Wii is most popular console in the UK News

Well... duh!

The Wii and DS outselling everyone, shocker. :P

Impressive and tragic at the same time.

I've owned a Wii since it launched and own a handful of games. It is the least played console of the three.

What is the population of the UK?

Thats an awful lot of households with a wii!

The Wii and DS sales are not actually that impressive. Consider this: they are consoles targeted at kids...

That pretty much proves that the entire European lead the 360 has over the PS3, is entirely because the 360 in the UK is so far ahead of the PS3.

Continental europe is still very much Sonyland, despite what MS says.

Surprise surprise, cheaper games machine sell more.

I would never have guessed.

^^
Sadly it is.

The 360 fan blows the dust off mine :P

Every time I look at it I think "I wonder how many 360 games I could get if I trade it in"

That pretty much proves that the entire European lead the 360 has over the PS3, is entirely because the 360 in the UK is so far ahead of the PS3.

Continental europe is still very much Sonyland, despite what MS says.

Actually that's not true. According to GfK Chart Track the 360 is leading in Spain, France, Italy, the UK and even Germany (although the lead in Germany is negligible).

OH MY GOD!

/dies of shock

DS is a monster... and Europe is Nintendoland.

Der_tolle_Emil:

If the lead is 1 million accross Europe, and the gap between the 360 and the PS3 in the UK is over 1.8 million, there's something wrong with your figures somewhere.

Theyve been bought for girlfriends and wives i guarantee it!! I bought my gf (stealth i have a gf post) a Wii in sept and a DS for chrimbo....keeps her quiet when im shooting the face of zombies.....

I actually own more Wii games then XBox360 games

I should have said earlier that I love the Wii - its a great machine for games. If you enjoy playing games, then you will find the Wii has a nice collection of pretty good ones. Sadly though, the list of must have titles for this year is a little sparse. But there is still the virtual console and WiiWare to enjoy.

All that being said, I am spending more and more time on the PS3 these days. The couple of months leading to christmas 2008 were great for cheap PS3 games and I have a stack of them to play through now :)

Surprise surprise, cheaper games machine sell more.

Given the Wii is substantially more expensive than the 360 that doesn't really hold up.

A slight typo in that article.Wii sold 2.9 million in 2008 (not 2 million).

Lifetime Total (UK)
PS3 - 1.9m
360 - 3.2m
PSP - 3.2m
Wii - 4.9m
DS - 8.8m

2008 Total (UK)
PSP - 0.6m
PS3 - 1.0m
360 - 1.4m
Wii - 2.9m
DS - 3.4m

i think i recall someone somewhere saying that if the wii is everyone's second machine then it will be the market leader, would be interesting to see the numbers on how many households have a wii only compared to the other 2 machines

@ paulf - That would be an interesting statistic, yes.

It annoys me greatly that the Wii is doing so well. I have 4 games for mine including Wii Sports which you get with the machine (i have 20+ for both the PS3 and 360, not all gems but they interested me enough to buy them) and i haven't turned it on in six months and the last time i did turn it on was to install the homebrew channel which i played with for about ten minutes and then gave up on because it didn't offer anything my PC didn't already do better.

It's just not a gamers machine. There are far too few quality titles and the rest is just horrible cheap shovelware that most people who know about games and consider themselves gamers would ever dream of buying. The problem is that it's going to change the way that Sony and MS approach the development of their next generation of consoles and it may well kill off gaming as we know it. It'll be wall-to-wall ten minute pick-up-and-play stuff or shiny versions of flash games.

*sigh*

I've said it before, I'll say it again now, and I'll doubtless say it again in the future.

The Wii's games catalogue is so piss poor that many people, for whom this is their first gaming experience, will never buy a console again.

A lot of people find that catalogue more appealing and accessable than what the 360/PS3 can offer, regardless of people like us sitting about bleating about "casuals" and stuff.

"It's just not a gamers machine."

And "gamers" are a tiny portion of the overall retail market, as repeatedly proven by the high sales numbers of other "non gamer" games.

Get over it people, you're not as financially important as you wish you were.

Seven steps to playing the wii

1. Find a game that looked ok!
2. Buy it
3. Put game in console
4. Play game for 5 minutes
5. Bored - Switch off wii
6. Put game back in box
7. Sell game on ebay

And so it goes on...

