MS: Wii third-party sales "not pretty"

By Robert Purchese Published 11 August, 2008

Says 360 is the real champion.

Microsoft has hit back at claims made by Nintendo that Wii sells the most third-party games, arguing that its own figures crown Xbox 360 the real winner.

Since launch, NPD sales figures show Xbox 360 has sold 67,929,999 third party games, which is miles ahead of Wii with 33,394,311 units sold, and the PlayStation 3 at 19,976,325 units sold.

Even third-party sales since the launch of all three consoles puts the Xbox 360 way in front with 54,065,728 units sold - double the Wii figure of 33,394,311 units sold.

Using clever maths to divide the totals by the number of games released since November 2006, shows Xbox 360 selling an average of 217,252 games per title, the PS3 with 156,065 games per title, and the Wii with 132,517 games per title.

"No matter how you slice it, the Wii third party game story is not a pretty one," David Dennis, Microsoft numbers person, told GamesIndustry.biz, having sliced it several ways.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (47) Latest comment 4 years ago

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  • Dizzy #1 4 years ago

    Maybe.. but the Wii software is certainly doing better and they cost less to make. So I guess a lot of devs are reasonably happy.

  • Darren #2 4 years ago

    Well IMO the Xbox 360 has the better quality third-party games, a lot of the Wii's tend to be rather poor in my experience. As for who sells the most, I don't really care to be honest, quality matters to me more than quantity... ;)

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #3 4 years ago

    You can spin figures anyway you like. Im not saying microsoft are wrong here but sureley it also depends on how many 3rd party products are on your system as well, you will obviously sell more if more different ones exist.

  • penhalion #4 4 years ago

    So very sadly true. All the top titles are direct from Nintendo. This is how the cube died and it looks like Nintendo have learned nothing from the experience.

  • ThePissartist #5 4 years ago

    Each of the three 'players' this generation all claim that they're winning.

    Nintendo: we sell the most hardware
    Microsoft: we sell the most software
    Sony: we'll eventually sell the most of both becuase we have a history of it

    My prediction; they'll all do pretty well and all make a another machine that'll be much the same...

  • Darren #6 4 years ago

    @ThePissartist - LOL@ your Sony comment... that's just SOOOOOOOOOOO true! LOL

  • mcbi4kh2 #7 4 years ago

    NPD is USA sales?

    Couldnt a Nintendo exec counter with the exact same arguments using Japanes sales data?

  • Hamflank #8 4 years ago

    Darren aka Captain Obvious.

  • ps3owner #9 4 years ago

    here we go again

    mine is bigger than yours!

  • darc #10 4 years ago

    An interesting figure that's harder to measure (but easy to guess): how many hours of playtime do those 3rd party Wii titles see, vs. the XBox and PS titles. 3rd party Wii software sales, for the most part, are evidence that fools and their money are soon parted.

  • CallousB #11 4 years ago

    Poor reporting from Gameindustry.biz. Nintendo never claimed they had sold more in total. They were comparing launch periods.

    Nintendo claimed that more 3rd party was sold on Wii in its first 19 months on the market..than was sold on 360 in its first 19 months on the market....which was true.

  • IronCladChicken #12 4 years ago

    According to GameDaily (via theinq) 'Third-Party Games Not Selling on Wii is a False Assumption'

    Third-Party Games Not Selling on Wii is a False Assumption

  • gingerlink #13 4 years ago

    Nintendo's figures at e3 were going off how much 3rd party software they've sold at each point after release, not what everything's selling in the same timeframe. It's kind of different really...

    Still disapointed in 3rd party wii developers for the most part though...

  • secombe #14 4 years ago

    How many decent Wii third party games are there though? I'm still amazed nobody has built on the success of Wii Sports and produced a quality full tennis game (or cricket, or baseball), the same can be said for most things really, the ideas are surely there, just nobody seems to be executing them (or even trying)

    Looking through my collection, only PES 2008 stands out and is the only genuinely innovative and quality game I can think of that hasn't come from Nintendo which may appeal to the masses (although I was under the impression it has sold well). I do own Ghost Squad and House of the Dead - which I love - but I realise they are fairly niche products these days.

