Some Quick
Comparisons
While the data here is limited, it is at least interesting
to compare the sales figures across the platforms.
Given that we estimate (the pictured below) Army of Two's YTD sales at 800,000
to 900,000 on the Xbox 360, we can surmise that the #5 title for the Xbox 360
may have sold better than than the #3 title on the PS3.
However, the
PlayStation 3 also has a much smaller installed base and some games, like
Madden NFL, have sold to a higher percentage of PS3 owners than Xbox 360
owners.
Both the Xbox 360 and PS3 top 5 software lists are dwarfed
by the figures for the Wii's top sellers. Starting with Super Smash Bros. Brawl
above 3.2 million and ending with Guitar Hero III around 1.3 million, the Wii's
top 5 games of the year account for somewhere between 11 and 12 million units
of software.
Even more importantly, two of those games - Wii Fit and Guitar
Hero III - retail for significantly more than the standard $50 or $60 fee for
most modern games.
Equally interesting is that four of the top five games on
the Wii this year - all except Super Smash Bros. Brawl - include a hardware
component in the box.
Mario Kart has the wheel. Wii Play has the extra
controller. Wii Fit has its balance board while Guitar Hero has its plastic
guitar.
It's become clear that we've never seen quite a hardware
success story like the Wii. Looking at the top five games on each platform this
year, it seems we've never seen a software success story like this either.
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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. :)