Got so sick of the crap that nintendo bring out finally sold the wii! Hurray!

lots of people watch Big Brother or buy The Sun..it doesnt make them any good though

Wii 2 will come third next time round.

Is the PSP actually dead? Are there any decent games coming out within the next year? Some game shops I've been in don't even bother to stock PSP games anymore, and the majority of other game shops have a very small section just tucked into the corner.

If anyone has seen HMV in the MetroCentre though, you'll see how popular the Wii and DS is. Loads of shelf space for the Wii, it's incredible. Whilst the other consoles, and PC, are quietly tucked away.

I like all the consoles, I'm glad to see gaming in general is doing so well. I know it's lead to more games aimed at this new market, but I can live with it as long as indie developers still exist.

I'm surprised that PS3 numbers are as hig to be honest, I can count the number of people I know that have PS3s on the number of Wolverine style claws I have (none, I'm not Wolverine). All the people I know went for 360s.

Nintendo got it right, they saw that there was a market for jump in games, games for people who don't want to get to grips with VATS and levelling up, button and taking cover tutorials etc...

Yes, very few games out for the PSP, I mean there are some Sony and Square offerings to come this year that look wonderful... I do reckon piracy has been a killer, especially once the unlocking battery came into knowledge. I actually welcome the PSP revisions if it starts steering people in the direction of buying PSP games (even if it is online). The install base is the same as the 360, so technically there is a market.

Wii is a reasonable fine console especially if you only got SD TV, even though X360 and PS3 can do better visuals via SD but its only when you have HDTV that the gap get so enlarged. I ve been very spoiled by used to playing HD games on both X360 and PS3 that getting back to bog standard SD gaming with lower processing is very apparently inferior.

Call me a graphic whore, but why the heck so DID generations of the gamers in mass dropping the Spectrum 48k/C64 to move to Amiga/AtariST? Then others uprgraded to SNES/Megadrive from inferior but playable NES and Master System?

Because it is progress!

Calling me or other gamers graphic whore! Is to call everyone else the SAME! Nintendo made a brilliant and clever decision to only focus on controller and that worked to a large degree. I only dust off Wii for certain games like World of Goo but even Brawl or No More Heroes wasnt enough to divert me away from HD consoles.

I would be suprised if Wii can continue to dominate (games wise not just hardware) for the next numbers of years past the point when HD media becomes more mainstream.

If the games can't appeal to the rather hefty market that the Wii has then they still won't move to HD (unless that Wii HD hits), regardless of graphical grunt. I sat down and demo'd Gears 2 to a bunch of people which pretty much ended up resulting in a half hour bore fest for them. No doubt the likes of Killzone 2 and Fallout 3 would stir the same kind of reaction. We can wave 9 and 10/10 scores at them but if they find it all boring then whats the point? One size does not fit all.

Yeah but that doesn't mean gamers have to be ok about the destruction of the hardcore gaming market.

If Sony and MS go the way of Nintendo with their next machines then i reckon i'll become a PC guy exclusively, which, as much as i love PC gaming, it's expensive and fiddly at the best of times.

Either that or i'll turn into one of those retro saddos that i despise ;P

"It's just not a gamers machine. There are far too few quality titles and the rest is just horrible cheap shovelware that most people who know about games and consider themselves gamers would ever dream of buying. The problem is that it's going to change the way that Sony and MS approach the development of their next generation of consoles and it may well kill off gaming as we know it. It'll be wall-to-wall ten minute pick-up-and-play stuff or shiny versions of flash games. "

Oh come on, is this BS still being peddled by people with no vision or, seemingly, understanding of the marketplace? Wii may not have the huge catalogue of games that its competition does but it has ENOUGH titles that people will want to pick up and play. It IS a games machine that offers something for everyone, from the first time gamer to the so-called 'hardcore'. That's a very neat trick indeed. Just because it doesn't focus on what YOU want doesn't make it a crap, sorry. Yes, it has a lot of poor quality games but did you SEE the pile o' crap that was the PS2 catalogue?

As for it killing gaming - that's just paranoid fantasy. There will always be a market for the hardcore gamer, both Sony and Microsoft know this and any changes they make to their existing or future platform will be to try and attract the casual gamer while retaining the 'hardcore'. They'd be idiots to do anything else really, why throw away a userbase of tens of millions to go compete in a marketplace where you've been struggling instead of trying to merge the tow.

