f13.net

For now anyway.

NPD numbers for the month of October should be up in a couple days, and with a recent increase in production, sales numbers for the Wii are expected to be pretty high.  November's numbers should be astronomical.

For the first time since launch, you can go to Amazon.com and easily order a Wii (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009VXBAQ/ref=amb_link_5772062_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=1SWH3F08A65YY63EH1KV&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=463394551&pf_rd_i=507846).  Gamestop has a couple inexpensive bundles (one with Smash Bros., and one with Wii Play) for pre-order which will ship out to customers at the end of the week.  Walmart and Target both have bundles available online, and there are reports of Wii's being readily available in a lot of Brick & Mortar stores as well.  About a month from now we'll be seeing the sales data on how well an non-supply constrained Wii can sell during the holiday season in NA.

Yeah we have 20 of them at my GS....I'm amazed when I go in and still see them sitting around.

Alas, people are stupid and will wait until the "official" start of the holiday season, and be too late to pick them up. And then they will cry like children.

I don't get how the system keeps selling since it hasn't had a game worth a shit for several months.

Haven't you heard? Carnival games is a killer app in North America while Sonic and Mario at the Olympics dominates Asia.

Jokes aside the way these games sell just shows how much the market is expanding. Even if the Wii hasn't catered to your tastes doesn't mean it doesn't have good games for someone else.

Frankly the only thing that irks me about the Wii right now is that there isn't a good multiplayer FPS game on it.  Treyarch dropped the ball on CoD5 by not delivering on the multiplayer options I want. Sheesh how can you leave out something as basic as capture the flag?

Conduit isn't rubbing me the right way but I'll keep an eye on it because there's nothing else to look forward to aside from possibly Red Steel 2.

OOMA OOMAA-MAO OOMA OOMAA-MAO

Yeah, I noticed a slew of them sitting at Target two weeks ago... and they've been in stock since. 

I don't think I've even turned mine on in six months.  Hoping Animal Crossing is fun enough to play with my almost four year old daughter for a little bit.  Otherwise, I'd sell the fucking thing. 

My wife and I went on an absolute blitz buying games for it initially, with Super Mario Galaxy, Zelda: Twilight Princess, Mario Party 8, SSBB, Metroid, Okami, and Mario Kart Wii, but the library has definitely dried up. We were at an EB Games last weekend and noticed the stark difference in the PS3/XBox and Wii walls - the Wii wall was chalk full of the kid stuff. Between Hello Kitty, some Rescue Fighter things and other games of true child appeal, the Wii is quickly identifying itself as being a child's thing (go go Nintendo).

Does it really come down that the only people who know to design good games for Nintendo is...Nintendo? Is the rest doomed to be 7 and Up titles? I sure hope not...but the wind is definitely blowing in that direction...

I never understood the US Wii shortage anyway. Apart from the first few days after launch, they were always on stock over here.

Europe has historically been the land of Sony since the PS1. It was in Nintendo's best interest to be absolutely fucking sure Europe always had stock, lo and behold, that strategy worked out for them.

I have no fucking clue at this point who doesn't have a Wii and who actually wants one now, which is probably why there's enough stock everywhere. They'll probably sell 2M at Christmas though. Who are these people? I don't know.

I haven't bought anything since Wii Fit, and I don't think I've played anything on it since about a week after I bought that.

Shouldn't have bothered with it, I thought it was a gimmick from the minute I saw it.

Considering the 360 is now cheaper than the Wii I have no clue why people buy that useless paper weight.

A little piece of me dies every time a Wii is sold instead of a 360... :heartbreak:

Pretty obvious fanboi-ism right here, but being that Mr. XBox Lover here mentioned price, I decided to look it up. The only cheaper version of the XBox 360 is the one without a hard drive, and correct me if I'm wrong, but are not a few gaming companies expressing that XBox sans a hard drive is not going to work well for their games, plus that new XBox version of Mii thing will require a one? Additionally does not all those downloadable features (demos, media, movies, DLC content and updates for games) require a HD as well? It seems like the "arcade version" of the XBox (apparently what they're calling it) is really a very striped down and feature limited version of the platform. Amirite?

People who buy the 360 Arcade are too dumb to buy a Wii.

As far as my personal Wii anecdotes, all the incremental (adult) buyers I know are getting it for the Wii Fit and not for their kids.

We still regularly play and love it.  You all are just jaded fun haters too sad to realize you're not the target market anymore.  :grin: :why_so_serious:

My anecdote was eaten by the Internet.  Let's try again.

