But, not all titles are destined to get that touch of Wii magic. And, what if you never had a chance to try some of them? Well, unless you've got a suitcase buried in the back yard, there are a few titles that might be a bit out of reach, according to the list over at Video Game Price Charts.
Of all of them, which would you say is the "must own" title?
The research bods at EEDAR have got their abacuses out and calculated that Wii games are more prone to "price protection" than titles on rival machines.
What's price protection? Price protection occurs when a publisher of a game that isn't selling offers its game to retailers for a lower price, allowing stores to get rid of excess stock quickly. If this happens too soon (EEDAR defines "too soon" as "when a title's third month average selling price has decreased by 20% or more from its original average selling price"), it is known as "early price protection."
Anyway, EEDAR found that 15.1% of all Wii software goes through this process, compared to 7.5% on Xbox 360 and 9.09% on PS3. What does this disparity say about Wii software? EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich thinks it backs up the theory that third-parties struggle on the Wii because they and retailers have "overly aggressive expectations" for Wii games, and that it proves "quality is one of the most impactful features for a video game."
Gamasutra has compiled a bunch of charts showing the best-selling games of 2008 (so far) across all formats. At first glance, the results are thoroughly predictable -- it's yet more Wii dominance in the U.S. -- but there are interesting factoids to be drawn from this.
Wii Play, for example, looks like finishing in the top five games of the year for the second year running. Even more impressively, Gamasutra thinks it could sell more copies in 2008 than in 2007, which is all kinds of crazy. Surely that would be some kind of first?
The top two spots are held by Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii, a pair of titles that we always expected to sell well, but to beat the likes of Wii Fit or other games aimed at Nintendo's broadened audience? Speaking of Wii Fit, it tops the chart for estimated revenue so far this year, thanks to its higher retail price. We'll reproduce the 2008 YTD sales table below, but Gamasutra has other data worth looking at here.
As part of its "Touch! Generations" range, Nintendo will hope Wii Music can rack up some dizzying sales figures. Sadly, the maligned music title hasn't made the best of starts in North America, falling a long way short of the launch window sales for other first-party titles, such as Wii Fit. Cammie Dunaway has revealed that the game did "somewhere [like] 65 or 66,000" in its first two weeks on sale, whereas the more expensive Wii Fit shifted 687,000 copies in its opening eleven days.
Nintendo isn't about to panic, however. Rather, Dunaway thinks it could have the same long-term appeal already displayed by Wii Fit, Wii Play, and Mario Kart Wii, all of which regularly show up in the monthly NPD charts. "We're predicting that it's going to be an evergreen title, she told MTV Multiplayer. "And if you look at titles like Brain Age, it's about the same as what Brain Age did during it's first few weeks and went on to sell 2.5 million copies. Wii Fit certainly had a larger launch than that. But I think that people are starting to understand Wii Music."
For those of you who're thinking about snagging Rock Band 2, now that it actually has features, know this: the original Rock Band bundle will be sold for a special price starting this holiday. You can get the full band kit and a copy of the first game for $99. Along with a copy of Rock Band 2, and all of those free downloads, you can make this holiday a very special one for that wannabe rocker in your life. Unless you already picked up Guitar Hero: World Tour.
It's that time again, readers -- time to roll our sleeves up and get elbow-deep in some graphs. Woo! These examples are from the graph experts at Gamasutra, and smash a myth that has hung around the Wii too long for our liking: that the console has a rubbish tie ratio (the number of games sold per console). Indeed, the PS3 is marginally behind Nintendo's platform in this respect. Not bad for a console that, unlike the PS3, comes with a free game to get started! A second graph at Gamasutra confirms that the Wii's tie ratio has very slightly improved during 2008.
One Wii myth this data does reinforce is that Nintendo totally dominates the Wii software scene; again, it's a familiarcomplaint, but there's obviously some credibility to it.
A promise made by Reggie Fils-Aime means that North American Disaster: Day of Crisis fans have an active interest in how the game fares in Europe. If it sells enough copies on the other side of the Atlantic, Reggie has suggested a U.S. release will be considered. Sounds fair to us. The only problem? It's selling really badly in Europe.
According to the latest European sales charts, the game failed to reach the UK top forty, the Irish or Norwegian top twenty, or the Dutch, German, or Spanish top ten. More worryingly still, Monolith's title wasn't even amongst the top fifty Wii releases in the UK last week. Oo-er. Such a meek performance in Disaster's opening week doesn't exactly convince us we'll be seeing a Stateside release. We'd love nothing more than to be proved wrong and see Nintendo of America take a gamble.