    In conclusion, I would quite happily boost those 3rd party numbers is the products were there!
    Edited by 1 at 11/08/08 @ 17:06

  • macmurphy #15 4 years ago

    I just turned round and looked at my games collection - Galaxy, Zelda, Excitetruck, Wii sports, Mariokart, Smash Bros, Wii Play, Crossbow Training. The only non first part games I have are Umbrella Chronicles and Ghost Squad, I liked the latter but thought Chronicles was fairly toss. It's very true that the third party efforts are really poor - the only other third party games I would buy are No More Heroes, Boom Blox, Zack and Wiki and Okami (had Resi 4 on cube and played it to death).

    No idea why the Wii is still so slow at producing quality third party titles - the DS had a dry first year but now people have really taken to it, I'm tired of seeing toss shovelware on Wii as we approach its third Christmas. Anyone got any idea why? Surely as the best selling console it should be a goldmine for developers. I remember Nintendo were cocks to develop for on the SNES, are they doing it again?

    EDIT: While I'm whining I should also say that even if only Nintendo developed for the Wii, the quality of first party stuff would still make me a proud owner. They just have a heavy front end load on first party titles, and now Mario, Zelda, Smash Bros and Mariokart are gone I'm worried there's not much to look forward to.
    Edited by 2 at 11/08/08 @ 17:11

  • malloc #16 4 years ago

    Oh dear sounds pretty desperate.

    "We're selling the most 3rd party games, therefore we're technically winning this generation." Puh-lease.

    I'd like to see how much money 3rd parties are making off each console before we start playing the game sales game.

  • Vermillion3000 #17 4 years ago

    >>>54,065,728 units sold - double the Wii figure of 33,394,311 units sold.


    *counts on fingers*


    *panics*
    Edited by 1 at 11/08/08 @ 17:45

  • Zander #18 4 years ago

    "3rd party Wii software sales, for the most part, are evidence that fools and their money are soon parted."

    Well said!

    Anyway why aren't more people on here bitching about the wii? I only ever (usually) see xbox and ps3 bashing?

    I have a wii and have one third party game (zak&wiki). I think it is getting that bad that I am starting to assume that a 3rd party game will be bad.

    "They just have a heavy front end load on first party titles, and now Mario, Zelda, Smash Bros and Mariokart"

    As long as you ONLY want to play mario or zelda games. Damm Nintendo get some other ideas! I am only moaning because everyone thinks Nintendo are always so innovative and forget they rely so heavily on Mario!
    Edited by 2 at 11/08/08 @ 17:55

  • snowdog #19 4 years ago

    Have copied and pasted this from another forum, couldn't be arsed to type it all in again lol:

    Unfortunately we don't have the equivalent of NPD or Enterbrain/Media Create over here so we have to rely on the likes of vgchartz for worldwide figures, which although isn't entirely accurate (due to the lack of decent sales info from Europe) isn't that far out imo. If you feel it's not accurate enough then please feel free to include figures from a more reliable source.

    As far as software unit sales goes the 360 will be ahead due to its year head start - 42 games have sold over 1m, 9 of which are first party, the Wii is in second place (and remember up until recently has seen less effort from third parties) - 27 games over 1m, 15 of which are first party and bringing up the rear (oooh-err missus lol) we have the PS3 with 15, 6 of those are first party.

    This time next year expect the Wii to catch up with the 360 and the PS3 to fall further behind unless Sony bring down the price of their hardware down again. The project development lifecycle of games on average from start to finish is around 2-3 years. These third party games for the PS3 were started years ago when the world and his wife (including me!) were expecting the PS3 to be a resounding success and the Wii to be another Gamecube.

    Now that the PS3 is failing in Japan and (to a lesser extent) the States third party support will start to dwindle. We already saw an indication of it when Capcom canned their exclusive PS3 SKU of Monster Hunter Freedom and switched resources to a Wii SKU.

