Wii Sells The Best... But Who's Playing With Them?
A lot has been written about how the Nintendo Wii is outselling its competition in this current generation of game consoles. Although to be fair, the Xbox 360 is putting up a better fight than many expected, even if the general consensus is that Sony is in dire straits with its PlayStation 3. But what's surprising is that while there are over 20 million Wiis in households across the US, more people are playing with their PlayStation 2s.
According to a Neilsen study which calculated the minutes each console was used, the PS2 came out on top with 31.7%. Next was the Xbox 360 with 17.2%, and the Wii in third place with 13.4%. Wait, where's the PS3? Yeah, that's in fifth place with just 7.3%. Interestingly enough, the original Xbox is apparently played more than PS3s across America, with 9.7% of the minutes. Hey, at least the PS3 beat the GameCube!
Unfortunately, this is just another list. And while everyone likes a good list, they're not always that informative. I would suspect that the PS2 beat out the Wii because it simply has a larger install base, having been around years longer. But at the same time, the number of PS2 games coming out has slowed to a trickle, so there's less to play. On the other hand, The 360 beat out the Wii, despite having a smaller install base, so that would lead me to suspect that while lots of people have bought Wiis, they've just been suckered into the fad of owning one. Because it can't be a lack of quality titles for the system that has Wiis across the country collecting dust. By this point, there's plenty of good games. Unfortunately, I think the Wii became the system to have, but after playing some Wii Sports, the average family leaves it on the shelf next to their Pet Rock. Oh, wait, did I just date myself there? I meant to say Cabbage Patch Kid!
PlayStation 2: Most Played Console of 2008 [DailyTech]
Wootini
Posted to Video Games on 5 January 2009
· Comments (5)
Other stuff like this: microsoft, neilsen ratings, nintendo, playstation 2, playstation 3, sony, wii, xbox, xbox 360
Reports on the Wii's attach rate suggest that it is doing much better than most people give it credit. If I were to put some sense to those figures, in my opinion, it boils down to the simple fact that the Wii hasn't had a decent year. Wario Land: Shake it! was the only decent game that came out after Wii Fit, and frankly most people just overlooked that absolute gem.
The fact is: the Wii had a slow year, while the 360 saw some of the best games in it's library in Left 4 Dead, Gears 2, Fable II, Dead Space, and Fallout 3.
Personally, up until this fall, my 360 was the unused one of the two as I was catching up on awesome Wii games like Smash Bros and Okami.
What the hell is a Cabbage Patch Kid?
Kidding! :P
The PS2 seems to be going through what the NES experienced during the start of the 16-bit era: it just plain refuses to die! Which I think is a good thing. But then again, I'm poor.
My guess would be that the PS2 gets more play time because, compared to newer systems, they are relatively affordable with more used games on the market. So more middle- and low-income families, who want to give their children a console to play with, among other thrifty folk are purchasing PS2s.
I don't play my wii because it's just too much of a hassle to get out and set up. plus, it's on the big tv in the living room since that's the only feasible place for it, so i have to play it at times other people aren't watching tv. the rest can just hook up to any tv laying around. You don't need any specified area for a wiimote, really. I've mostly been playing pc games for the last year or so anyway, since it's all set up and I don't bother anyone.