No kidding.

When 1/3rd of your console install base buys a game in the first week (SSBB) and at least half of your install base is non-traditional gamers, you're doing pretty damn well

oh boy, this is not gonna go well. i think i'm gonna leave myself out of this. It being Ban Monday and all.

nothing to see here people, more along. (grabs a beer and waits for the shitstorm 400+ responses)

There's a bit of truth to this from my own experience. By and large, Wii owners seem to be the most reluctant to buy software at my store. 360 owners buy games frequently and sometimes even multiple games at once. PS3 owners (the ones who buy it to actually play games) are often in the store constantly.

But when people buy Wiis, almost all of them have to be convinced to get a game with the thing. It's like they think Wii Sports IS the Wii, and the other games don't exist at all. It's insane.

Well of course traditional franchises will not inspire the more casual Wii gamer. These people weren't inspired previously so that won't change now.

@maverickuw: Unless you're a third party developer.

Its like thousands of voices crying out at once, and then falling silent.
whatever, got a wii, got 9 games for it, okami kicks ass for it, next question?

I only own 3 games for my Wii, but all 3 are very fun. At least theyre finally coming out with some decent RPGs for the Wii, which i am looking forward too.

The last game I bought for the Wii was Umbrella Chronicles, and I didn't enjoy it that much. All I really like to play on it is RE4. I never finished Zelda, I have a friends copy of SMG that I haven't even tried. I don't like Metroid or Smash bros. I would like to play Mario Kart, but I don't see myself buying it. My Wii hasn't been connected for about 4 months.

///pitter patter of tiny feet, looks down, aaahh Nintendo have come crawling back to traditional gamers//

//kicks nintendo in the balls//.....'thats for those damn cheesy Wii adverts, now go do a deal with microsoft and re-release Goldeneye!!'

Having a large install base is great, but if the attachment rate is poor that's not really going to convice third party developers to make more games for your system. Especially when most of the games that do well are Nintendo franchises.

I'm not surprised by this at all. I bought the wii for smash brothers alone, and I have 0 plans to buy anything else... ever. My mind will probably be changed eventually, but even a new mario I probably wouldn't buy.

As a Wii owner I've bought a lot less games for the system than I have for the other two current gen systems.

Why?

Because ther's a lot of shite released for the Wii.
Look at the average reviews for Wii games compared to the other two machines.
If ther was less shovelware perhaps the attach rate would be higher?
At the end of the day, good games sell.

Gasp, SSBB sales dropped 90% after the first 4 weeks? Wait, so they expected it to continue to sell like crazy a month later? My goodness, most people BOUGHT it already.

Hmm, I buy 2-3 wii games a year. But then again, I buy 2-3 360 games a year... I just don't buy many games, very very careful with my money.

I love Nintendo, but i haven't played with my Wii (no pun inteded) since christmas, thats when i got my 360 elite from my boss :D

Hmm, I don't think I agree with the phrase "failing to inspire." Galaxy, Prime 3, Twilight Princess, and Brawl, I think, are still must-haves. Galaxy is perhaps the most inspiring game I played last year. Its merely a fact that the casual market just wants a novelty item. They'll boot it up, play some Wii sports and be done with it. Just because games aren't necessarily matching up well with the ridiculously large install base, doesn't mean Nintendo's first party efforts are underwhelming.

I own 13 PS3 games. My friend who owns a wii has 4. He's had his wii 6 months longer. Third companies will not make games for a system people don't buy games for. It'll be the gamecube debacle, except Nintendo won't care because they've already made their money

I caught this article earlier today on Digg. There were a lot of commenters already arguing with the conclusions drawn by the piece. Zack and Wiki is a sticking point with me - while it's common to blame the Wii fanbase for its commercial failure, people forget that Capcom didn't even *advertise* it except by getting gaming sites to talk it up. So here's this brand new IP sitting on a Wii shelf surrounded by better known games right before Christmas. What do you think the uninformed buyer is going to pick? Put some freaking *effort* into marketing, Capcom. You couldn't even be bothered to buy up some television advertising on a Saturday morning when all the kids that are your target demographic are watching the toy comercials? This is not "unconventional" marketing (since when are radio ads unconventional?!).

