Wii Success Bad For Industry?

I don't think it's a bad thing at all. Really just a different thing. Nintendo is making the industry think differently about development of games pushing the focus on innovative gameplay and targeting a wider audience instead of the niche group it has traditionally targeted (teen males). The biggest thing is the rest of the industry has to rise to the call and accept the challenge. The fact that so many Wii systems have sold is proof enough that people want this change. So now we'll have to wait and see if developers will continue to fall back on their old ways or will adapt. How is that a bad thing?

I agree with mvsr. Wii is the best thing to come to gaming in years. It turns the corner from abstract button pushing (with "great" graphics) to virtual participation - like the Star Trek Holo-deck.
It will be interesting to see the next gen Wii in 4 or 5 years. I think it will be easier for Wii to improve graphics than for XBox or P3 to convert to more interactive controllers.

Also, how was Nintendo an underdog to begin with? They had 1, read ONE, lull in the console cycle over a period of 20 some years. This hardly makes them an underdog considering that the company has more games on the top 5 best selling titles of all time then anyone else. Also consider that the NES, SNES and N64 was synonymous with gaming for years before the PS2 was even a concept. They had a single setback with the Gamecube and suddenly they've become underdogs. Of course Nintendo also also controls the handheld market the same way Apple controls the MP3 market. Remember when Sony announced the PSP and how every spelled doom for Nintendo back then? I do believe the best selling system for March was the Nintendo DS outselling the PSP 2:1.

But I guess a dramatic title like that does draws attention and readers.

How about this idea....maybe...just maybe, Nintendo looked at the market and saw an opportunity to exploit and hit the game ball out of the field. So they are delivering something people want that will drive a whole new market place.

As a childless 48 year old woman who hasn't touched a video game since Ms. PacMan in 1981, it was I who asked my husband for a Wii for MY birthday. We dropped substantial coin for a full setup including games (about $1,000). I am addicted to the sports games and have incorporated them into my fitness routine. In my opinion, Nintendo could improve their bottom line if they pay attention to all the new gamers like me, that have embraced this technology and see exactly where it can go. My dream game would be Andre Agassi Tennis 2007! How about it Nintendo? Andre?

In this instance "change is good"

kb

I think it's hilarious! They were blindsided and that's what they get!
I love the Wii, I'm excited to learn they have 45 games in queue! I am hoping for a Harry Potter game soon!!!

I think someone read "blue ocean strategy" over at nintendo when they were pitching the concept of the non-traditional wii. Instead of competing with the other gaming giants head-on for the same clients, they instead went and made a product that is so different that they have created a completely different market segment for consoles.

Looking at the people who are buying the wii makes it obvious that this is definetely not a bad thing for the industry, as Nintendo is pulling in a significant amount of females and older consumers not normally part of the target audience. The hardcore gamers still have options with the other consoles, but Nintendo created a new innovative system that has opened up a completely new audience and they are reaping the rewards.

Good for them, and good for the industry.

analysts read Sony and Microsoft to be what video games were for the last few years, which has been doing more harm than good for the industry.

Because of that, game companies assumed that the better game was the better graphics, which resulted in horrible gameplay and replay value. Innovations have been relatively nil the past few years, and now someone feeds the market what they're hungry for, and analysts are crying out foul.

What I think is that statisticians thought that the trend would continue indefinitely, which means that "the industry" wasn't looking to benefit the consumer. If anything hurt the industry in this case, it was "the industry".

Absolutely, 8472. The past 4-6 years of game development has seen more money, more people, more time but less love go into game development. When to be considered "successful" a game needs to sell a million copies, because it took 20 million dollars to make, something is definitely wrong. The smaller developers were getting pushed out altogether because they simply couldn't keep up with the development demands. This leads to less developers, less creativity, less fun. A system like the Wii coming around and allowiing for innovation again and lower-cost development is going to be a boost for smaller companies again, along with the X-Box Live Arcade (also a great little thing). Sony doesn't seem to have any plans for this however, they're stuck in the "bigger is better" mindset that is, in my opinion, self destructive.