My wife's mother wanted a Wii and now has one.  I don't know why she wanted one, maybe for Wii Fit but right now she just plays bowling with the boy.  I suspect it's due to her conformity gland, which is hyperactive.  She even complained about how complicated it was, and that was before she did anything other than point at the screen.  This is also the woman that doesn't understand "right-click for a context menu" or "don't save over the template".  Baffling.

I don't hate my Wii, I just hate the complaints and ridicule I get whenever I play anything on it.  I'm even ashamed to mention one of the games I like here, and I already mentioned I'm in the Hello Kitty Online beta.

You get nothing but praise for being in the Hello Kitty Online Beta. I'm in it also, just haven't gotten around to it.

Defend yourself. Why the hell would you be interested in playing Hello Kitty Online? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the target audience are...girls aged 7+ and Japanese school girls? After reading a bit about the Hello Kitty product line, it appears to be a modern reinvention of the Barbie doll marketplace (selling dolls, stickers, accessories, and school supplies).

That is, unless I'm totally unaware of some obvious joke going on, in which case I need to update Firefox's sarcasm detection addon.

A Pro console in Canada with 20Gb Hard drive can be found for $199.

Even without the ability to download demos it is still a steal for the average consumer who would not use the online portion of the system. And as for the new update, it is really small and does not require a hard drive. I don't think Microsoft would be selling Arcade units if you were not able to upgrade the firmware on it.

Because I play everything in an effort to learn. Do you know how to design a game for a 7 year old girl? Because I don't. In nearly every game, there's a good idea or two worth looking at. _Every_Game_. Or at least, I'd like to think so.

Well, fair enough. I'm glad I asked. I assume you take your findings and apply it to a career in game design and development?

Actually I store it in the vault so I can lord it over people when they say something stupid.

Really though, it's more the expansion of learning. You should try Wizard 101.

HKO is doing some interesting things to the Diku model.  It is, however, very asian.  It would probably work pretty well on the Wii, too.

http://www.xboxstorageupgrade.com/hh/web/home/hhauthentication.jsp

Core 360 owners can purchase a 20GB HDD for $20.  Arcade users pay $30, but also get a 3-month XBL Gold subscription.  Alternately, they'll ship you a 512MB memory card for free.  They do seem to do some checks to verify that you haven't used a HDD on the console first, but it's worth a shot regardless.

This discussion again?

The Wii is not a Gamers console. The Wii is a console for normal people, for people who hate Gamers and their consoles even.

My father, who is in my hair since I'm 8 about how I waste computers by playing with them plays Wii Bowling on my sisters Wii on Sundays. He would force feed me my Xbox360 if I dared suggest he should try it. And ridicule me for wasting yet more of my money while I choke on it. My mother who played exactly two games in her life bowls and golfs with the whole family on Sundays. Our family has exactly three Wii games, all played for the group experience.

This is not our console. Get the fuck over it.

When companies stop pretending it is, I'll "get the fuck over it."

Wake me up when Capcom stops wasting money on Dead Rising for it and Suda stops making No More Heroes for it, and etc. etc. etc.

Companies pretend whatever they think makes them money. But the console isn't marketed that way. Of course the Wii market is a big pie and selling some games to a small subsection still makes money. Its not its selling point, though. It is sold as the family experience, pretending otherwise is dishonest.

Not to mention Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and MadWorld.

Keep telling yourself that. The Wii is not exclusively an old school gamer's console. As a result I have to deal with development time invested on things that you don't commonly find on the 360. Frankly I prefer living in a world where everyone gets an option in how they want to consume.

It also helps that some of those different games turn out to be something I'm interested in buying because they are different or look back on old games that fell to the wayside.


What boggles my mind is that all this time Fight Night was not ported over to the Wii and I have yet to see a good multiplayer FPS be released. Also the near non-existence of rpgs is disturbing.

And you won't see a good MP FPS on the Wii because the Wii has shitty MP functionality and is crap for shooters.

Agree on the former but not the latter.

Why would it be crap for shooters? I reckon it would be ace for something like Time Crises.

You can do Guncom stuff on better systems, and the market for that stuff is usually fairly small anyway, AFAIK.

Also, any of you play Red Steel (no Haemish please)?

/raises hand  :awesome_for_real:

Look, the Wii isn't bad for shooters. It's multiplayer options, though, are dick. I haven't played the shooters that have MP yet (all what... 1 of them) but in theory the system can handle MP shooters just fine. Only no one is making them. Just like great sports games, no one is making them (MLB 2k8 is the best sports game on the system that I've played and it could stand improvement).

