Wii will emulate success of DS - Reggie

Wii News | As McGee dismisses PS3 and Xbox 360 as 'mere upgrades'.

In an interview with top-selling US newspaper USA Today, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has announced that the company's Wii console, due later this year, will match Nintendo's DS handheld in terms of success. Indeed, in Fils-Aime's eyes, the handheld race between Ninty's portable console and Sony's PSP is as good as over, with the Nintendo executive declaring, "We are so far in advance of our handheld competitors they're not even on the map." Currently, the DS leads the PSP in hardware sales in all three main regions - Japan, Europe and the US.

And, if Nintendo's number one cheerleader is to be believed, there's more hurt on the way for Sony and Microsoft, with Reggie confidently predicting that the unique features of the Wii will give it a vital edge in the next-gen race. "Our competitors are both going down the same path. Both believe that more and more performance with a higher and higher price tag are their keys to success," he stated. "What do I see? I think our two competitors will trade share between them, while we go off and grab share in a completely different way."

In other words, the Wii is set to match the impressive popularity of the DS, and according to Fils-Aime, that's because Nintendo embraced a tactic of tapping into new markets when designing the two devices. "[The success of the DS] is all based on a market expansion strategy," he said. "And that's what we're looking to do with home consoles. I'd much rather have the consumer buy a Wii, some accessories, and a ton of games, versus buying any of my competitor's products."

Meanwhile, away from Fils-Aime and his relentless tub-thumping, American McGee (responsible for the likes of gothic PC adventure American McGee's Alice) has become roughly the eight millionth third-party developer to proffer his views on the three next-gen machines from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. Speaking in an interview with CVG, McGee argued that Nintendo was all set to "capture the hearts of gamers," whilst Microsoft and Sony were more likely to "stab each other in the neck" when it came to market-share. "The only truly next-gen console out there is the Wii," remarked McGee. "Everything else is just a video card and processor upgrade."

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57 Comments

Infested Jibbs

5 years ago

Nintendo are the only ones truly apdating, they are trying to reach out to a market(as a niche as it may be) that has long been overlooked by the gaming scene in general.MS are sort of adapting, pushing the online side of things as well as integration with the home pc, sony on the other hand are doing **** all.

As much as i think you talk out of your arse, i do agree with some of your points, but the cornerstone of your argument, being nintendo is 'too old fashioned' and not moving with the times is wrong;the times are moving with nintendo.

Will it pay off?We'll see.

Jellyfish

5 years ago

mqphu1 wrote

Can N afford to lose money per console sale?

Probably not. It's not a wise business move to do so.

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Sony and MS can practically give away their consoles

Microsoft can do it, Sony CANNOT, they're in massive debt right now, Blu-Ray succeeding is probably their only option to keep going at their current size.

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Can N afford to buy third party companies?

Yes.

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Sony and MS are acquiring/buying companies at their will.

Don't recall any recent Sony purchases, only loans.

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So how long will it take for Sony/MS to own MOST PUBLISHING right?

A long, long time, they can't buy EA, Ubisoft or Square Enix.

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MS is adapting by including its Windows and PC business.

You do realise that Microsoft has been in the PC industry for a long, long time right? They didn't just appear with the Xbox.

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SONY is adapting by including its MUSIC and MOVIES sales.

Which aren't going so well right now, considering priacy and the root-kid scandal.

Cro

5 years ago

admeister wrote

.... The Wii i made especially to use ..

C'mon it's funny. The one time you can't miss hitting the s...

Nice work Adam!

Anyway, I find there is too much speculation around to for-see what is going to happen, but I definitely wouldn't be picky Nintendo to take 1st, if the PS3 were as cheap the Wii is hypothetically going to be I'd grab it no questions asked. However with the Wii and the still slightly gimmicky controller, I'm skeptical as to what game quality will be.

David

5 years ago

I can't believe there are people who are still so ignorant as to go with the 'Nintendo is doomed'

Love or hate them or their games, they're still the world's #1 publisher and developer (by game profits, EA is #2), and make far more money then anyone else.

They could survive on Pokemon alone.