It's not bad for publishers if Wii and DS are successful. Both platforms cost a lot less to develop for than their competition, but games for both sell at roughly the same MSRP as games for the competition, so developers can make more money on Nintendo hardware for less investment. Boo-snot-sniveling-hoo if developers counted Nintendo out. Shame on them for such lack of foresight and overall poor judgment. The DS has for years already stood as evidence for how the Wii could dramatically outsell the PS3, but nobody in the industry was smart enough to take the hint, so shame on them.

Im sorry but has anyone actually even read that academic paper fully? This seems like another media hullabaloo. It states that the game Wii Sports is largely to blame for the Wii's market share in software, as it is not bundled with the console in "other countries". Im sorry but where is it not bundled? A small square foot of the Sahara desert? Not in any country which makes a significant contribution to fiscal year market share that's for sure. I really hope this paper gets shot down in peer review before someone else prints a fanatical anti nintendo article like this...

Well Valentine, if you mean this article, know that my tongue was firmly in cheek tossing the hypothetical out there based on the paper. I'm personally tickled that consumers are voting for gameplay (even if a portion of it's novelty-related) over Gizmos On Steroids. In my house the Wii gets the most play, hands down (or up, or flailing about as the case may be). :)

I think it might stall quality game development for a while. Let's face it, aside from Zelda (which only hardcore Nintendo fans will play) there really isn't a decent title in the Wii's library.Petty much anyone can get through any Wii game in 2-3hrs. I am unconvinced that N's consumer base will spend as much money as the hardcore gamers of the 360 and PS3 will. So now developers are splitting up their teams to go ahead and develop basically a mini game that has gamers waving their arms at the TV in some manner and takes 2hrs to complete and sell it for almost the same price as a game such as Halo 3 or Final Fantasy that can take gamers months to complete.

I believe that "innovation" is just N's way of distracting everyone from the bigger picture, the Wii can't play DVD's, MP3's, no online gaming, or has no more than 1-2 decent games being released in the next yearr. N is notorious for delaying their games. If you think you are actually burning cals using the Wii somethings wrong.

The Zelda series has been around for a long time. Alot of Nintendo fans date back to the NES so ofcourse Zelda/Mario games are among the biggest reasons to stick with Nintendo Consoles. You don't have to be a hardcore Nintendo fan to play Zelda its just like saying only hardcore halo fans will play Halo 3 or hardcore FF fans will play the new FF game. The PS3 also has a pretty weak library itself at the moment. If the Wii keeps selling well developers will do more than make "mini games."

I don't think the Wii not including a DVD player is a very good argument against it. We're already a generation beyond DVD playing consoles pretty much everyone has a DVD player, I don't need 10 dvd players. Nintendo already said the new Smash bros will have online gaming but im not sure if third party games will have any online gaming. 1-2 quality is your opinion, doesn't sound like you were a big Nintendo fan back in the day. It is possible to burn cals playin WIi sports :p

Kmach....the key is to get your a@@ off your parents couch. Yes, I do and have burned calories on Wii Sports and Wii Play. Key is you get out of it what you put into it. Wii Boxing and tennis in the comfort of my living room ...any hour of the day...gives me a fantastic workout... Wii Bowling catches my awful "hook" no different than if I was at the Bowlorama.

YOU can sit in YOUR bedroom in YOUR parents house, eat box pizza and play YOUR graphically "excellent" PS all YOU want DUDE.

Nintendo's new platform is nothing less than a Wii-volution for the rest of us.

I don't care what progress does to an industry. Progress is good. Get out of it's way. But I must say, I'm not going to buy something like this unless, you guessed it, It can run Linux while retaining both its warranty and my sanity. (Insert joke about my sanity here)

Most Final Fantasy games can be completed in a week if you are willing to invest the time and if Halo 3 is anything like the first or second one, you're only looking at about an 8-10 hour adventure. Where are you getting "months" from? Zelda alone takes at minimum of 35-40, and that's if you are playing it straight through with no side quest. I've been playing video games since the early to mid 80's and part of the appeal for most adults with the Wii is the ability to play older titles (NES, SNES, N64, Turbo Graphix 16, Genesis) plus the simple interactive titles (Wii Sports) as well as the games for a more hardcore audience (Zelda, Mario, Metriod, Resident Evil, etc.) So it's not the heaviest hitting graphically, it doesn't have movie playback, so what? It's also a heck of allot cheaper, has a better user interface, and is presently WAY more reliable than the PS3 and 360. Nintendo had a slump with the Gamecube, but other than the 4 or 5 years Sony ruled, Nintendo has been top dog.