    Also thought I'd add this:

    Anyone else find it strange that the Nintendo-Sony consoles for this generation have swapped places with the way things were last generation. The similarities are uncanny:

    Gamecube - technically superior, poor hardware unit sales, lack of comparitively successful third party titles, dwindling interest from third parties, non-standard (and more expensive to develop with) media

    PS2 - technically inferior, the best hardware unit sales, strong third party support, more successful third party titles, shedloads of shovelware, the top quality titles have strong reviews, strong interest from third parties, bog-standard media

    PS3 - technically superior, poor hardware unit sales, lack of comparitively successful third party titles, dwindling interest from third parties, non-standard (and more expensive to develop with) media

    Wii - technically inferior, the best hardware unit sales, strong third party support, more successful third party titles, shedloads of shovelware, the top quality titles have strong reviews, strong interest from third parties, bog-standard media
    Edited by 1 at 11/08/08 @ 18:08

  • smelly #20 4 years ago

    *sigh*

  • smelly #21 4 years ago

    @snowdog:

    Where does the 360 fit in there.. what unreliable piece of toss which breaks down too much and has a shitty repair process did it swap with?

  • smelly #22 4 years ago

    I *LOVE* how they skew facts though.. Remember the 360 has been out almost double as long as the wii/ps3... So of course it's gonna have more 3rd party sells over it's lifetime.

    Game publishers are going to be MORE concerned about how many 3rd party games are selling on each platform NOW (and in the foreseable future) however...

  • Nikanoru #23 4 years ago

    Anyway why aren't more people on here bitching about the wii?



    AHAHAHAAAAHAHAA!! HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!!!

    oh god please don't do that again

  • smelly #24 4 years ago

    "
    As long as you ONLY want to play mario or zelda games. Damm Nintendo get some other ideas! I am only moaning because everyone thinks Nintendo are always so innovative and forget they rely so heavily on Mario!"


    Wasnt everyone complaining back at E3 that nintendo DIDNT announce a new mario or zelda?

    Sheesh!

  • Fozzie_bear #25 4 years ago

    Nintendo need to release some software that appeals to its core demographic. Use the wiimote to offer sweets to children, that sort of thing.

  • captainrentboy #26 4 years ago

    Smelly suuure does get angry whenever the Wii's brought up in a negative light, doesn't he?
    Of course the Wii's third party sales are shite, it has like 18 million titles already, with 98% of those being a carbon copy of something that's already on the system. Sadly, the genuinely decent Wii titles have to fight off all of the other utter toss, games that look like they've been thrown together in an afternoon, for shelf space.

  • Les #27 4 years ago

    "puts the Xbox 360 way in front with 54,065,728 units sold - double the Wii figure of 33,394,311 units sold."

    Someone needs to go back to maths class...

    But as the MS asshole loves slicing, let's look at the numbers in a different way: MS sold around 14m pieces of 3rd party software in its first year and almost 4 times that number in the next 1.5 year. If Wii shows similar growth (33m in the first 18 months), by now it should be easily outselling 3rd party software for MS's cash dispenser. But with such a bleak future it's no wonder MS loves to look back...
    Edited by 1 at 11/08/08 @ 19:45

  • Teamallstar #28 4 years ago

    who cares.

  • CaoSlayer #29 4 years ago

    Maybe wii`s third party developers should stop releasing shit.

  • yagisencho #30 4 years ago

    I've bought *two* 3rd party title for the Wii: Streets of Rage 2 and Super Turrican. And I'd have bought the 360 version of SoR2 if I'd known it was going to be released on both systems.

    Okami and Boom Blox are both on my 'buy when discounted' list though.

    I think that's part of the problem, really. I don't want to pay full price for puzzler/casual games or ports that are already discounted on the original platform. And the rest of the 3rd party titles are mediocre at best.

  • snowdog #31 4 years ago

    Whether they're considered 'mediocre' or not there's currently 12 third party titles on the Wii that have sold over 1m. Money talks, and this last year or two publishers are starting to listen, and we'll see the fruits of that during this next year or two.

  • Negotiator #32 4 years ago

    Look guys the facts are there and they leaning very much in MS favour, why most of you are trying to make excuses for Nintendo beggers belief. Games third and first party sell more on xbox 360, this is a fact and it seems like its a painful one for you Nintendo fans.

  • floppylobster #33 4 years ago

    Capcom, Namco and Sega are all doing okay. NEWSFLASH! It seems if you're a good developer you do well.

    (Microsoft? Didn't they make minesweeper for windows?)
    I don't think Microsoft's first party software is really taking any sales away on the Xbox 360, so those figures are sliced in their favour. Slice Nintendo out of those sales percentages and it'll start to look a little prettier for you David.

  • Zomoniac #34 4 years ago

    @ smelly:

    Read the article again you blind, illiterate, retarded twat.

