Monday, January 15, 2007

Wii kicks ass...sells a shedload. Have Nintendo already won the next-gen war?

Nintendo's Wii has been out now for just over a month and has taken the world by storm selling around 2.85 million units Worldwide and counting. That's 1,100,000 Stateside, 1,115,000 in Japan and 750,000 in Europe and Australia. Pretty impressive. Just to put these figures in perspective, to date PS3 has shipped 1,215,000 units Worldwide and in the space of a year the Microsoft have managed to shift 10.5 million X-Box 360 consoles. Phew.
With the highly anticipated Super Mario Galaxy on its way, units are going to continue to fly off the shelves. It looks as if Nintendo's plan to grab a share of the untapped market of casual and non-gamers intrigued by the innovative Wii-mote and nunchuk controller has worked. And then some. Have Nintendo won the next-gen war that they never wanted to be a part of in the first place? Microsoft head honcho Billy Gatesy has said that he considers Nintendo their closest rival at the moment. Fighting talk from the bespectacled billionaire. We'll just have to wait and see how the console war pans out when PS3 lands on these fair shores. Until then, The Shed officially reserves judgement.

For now, it looks as if the Wii will hold the share of the market due to its wide appeal.
Console exclusive titles mean that if you're a hardcore gamer, getting hold of all three consoles will be the only solution. 2007 looks to be an expensive year for gamers.
Time to check The Shed's coffers...empty again? Crap.