And for all the complaining about No More Heroes reception in Japan, its been a fast seller abroad despite being "hardcore".

Ummm, is one game less really that significant. Especially when before the Wii a lot of those people would be buying no games at all.

How come the green star is grinning? Did it short Nintendo stock or something?

@Cruithne: Completely agree with ya...thats the reason I sold my Wii, and was glad to be rid of it.

"Cheggers Party Quiz" - I mean honestly!?

@ThisCharmingMan:
Agreed.

Most of the wii games suck. One of the few good titles is bundled with the system. SSBB dropped so fast because everyone who wanted the game got it day one or day two, everyone else didn't. The problem is the fact that nintendo is the only one making decent games for the thing. and that's it targetted towards casual gamers, who don't load up on games.

actually, i'm gonna get back in.

the comment Younger children, women and older consumers, who historically have not been sought by the video-game industry, have discovered video games through the Wii - just not that many of them.

These new gamers are content with the games they have, often going no further than the Wii Sports game that comes with the machine. They don't buy new games with the fervor of a traditional gamer who is constantly seeking new stimulation. has a bit of truth to that. I know alot of people who bought the wii and that thier first time playing videogame systems. Yea some of them have kids but they didn't play the playstations or xboxes. They started playing the wii. However, they are not gonna keep paying money for new games. They are content with thier current crop of guitar hero, mario and especially wii play. I guess it's a double edge sword with this. Nintendo did a faboulous job expanding the market to an older generation. However, the attach rate will not reflect that because they don't buy games at the same rate as PS3/360 owners.

OK...

I have 20+ Wii games, and <10 PS3 games. I'm not even going to count my VC titles (there are too many)

Personally, after getting Okami and Mario Kart Wii, I'll have 9 Wii games not including Wii Sports.

@Archaotic: Yeah, a lot of the casual audience doesn't know the relation or the difference between "Wii" and "Wii Sports" and then never buy any other games. It tends to bring the averages down.

Oh yes, and I have 10 Wii games not including what I've put onto Virtual Console and not including Wii Sports.

This is really quite obvious, as everyone is stating.

In England here, the Wii is doing AWESOME in terms of public awareness, ergo mainstream popularity, hence many 'casuals'. People now lump Wii in with 'the kids playing their Playstations'. And it's even done what I thought impossible last gen and have people actually pay a compliment to the system.

So yes, all those people who bought a PS2 and about 5 games EVER (I know about 10 people of my immediate friends) are the sorts of people buying a Wii, along with everyone and their Dog.

And the second Wii Fit hits the shore, I have a feeling that the attachment rate will rise by 0.8.

Let's all keep in mind that the source for this article is vgchartz.com which has been known to just make up information whenever they like to.

If your game sells more than 2 million copies in the first few weeks, it's okay if it starts to teeter off.

"It's [Wii Fit] definitely aimed at the Oprah crowd. I bet they sell a million units a week for every pound that Oprah says she lost on it."

That is the best Michael Pachter quote I have ever read. Thanks Mr. Pachter for giving a laugh on this gloomy Monday afternoon.

In the UK a big deal of it depends on marketing as well as the reviews. ro Evolution Soccer 2008 has been in the top 5 in the charts for a few weeks, and this is probably down to both good reviews and marketing, yet Zack and Wiki, despite good reviews has seen much lower sales. Of course, it might also be to do with what it is: more people are likely to go get a footy game straight away.

Marketing probably does have an effect on sales, as for those who don't know their games it creates awareness for the title. Thank goodness there was a No More Heroes advert.

I didn't see a single Zack and Wiki advert, yet I've seen pretty much every other one, from No More Heroes to PES, to Galaxy, Mario Kart, Wii Fit and Metroid Prime 3. People watch these adverts and check up the game if they don't know it, or talk about it to other people. It does help a deal and besides, Nintendo have been helping push Pro Evo with the mini-site and also the advertising and it has helped create awareness despite the game coming later than the others.