    The MS figure of 68m can be discarded, it is skewed because it has been out longer. The figures of 360: 54m and Wii: 33m are since the launch of Wii, and thus can be directly compared. That is why there were two numbers for 360. To avoid confusing the fuckwits. Clearly Eurogamer overestimate the level of spazness that makes up some of their readership.

  • Kami #35 4 years ago

    "Look guys the facts are there and they leaning very much in MS favour, why most of you are trying to make excuses for Nintendo beggers belief."

    They're not, they're pointing out the facts. The Wii has done really well for itself in a shorter period of time, and the install base is now larger than their rivals so third-parties, who were a year or so ago hedging their bets to see if the Wii had more lasting appeal. The fact there is already worry that Wii supplies will be short for another freaking Christmas has kind of finally set of alarm bells the Wii is here to stay. As such, see titles coming through now - there's some quality in the pipeline, from the beautiful and already well-loved Project Zero to the uber-violent orgy of blood and death that is MadWorld and the already tempting but long-named Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will sell on the name alone, and Deadly Creatures should be an extremely interesting prospect too. And a Dead Rising game which has pissed off Microsoft and X-Box fanboys in a way I never thought possible! That's before we even get to Wiiware.

    As for what the Wii has now, it's had multiple huge sellers too from third parties, Resident Evil 4 for example sold an exorbitant amount on the Wii (and quite bloody rightly too whatever EG say!) and the Rabbids home is widely considered to be the Wii. Not to mention Mario and Sonic at the Olympics, Sonic and the Secret Rings, Red Steel and Guitar Hero.

    It may seem like running to the defence of Nintendo but they don't need us little people doing that. They're swimming in money, have the most amazing third-party lineup in the next 12 months for me of any console, and developers are falling over themselves to get something out on the Wii. Yes, we've had to endure a lot of shitty shovelware, theres still plenty of it on other consoles (but that costs far more to make so you see less of it).

    But look at it this way. In the past, Nintendo have been notoriously picky about what they grant a licence to. They've opened up and liberalised, yeah arguably some more quality control wouldn't hurt but it's a huge gigantic massive leap for Nintendo in the right direction. And see list I made a few paragraphs ago to see that this year, the Wii lineup is as strong as the PS3 and 360.

    "Games third and first party sell more on xbox 360, this is a fact and it seems like its a painful one for you Nintendo fans."

    Actually, the only fanboy here seems to be you. It's just PR bullshit that hopes people will ignore the simple mathematics that currently the Wii is spanking everyones ass, and unlike Sony who seem to be resigned that the Wii is going to be here to stay, MS are still doing the childish fingers-in-ears-a-la-can't-hear-you stunt. It's getting as bad as the Sony shit in the runup to the PS3, and that Microsoft are unable to learn from the hugely negative fedback Sony got from that is a very bad sign in my opinion. Sometimes, it's really good PR to just say nothing.

    Lastly, Jon Stewart was playing Wii Sports with Jamia Simone Nash during the Oscars breaks. And if its good enough for Jon Stewart, who the hell are you, me or anyone else to argue?!

    edit; and yes, sorry for the long post but it needs to be said. The Wii is kicking major ass out there in the market. Wasn't long ago I was thinking of selling my Wii, because with Brawl I'd kind of thought that was it. All the good stuff has been and gone. But one look at MadWorld and I decided to keep it - it's far from over for the Wii... if anything, with some of what I've seen and read, it's only the beginning.
    Edited by 2 at 11/08/08 @ 23:30

  • Stuz359 #36 4 years ago

    Plus the thing that the 'hardcore' gamers don't really get is that the Wii has opened up so many different markets. My nephew is 4 years old and we can quite happily play stuff like Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. If it was on Gamecube or equivalent, he would not be able to join in. Not only that, my grandmother can join in. Why? Because the controls are intuitive and barely need explaining. I agree with Peter Molyneax. Give someone a 360 or PS3 pad thye look at you as if you have just handed them a bomb. I may be paraphrasing there but you get what I mean.
    For me, those controllers are second nature, but for a lot of people, young and old alike, they are confusing and complicated.
    Now that the Wii has established itself as the market leader I hope more complex games will come to it because it is clearly capable. Final Fantasy, KOTOR, FORZA, Project Gotham, Gran turismo, Devil May Cry, Halo were all capable on the last gen and obviously the Wii is more than capable of delivering those types of games. So I do hope more of those are released, but I have to say I love the more accessible games because I can enjoy them with my family.

