying to be negative I would have said "coaster."

God, it would be really boring to write a thread that said. Gee those are nice sales figures for the wii it is a success. Duh!

NO I AM NOT 'INTERPRETING POOR THIRD PARTY SALES WITH SOMETHING NEGATIVE'. I didn't say that whatsoever. Look at what I wrote. I am saying something completely different.

I think something more than just poor third party software is going on here. Just like the PSP has troubles with third party sales, so does the DS. But why? Why don't the developers make better software? I think it has to do with how they perceive the installed base.

Why can't I have opinions about the installed base of the three consoles? I am a user of all the consoles and I have access to statistics. Not complete access but enough to entertain a discussion.

Don't go off about Negative and postive comments. That has very little to do with the discussion. What does the sales figures of consoles vs. titles tell us? The possibilities are big. There is no reaon to avoid discussion.

steveroger

in the case of wii, the attach ratio doesnt matter because we all know wii has horrible games, about 95% wii games are a complete joke

NO I AM NOT 'INTERPRETING POOR THIRD PARTY SALES WITH SOMETHING NEGATIVE'. I didn't say that whatsoever. Look at what I wrote. I am saying something completely different.

I think something more than just poor third party software is going on here. Just like the PSP has troubles with third party sales, so does the DS. But why? Why don't the developers make better software? I think it has to do with how they perceive the installed base.

Why can't I have opinions about the installed base of the three consoles? I am a user of all the consoles and I have access to statistics. Not complete access but enough to entertain a discussion.

Don't go off about Negative and postive comments. That has very little to do with the discussion. What does the sales figures of consoles vs. titles tell us? The possibilities are big. There is no reaon to avoid discussion.

Wii IMO is basically the toastersteveroger

in the case of wii, the attach ratio doesnt matter because we all know wii has horrible games, about 95% wii games are a complete joke

sikanderahmed

[QUOTE="steveroger"]Wii IMO is basically the toasterCherokee_Jack

Updated from the News, it is tough to track news comments:

ItsEvolution Posted May 10, 2009 10:17 am MT
"ItsEvolution
I'm going to stop looking at the comment section for this article. No one is actually reading the article, and it's getting frustrating. WII SPORTS DOES NOT COME WITH THE SYSTEM IN OTHER COUNTRIES. PAY ATTENTION, ****!!"

Maybe you need to pay attention the article doesn't break down the sales figures to show the number of stand alone sales for Wii play and sports compared to those sold as a bundles with consoles and controllers. They just give raw data of number of play and sports titles sold.

But what does that tell you about the Wii? More of the same really. First party software rules the roost.

While this is good for Nintendo which is what the article says and is about. But the real issue is whether this is good news for gamers.

Which IMO it is not.

Why? Because Nintendo would be pumping out quality First Party titles without the huge sales numbers of the Wii. But the huge sales numbers of the Wii and it's first party software is putting a stranglehold on the market of third party games.

Why is that?