I really wish people would grow up and realise that the gaming market NEEDS to change, needs to bring in additional revenue streams and needs to support development of titles that don't cost tens of millions to build and market. Otherwise it's going to vanish up its own arse when production costs get so high studios simply can't afford to build titles that sell less than several million copies.

@The_vorlon_man: I'm just quoting numbers, it's not something I made up. It's probably a mix of install base and which console sold more which causes the discrepancy.

I would anticipate that there will be markets for all types of gamers, which is what the industry needed really. I doubt 'our' kind of games would suddenly be phased out, they're still selling rather well.

the wii sucks big time, kiddy console, dunno how it keeps whupping the 360 and ps3's a$$!!!

down with the wack wii

since you sound like you're about 8, you must have one then

'It IS a games machine that offers something for everyone, from the first time gamer to the so-called 'hardcore'.'

Fair enough. I agree it's a fantastic console for the first-time gamer.

List the 'hardcore' games i can get on the Wii that i can't get on the PS3/360 :D

I love Wii threads, for a short time both PS3 and 360 fanboys come together to take down a commen enemy.

As a gamer I must echo waht others say, my Wii is a 'second' console as such and only gets use for the ocasional good game, if its all I had to play games on I wouldn't be happy.

The old comeback used to be "yep but nobody buys any games for the Wii"

Obviously, statistics over the past 18 months have blown that argument out of the water as well.

"Fair enough. I agree it's a fantastic console for the first-time gamer."

And surprisingly "old skool" gamers. Or just "old gamers" if you prefer ;)

List the 'hardcore' games i can get on the Wii that i can't get on the PS3/360 :D

Define hardcore.

I really wish people would grow up and realise that the gaming market NEEDS to change, needs to bring in additional revenue streams and needs to support development of titles that don't cost tens of millions to build and market. Otherwise it's going to vanish up its own arse when production costs get so high studios simply can't afford to build titles that sell less than several million copies.

+1

And DS is the finest handheld platform ever. But it needs official homebrew support dammit!

spudsbuckley
13-Jan-09 10:48:33

It annoys me greatly that the Wii is doing so well. I have 4 games for mine including Wii Sports which you get with the machine...

...There are far too few quality titles and the rest is just horrible cheap shovelware that most people who know about games and consider themselves gamers would ever dream of buying...

Either you don't know what you're talking about or you haven't bothered looking because there are more than 4 quality games on the Wii.

List the 'hardcore' games i can get on the Wii that i can't get on the PS3/360 :D

Let's not bring up what is 'hardcore' again but instead use the term traditional quality games in which case: Super Mario Galaxy, Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, Zack and Wiki, Trauma Centre 1 and 2 to name a few.

I mostly play single player games or online (not many gamer friends, the most i can get them to play is Tiger Woods or NFL).

List these great titles then. Seriously, i'm not trolling. I'm looking for something to play on my Wii because it annoys me that it's sat there gathering dust.

I already listed a few in my previous edited post but a few more: No More Heroes, Fire Emblem, Super Paper Mario.

Plus if you decided against buying a Gamecube there are a whole host of additional games.

A couple for the future: Mad World and Dragon Quest X.

I drank my Nintendo DS. And my Xbox 360 writes a blog, and I think that might be why it doesn't sell as well as the Wii - who wants a console that nags you if you don't play it?

After all this time the same boring arguments from idiots still turn up in these threads.

The Wii might not have as many hardcore games as the 360 or PS3, but if you care at all about games then it's got loads that you should be interested. Next year is one of the most exciting for the console with MadWorld, Cold Mountain, Monster Hunter Tri, Tenchu, Another Code, No More Heroes 2, Fatal Frame IV and Muramasa Youtouden to name a few.

Don't believe the hype. Just the PS2 there's loads of crap on it, but it also has some of the best gaming experiences (and more importantly different) titles on offer - de Blob, Super Mario Galaxy, No More Heroes, PES, Zack & Wiki, Endless Ocean, Kororinpa plus much more.

The Wii also succesfully appeals to the wider demographic and I'm still don't understand why 'gamers' are so threatened by this. Just like music, movies and books there'll be popular stuff that's absolute guff but that doesn't stop interesting, unique and challenging stuff from appearing - it never has and never will.

Only idiots are fanboys, don't be one.