Kmach,

No offense, but you sound like a hard-core gamer. The Wii and its current library of games isn't the best system for you.

Many current Wii titles are intended for people who want to have fun at a party, or enjoy a quick game. You know, the kind of people who only want to spend about an hour or less playing a game. These games are intended to be completed in short order. Games of this sort were/are lacking in the Playstation and XBox libraries.

I've never been a fanboy of any game system - preferring to play games on my PC - but the Wii is on my list to purchase because of the quick, simple, yet entertaining games it offers. The Wii is bringing in a totally different demographic than Sony or Microsoft. It can only do good things for the market.

Way to go, Nintendo.

In response to the issue of a slightly bigger pie with smaller slices for everyone I have this to say. One of the best selling points of the Wii is its initial selling price. As the prices of the 360 and PS3 come down, it will not be uncommon for households to have 2 or 3 systems. Many will enjoy the Wii for social occasions and use the 360 or PS3 for online gaming or epic, single player games. When the PS3 was first released I read many reviews recommending purchasing a Wii and a 360 for the same initial price. As the prices of the other systems come down, this will become more common making the pie much larger for everyone.

My uncle bought a Nintendo Wii around launch day. And I lived with him for a few months before and after that. I have to say, I really am not impressed with the Nintendo Wii. I've always said that it's gimmick. We have Wii Sports and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

1. I finished Zelda in twelve to eighteen hours, very few side quests. There goes the 35-40 that was mentioned.

2. My uncle got bored and never finished the game despite how much he claims to love Zelda.

3. The Nintendo Wii is collecting dust in his living room now.

Here's the thing:

Nintendo has this really cool toy. But you look at it like this; Person A buys a Wii. He invites all his friends to have a party and play with the Wii. They all have fun. After the party, the other friends decide to buy a Wii. Then less and less people come to Person A's Wii party because everyone has "seen it all before".

Tickle-me-Elmo, Barbie, Wii all caught the world's attention. Problem is that the world is easily distracted.

I've heard this Wii party story and it doesn't hold water...stop stealing thoughts from other bloggers as if they're your own. You're writing off a console that has yet to release any major games, save for Zelda. And I'm sorry to call you out like this but your fibbing about beating the game in 12-18 hours. Even if you played straight through with no side quest it would take a bare minimum of over 30 hours of gameplay. And it looks like you'd have an exact time, (vice 12-18 hrs) seeing how the game actually keeps up with your total time played...hum. And it sounds like your uncle is not a very big Zelda fan, seeing how virtually everyone has dubbed Twilight Princess "the greatest Zelda game available". I'm not a fan boy, I equally enjoy Sony and Microsoft's systems, but am bothered by people making ridiculous claims such as you.

Well I consider myself a hardcore gaming having been playing video games since I got my NES for Christmas back when I was in 3rd grad. SInce then I've owned a Sega Master System, Turbo Grafx 16, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn (traded on in and later got another one ... hahaha), Nintendo 64, Gameboy, Playstation, Playstation 2, Sega Dreamcast (which I still own), and Xbox (which I also still own). I'm still on the fence about what "next generation" system I plan to buy, but at this point I'm pretty much only considering either an Xbox 360 or a Wii. I thought the Wii was whack as he** when I heard about it too. However, at this point I'm seriously considering buying one over some of the more expensive systems just becuase I realized that good games don't necessarily depend on awesome graphics. I love graphics just as much as the next guy, but in the end I want a challenging innovative game more. I'm tired of whact games that look good, but bore the hell out of me.

Analysts that say that Wii's success hurts the industry are the same ones that say that Nintendo wouldn't be on top.

I own an xbox 360. I finally went out to buy a WII to try soething different with the family yesterday - Black Friday.. I end up returning it today beacause I was not happy with it. I can't lesson to mp3, limited storage - can't use a 4 gb SD card, limited number of games on the market and very bad tech. What is the usb slots for!?? No one seem to be able to tell me. I can't seem to get any one on the phone to talk to me. It took me about 30 minutes just to get some one to talk to me.

I have also asked my teenage niece to get a second opinion before retuning it back to the store. She has played with the Wii console for a lot of times.at her friends' house. She told me after a while, it is very boing. It is the same thing again and again. .