D.Dark

5 years ago

I believe the Wii can bring out massive worlds at great frame rates without a single drop(in frame rates) but what it cant do is bring those massive worlds in great graphics, look at Legend of Zelda for instance, it has a massive world with excellent graphics(in the ratio of the Wii and als the Wii can put out great textures better than the other two at this point.
If the Wii couldnt bring out massive worlds then why would Spore be on the heading to the system? And why would Crossbeam turn their project towards the Wii when they know the PC will do it better? It all depends on what the developer can get out of the system and what they want to get out of it.

The thing that MS has going for them is their Online, without them there wont be any online, they were the ones who brought online gaming and they wanted to build a community within the gaming world and they achieved that but right now, they are only bringing online to the same community as the last one and once nintendo has successfully expanded the market, the online community on consoles will expend also.

But as for Sony they've brought nothing that i know of, except competition, and although competition is good, even with it they havent innovated to any rate.

wobbler

5 years ago

I had hardly heard a bad thing said about the Wii (besides its name) on these forums untill some stupid exec decides to go and get all arogant. Even people who see the Wii as a game cube 2 with a new controller haven't been bagging it but someone should tell Reggie that Nintendo's humbleness was one of its greatest assets.

admeister

5 years ago

"MS can actually BUY the Wiimote if they want to."

If Nintendo would sell it.. I highly doubt they would do something like that.

"As much as i think you talk out of your arse, i do agree with some of your points, but the cornerstone of your argument, being nintendo is 'too old fashioned' and not moving with the times is wrong;the times are moving with nintendo. "

Couldn't have said it better myself. Sure Nintendo have some challenges, but they'll deal with them.

LeonJ

5 years ago

Whatever, this argument was exactly the same as the DS vs PSP, way back when. Everybody spelt doom for the DS, saying Sony's machine was going to blow it out of the water. If anything, the DS won because it is -

a) accessible
b) cheaper
c) non-complicated
d) DS games require less development.
e) Backwards compatbile with GBA games

I mean, I see the Wii vs PS3 in all of that. If anythign the success of the DS has already made the Wii a success also.

Deus Sceleris

5 years ago

It's funny how as soon as something about a *this* gen console is said, the stale "which ones is bestest and wills wins" debate kicks in almost instantly.

For the Wii to be completely like, popular i think all it needs is some gimmick peripherals. That's pretty much all the highest sellers for the PS2 and they're apparently doing fine...

Karai Pantsu

5 years ago

Yes! I've been thinking the same damn thing, Leon.
There was so much back and forth about how the DS was just leaning on the 'gimmick' of a touch screen to push lesser tech, and how could it ever compete with the PSP anyway? The PSP! It'll be like having a PS2 with you! Wow!
Yeah, let's step back for a moment and look at how that went...

Well okay, my bitterness about the PSP aside (officially collecting dust now), it's easy to draw a parallel between the two scenarios and claim 'Oh, clearly Nintendo is onto a winning formula here!' but that would be foolish. The console market and the handheld market are two very different beasts IMO. But until early to mid 2007, once things have settled down after the launch/christmas/post-christmas frenzy(s) and we've had a chance to get settled in with all three consoles, it's nigh-on useless to get all worked up about why Brand-X will/won't win.

Now, what I wanted to say from the beginning - this whole 'Wiimote is just a peripheral and anyone else could simply make one and blow Nintendo out of the water RAH RAH RAH' argument that people have been pushing (looking at you, mqphu1) is a *total* load of bollocks. There is a world of difference between the kind of installed user base that the Wii will have for the wiimote (100% of owners) given that it is the driving force behind the console, and what Sony or Microsoft could potentially have for a similar device (maybe, given a really strong title to push it, 20%) given that it would be "just a peripheral device". Even if they were foolish enough to tempt the ire of gamers the World over and copy the Wii, how many Developers are going to want to sink the massive amount of resources required to make a full-blown next-gen title for an 'add-on' controller on the 360/PS3 when they could make the same game (albeit toned down) on the Wii much cheaper and easier - without having to worry about only appealing to a reduced user base?
It doesn't make any kind of business sense to me - but hey, I'm no businessman.

