August 2009 NPD Sales Results

[The Ancient]

Originally Posted by Sharmai

You're very odd. Who has ever doubted that Wii was it's own separate system aside from the PS3/360? Haven't we always been saying one of two things? 1. Gaming Enthusiasts = PsWii/Wii60 2. Casuals will buy one system = Wii


I see nothing surprising in those results.

Ok super-genius, define your use of the term Casuals.

[AlexTheDictator]

Originally Posted by The Ancient

Ok super-genius, define your use of the term Casuals.

people who play games less than 40 hours per week

[Soygen]

Originally Posted by AlexTheDictator

people who play games less than 40 hours per week

I call that a working adult.

[CnCGOD]

The wii isn't even for casuals. Its for non-gamers and party games. Gamers have it for when they have friends over who aren't gamers so they can actualy play it. Either that or they like cutsy shit... no accounting for taste.

[wild_whiskey]

I agree that casuals and non-gamers often get conflated.

Casuals are the people who buy GTA, Guitar Hero and Halo, maybe throw in a Gears, a Gran Turismo or a God of War in there. Probably COD these days and Madden no doubt. Those are the big "casuals" titles - not that only casuals can enjoy them, but casuals are what made them big.

Non-gamers are the ones who own Wiis and only have Sports + Wii Fit.

There are plenty of good gamer's games on the Wii (Klonoa, Okami, zelda, mad world, no more heroes, etc.) that one could conceivably only own a Wii and be perfectly happy (so long as they're not graphics whores or own an SDTV). Operating word: conceivably.

[Lenardo]

THERE are tons of good gamers games on the wii

i Own

Klonoa, Okami, Zelda, Mad world- don't have NMH though.

the problem with the wii is mostly 3rd party's fault.

until recently there have been Zero Wii Exclusive 3rd party AAA games, not one.

there have been PORTS of old "AAA" games- RE4(1 million + sold), Okami (which has sold about as well as Okami for the ps2 sold (about 400kish i heard)

no more heroes has sold around 500k so far, it will sell more. - it is BY FAR Suda57's best selling game ever. it, however, isn't a high budget "AAA" game.

Wii Exclusive 3rd party AAA games Released to DATE:

Monster Hunter 3- only out in Japan So far, it is at ~900k sold- which is the best selling CONSOLE version of Monster hunter ever. it'll break 1 million Easily probably will end up between 2 and 3 million after all is said and done.

next up.........

nothing

MH:Tri is the ONLY released AAA Exclusive 3rd party game- to date - for the Wii.


Red Steel 2
FFCC
maybe Silent Hill
and a few other upcoming titles are potentially AAA exclusive 3rd party games for the Wii that will be released over the next 6 months- i know i missed a few others that are upcoming too

RE: darkside chronicles, and dead space: extraction are also potential AA games but the Genre is niche, although, if good, both will probably break 500k- 1 million in sales depending on word of mouth and how good the games actually are. (i will be buying both- i Love lightgun games)

what the Wii has done though is ,almost single-handidly, revived the light gun genre

[Sharmai]

Originally Posted by The Ancient

Ok super-genius, define your use of the term Casuals.

Originally Posted by CnCGOD

The wii isn't even for casuals. Its for non-gamers and party games. Gamers have it for when they have friends over who aren't gamers so they can actually play it. Either that or they like cutsy shit... no accounting for taste.

Casual = Somebody that probably doesn't read gaming forums. Someone that doesn't care all that much about high end graphics. Someone who doesn't know what 720p means. Someone who buys a game once every 6 months. To them gaming isn't an artform or even their main hobby. It's not a sensual experience or a much anticipated afternoon.

To them it's just like that boardgame in your closet you pull out during holidays.

That's casual.

After that you have your various types of gamers. Hardcore, Softcore, Internet only, Multiplayer, party gamers, fringe gamers, etc., etc., add infinte. Almost all of these types will own 2+ systems but they are all gamers. They aren't the same class, type, or level but they are all gamers. There is something in gaming that they truly appreciate.

[Lenardo]

Until fairly recently

shooters, gta and open world games were "casual: games

women 30+ play more games on computers than males aged 15-35. it's just not the games that males 15-35 would play.