  • smelly #37 4 years ago

    "Smelly suuure does get angry whenever the Wii's brought up in a negative light, doesn't he? "


    Where was i getting angry? More pointing out that numbers can be skewed to fit anything.

    Sony will come along next and tell us the ps3 3rd party sells are GREAT when using another way of looking at said data.

  • smelly #38 4 years ago

    @Zomoniac: "The figures of 360: 54m and Wii: 33m are since the launch of Wii, and thus can be directly compare"

    As you called me a twat.. i'll return the favour.. you're a dim fucking twat who'd believe anything arent you?


    No they cant.

    The 360 had a year of being established by that point. I.e. it had about 10 million users at the point the wii launched.

    Subsequently you CANT compare 360 sales figure and wii sales figures SINCE the wii's launch as that doesnt make sense. The wii had 0 users at launch, the 360 had 10 million (give or take). Subsequently The numbers are bullshit - as they will be WHICHEVER company makes them

    For example .. Nintendo's way ALMOST made sense (look at the first X months of the wii and compare it with the first X months of the 360)... But it still isnt very accurate/fair.

    But the only sales figures that matter to publishers will be - if i released a GOOD 3rd party game for 360 NOW and a GOOD 3rd party for nintendo NOW - which would sell the most.. My guess is that the wii would sell the most, as there's bugger all else worth playing at the moment..

    But you're a dullard twat so you probably couldnt figure this out for yourself...

  • Xerx3s #39 4 years ago

    "My nephew is 4 years old and we can quite happily play stuff like Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games."

    And? I quite happily play with my 4yo nephew and niece on just about any system. They seemingly have no problems whatsoever (currently have a MD and a 360 standing and he is playing another world - though not quite there yet). Plus, they'd much rather play something like Doom 1 than some casual kidsgame.

    These kind of anecdotal evidence things are useless in conversation.

  • Moonprince #40 4 years ago

    4yo nephew / Doom 1

    Good job, good job...

  • IronCladChicken #41 4 years ago

    Again according to GameDaily Wii third-party games did indeed outsell the competition

    They conclude;
    'No matter how you slice it though, considering that the Xbox 360 had a year's head start on the other platforms, the Wii's third-party sales are quite good.'
    Edited by 1 at 12/08/08 @ 12:34

  • Ryze #42 4 years ago

    /baits smelly

    Wii3rdpartylol

    /plans import Wii purchase

  • smelly #43 4 years ago

    baiting wont work - as i said - im only replying to them ALL fixing the numbers.. i couldnt care less which one sells more/less.

  • David_Snakes #44 4 years ago

    Reading the sheer number of "AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!"s in the comments is, frankly, disturbing. No, you're not laughing at a fucking press release. You're exaggerating to prove some pissing contest-esque point.
    Edited by 1 at 13/08/08 @ 06:15

  • robson_wii #45 4 years ago

    Just to add my 2p worth I think there's several reasons that 3rd party support is not there on the Wii:
    1st party games are usually a higher standard than 3rd party (not always the case) and there's no point competing with the 1st party. MS and Sony don't have that issue.
    If too many good games come out at the same time then they all share the same pie so no-one sells as much as they really want so it's better to drip feed (I do believe 3rd party isn't that great at the moment but is showing promise).
    We have 3 competing platforms (2 very similar and 1 very different) Games manufacturers must decide where to put the time and effort. If it takes time to create waggle controls that really work on their game then you'll have to wait longer for that game.
    It's summer (you wouldn't notice it here as it's really grey) so sales tend to dip anyway so wait until sales pick up before releasing your bigger titles: 3rd party line up for X-mas is looking strong and lots of promising titles coming out.

  • rgame1 #46 4 years ago

    PR crap as usual from corporate ass holes.

  • Nikanoru #47 4 years ago

    Reading the sheer number of "AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!"s in the comments is, frankly, disturbing. No, you're not laughing at a fucking press release. You're exaggerating to prove some pissing contest-esque point.


    Since I'm the only one who did that in this thread, I feel compelled to reply: Laughing at a press release? What the fuck are you talking about?