logo
spacer
The Forums are currently disabled.
Comic for: April 17th, 2007
first comic previous comic archives next comic last comic random comic

Gaming News: "Because it's Not"
Posted: Tuesday April 17th, 2007 by

One of my new favorite gaming news sites, Destructoid, posted a brief piece of commentary on the Wii's continued success despite not having any "killer software". The console has sold over 6.5 million units worlwide since it hit shelves in November, and, unless I miss my guess, would have sold more if they were readily available.
Source: Destructoid [ more info ]

There's so much to talk about regarding this strip, but my brain isn't properly delivering the words to address them all. Probably because each point is completely arguable.

It may not be ironic that the PS3 is sitting on shelves while the Wii continues to sell. It is ironic that Sony said the system would sell without software but there they sit. At the same time though, the console did sell as fast as Sony could produce them in the beginning when there weren't really any games for it. So, it's not really ironic afterall. Or is it?

The Wii is selling without "killer software". But what exactly marks a game as "killer software"? We know it's mass market appeal that actually manages to sell the console (like Brain Age for the DS). But, people's tastes in games are so subjective, is it really fair to say that not one of the 200+ games for the Wii are "killer". I would wager that large portions of the Wii gamers would disagree. But, I can't really comment on it from personal experience because I'm still unable to get my hands on one. They're sold out everywhere I go, so something must be killer about the games. Or is it the Wii itself? Sure the novelty of the new remote isn't enough to move 6.5 Million consoles.

And, I 'm not about to argue the success of the PS3 itself. It's obviously a hardcore system. And even with the high pricetag, Sony has sold over 3 million of them. Yet, I can't help but see a certain lack of "killer software" for the PS3 as well. A lot of people would disagree with me, but I believe there is a huge casual gamer movement happening and high end graphics, badass processing power, etc. aren't going to be what draws these people in. It's going to be fun gameplay. Fun gameplay is not excusive to the Wii though, any of the consoles could support games that are just pure damn fun. Developers do not seem to want to look past the capabilities of the PS3 to see that however.

For my money, bring on the casual, game play oriented, love fest.

[ discuss ]
[ top ]
spacer
GU Commissions
- advertise on gu -