notes it's the Wii game (software) sales that are lacking. The article
notes a sharp drop in Super Smash Bros. Brawl sales, with retailers
such as Toys R Us
bundling the game with the Wii system and a GameStop store reporting
sales dropping from "a couple thousand" in the first week to "maybe
100" in the weeks following. No doubt, hardcore fans swooped it up in
the first week, as March 2008 NPD numbers show. But are Wii owners supporting the system's library enough?
From the New York Times article: "The average Wii owner buys only 3.7
games a year, compared with 4.7 for Xbox 360 owners and 4.6 for
PlayStation 3 owners," said a Wedbush Morgan analyst, Michael Pachter.
“It reflects the broadening of the demographic,” he said. “Nintendo’s
market doesn’t feel the same sense of urgency to buy every game that’s
coming out.”
First time gamers and the lack of third party Wii publishers
marketing outside of the hardcore videogame realm are a couple of the
problems cited. Nintendo is still driving the push with upcoming games
like Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit in the weeks ahead. How's your Wii game
library faring in comparison to other consoles you own?
Read the full article "New Wii Games Find a Big (but Stingy) Audience" here on nytimes.com.
