Here's Why Japan Likes The Wii (And Why The PS3 Ain't Dead)

[wraggster]

via kotaku

In short: Smart, slick, cheap(ish) and fun. GameSetWatch points to Western-Game-Developer-In-Japan-blog Japanmanship, which was a good rundown of how the Wii is fairing in the Japanese market. Insights include:

The Japanese like their slick designs and that may explain why the Gamecube wasn't quite the success Nintendo was hoping for. But the Wii is small, compact, slick and clean. Exactly the kind of thing the Japanese go ape-$#@! over. Compare that to the curved, bulky designs of both the Xbox and PS3 and it may give a little clue as to the apparent early success of the Wii.
...Price is probably the clincher. If you're earning little money, as a lot of Japanese are, and you have a family to support, 60,000 Yen (US$ 500, EUR 380) for a toy is simply too much of an expense. 25,000 (US$ 210, EUR 160) though reaching the upper limits of impulse-purchase bracket is a much fairer price to ask for a console and will probably push those people on the fence towards the Wii...

Good points, all of them. The post comes with a fitting nod at the competition.

In the long run only a fool would predict the PS3 will fail; Sony has an incredibly strong brand in the Playstation and even their recent hubris and bad decision making can't kill a whole console line outright. No, the PS3 will do admirable sales eventually, I am sure of it. The Wii though has a head-start and has already won the battle for the hearts and minds of the Japanese public..

Agreed. For all the baiting and name-calling, Sony is far from out, but just started out on the wrong foot. Several times.

[shadowprophet]

But there are some points that could have been flushed out a little better in that article.
It's true people everwhere are image minded.
I myself hated the original x-box inspite of its power, it strongly resembeled a sherman tank.
people take pride in thier electronics, and theres nothing wrong with that.
on the flip side, the ps3 while pretty is still rather large and bulky.
Now, in fairness it's hard to say how huge a roll image plays in a console's success.
But clearly to some degree it does, with everyone

[Emulation_Chief]

Hello:

It's a new year. Time to really see what will happen to the console wars.

When I read articles about Nintendo not competing with MS or Sony, I thought, like most of us, that the big N goes crazy with the unsucessful Gamecube. The Wii-mote still looks more of a DVD remote than an actual game controller. When I saw the videos at E3 of the machine in action, the story changes. I said "woah! Is that Nintendo's new console?". Who doesn't? The machine is smaller, lighter, cheaper and cooler than its big rivals. Playing is believing. The Wii is actually a real contender to the PS3 and 360 in terms of innovation and not on horsepower. This Christmas 2007 will be very interesting for the games industry.

On the other side, Sony is betting for the most powerful machine ever built. High-storage capacity, Hi-Def content, Wifi capabilities and, later anounced, tilting function on the controller. And the PS3 is indeed what it claims...The ultimate multimedia machine. Browse the Web, install your OS, download content, share photos and files, watch videos, hear music. It happens it can also play games.

Let's face it. Sony is not promoting the PS3 as the ultimate game console. $600 for a machine that has a quad-processor at 3.5 ghz of speed, the latest nVidia card with 256MB of VRAM, the latest Rambus main RAM running on a 800mhz motherboard bus and a Blu-Ray player is a bargain. for a gaming console, is too expensive.

PS3 is not a PlayStation anymore.

In conclusion, if you want a gaming console, the Wii is your #1 option. If you want a little more than a gaming machine, the Xbox 360 is what you will looking for. If you want the newest computer, the PS3 is your bet.

[HitmanRotto]

I recently did this study after seeing the dismal scores on Nintendo
Wii games, that somehow people overlook. Let me know what you think. By
the way, Im not bias against anything I own all three systems, but I
just wanted to hear what you guys think. All information collected from

www. metacritic.com





Xbox 360 Titles Released in Launch Window

Amped 3 - 72%
Call of Duty 2 - 90%
Condemned - 81%
Dead or Alive 4 - 85%
Full Auto - 70%
Gun - 74%
Kameo: Elements of Power - 79%
Madden 06 - 74%
NBA 2K6 - 81%
NBA Live 06 - 64%
Need for Speed Most Wanted - 83%
NHL 2K6 - 76%
Perfect Dark Zero - 81%
Peter Jackson's King Kong The Official Game of the Movie - 80%
Project Gotham Racing 3 - 88%
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 - 71%
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland - 75%
Total = 1,324%
Average = 77%


PS3 Titles Released in Launch Window
Resistance: Fall of Man - 88%
Fight Night Round 3 - 85%
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance - 81%
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 - 81%
NBA 2K7 - 80%
Call of Duty 3 - 80%
NHL 2K7 - 80%
Ridge Racer 7 - 78%
Madden NFL 07 - 78%
Need for Speed Carbon - 77%
Tony Hawk's Project 8 - 76%
Full Auto 2: Battlelines - 71%
Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII - 69%
NBA 07 - 63%
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom - 58%
Genji: Days of the Blade - 56%
Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire - 34%
Total = 1,235%
Average = 72%

Nintendo Wii Titles Released in Launch Window
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, The - 95%
WarioWare: Smooth Moves - 84%
Madden NFL 07 - 82%
Trauma Center: Second Opinion - 81%
Rayman Raving Rabbids - 71%
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz - 75%
Wii Sports - 75%
Elebits - 74%
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 - 74%
Chicken Little: Ace in Action - 73%
Super Swing Golf - 73%
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance - 72%
Metal Slug Anthology - 72%
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown - 72%
Excite Truck - 72%
Call of Duty 3 - 71%
Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam - 69%
Cars - 65%
Need for Speed Carbon - 65%
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent - 63%
Red Steel - 63%
Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, The - 62%
Wii Play - 60%
SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab - 60%
Avatar: The Last Airbender - 56%
Monster 4X4 World Circuit - 53%
Rampage: Total Destruction - 48%
Ant Bully, The - 46%
Happy Feet - 46%
Rapala Tournament Fishing! - 42%
Far Cry Vengeance - 41%
GT Pro Series - 39%
Total = 2,100%
Average = 65%