Sunday, November 19, 2006

Wii is here, now where are all the fish?


Stop the clocks and rewrite the history books... Nintendo Wii has launched. With it, a new era of gaming will be ushered in. An era of gaming that prioritizes fun and friends over pixels and polygons. One where videogaming once more becomes an inclusive experience for families and people of all ages, rather than create a distinct subculture that divides societies, bitter people on each side.

At least, that is the idea.

Prior to launch, almost every sign has been a positive one for Nintendo. The current leader in the home console market, Sony, has suffered some very unfortunate setbacks. Never before was dominance in this market so much within Nintendo´s grasp, since losing it more than ten years ago.

Now, the company must deliver, though.

Where just a day ago words were the only weapon of choice, the company now must carry on fighting with nothing but production and shipment numbers, sell-through data and software tie-ratios.

Where the presidents and marketing people were sitting until yesterday, the production line managers, technicians and factory workers take the helm.

And where Nintendo has claimed the direction to be, which they wanted to move in, people need to populate the roads leading there and tread on what up until now were untrodden paths.

There undoubtedly is a blue ocean out there. Now all it takes for Nintendo is to have plenty of fish in that sea.

EDIT You can follow the numbers game over at NexGen Wars. This is what things look like at this very moment:

nexgenwars.com
nexgenwars.com
nexgenwars.com

EDIT And here is the first footage of the Wii launch, courtesy of CNN. The footage is from New York City.



EDIT It has happened: According to NexGen Wars, Nintendo Wii is now the second console, leaving Sony in third place (pun intended).

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Fal,

NexGenWars
It looks like Wii will catch up PlayStation 3 today. Very interesting, but how reliable is this site?

Anonymous said...

There sure weren't a ton of Wiis in my area. My Meijer's got eight. Wal-Mart had twenty. Then I heard on the radio o national news, they pronounced Wii "Why". Hope the uber-nonsencial pronunciation doesn't come back to haunt Nintendo with confused pronuncers...

Falafelkid said...

Hi Blauw. Added the links to the post. Good question about the site´s reliability. I will try and get in touch with them to find out what their sources are. Here is their disclaimer:

Remember, these numbers are only estimates, but they are constantly monitored and upated to assure the closest estimates possible for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Wii.

Anonymous said...

Did you see these pictures: http://www.popsci.com/popsci/whatsnew/2526081bfbcfe010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html

RGB said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
RGB said...

The I.A.L.S said...
Grandmaster b you have always been annoying as hell.
even more so than Blizz.

I respect people who can downright ignore the obvious just so that their meaningless speeches make any sense.


1. They are called comments, there is no speech in here.

Also note that Kid is bitter with me ever since I set the record straight concerning pointless Wii speculation.

All the insults and spam attacks on my part were just for fun since kid always reacted so overly inexorable to them.

He was way too serious and uneasy with everything and took it personal I'm afraid to say.


2. He doesnt like you. You are a clown. I also ponder if you have any friends outside the internet, or on the internet for that matter.


To be honest I couldn't care less what any of you think about THE IALS.
Mark my words:
This isn't real life!


3. You do care. That is why you keep responding even though I have not responded to you for days.

4. It is spelt diarrhea, not diareha. You should know, you speak that much of it.

5. You try so hard at english that it makes you look more stupid than a person who doesnt even try. You are not native english and it shows.

Closing comment:
A majority of what you do on this blog is leave negative comments, primarily on the graphical side of the Wii. Stick to IGN, your type is better suited over there.

The end, I am through with this issue.

On Topic
It is good to see some decent sales for the Wii.

I will get my Wii on JP launch. Am I excited? Not really. I am getting my DS in which I am excited to get. Wii needs some other titles to get me excited. Mario will be that title.

Anonymous said...

"falafelkid:
it's been an awesome ride. your website has been a constant inspiration. you've always been a breath of fresh air amidst tidal waves of "revolution" bullshit. thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to do this for me (for all of us).
of course, i'm disappointed that my "revolution" wasn't anything ridiculously crazy... i just thought for SURE we'd get 3d. guess i was wrong all this time. maybe next gen. wii is awesome. i can't wait to have a great time with it for the next few years. normal video games were getting boring. maybe "wii" will be our "revolution" after all... just not the "revolution" i imagined.

thanks for everything falafelkid. it's been a wild ride.

now i go to sleep, and when i wake up, i will FUCKING FINALLY HAVE MY WII. YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-"superfan" tactics."



QFT.

Keep on Kid.


------------------------

As for Grandmaster b....;)...

...Good luck mate.

You'll need it.

+

This song is dedicated to people like you by the way:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=HF4IQlsm7Ds

Enjoy :)


-IALS

Anonymous said...

Was ist mit dem Geheimnis, Falafel?

Has anybody any news regarding the secret?

Anonymous said...

there is NO OTHER SECRET!!! the console is released in the us, a lot of internet neards from the states got the console already, and that means that there is NO MORE SECRET!

Anonymous said...

...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

I want to believe... There must be another secret, perhaps an additional device like the extra portion RAM for the N64, you know... Come on, Perrin and Reggie were talking about another anouncement to me made around launch time...

