Wii sales top 1 million in UK

[robman84]

There's many good points being raised, as usual on this forum. I was personally rather disappointed that Nintendo didn't do more in terms of evolving the hardware spec from GC to Wii, however from Nintendo's perspective the resulting lower price point and focus on "innovation" (albeit easily copied by Sony and MS) has been a huge success financially.

5 years from now I seriously expect a similar situation to the last generation: Sony out front, Microsoft trailing far behind and Nintendo taking up the last place. That's just a sales prediction, by the way, no comment on their relative merits as games machines.

I truly hope the large installed user base of Wiis lends to a long shelf life in terms of developer support. It felt like the GC, rather like the Dreamcast, was abandoned far too soon by developers. Of course, they are companies trying to make a profit, like all companies.

As for the "is it next gen or not" question, I personally treat generations as chronological periods, not specifications. I'm sure there's a website out there that details each console in each generation, but disparity in specifications between competing consoles has been a feature of generations ever since the 70's when I started gaming at home.

So whilst the Wii is clearly well below the power of the PS3 and 360, it is, in my mind, technically Nintendo's "next gen" offering, being the current offering during this generation's cycle.

Me? I've only just finished collecting the 4 "last gen" consoles with the acquisition of a GC a few months ago. With those (DC still my fave) and my DS, I'll be good for another couple of years. Heck, I've still got about 10 triple-A games for those that I've not even booted up yet, such are the bargains available for the now-abandoned machines. 4 triple-A titles for 20 quid? Count me in, even if I don't get around to opening them for the next year or so )

[Skateblind]

I dont agree with your definition of next-gen, but it is correct nonetheless, I just feel that Nintendo are only trying to make money with the cheapness of their system and the games that follow. They could have had a really awesome system if they had bothered to push it a bit more foward in terms of graphics and overall power. To me the only appeal it has are its controllers, which is not something that clinches the deal when it comes to me choosing my first console or even second to buy out of the next/current generation.
I like the way sony have gone with their 10 year plan for the PS3, its means that you will be playing your PS3 games alot longer, yes it has backwards compatibility, but its not usually a highly used feature. If it does stick around for ten years or more, then it will be another feature to add to its list and will re-shape the way we think about a console's lifespan.

[mcdougall57]

i think the 10 year plan for sony is not so good because if your definition of next gen is correct that means in about 5 years from now nintendo and microsoft will have much more powerfull machines and they will be what you call for hardcore gamers and the ps3 will have no hold on the market, innovation or graphics

[JPJunkie]

I think that one day either nintendo, sony or microsoft will just be pushed out of the market because of the other consoles outselling them!

At the moment this means that nintendo will have be putting sony out of bussiness

[Cokemusic]

i think the 10 year plan for sony is not so good because if your definition of next gen is correct that means in about 5 years from now nintendo and microsoft will have much more powerfull machines and they will be what you call for hardcore gamers and the ps3 will have no hold on the market, innovation or graphics

if the Wii continues with it current success ( which I seriously doubt it will) then there'd be no need to make a new model in 5 years , it would make sense for Nintendo to make a newer model however that would leave millions of Wii users in the dark.

The amount of time it takes to repay the development costs for Microsoft's 360 would be far too high to make an even more advanced one in 5 years.

Any succesfull console like the PS2 ( with 120 million units shipped worlwide , probably at least a 105 million installed user base) should have a life of about 8-10 years + , even the PSP's ability to play PSX games have given the console new life.

I don't see the Wii having this kind of longetivity , for a couple of years swinging your gamepad around and bruising your eye may seem fun , but there's only so many uses of that control system , the developers will run out of ideas , the consumer will run out of patience , the Wii will run outa steam.

I think that one day either nintendo, sony or microsoft will just be pushed out of the market because of the other consoles outselling them!

At the moment this means that nintendo will have be putting sony out of bussiness

I think that Microsoft are most likely to get pushed out but then again I think the likelyhood of any of the three consoles getting pushed out of the market is quite low.

THe PS3 > Xbox 360's power
Wii > Xbox 360's innovation

The only thing keeping the console alive is 360 Live and it's exclusive titles , apart from that it has little to offer.