Chris-Leigh

5 years ago

I do see where you're both coming from Karai and leon, but you're forgetting one thing - the PSP was Sony's first foray into handheld gaming, a part of the industry previously dominated by Nintendo. Things are different in the home console market - the gap between the PS1 and PS2 and the rest of the competition was very, very big. Don't underestimate the power of the brand is the moral, I guess.

I'm convinced that things can become distorted in hardcore gaming online communities (such as this one). Everyone here reads the endless articles with developers praising the Wii, reads all the pieces about how Nintendo had a great E3, reads about how pricey the PS3 is. The point is: communities like this are far better informed than the more casual market, and many consumers in that part of the market will barely know about the Wii yet. I know many of my friends haven't, but PS3? Of course they know about that.

I do think Nintendo has a real chance to close in on the competition this time, however.

MasterBoofa

5 years ago

^ I think N is doing pretty well, surely the sales of the DS reflect how well N is doing...

Chris-Leigh

5 years ago

MasterBoofa wrote

^ I think N is doing pretty well, surely the sales of the DS reflect how well N is doing...

The DS is doing very well, I agree, but my point was that comparing the home console and portable console markets is a case of apples and oranges.

mqphu1

5 years ago

Developers will make games for PS3/360 because MONEY.
They think the lifespan of Wii is going to be SHORT. Not enough
time for them to develop good titles and make decent profits.
Whereas, the PS3 is going for 10 years.

Look at the PSP vs. DS for instance. DS is selling really well.
Why do you think the marjority of developers NOT develop game for it?

There are more risks associated with the DS than with the PSP.

Are there any company making money from the DS apart from N ????

Not many!

Infested Jibbs

5 years ago

mqphu1 wrote

Look at the PSP vs. DS for instance. DS is selling really well.
Why do you think the marjority of developers NOT develop game for it?

There are more risks associated with the DS than with the PSP.

Are there any company making money from the DS apart from N ????

Not many!

How to contradict yourself 101.

Also, included free of charge, 'learn how to utilise the power of broken english to make your posts a chore to read'!

Nev

5 years ago

If the DS vs. PSP fight has indeed taught us anything, it's not that innovation wins out over technical specifications, but rather that being in the #1 spot before the next cycle means you'll probably stay there.

Don't get me wrong, the touch screen was a great idea, and I personally think all handheld game systems should have them. But has it revolutionized gaming? No.

Let's face it, the better games on the DS (New Super Mario, Sonic Rush, Mario Kart, Metroid Prime), either barely use the touch screen at all, or if they do use it, don't use it to the point where the game wouldn't be just as good with either a mouse or a second analog stick.

The secondary screen is also (for the most part) unnecessary, serving more to reduce the clutter on the top (or bottom) screen, than to offer any radical advances in gameplay.

I'm getting sick of words like "innovation" being tossed around in regards to Nintendo. So their controller is different from anyone else's. Yay. It's the GAMES that make me want a console, not just the tech specs or the input device.

I used to hate the PS2 when it was first released. But there's been such a huge influx of awesome games, that it doesn't matter. I still think it's the weakest of the current gen consoles, with a controller I despise... but if the games are there, so am I.

All I've seen from the Wii so far is a bunch current gen games (Zelda, Cars, Spongebob), with various actions mapped to a motion sensing device rather than an analog stick.

Go Innovation!!

Sin Ogaris

5 years ago

Chris-Leigh wrote

I disagree actually, seeing as in every store I enter it is the Wii and XBox 360 with demos playing on screens, I have rarely seen a reference to the PS3. Of course, perhaps England is different but down here, most stores aren't even advertising the PS3. So the casual person walking past shop windows is seeing "XBox 360" or "Wii" and that's about it.

Karai Pantsu

5 years ago

I do agree with Chris for the most part (especially about the difference between handhelds and consoles, which I mentioned), but I'd like to add that the lack of knowledge from general consumers can work both ways. A parent looking to fulfil the demands of their mewling child about getting a new console probabley won't know anything about the differences between the three, but they will immediately see the prices - and by all accounts the Wii will be ahead in the price game come Christmas.

