Nintendo's juggernaut is still relevant even in an era of Kinect and Move.
Five years is a very, very long time in the video game industry. Five years ago the Xbox 360 was just launching and the PS3 wasn't in stores. Five years ago we had no idea that Nintendowould steamroll the industry with a radically inventive approach to gaming. By fusing the concept of motion control with a more intuitive, remote-like controller, Nintendo unleashed a phenomenon, one that has survived and thrived, besting cutting edge consoles, working with what is more or less ten year old technology in a small, affordable package.
But in 2011 the Wii will turn five, and everyone, including many of the editors at IGN, is eager to see the system's successor. Unfortunately, coming off of an incredible 2010, one that saw the Wii unleash an array of exclusives Nintendo fans rarely see, the next year might appear to be darker. The release schedule doesn't seem as packed, the console is definitely showing signs of aging and now the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 have their mighty answers to motion control in Move and Kinect respectively. Given that difficult set of circumstances, many might wonder if the Wii has what it takes to last – not just until its successor but even one more year.
Set aside your fears and doubts, Nintendo fans. Next year might not be as bad as it seems, and your system is not as obsolete. Despite having wolves at its doors, Nintendo is in a strong position in the industry. Let's look at some of the reasons why the Wii still has potential not only to the fans and consumers, but to the industry as well.
But in 2011 the Wii will turn five, and everyone, including many of the editors at IGN, is eager to see the system's successor. Unfortunately, coming off of an incredible 2010, one that saw the Wii unleash an array of exclusives Nintendo fans rarely see, the next year might appear to be darker. The release schedule doesn't seem as packed, the console is definitely showing signs of aging and now the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 have their mighty answers to motion control in Move and Kinect respectively. Given that difficult set of circumstances, many might wonder if the Wii has what it takes to last – not just until its successor but even one more year.
Set aside your fears and doubts, Nintendo fans. Next year might not be as bad as it seems, and your system is not as obsolete. Despite having wolves at its doors, Nintendo is in a strong position in the industry. Let's look at some of the reasons why the Wii still has potential not only to the fans and consumers, but to the industry as well.
Conduit 2 is one of the first major Wii releases of 2011.
THE INSTALLED USERBASE
According to documentation released by Nintendo during an October corporate briefing, the Wii has sold close to 76 million consoles worldwide. Considering the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3combined only reach about 86 million and you have a fairly impressive feat.
Simply put, the Wii is in a lot of households and that fact means the system is significant in the industry. While the system has the considerable challenge of attracting quality development talent outside of Nintendo's internal teams, the fact remains that the right developer and publisher team can result in significant sales. Until a successor is released, the Wii is a potent force in the industry, if for no other reason than the fact that people have it and want to buy games for it.
3DS aside, all Nintendo news from Japan has been focused on Last Story.
IT'S STILL SELLING
It's not just that the Wii is in so many households – it's headed toward more of them. Despite all of the speculation that Nintendo's home console sales are going to radically decrease, through November we've seen no indication of any such change. In fact this November's sales were effectively even with last November's. We'll see how December 2010 performs considering one year ago the Wii saw record-breaking sales, selling 3.81 million units in the US, almost doubling its sell-through from 2008.
Skyward Sword will fully integrate WiiMotion Plus control for sword combat.
THE VIRTUAL CONSOLE
This is likely to be a divisive point considering how neglectful Nintendo has been of its digital classic gaming service, but the Virtual Console just might be key to the Wii's survival if 2011's software line-up is lacking. Consider this: a recent tally (via Wikipedia) puts the United States' Virtual Console software library at 371 games. In Japan, the service currently provides 588 titles. That disparity suggests there are plenty of games that could arrive in the next year, but that's the tip of the iceberg.
Just looking at four of the US-based systems in the Virtual Console lineup, the NES, SNES, N64 and Genesis, there are 2,880 possible games that could be released compared to the 371 that are offered. No doubt there are some games in the remaining 2,509 that should never see the light of day again, but there are a lot of games that should. Returning to a regular release schedule could rapidly supplement any gaps in new software launches.
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