Nintendo Wii
Finally, we come to the Wii and its top five titles so far
in 2008.
We can pin down the actual sales figures a bit more easily
on this list than on the others. We know that Super Smash Bros. Brawl has sold
more than 3.2 million copies since its launch in March. Second is Mario Kart,
which we know has sold 2.7 million units since its launch in April.
Wii Play, a nigh permanent member of the top 10 list,
comes in at #3 for the year on the Wii. Nearly 2.5 million of the controller
and minigame package have been sold this year, and given its 45% attach rate
with Wii system hardware, it is quite likely that it will sell another million
before the end of the year.
Despite shortages and its $90 price tag, Wii Fit has sold
over 1.8 million units since its launch in May, earning it the #4 spot in the
Wii's year-to-date software rankings.
As noted in the monthly NPD sales figure
analysis, Wii Fit sales have been accelerating in the past couple of months,
which could mean that it will sell exceptionally well throughout the holiday
season.
Finally, the only third-party title in the Wii top five is
Activision's Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, packaged with the wireless Wii
guitar.
Although hard figures are not available, the Wii version had sold 1
million copies as of the end of May and has probably sold at least another
300,000 copies since then.
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Nintendo's list is surely innovative, but how long will Super Mario games manage to carry the torch? The two top additions are sequels, or in other words calculated "sure-sellers".
Hope lies with those smaller companies who can risk going for those quirky and distinct gaming experiences. I think next-gen/current-gen graphics will be downplayed in the future, from a marketing point of view the important part is standing out. Why spend so much time on looks, that seems to be the norm, at the expense of gameplay and amount of content?
With all the consolidation in the industry, I think we'll see small independent startups taking the spotlight soon. :)
They already are. Look at online distribution in all platforms. Games like Braid are huge hits.
And mid developers are already investing on the Wii: LostWinds (Frontier), The Conduit (High Voltage Software), Cursed Mountain (Deep Silver), Sadness (Nibris)... The lower costs of production allows them to bring technology that rivals the big companies, and to get recognition (and sales) by providing great software.
Thanks for the info on those games. (Yes, I knew about Braid) :) It's just so easy for games like that to drown in the massive hype of other games, I had not heard about the other one's. Maybe that wind game.
So, we can hope that the larger gamer mass will pick up those original games and try them out. (Just like with Braid) So, definitively change is happening as you said. (I stand corrected)
Still looking at those lists, there will be some time before we see very original or genre pushing titles appearing as bestsellers. That's perhaps a consumerchange we're seeing with Braid. :)