As always, the failure of the Wii hasn't been the system, it's been the refusal of 3rd party developers to utilize the system worth a shit. Of the number of games I've played on the system, there have been as many great 3rd party games as 1st party games. And we all know how many 1st party games there have been. Nintendo has done very well at supporting interesting non-gamer uses of the system. They have their heads up their asses when it comes to strong-arming developers into making good, non-shit non-shovelware hardcore products on the system. They have let too many developers push through shoveled over ports and refried ass on the system.

And announcing the MotionPlus attachment one month before Force Unleashed is released without giving Lucasarts time to develop a Jedi game for the accessory is probably stupidest top-down asshat decision I've ever seen.

Counterpoint - The Wiimote will never be as precise as a Guncon and Nintendo ain't making a system that'll open up children to internet creeps and thus will never have great multiplayer FPS titles.

And Lucasarts probably know about the MotionPlus bullshit and didn't care. Why would they, kids will play fucking anything. No reason to delay it.

They will eventually when the market forces them to. Unfortunately, their online strategy has meant fuckall to the casual market and their "serious" developers aren't really all that serious.


True enough, since it isn't just kids that will buy turds in a box labeled Star Wars. But all the word is that none of the developers knew about MotionPlus at all, which given how long Nintendo held back the online shit (probably for fear the devs would laugh at them), is entirely plausible. You are right, though. Lucasarts would never have delayed a product to make it better. That ain't how they roll.

I bought my Wii for Virtual Console and my only disappointment is needing more money to buy VC and Wii Ware game.
(I NEED Alien Crush Returns or whatever they call it.)

I have only bought 1 disk game in the last year, Impossible Mission for 20 bucks.  (Fire Emblem came out in 07 right?)

Its Impossible Mission and is thus a great buy.

If you bought a Wii as your sole console and with the plans to buy tons of disk games you made a bad choice.  Its the ultimate retro system or backup system.

Beats buying a PS3 who has maybe 2 exclusive games anyone gives a shit about, that's for sure. 

The Wii can send and receive TCP and UDP packets as well as any other system, which is all that multiplayer functionality amounts to.

There's no such thing as a system with shitty MP functionality. They all use the same internet.

That's a cute little bit of semantics, but you know it's still bullshit.

For the most part, Nintendo consoles are supported by Nintendo games (and you usually get at least 1-2 absolutely phenominal games from them.)  Nintendo just isn't like the rest of the industry.  The Wii basically targets new audiences, introduces new control mechanisms, and goes directly against a lot of the things people design for on other consoles.  It isn't about graphics, it is about how the game plays.  Some developers don't seem to take the Wii seriously, although in time the potential for some really amazing games is there.  Nintendo seems to be doing wonderful things in their own little world, while everyone else is trying to figure out exactly what is going on in Miyamoto's head.

On a side note, I didn't see "Boom Blox" on your list, you should check it out.


I would like to think this philosophy is one of the best when it comes to games.  Even if a game is absolutely horrifically done, you can usually find something worth looking at.  Worst case if a game is a complete and total failure you can learn from their mistakes and take it as a demonstration on how not to do things.

I was being completely serious. There is nothing that MS or Sony provides to make multiplayer games magically work better.

Umm really?

So stuff like friends lists (A REAL friends list. I am not a code!), cross game invites, voice chat across all games, and group partying do not make online gaming better?

If you haven't noticed many of things have crossed over into online PC gaming because they actually do improve the online experience. Nintendo is playing catch in terms of online heck even Sony is still playing catch up with Microsoft and Xbox Live.

If you actually own all 3 consoles and have tried playing online with each you wouldn't be saying that the services MS and to an extent Sony provide do not make online gaming better.

I agree that it's not the fact MS and Sony provide a better MP experience, rather that they dick it up less.

Friend codes fucking suck and because they suck and are required for multiplayer Wii's multiplayer will always suck. There. Pretty much ruined SSBB.

Ruined? SSB is the most played game on the Wii bar none. (http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/11/04/wii-software-stats-update-november/#more-12715)

When you only have 5 games with online that is not much of an accomplishment.

I was given a Wii for Christmas by my loving girlfriend and I must say I'm fairly happy with it for a few reasons. Firstly I ain't going to hog the household TV I can do serious gaming on my PC, an x-box would just be a bone of contention as much as I would like one. Supermario-kart wifi is a blast the options are a bit lacklustre (to say the least!!) but it's plugn'play attitude is lovely n' oldschool. I've yet had time to play Zelda and really want to get my hands on few games like Tiger Woods I hope the multiplayer options aren't a load of bollox but I've a feeling they are going to be (if anyone can give me a lowdown on this I'd appreciate it).