A handful of sales from un-informed quarters doesn't equate to a huge foot-up, but from the position Nintendo are in console-wise right now every little bit helps I guess.

Infested Jibbs

5 years ago

Nev wrote

Let's face it, the better games on the DS (New Super Mario, Sonic Rush, Mario Kart, Metroid Prime), either barely use the touch screen at all, or if they do use it, don't use it to the point where the game wouldn't be just as good with either a mouse or a second analog stick.

But the point is that it's a handheld system;neither a mouse nor analog nub(due to the fragileness and real estate among other things they take up) is a feasable choice on a portable system.I'm obviously focusing on metroid prime, it simply can't be done justice on any other handheld-and while it can be done on any system with a mouse it's not a fair comparison, that being a handheld<->console.

The touchscreen isn't being used to it's full potential, but at the end of the day, it will always be a plus for the system and never a con.

Jeremy

5 years ago

Nev wrote

Don't get me wrong, the touch screen was a great idea, and I personally think all handheld game systems should have them. But has it revolutionized gaming? No.

Let's face it, the better games on the DS (New Super Mario, Sonic Rush, Mario Kart, Metroid Prime), either barely use the touch screen at all, or if they do use it, don't use it to the point where the game wouldn't be just as good with either a mouse or a second analog stick.

The secondary screen is also (for the most part) unnecessary, serving more to reduce the clutter on the top (or bottom) screen, than to offer any radical advances in gameplay.
!!

About damned time that someone said something realistic. There has yet to find a game that has used the truely unique features on the DS to an extent were gameplay has been "revolutionised". MP Hunters has the right idea but couldn't sustain itself, while games like Castlevania and Mario Kart, have merely been convenienced by having a second screen.

Chris-Leigh

5 years ago

Sin Ogaris wrote

Aye, it is a bit different here - the PS3 signs went up a couple of months ago, and the Wii signs just recently. And alas, you can bet your bottom dollar though that the PS3 will be granted more shelf space than the Wii.

Cerebral

5 years ago

I'd have to agree. If Nintendo had released a PSP-esque console instead of the DS, I'd have no problems with playing any of my DS games on that (Mario Kart, Advance Wars, Tony Hawk, Castlevania, Mario & Luigi).

GooberMan

5 years ago

Nev wrote

I think the main problem there is that those games are more directed to the hardcore/retro market. Games like Electroplankton, Brain Training and Nintendogs are more in line with the revolutionary aspect, as both of those games aren't games in the traditional sense, and the input device is the touch screen and microphone instead of using the control pad or making the touch screen act like a mouse. It's always the odd titles that do things differently that cause a revolution in gaming, sequels are usually always an evolution if they aim to do things differently.

mqphu1 wrote

Or so Sony claim. Remember when PCs would never need more than 640k RAM? If Sony can keep that machine alive and in a competitive position for 10 years, then good on them. Just remember, there's always a new technology on the horizon that can't be easilly adapted in to something as static as a console. As for the developers making games for the PS3/360, they'll make them as long as there's a buck to be made. If the balance between production costs and retail profits is out of whack, then they'll have to work out how to develop for cheaper - which may mean supporting the Wii instead.

Frozencry

5 years ago

Jeremy wrote

Nev wrote

I third this. I bought a DS expecting some really nifty features with the touchscreen, but it's barely moved me in wow factor. It may have the cool touch screen tech and the like, but its games aren't utilizing it enough.

Infested Jibbs

5 years ago

^Yeah but fairs fair, it's hardly a reason to knock the system.

It's like deducting points from a game that doesn't use all the face/shoulers buttons.

'Locoroco is a great game but it's dependency on the shoulder buttons alone detracts from the gameplay....'<--tha's an absurd comment i threw together but that seems to fly when people are talking about DS games not using 'X' DS feature(X being the mic, touchscreen, both screens...etc).

Why should it make a difference?They are there if the game needs it.I don't like the idea of putting developers under pressure to make them shoehorn touchscreen features into a game that doesnt need them.

/broken record

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