MEMO FROM ALIX: I also want to acknowledge I was wrong when I crapped on Nintendo for the name-change decision. I even like the name now. The system has demonstrated its supremacy beyond any doubt, and the marketing campaign is brilliant. I found myself recommending it to a friend with kids recently as being better for them than the other systems.

The Wii was again the No. 1 current-generation video game console, selling 259,000 units. That $250 console uses a motion-sensitive controller that has been popular with mainstream gamers as well as new audiences like females, senior citizens and very young children.

Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 U.S. unit sales were 199,000 in March and outpaced Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 unit sales of 130,000. The high-end versions of those machines sell for $400 and $600, respectively.

The Xbox isn’t doing that badly, especially considering the back-door revenue from Xbox live that the others don’t have. It’s just the Playstation 3 that looks like it’s in real trouble.



  1. Stu Mulne says:

    Damn, that Wii girl is cute….

    Hilarious “movie”, too.

    As to the products, I’m too cheap. If it won’t run on a fairly high-end business desktop or my “fairly good” notebook, I’m not interested.

    (OK, so my kid is 21, never cared for the game boxes either, and no longer lives here. She can buy her own….)

    If Nintendo will send me the girl, I might buy the product….. That’s probably against some law someplace. Not to mention what my wife might say, but just because you’ve lost your teeth doesn’t mean you can’t work up an appetite.

    Regards,

    Stu.

  2. Stu Mulne says:

    P.S.:

    Please those roll-over ads….

  3. Evan C says:

    I’m telling you, the playstation 3 will be the downfall of sony, along wiht the whole rootkit CD fiasco! Down with Sony!

  4. BubbaRay says:

    Did anyone see the NBC Nightly News feature with a bunch of us geezers bowling on a big screen with the Wii? If Nintendo can sell consoles to geezers, adios to Sony et al. Oh, and send me the Wii girl from that clip…

  5. Rob says:

    I still haven’t seen an actual Wii available anywhere. Where the hell does one actually buy one of these mythical Wiis?

  6. Tom says:

    I’m soooooo sick of PS3 vs Wii vs 360. Who. The. Hell. Cares.

  7. I wonder who actually produced that ad.

  8. Bruce IV says:

    I have to say that I expected this would happen from before the next gen consoles launched – (I even seem to recall JCD arguing once that VHS won its format wars because it was cheaper … well, for consoles, if you look at the list, popularity and price are pretty nicely inversely related) – that said, the real story isn’t the next gen consoles here, its that the PS2 is still selling better than Wii, 360 or PS3. I guess it does all come down to cost – and I bet the PS2 (and games) are getting really cheap right now.

  9. hhopper says:

    I would like to get a Wii, but I refuse to be gouged by companies and individuals who are selling them for from $400 to over a $1000. Nintendo needs to get more Wiis on the market.

  10. Angel H. wong says:

    $600 consoles that never made it:

    Neo Geo
    3DO
    Apple (yes, Apple) Pippin.

  11. Video Game says:

    I want a wii!

  12. KVolk says:

    Does the girl in the ad’s respond to the wands?

  13. ArianeB says:

    The Wii is popular with the ,a href=”http://www.erickson.com/ericksonvideogallery/evlPlayerver5.asp?videoname=sportsActivitiesStreaming&var2=7″>old and young alike!

    No wonder its #1, and I have yet to see one in stores, either.

  14. ECA says:

    Thats what they get got AIMING at a specific Market…
    They Got what they Aimed for…

    All the Wii did was, say HERE, try it…Nothing special, and its CHEAP…

  15. ChrisMac says:

    i’m still waiting for a better controller for my intellivision

    and an online version of Utopia

  16. GregA says:

    I would accept this premise but for my own inability to ever get a wii, or even talk to anyone working in a store that was ever able to get one in stock. There is a Game Stop in Ann Arbor that is actually able to get them, they are getting 4 a month.

    On the other hand, I have a friend that works at Best Buy and he claims they sell 2-3 xbox 360’s a day (and one of those will get returned with the blinking lights of death for exchange in a week, owwww), and similar sales numbers for the ps3.

    So I look at these numbers with a little bit of incredulity, as other than the display model at the stores, I haven never actually seen a Wii.

  17. MikeR says:

    I’m waiting for new plastic overlays for the Magnavox Odyssey – preferably to fit a 32 inch TV.

  18. eggfou says:

    this weekend both Best Buy and Toys R Us got in Wiis. They put them on sale on Sunday, and there was a line at both before the store opened. Many stores will hold on to systems until a week they have the system in their ad for the week. Then, they will sell them all in a matter of minutes Sunday morning. Also, the highest selling system for the month was still the Nintendo DS. The old Game Boy Advance STILL outsold the PS3 as well.

  19. qsabe says:

    The Wii is not cheap. $250 isn’t cheap. And check on-line where they are selling Wii commanding more than PS3. The thing is fun to play with. If I want to see pretty pictures, I’ll watch my HDTV, I play a game for fun. Nintendo understands that. Playing games is fun.

    For 29 bucks I plug my Wii into my router and download all the games from years past. The old Super Mario from the N64 in download, is outselling many of the run around pointing your gun at things to kill them high definition games the PS3 and X-Box want you to play.


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