I don't think 130K first day is too bad for SMG, all things considered. It should manage 250-300K for its first week (equal or more over the weekend, unlike the hardcore front loaded sales for DQS) and it is the run up to the holiday buying season so a million plus by new year is possible.
However, the fact continues, traditional gaming in Japan is declining, and generally speaking only the biggest franchises are pulling decent numbers. SMG, on the hot new system, has the Herculean task of reinvigorating old gaming, and lets face it, if Nintendo can't do it no other developer stands a chance. We'll have to see how this plays out, because it could be the case SMG ends up topping 2 million by the end of the generation with the legs Nintendo titles often have, but this depends on how any-gamer friendly the title is and how it appeals to the broader Wii Sports audience. Also, SMG has to show people 3D Mario games can be as fun as the 2D ones, which is going to take time (if the game can achieve this).
As for 360/PS3, they are fighting for a different market from Wii, however this market is a declining niche with big budget tastes, which isn't exactly helpful.
Mithos Yggdrasill said:
I think it is more an audience problem. DS is BOTH hardcore and casual. The handheld managed to sell to BOTH widely and this explain why games like New Super Mario Bros. or Mario Kart DS sold very well and why games like Nintendogs or Brain Training or Animal Crossing also sold incedibly well.
Wii is too casual. That's the point. And probably many people have bought it and now they simply forgot the console: so they're the genre of people who are not waiting any new games. Simply they bougha Wii for Wii Sports and stop. Some time has passed, and the Wii is not a surprise anymore. It is like a Chirstmas's gift: who're happy with it only for some weeks and the you forget about its existance.
So, is the Wii is trouble ? No. But these are signals that Nintendo cannot ignore and that could make the system a not-so-complete success as the DS has been worldwide.
And I would say that this is more a Japan problem, for now. Nintendo needs to attract hardcore's games too and I'm sure that they know it, because Monster Hunter 3 goes in this direction.
You're right, but also, hardcore gaming is going to really struggle if it continues down the more complicated, more involving, more cinematic path that so many Japanese developers are banking on. Things need to change, even for the hardcore, because it isn't just the casuals who want something new, it's more people than not, including a good amount of the hardcore, imo.
The problem with GAF is it relates a totally unrealistic picture of what is happening in the market, and I think far more hardcore gamers have a similar opinion to me than the posts here suggest. I think many hardcore gamers want the Nintendo mantra of new ways to play old games and new games to play, in all kinds of games from all developers.
Fatigue is really starting to set in and the longer developers continue down the old path the harder it's going to be to convince people there is fun to be had in these games if done in new and interesting ways. The big advantage of DS was the desirability of a new portable system and speed of development, so before people called it quits on old gaming, games came out which changed their mind, this is something Wii doesn't have and something which is crippling PS3 and 360. Also, Japanese developers didn't expect PS3 to track behind GC so didn't have the resources working on Wii titles.
Wii has fallen behind in its momentum in a similar, but bigger, way to DS before Nintendogs, but since Wii Sports was the Wii equivalent of Nintendogs, it's as if there was a 6-12 month gap between Nintendogs and Brain Training. Wii needs to build up momentum again and I think there's the line-up to do it with SMG, Wii Fit, SSBB, Wii Music and Mario Kart, but ultimately time will tell.
How was it for SMS?