They were hyping, the need to do justice to the expectations of two sweet Hardcore Gamers from Hannover, GERMANY, who if the should lose bet need to "love" each other... SO... I NEED A SECRET, otherwise my last one will be revealed...

Anonymous said...

...I guess the big news or secret left might be in this. And this have to do with the firm Broadon wich their technology are build in the ATI/Nintendo's Hollywood PPU

/silver

http://www.patentdebate.com/PATAPP/20050132217


or (same link)

http://www.patentdebate.com/PATAPP/
20050132217

Anonymous said...

I have to call into question the authenticity of the nexgen console wars sales figures. It seems that they simply wrote a basic algorithm to increase the numbers of units sold by a small percentage every 30 or so seconds. Each numeric variable (360, PS3, Wii) may increase by a different percentage but it definitely does not appear to be a live “as it happens” update. Has anyone been able to verify these figures?

X-Box 360 increasing by almost 100,000 units in less than 24 hours is a bit odd.

I am not saying these numbers are false, but I would like to know how they are getting these figures and what methodology they use to “estimate” the units sold.

Falafelkid said...

Hi Some Guy

I am not saying these numbers are false, but I would like to know how they are getting these figures and what methodology they use to “estimate” the units sold.

As you might have expected, i am on the case and hope to be able to tell you very soon - providing that the site´s owner does not choose to tell me in confidence (or not at all).

Jon Agirre said...

Hi there,

as many have guessed, the last secret may be disclosed after the console has been succesfully launched in the whole world, and it could consist of a firmware update carrying some upgrades, may be the video modes, may be about other internet functionality.

Since the firmware is upgradable, there's virtually no stop for further speculation, so this site is surely going to be alive and kicking after Wii's launch, as far as its owner can continue the work.

Anonymous said...

Kids blog is A dime a dozen, yet still a diamond in the rough!


Peace my man.

Keep it real.

Nintendo for life.

Weird shit goin on.

Grtandmaster B... be hatin'.

Superfan be looking for some new tactics.


Blizziboy be s... d.. in the industry..

IALS be talkin shit.

But youz know whatever man.

WE ARE ALL ON DA NET DRUG

Bust a move coevals



-IALS

Anonymous said...

Sorry for da mistakes, IALS is not only on "NET" drugs today.......

Anonymous said...

A rolling stone gathers no moss!




-IALS

Anonymous said...

www.NetGenWars.com

is owned and run by

www.goldfirestudios.com

it's laughable that anyone considers for a second that this is real. even a huge retail analytical organisation, which there are numerous, would take days for information to be collected. so to think some 18 year old in his basement is doing it live updated every few minutes is sad.

Anonymous said...

sorry should have been

www.nexgenwars.com

obviously :)

Anonymous said...

As I waiting in Meijers for 25 (FUCKING) hours, from roughly midnight to midnight, I noticed a few things.

Many people who walked by asked either, "Is this for the PS3?" or "What are you waiting for?" And we told them, over and over again, that we were waiting for the Wii; over and over again they replied "Oh, yeah." I found it interesting that the first thing they thought of was PS3, but knew what the Wii was. But Meijers sold out at midnight, and everyone else in my area sold out when they opened today.

I also noticed that you should never wait in a fucking Meijers for 25 FUCKING HOURS.

Anonymous said...

im hoping the figures are correct or close.

Anonymous said...

Fal, what about a last secret? What about the Revolution? What about our dreams for a console that would really REVOLUTIONIZE the way we play? I dont see REVOLUTIONARY gameplay people, I see ports and crummy gameplay mechanics (Red Steel anyone?). There is no revolution. There is no "wow". I was waiting from the start, Fal, just like you. I was there at E3 2004 when Nintendo said they were working on a new project and Ive followed the news ever since. We, the core gamers, who have waited the longest and supported nintendo all the way, have been forsaken. Im a real nintendo fanboy and Im proud of it. I will play zelda on gamecube and not buy the wii until it comes bundled with Mario galaxy.

The wii is nothing but a marketing gimmick, and we all force ourselves to believe it when Reggir tells us its the coolest thing around.

Anonymous said...

--Expansion on last post--

Some few points:

1. Wii Zelda: NOTHING different from cube version except 16/9, pointing and slashing. WOW! especially when we know Zelda is about exploration and avendture, and that there is NO MECHANIC INHERENTLY DIFFERENT to the wii.

2. FPS on Wii. Red Steel? LOL. 5.1 is HARD to get on gamespot. (and forget about IGN ratings, they are obviously biased - Matt Cassamassina is an obvious nintendo fanboy) Ubisoft spent so much time advertising the game they forgot to program it! Better luck next time! WHERE IS THE CENTERED RETICULE GAMEPLAY? JOURNALISTS HAVE BEEN BEGGING FOR IT SINCE TGS!!
If not, its much more logical to include a 2 way pointing system in the same manner time splitters did: run around and turn without zoom, and with zoom you can still run around but the reticule has more freedom. LOGICAL!!

