Since the Wii launched last november, it has been doing very well in sales. I currently own a Wii and dont have any intentions of selling it because its fun to have for parties when people come over. It gets everyone playing, even those who dont play normally. Sure, its a great family fun system, but thats all it is.
The Wii has had succesful sales until this point and i think there are several reasons for that. For one, its 250 dollars. This is 150 dollars cheaper than Xbox 360 and 350 dollars cheaper than PS3. People who were casual gamers last generation are likely to go for this system over anything. Secondly, it launched with Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. While the PS3 may have launched with Resistance: Fall of Man which is truely more fun the LoZ: TP in the long run, Zelda just had a much bigger fan base so more people were drawn to that than buying a PS3. And I'll admit, Twilight Princess was one of the best games i played last year. However, its now been four months since the Wii launched and ive yet to see any other good, serious games to come out. The Playstation 3 has already released Fight NIght Round 3 and Motorstorm which are both fantastic games. However, the Wii keeps on releasing games that are just a series of minigames. This is not fun in the long run nor is it a game that will be remembered. Sure, Rayman is fun, but not for very long after you beat it. And Warioware I just cant stand. How do they expect me to pay 50 dollars for 3 second long minigames?! The Wii needs to being releasing games that can make you see what the console can really do more than just minigames.
This brings me to the next flaw i see in the Wii: its features. The Wii really features nothing extra. The other day i was just thinking about it like this: if the PS3 fails, im left with a 600 dollar Blu-Ray player which is good since blu-ray players are 800 dollars. If the Xbox 360 fails, im left with a 400 dollar DVD player which is a complete rip off but hey, at least its a DVD player. But if the Wii fails, im left with a 250 dollars nothing. It just makes no sense how the Wii cannot even play DVDs. The Playstation 2 from the last generation was able to play DVDs. Also, in these 4 months, we have not seen any online system yet. Now another feature is music and video features which the Wii also lacks. The Wii also lacks HD, next gen graphics which PS3 and 360 have both proven that they have.
All in all, I really dont see the Wii fairing this next gen console war very well. It doesnt have next gen graphics, an online system, music or video features, and any serious games. For crying out loud, one of its biggest games this year, SSBB, cant even be played with the Wii Remote. Nintendo really needs to start rethinking its strategy or its gonna find that people are going to start saying " Hey how come i paid 250 dollars for a console that is just a gamecube with motion sensing?" Nintendo needs to prove that its little console can hang with the super powers of 360 and PS3.
Its sales may be up right now, but not for long. The 360 has already proved its a force to be reckoned with and PS3 is just now starting to show that its ready to dominate. Wii has a hard time ahead of it.