I can see the gimmicky side of the wii fit and I'm sure the novelty will wear off unless they bring out some awesome platform for it I might try out that snowboarding game for a giggle. The hulahoop game is actually a good little workout I wish there was more games similar to it most of them are balance orientated and I can't dance for fuck so that game is wasted on me. The girlfriend loves the yoga I tried it and it's quite good like an interactive yoga DVD if someone could improve on this title it would do good business. For instance you could add the use of weights to your arms & do step training by placing the wii on a raised shelf or box or you could sit on it and do a rowing game I'm sure there's plenty of untapped potential in that fucker.

EDIT: I was also given Carnival Games in the bundle I seriously hope I can exchange it.

(http://album.warpshadow.com/d/6095-2/hellokitty_001.jpg?g2_GALLERYSID=a805139a7be96006f567c0e1d3762278)

--Dave

I know four different couples who have gotten a Wii in the last 45 days.

All of them were purchased by the non-gamer GF/wife for a non-gamer boyfriend/husband.  This is starting to get out of hand.

I know a few like that too. Wii Fit is the culprit (err, actually, I know women buying it just for themselves for that title.. not for anyone else).

Good for them though.

I almost bought Nights for the Wii today since Target has it for 15 but passed on it for that Gator Grip thingie.  Is Wii Nights any good?
I've heard both yeas and nays.

While at Best Buy today spending a gift card I got for xmas, I took a walk through the Wii section.  They've got bluebins full of shovelware titles.  As in... maybe 20 bluebins of that shit all stacked up.  Hundreds and hundreds of shitware titles.  It's amazing. 

I did pick up Boom Blox a few weeks back, and that was a decent title.  But damn, take 90% of the Wii titles and throw them in that landfill along with ET for Atari2600.   

RE4 alone justifies the Wii's entire existence.  I play that, and various Virtual Console titles.  Please to be giving Goldeneye, plz. 

Just like the Gamecube. How quaint.

Er, no.  Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, SSBB- there were a lot of quality Gamecube games. 

Er, yes. Otherwise you would've used Twilight Princess and SSBB to justify the Wii's existence. Absolutely amazing that the exact same fucking games validate the exact same fucking system in a new shell.

God. Damnit.

Like I said in another thread, I got my wife a Wii for Christmas.  She loves it, all she uses it for is  Wii fit and Wii Sports Bowling.  She did pick up some Tomb Raider game with a gift card she got but hasn't gotten around to playing it yet.

This particular strategy doomed Nintendo to last place for the N64 and Gamecube. The Wii itself - not its games - have managed to buck this trend, but it still isn't worth making games for. Apparently the Wii is the first console in history to not see a correlation between good reviews of its titles and increased sales, meaning the Wii market doesn't read reviews / care what the gamer market says (<insert your own comment about the quality of games reviews here>). It's got the largest number of units sold but the lowest number of per-unit game sales. Third-party title Wii sales aren't that great. It isn't worth doing a third party title just for the Wii, no matter what the install base is.

Also, if you make a game for the Wii, you make it really just for the Wii. The controls are too different to try to make it truly multi-platform with PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 releases. So, if I were a developer and had to pick a platform to drop, it'd be the Wii every time.

Which is sad, because I like the simplified controls. C'mon MS and Sony - copy those controls for the next-gen of consoles AND get devs producing games for them.

While I think they could probably kill 2 of the shoulder buttons on both consoles, simplifying it down to Wii level is a niche that I want to belong to the Wii. Things get worse when there aren't enough buttons and weird combinations have to be used.

Pro-tip: Invite 3 friends over.

Internet multiplayer is great in games that otherwise have to be split-screen, but for games with a shared screen local is always going to be roughly a billion times better.

:rofl: That just slays me.

No More Heroes was worth my Wii purchase.  That and keeping my nephews easily entertained for hours. Of course, NMH would have also probably been a better PS2 game although the controls were amusing (charge that saber!).

My wife hasn't really taken a shining to the Wii.  She's not much for games period.  We don't own a single board game (that should change soon enough).

 

Doing the wrestling moves with motion controls was very satisfying. I don't see how that would translate to a normal controller.

This. Nintendo has been far too lax in letting just the most egregious bits of shit be passed off as Wii games. I'm all for bargain games, but goddamn are there some seriously bad ideas for games in that mess. Way way way too many tweener girl licensed games. It isn't like these games are selling well.

Of course, 3rd party devs use that as an excuse to not develop on the console, probably mostly because they can't think of anything interesting to do with the controls that doesn't involve just remapping PS2 controls onto waggle motions. 'SEE!!!' they say, 'Nobody makes games other than Barbie's HorseFucking Tales for the system! Why should we bother!!?'

Fucktards.

But at least we have this: http://www.brawlinthefamily.com/comic113.html