The 360 has a big problem with its library, and I'm not sure it'll ever be resolved. Most of its games seem PC-dominated and have very little in the way of variety. PS3 otoh seems to have a lot of the games you'd expect from consoles (LBP for example), but the price is just obscene.
That said, neither of those issues are easily resolvable for either system. If publishers see that 3rd person shooters sell x # of copies on the 360, then they'll release derivatives of those games, as we've seen.
For a system like Wii, which has been getting games from every category, that presents the library with a greater opportunity for freshness in the long run imo.
Hi Natoma. I think that is being fairly charitable, especially after you labelled the 360 as essentially having a PC dominated library.
The Wii's library is pretty weak in the big picture (for us hardcore gamers) and is really floundering in a lot of genres. But it also has some really
great strengths:
- It is affordable.
- It has killer apps (real ones that drive sales) from day 1 in Zelda and Wii Sports.
- It is unique and fresh, offering a new experience.
- It taps into social gaming at a cultural and casual level.
But I wouldn't go as far to say the Wii has a strong library -- and definately wouldn't say it is hitting all the genres, let alone with quality titles.
Do I have to list genres and the offerings Wii has? Please don't make me! Please!
As for the 360's library, I think the issue is perception and not reality. That should sound familiar to a Nintendo fan like you, Teasy, and myself. Nintendo only has kid games... egads!
I think beyond perception is the 360 lacks high level exposure for their mainstream games. MS has stuff like Kameo, Rayman, Cars, Harry Potter, Shrek, and Sonic for younger gamers. The 360 has party games and servicable GTA clones like Crackdown and Saint's Row. MS has a slew of sports, wrestling, and arcade racing games. Right now it looks like
MS has the strongest RPG library (!!) and is the place to be for sports and racing at the moment. They also have Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero as well as Rockband coming (which took center stage for them at E3). They have the Spidermans, Marvels, Fantastic 4s, Transformers, and Supermans of the market. Everything from Tomb Raiders to Dead Rising. Not all the games in all the genres are great -- but it does fill them all out, and there are great games in most of those genres. Far better than what the Wii is offering. And then there are arcade games, arcade classics, and card games.
But lets look at the Wii's strengths and apply that to MS's offering:
- It is affordable
=> The 360 isn't affordable.
- It has killer apps
=> First killer app was Gears of War, now maybe Bioshock. FPS, mature themed. Next up? Halo 3 and Mass Effect.
- It is unique and fresh, offering a new experience.
=> MS has live and does have a lot of fresh stuff (like Rockband) BUT MS's message is too broad without any diversity coming from them internally.
- It taps into social gaming at a cultural and casual level.
=> MS has tapped social gaming, but on the competitive hardcore bent.
The last point is significant. I was recently discussing class based MP in FPS and why I like them because a friend was trashing them. What he doesn't quite get is that in a competitive FPS only the top 10% really excell and the bottom 50% are cannon fodder. With classes you allow people to excell in different areas and be team players. With a team orientation to gameplay goals it becomes less "who is the best shooter" to "who can work the best as a team".
Now take that example and put it into the "Live" versus "Motion Gaming" paradigm. I think motion gaming, as a concept, is more approachable, more affordable, and connects with more real people, both gamers and non-gamers.
Live isn't bad, and of course MS offers a lot of various gaming experiences on their platform. But the message is broad -- and the stuff coming from MS (who sets the tone) is very "dark and gritty".
MS dropped the ball with Viva Pinata and Kameo didn't resonate for whatever reasons. Viva Party Animals looks weak and Scene It! even worse. MS has an image problem, just like Nintendo does. I think Viva Pinata was a big blooper, and the lack of a Banjo game to go along with Rock Band encourages the continued theme of, "MS is just shooters and PC games". It isn't true, but that is image. What can you do about it?
I disagree with this sentiment. Are Metroid Prime 3, Mario Galaxy, and SSBB, to name a few, not high end?
I think all 3 will sell well, but look at Metroid. In your post you discuss the hardcore coming over--but how? How is Metroid, that lacks online MP, going to do that? Just as Sony and MS have a difficult time catering to certain demographics, I don't see the Wii winning over a lot of "hardcore gamers" of certain genres -- FPS, Racing, RPGs, and certain sports.
As for target audience, Nintendo has stated that their goal is to target everyone. The fact that they've marketed toward casuals doesn't change the fact that there is still a substantial hardcore market out there that Nintendo is catering to.
Their gaming library reflects their own sentiments about the things a lot of gamers hold dear (online play, game length, graphics, game difficulty, buttons and interaction).
I don't see Nintendo catering to hardcore gamers at all at this point. Nintendo fans, yes. Gamers, yes. Hardcore gamers?
Do they even have 5 quality titles that appeal to hardcore gamers?
As for attach rate, Nintendo's roughly selling 4 titles per console, as per their last financial statement.
What is the attach rate for Nintendo titles versus 3rd party though?
Interesting enough,
after 17 months the GCN had an attach rate of 5.2. (PS2 3.8; Xbox 4.3; 360 5.5). The GCN ended up with
just over 9 per unit sold. So GCN software sales started off fast and finished ok, but it was slagged habitually because 3rd party games that did well on other platforms did poorly on Nintendo's box--even though it sold nearly as many units (and was ahead for a long time) as MS.
So it isn't just attach rate on the Wii, but how well 3rd parties do. And it cannot just be good games: a lot of average games sell ok on the 360 (like the NFS games sold very well).
Of course with a larger install base and lower development costs the Wii will continue to be enticing and publishers can afford the investment and risk--especially that of trying new game mechanics and controls (which is really risky as you never know what will work and resonate with consumers until you do it).
In order for PS3 to be neck and neck with 360, they have to almost double their sales, and quickly. By all accounts, they had a great July, and yet they were still outsold by the 360. They have no hope to catch Microsoft if this is the best they can do.
We agree here. Well, I don't think they had a great July, but yeah--I don't see the PS3 product successful on most levels (and definately not catching MS) unless Sony takes huge lumps on the retail cost... soon. Like now. If they don't show themselves to be a viable platform this fall publisher support is going to begin thinning out and at that point there will be now chance.
Consumers are fickle. Atari, Nintendo, and Sega are proof of this. While fans can keep a struggling platform afloat, past success doesn't guarantee future success.