Source: Brits prefer their Wii Fits Source: Ireland isn't biting Source: Holland bought more copies of Mario Party 8 last week Source: Norway says "nor way" to Disaster Source: Monolith's game knows only pain in Germany and Spain
Looking for more songs to complement that Guitar Hero: World Tour purchase you just made? Probably not for several months, but maybe you can do some shopping in anticipation of that -- especially (only) if you really like Aerosmith. Amazon's Deal of the Day knocks half the price off of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, to a perfectly reasonable twenty bucks. The Xbox 360 version is also on sale, if you would prefer (though obviously we can't endorse such a decision!)
This is the game only, and doesn't come with any guitars or anything, but provided the song list meets with your approval, 41 new Guitar Hero tracks for $20 isn't bad at all.
If, for some reason, you suddenly find yourself both in need of an extra Wii Guitar Hero controller and a little light on cash -- no idea what could put so many people in such a state at this particular time -- you may be interested in today's Amazon Deal of the Day.
For $25.98 (just enough to qualify for free shipping!), the retailer is offering the Nyko Frontman guitar controller in either white or yellow. Both include interchangeable pickguards for a bit of customization. Of course, this guitar was originally designed for Guitar Hero III, and consequently does not feature the freaky touch pad business that the newer World Tour guitars do. But as a second guitar (or a bass) it should be fine.
Right now, if you buy Wii Music from Amazon, they'll give you a $20 voucher that you can use on video games. To get the obligatory Wii Music joke out of the way, you can buy Wii Music and another game worth $20 and come out with a total of one game for the price of one.
The deal is valid until Halloween, and the cards will be mailed out within ten days after that end date (yes, they're apparently mailing cards out rather than the sensible option of emailed coupon codes). That means it should arrive just in time for Animal Crossing!
In these belt-tightening, penny-pinching times, it literally pays to have a nose for the bargains. That's where we, or rather Gamefly, comes in. The game rental outfit has a broad selection of used Wii software for low, world banking crisis-friendly prices, and we chose ten of the best sub-$20 games to tempt you. Thar be bargains ahead!
There's actually a ton more we could have mentioned, including Super Mario Galaxy for $32.99, Super Smash Bros. Brawl for $30.99, and Metroid Prime 3 for $26.99. Sadly, "One hundred and fifty-eight for under forty-two" just doesn't work as a headline. Hit up the "Source" link for the full set.
Gallery: Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure
Don't they look happy? That's because they all bought Wii Music, along with 49,996 others. Yup, you read that right: the Wii Music day one sales data from Japan is in, and according to Famitsu publisher Enterbrain, the magical figure is 50,000 units sold. How does that compare to the Japanese launches of other large first-party Wii games? Not that well, as it happens; hit the break to see for yourself.
Even though we're all facing FINANCIAL ARMAGEDDON and will be trading berries and colored stones for drinking water this time next month, gamers are still buying consoles like they're going out of fashion.
According to sultan of sales figures Michael Pachter, the Wii and DS each shifted a tidy 600,000 units in North America during September, a respectable rise on sales in August. If the analyst's crystal ball-gazing is correct, that means Wii has added another 40,000 to its lead over the Xbox 360.
Pachter's estimations for Nintendo hardware are echoed by new prediction kids on the block EEDAR, who also have Wii and DS at 600k apiece; apparently people are struggling to make ends meet, but not struggling that much. We'll have the super-official NPD figures later this week.
If you "support" Nintendo in the console "race," then you probably already know that the company excels at selling stuff. To catch up on just how much stuff, check out the NPD figures from August, July, June, and every other previous month here.
For those of you with some extra money burning a hole in your pocket, know that Circuit City has a sale running from now until this upcoming Saturday. When you purchase any Wii game at full price, you can get a second game for 50% off. The sale also works with Wii Play, if you're not among the folks who've already purchased the bundle.
Toys R Us is having one huge sale, starting this Sunday. How huge of a sale? Buy two, get one huge. On top of the prospect at getting a free game, there's also some deals specific to Wii owners.
On Sunday and Monday, Toys R Us will offer 30% off Wii accessories. Now, this doesn't extend to Nunchuks and Wiimotes, but it works for other accessories and ... Wii Points cards! 30% off some Wii Points means you can nab a stellar WiiWare title or two, like, say, Mega Man 9. Or any one of the other games already available. Or even a Virtual Console game!
We love a lot of GameCube games. In fact, when Play on Wii was announced, it felt like a dream come true. See, we imagine many GameCube games being retooled for Wii. Now, we're glad its actually happening for some of those games.
