Nintendo is atop the home video game market. The Wii, although less technologically advanced than Microsoft's Xbox 360 or Sony's PlayStation 3, still outsell those machines and is now in more than 20 million households.
So why are retailers with so much effort to sell Wii games?
Take Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It was one of the most hotly anticipated video games of the year, he sold more than 1.4 million copies in the first week of its release, in early March, and broke records for Nintendo of America.
"We have a built-in fan base for the Smash, " said Denise Kaigler, Nintendo of America's vice president of Corporate Affairs. "I'm hoping that we can continue to generate success and the reputation of the game."
But sales fell more than 90 percent in the first four weeks, according to estimates by VG Chartz, a team of analysts who study video-game sales.
A number of large retail chains--"including Wal-Mart and Toys "R" Us -- have begun to join the Smash Bros. game with Wii machines for online sales, a sign that the basis of hard-core gamers who went looking for the game has been exhausted.
Retailers confirm the sharp decline. "We sold a few thousand copies in the first week, " said Xavier Pervez, an assistant manager at a GameStop in Fairfield, Conn. "It's down considerably now, maybe 100 in each of the last few weeks."
Toys "R" Us has its sales staff to warn customers that some Wiis can not read, the Smash Bros. disc, and refuse to exchange the game if the customer later claim is defective. Some parents who are warning that just as happy to buy another game. But Nintendo Wiis some claims are subject to interference, and Toys "R" Us sales staff said few customers are discouraged from buying or holding of the game.
"The number we got back to the return was relatively low, " a saleswoman, Christina Giori, said. "Maybe eight copies of the 500. It's something Nintendo's really trying to act on."
A number of games that get critical acclaim in recent months, particularly the cartoonish action-adventure game Zack & Wiki and the off - kilter action-adventure No More Heroes, have yielded disappointing sales.
During the first three months of the year, but three other Wii titles broke the list of the top 10 best selling games compiled by the NPD Group, a research firm: Super Mario Galaxy, Guitar Hero III and Wii Play, a sports game that comes with the purchase of a much-needed additional game controller. The Wii can not be behind the success of all those titles, though, Guitar Hero, for example, sold 2.2 million copies for the Wii, but 2.8 million copies for the Xbox 360 and almost 5 million euros for the two versions of the PlayStation.
The problem is that in marketing the Wii, Nintendo cast a wide net and caught more than the big fish. The Wii's innovative motion-sensitive controller and a lower price than the rival machines appeal to a wider audience than the traditional market of young male hard-core gamers. Younger children, women and older consumers, who traditionally have not been requested by the video game industry, have discovered video games via the Wii --simply not that many of them.
This new gamers are satisfied with the games they have frequently go no further than the Wii Sports game in the machine. They don't buy new games with the fervor of a traditional gamer who is constantly looking for new inspiration.
The average Wii owner buys only 3.7 games per year, compared with 4.7 for the Xbox 360 owners and 4.6 for the PlayStation 3 owners, said a Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Lessee. "It reflects the broadening of the demographic, " he said. "Nintendo's market doesn't feel the same sense of urgency to buy every game that's coming out."
"You don't see a lot of titles that may reach 30 and 40 percent of the installed base," Lazard Capital said one analyst, Colin Sebastian. "My in-laws in Texas have a Wii sitting on their living room floor next to the TV, which to me is kind of amazing. They have Wii Sports, a game Brain Age, Wii Play. That's about it."
Part of the problem, analysts say, is that other game makers have yet to embrace unconventional advertising methods that can reach this broader audience. Nintendo did it by promoting its memory Brain Age game on the radio.
"Advertising on GameInformer and 1up.com just isn't achieve this target, " said Mr. Lessee. "When you have a game like Zack & Wiki or Boogie, which the hard core and doesn't reach of the masses, then you're trouble."
yet increasingly, not all third-party publishers have found the Wii market difficult to crack. Multi games like Ubisoft's Rayman: Raving Rabbids, a cartoon action-adventure, have found receptive audience.
Hudson Soft has success with titles such as Sudoku, jigsaw puzzles, jigsaw puzzles and fishing games.
"The nature of the person who buys a Wii is not the same kind of person that buys a PS3 or Xbox, " said John Greiner, the chief executive of Hudson Entertainment, the North American branch of Hudson Soft. "You need to be very specific if you have a game design and target not only the gameplay mechanics for that user, but also markets for that kind of a product launch."
Hudson has also benefited from a particularly close relationship with Nintendo. Hudson developed Mario Party 8, consistently one of the Wii's top sellers, and is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Wii Virtual Console, which costs users to play classic video games.
Nintendo itself seems primarily focused on expanding this casual audience, while continuing to deliver to prosecute its most beloved franchises such as Mario Kart Wii, the latest incarnation of the popular driving simulator, which will be released next week .
Ms. Kaigler, the spokesman for Nintendo, says the company hopes Mario Kart will serve as a "bridge title" between core gamers and casual fans, with the help of a steering device in which a Wii controller can adapt.
Wii Fit, an exercise game due next month, is expected to more marketing dollars than any game in Nintendo's history, Mr Lessee said --and the money is not is spent wooing young men. "Wii Fit is not just aimed at hard-core gamers," said Mr. Lessee. "It's certainly focused on the Oprah crowd. I bet they sell one million units per week for every pound Oprah says that she lost on it."