@skullpanda: now if you have been following the news here you know that isnt true, do we need to link to the articles from ubisoft, capcom, majesco and hudson the latter two being pretty much saved by good sales of games on the wii? Its one thing to have an opinion, but research it a bit to make sure it has some grounding in reality.

Only one less game bought per year vs. the other two consoles? That's not too dramatic of a gulf. Third party's will continue to shovel out games for the Wii as fast as they can. The console is still selling like heroin hotcakes and develop costs are relatively low.

P.S. There will be blood in this comment section and the drinking of milkshakes.

Oh my stars, we might end up with a generation where 3 separate companies all have measures of success within their own chosen markets.

Maybe everyone can win and all markets can be served.

Nintendo is running the risk of depending on the large but fickle mainstream market.

I don't really find myself in that market, so I have a 360, and will likely get a PS3 as a Blu Ray player and for a few key exclusives.

The Wii games that appeal to that market are doing quite well. Some other notable games really are better suited to the other systems, so they don't to as well.

But overall, so far, so good. For everybody.

And thus we see why Nintendo sells the Wii hardware at a profit. I think they saw this problem from the get-go.

@Cruithne: What does a lot of crap being on the console have to do with anything? As a "core" gamer, I know what I want and the crap titles aren't even on my radar.

I have 2 Wii games, have had a Wii since one month after launch. 10 360 games, and 9 PS3 games.

My parents bought a Wii for the grand kids and whole family cause it looked so fun for everyone.... sure they play it when folks get together, but how many games have they bought? 3. Niece bought a Wii, only has one game still, just rents every once in a while, but she simply keeps buying PS2 games.

I'm a Wii owner and I buy games. My friend is a Wii owner and he doesn't buy games (he stopped playing games regularly a long time ago). The Wii owner demographic is diverse, so of course casual gamers will bring the attachment rate down.

I'm a female gamer, I hate the wii. Just not my thing. I much prefer my ps3 and to a lesser extent my 360 as well as my ds and psp. I'm extremely anti-wii. Though if I was given one, I wouldn't get rid of it but I'm not about to spend my money on it.

I've purchased 3 games so far this year: No More Heroes, SSBB, and Okami and Mario Kart will be #4.

I find it interesting that the worldwide sales charts indicate that the Wii and DS software dominate and most of it is from the casual and non-gamers.Still, it does seem that Wii owners in general should be picking up more games per year.

Well I have SMG,RE-UC and Okami.

90% drop?! Holy cow. I think we have 6 wii titles now, but I only bought Zelda TP. The rest were gifts or ones my brother bought.
Nintendo's new demographic is different and there's no denying that. With that said, I barely use the Wii.

@M: Yup, with such a massively wide range of people buying Wii's, your going to get odd results on game sales.

It's odd because, lately, I buy Wii games more than I buy games for my 360. And I haven't bought single game yet for my PS3 (it's just my bluray player, pretty much).

Lately I've picked up MySims, Harvey Birdman, Zack & Wiki, Williams Pinball, Endless Ocean -- and the usual franchisers (SMG, SSB, and soon MKWii) but it's the system exclusives like Zack & Wiki I like the most.

Still, I may be a freak in the demographic pool -- I love my 360 but hate playing shooters because the controls stink, whereas the Wii (specifically wiimote only games) is easy as hell for me to play and enjoy.

Can't say I'm shocked. Selling out is great, but one wonders if a lot of them are gathering dust because of the people who don't traditionally play video games... NOT playing video games?

I love my Wii. Mainly for the Nintendo first party titles and the GCN backward compatibility. But I can see how people who bought one may let it fall by the way.

Honestly, my son and my books have been taking up a whole lot more time than my gaming recently. That includes the Wii AND PS3.

Why is this a surprise?

Do they expect people who bought the system for Wii Sports to pick up a copy of SSBB?