[AlexTheDictator]

Originally Posted by Sharmai

Casual = Somebody that probably doesn't read gaming forums. Someone that doesn't care all that much about high end graphics. Someone who doesn't know what 720p means. Someone who buys a game once every 6 months. To them gaming isn't an artform or even their main hobby. It's not a sensual experience or a much anticipated afternoon.

To them it's just like that boardgame in your closet you pull out during holidays.

That's casual.

After that you have your various types of gamers. Hardcore, Softcore, Internet only, Multiplayer, party gamers, fringe gamers, etc., etc., add infinte. Almost all of these types will own 2+ systems but they are all gamers. They aren't the same class, type, or level but they are all gamers. There is something in gaming that they truly appreciate.

I can get on board with this. I consider myself a gamer although my game time has dropped significantly since I started full-time work back in '07. Based on an hours per week, I probably seem like a pretty casual gamer, but my gaming library would beg to differ.

[Zerai]

Originally Posted by Sharmai

After that you have your various types of gamers. Hardcore, Softcore, Internet only, Multiplayer, party gamers, fringe gamers, etc., etc., add infinte. Almost all of these types will own 2+ systems but they are all gamers. They aren't the same class, type, or level but they are all gamers. There is something in gaming that they truly appreciate.

Less than half is definitely not almost all.

You overestimate by a lot. I have one friend who has multiple systems (all 3 in fact) but everyone else I know has 1. Including myself. I might pick up a wii, but right now my apt doesn't have room for it. But I'm certainly in no rush.

You have some people like Sean saying you aren't a gamer unless you own all 3 consoles. But frankly, it's just idiotic. Unlike some, the majority have jobs, friends, family, whatever. I definitely consider myself a gamer, and I game a good 20-40 hours a week. I already don't have enough time for all the games I want to play, let alone if I owned more consoles.

[Sean]

When the fuck have I ever said that? Shit, I didn't even own a PS3 until last Fall. And hell, I almost never early adopt either.

You probably aren't one of the crowd if you only own a Wii, but that's pretty rare here.

And Lenardo - you and the rest of the world have vastly different definitions of "tons".

[chaos]

I am beyond casual, my schedule doesn't allow a lot of free time lately, and I haven't even turned on a console in 3 weeks or so. Yet, I own all 3 consoles. What arbitrary gamer rank does that make me? Am I like a level 3 casual with 10 AA points?

[Sharmai]

I wouldn't call someone who plays a certain type or genre of games casual. Playing GTA doesn't make you casual anymore then playing Halo or playing GoW. Many of us have played them all but plenty of us haven't and I wouldn't say either situation makes a person casual.

To use an analogy if a person swims in their backyard lake 4 times a week with their kids playing polo I'd call them casual swimmers at best. But if another man swims 20 laps a day 3 times a week at the local Olympic size college swimming pool I wouldn't call them casual. I wouldn't call him an Olympic swimmer either but you can definitely tell that the act of swimming brings something important to him and feels a certain need within him.

It's the same for gaming. It really just comes down to what are the different categories of gamers after gaming becomes something important to you.

[wild_whiskey]

You completely missed the point. Casuals are people who ONLY buy those big name games and pretty much forget about their systems for the rest of the year after they've had their fill. This is who was considered casual until the Wii came out and all of the sudden we have a completely different definitoin.

The interesting thing is that Nintendo brought in an entirely new market of people who were never interested in video games (or haven't been for a long time) and now all of the sudden have a burning desire to buy a Wii and a DS but rarely buy software (or play) either of them. Those are the people I consider non-gamers.

[Sharmai]

That's a pretty bad definition of casuals then. There are plenty of people who don't buy ONLY the big name games yet rarely play and don't appreciate gaming. And what's wrong with someone buying ONLY the popular titles? Because someone likes GoW, Halo, Creed, SSB, and Mass Effect they are casual? Bull, that makes no sense. Someone could buy a Wii and play SSB 6 days a week and not be casual and someone else could buy a 360 and whatever title you *THINK* makes you not casual and still be casual.


Buying or playing certain titles has nothing to do with what makes someone casual.