So why are retailers with so much effort to sell Wii games?
Take Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It was one of the most hotly anticipated video games of the year, he sold more than 1.4 million copies in the first week of its release, in early March, and broke records for Nintendo of America.
"We have a built-in fan base for the Smash, " said Denise Kaigler, Nintendo of America's vice president of Corporate Affairs. "I'm hoping that we can continue to generate success and the reputation of the game."
But sales fell more than 90 percent in the first four weeks, according to estimates by VG Chartz, a team of analysts who study video-game sales.
A number of large retail chains--"including Wal-Mart and Toys "R" Us -- have begun to join the Smash Bros. game with Wii machines for online sales, a sign that the basis of hard-core gamers who went looking for the game has been exhausted.
Retailers confirm the sharp decline. "We sold a few thousand copies in the first week, " said Xavier Pervez, an assistant manager at a GameStop in Fairfield, Conn. "It's down considerably now, maybe 100 in each of the last few weeks."
Toys "R" Us has its sales staff to warn customers that some Wiis can not read, the Smash Bros. disc, and refuse to exchange the game if the customer later claim is defective. Some parents who are warning that just as happy to buy another game. But Nintendo Wiis some claims are subject to interference, and Toys "R" Us sales staff said few customers are discouraged from buying or holding of the game.
"The number we got back to the return was relatively low, " a saleswoman, Christina Giori, said. "Maybe eight copies of the 500. It's something Nintendo's really trying to act on."
A number of games that get critical acclaim in recent months, particularly the cartoonish action-adventure game Zack & Wiki and the off - kilter action-adventure No More Heroes, have yielded disappointing sales.
During the first three months of the year, but three other Wii titles broke the list of the top 10 best selling games compiled by the NPD Group, a research firm: Super Mario Galaxy, Guitar Hero III and Wii Play, a sports game that comes with the purchase of a much-needed additional game controller. The Wii can not be behind the success of all those titles, though, Guitar Hero, for example, sold 2.2 million copies for the Wii, but 2.8 million copies for the Xbox 360 and almost 5 million euros for the two versions of the PlayStation.
The problem is that in marketing the Wii, Nintendo cast a wide net and caught more than the big fish. The Wii's innovative motion-sensitive controller and a lower price than the rival machines appeal to a wider audience than the traditional market of young male hard-core gamers. Younger children, women and older consumers, who traditionally have not been requested by the video game industry, have discovered video games via the Wii --simply not that many of them.
This new gamers are satisfied with the games they have frequently go no further than the Wii Sports game in the machine. They don't buy new games with the fervor of a traditional gamer who is constantly looking for new inspiration.
The average Wii owner buys only 3.7 games per year, compared with 4.7 for the Xbox 360 owners and 4.6 for the PlayStation 3 owners, said a Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Lessee. "It reflects the broadening of the demographic, " he said. "Nintendo's market doesn't feel the same sense of urgency to buy every game that's coming out."
"You don't see a lot of titles that may reach 30 and 40 percent of the installed base," Lazard Capital said one analyst, Colin Sebastian. "My in-laws in Texas have a Wii sitting on their living room floor next to the TV, which to me is kind of amazing. They have Wii Sports, a game Brain Age, Wii Play. That's about it."
Part of the problem, analysts say, is that other game makers have yet to embrace unconventional advertising methods that can reach this broader audience. Nintendo did it by promoting its memory Brain Age game on the radio.
"Advertising on GameInformer and 1up.com just isn't achieve this target, " said Mr. Lessee. "When you have a game like Zack & Wiki or Boogie, which the hard core and doesn't reach of the masses, then you're trouble."
yet increasingly, not all third-party publishers have found the Wii market difficult to crack. Multi games like Ubisoft's Rayman: Raving Rabbids, a cartoon action-adventure, have found receptive audience.
Hudson Soft has success with titles such as Sudoku, jigsaw puzzles, jigsaw puzzles and fishing games.
"The nature of the person who buys a Wii is not the same kind of person that buys a PS3 or Xbox, " said John Greiner, the chief executive of Hudson Entertainment, the North American branch of Hudson Soft. "You need to be very specific if you have a game design and target not only the gameplay mechanics for that user, but also markets for that kind of a product launch."
Hudson has also benefited from a particularly close relationship with Nintendo. Hudson developed Mario Party 8, consistently one of the Wii's top sellers, and is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Wii Virtual Console, which costs users to play classic video games.
Nintendo itself seems primarily focused on expanding this casual audience, while continuing to deliver to prosecute its most beloved franchises such as Mario Kart Wii, the latest incarnation of the popular driving simulator, which will be released next week .
Ms. Kaigler, the spokesman for Nintendo, says the company hopes Mario Kart will serve as a "bridge title" between core gamers and casual fans, with the help of a steering device in which a Wii controller can adapt.
Wii Fit, an exercise game due next month, is expected to more marketing dollars than any game in Nintendo's history, Mr Lessee said --and the money is not is spent wooing young men. "Wii Fit is not just aimed at hard-core gamers," said Mr. Lessee. "It's certainly focused on the Oprah crowd. I bet they sell one million units per week for every pound Oprah says that she lost on it."
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