Business world is so overrated!

Well surely if the install base is big enough it doesnt really matter if the attach rate is lower.

I think more of the casual gamers will buy games once they enter the bargain bin, as price is a much bigger issue to many people than the quality of the game.

I could tell you my reason... there is very little that is actually worth buying.

I would love to buy more games for the Wii, in fact my girlfriend mentioned this just the other day, but there is nothing I want to spend my hard earned cash on.

I think Wiiware may relieve this to some extent, though.

@Hostile: I think it means ther's a lower attach rate.
I have some great games for the Wii, but even more great games for the 360 and PS3, simply because there are more to choose from.

Well this makes perfect sense. As a Wii owner who doesn't regret the purchase because just Super Mario Galaxy alone would justify it (and now Okami!), the Wii software landscape is just really bleak.

I've got Zack and Wiki of course, Paper Mario, skipped on Mario Kart because frankly the 'cube version is still better. I buy more games for my X360 and PS2 just because they both have so much more good software available, that's all.

If anything, I think I bought too many Wii games (nearly 20 of them in my room). I still need to pick up Okami and Bully, plus I've been thinking about Baroque. Not only that, but now that Elebits and Dewey are budget priced, I think I should grab them too.

The only thing holding me back is the need to invest more in PC games. Me wantee Unreal 3, Spore, and Clearsky.

@LANfill: I don't know how you did that ! I love my Wii, I still play Smash Brawl and I'm almost on No More Heroes. But I just can't find 20 games I'd like to buy ! I've got 10 (not including Wii Sports) and in that, there's at least two games I wouldn't recommend: Super Paper Mario and Medal of Honor Heroes 2.

Most of my friends have a at least 7-8 games but we're all 20 years old. There's a bunch of kids that are taking the attach rate very low !

@Kamakaze: It does if most of the games sold were 1st party.

I will say something about the Wii though.
Before it was released i noticed that the displays in the big stores here attracted non traditional gamers, like middle aged houswives and families.
Just yesterday I noticed the exact same thing, displays for Wii Fit had crowds of women around them, all looking at the product, clearly interested.
Perhaps we should keep in mind that attach rates aren't as important when you make a profit from simply selling the machine in the first place, after all, it's not as if Nintendo are losing money.

I can't front. This is the reason I hate my Wii. Barely any good games out now that didn't come from Nintendo, and they spent so much time advertising the ideal of Wii Sports that the "casual crowd" only thinks of that game for the system.

I still have SMG and didn't finish it yet, I sold 2 games for my Wii already..about to sell Paper Mario...and it's off half the time, even with me buying SSBB because playing by myself sucks.

The problems is that these "casual gamers", view the Wii as a Wii Sports player, rarely have I ever seen a casual Wii player buy any game. Wii Sports is enough for them.

yeah, wii's a joke imo. mario galaxy was wonderful, no more heroes also pretty great... but everything else... either a port (or easily coudlve been a gamecube game...papermario..) or just nogood.
brawl lost all it's appeal for me after about a month, always disliked mario kart, and they still haven't released pilotwings64 on vc. :(

They cite VG Chartz. Do I need to say anything more?

I currently have 8 games in total and 7 virtual console titles.

If anyone has been paying attention, compared to the same first-party franchise titles back on the GameCube, the Wii's software sales are selling better and at a faster rate.

Maybe it's the PC gamer that is the core of my soul, but I own a few more Wii games than 360 games, and that number will probably continue to grow.

I'm just not seeing anything that speaks to me on the 360 like I do on the Wii. I enjoy console games like Mario, Ratchet and Clank, Ninja Gaiden, SSB, Zelda, RE4, and Okami almost exclusively. Where are the 360 games like this? You'd think they'd be pouring out, but Kameo was forever ago, and NG2 seems like forever from now! So much dust makes Buddy sad.

I've thought a lot about the peculiar case of the Wii. I don't own one, and do most of my gaming on the 360, but I've certainly played the W