3. Wii Sports? Is this a joke? Im not giving any credit to these tech demos cause its packed in. Ive played wii sports... Its fun...for 30 mins.

4. Wii is accessible and has a mainstream price? Are you kidding me? How much cash to you have to shell out to play with your friends (nunchuck and remote are expensive for a reason, but then why the expensive system)?

5. Graphics don't me say "WOW", they make me wanna puke (Tony Hawk and that cel shaded racing game... Oh no, wait, just about ALL the wii launch games except monkey ball)! I KNOW graphics are not the point, thats why I didnt buy a xbox 360 or a ps3 (if it was possible). I KNOW the gamecube controller is the most ergonomic and smartest console controller ever created (I mean different buttons and different shapes shaped to the movement of the thumb simply MAKES SENSE). I KNOW the wii-mote is a natural evolution of ergonomic gameplay. But graphics DO MATTER AS WELL!!!! And don't tell me they couldnt have bumped that technology a little more and make the console a bit bigger and more power comsuming for the same price. OOOOOh yeah, I forgot. Thats because of Wii connect24, of coooopuurse. WHERE IS IT?? Do any games use it? NO!

Anonymous said...

the revolutions in the fact that everyone can enjoy the wii. your looking at it materialisticly ralphy

Anonymous said...

**IALS' RESPONSE TO PEER SCHNEIDERS Wii IMPRESSIONS:***



Hallo Herr Schneider,

How does it feel to have a high-end home theater at home, yet still being forced to play games with 15 years old controller technology on it?


To get to the point, I couldn't care less about your clumsy "I got the biggest ...." GOW type games.

I have been playing those games ever since the womb.
Long enough to know that visuals alone are not even the drop in the bucket when it comes to fun.
Games like GOW are a dime a dozen nowadays.

They are boring.
They aren't really fun.
The feeling that you get from those games is mere pressure not fun.
So don't get it twisted.

To be honest, I find it quite laughable and immature seing how you feel inclined to shed light on the graphics issue as if it ever mattered at all.
I respect people who can downright ignore the obvious just so that their meaningless speeches make more sense.
For the first time in years people are actually having fun again with video games and you have nothing better to do than to nitpick on the Wii graphics or what?

Listen, I'm telling you,the majority of people doesn't give a sh... about visuals.
Come to terms with it once and for all.

For that matter Wii has definitly some tricks up it's sleeve.
Games like Mario Galaxy are already a marked improvement over Gamecube.
Metroid Prime 3 is supposedly "leaps and bounds" ahead of the E3 version in terms of visuals.
Those games already gave us a small glimbse of Wiis' potential.
You clearly overacted there with your post I'm afraid to say mate.

Furthermore concerning Zelda.
If you take the sheer size of the world into account that fitted on one Gamecube disc,(and the fact that it IS running on Gamecube hardware I should add)the graphics are nothing short of breathtaking from a technical standpoint.

You cannot judge Wiis capabilities solely based on Zelda and some rushed 3rd party games (that probably didn't take advantage of the Wii hardware at all in order to keep development costs low and in order to meet the deadline and to make a quick buck)
Wii more close to Xbox?You must be kidding be.
You cannot be serious. What you dish out is utter nonsense I'm afraid mate.How can you even breath?

The old schoolers from Capcom who worked on Resident Evil 4 alone killed 99% of all Xbox games in terms of visuals with their tricks.

Also note that nongamers are scared off by these sometimes depressive(in GOWs case) and overly realistic high end graphics!
They want unconstrained,light uncomplicated games to have quick fun with.The majority aren't nerds like you.

The problem is, you always talk from a hardcore western gamers perspective and loose sight of the golden mean.
Like Miyamoto said in a recent BusinessWeek interview, it wouldn't have made sense to develop a high-end console,because they couldn't have sold it for less than 450$ (as far as I remember).
They had to forgo it in order to be able to keep the price attractive for non gamers and "mothers".
And that's quite reasonable if you ask me.
It was a sane decision on their part.
They would have run a much higher risk had they chosen to deliver on both ends eventually.
It's a double edged sword, I understand, but at the end of the day it makes sense.



-IALS

Anonymous said...

wii vs ps3 in a nut shell

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9136575504838642038

Anonymous said...

***ATTENTION***

+++IGN EDITOR PEER SCHNEIDER RESPONNDS TO THE IALS+++

----IALS PRESENTS :

*****DAVID VS. GOLIATH OR THE INFAMOUS ANONYMOUS LIGHT SHEDDER VS. PEER SCHNEIDER********

Enjoy!( Kid you know you love THE IALS for this (: )

IALS :

Hallo Herr Schneider,

How does it feel to have a high-end home theater at home, yet still being forced to play games with 15 years old controller technology on it?
To get to the point, I couldn't care less about your clumsy "I got the biggest ...." GOW type games.I have been playing those games ever since the womb.
Long enough to know that visuals alone are not even the drop in the bucket when it comes to fun.Games like GOW are a dime a dozen nowadays. They are boring. They aren't really fun. The feeling that you get from those games is mere pressure not fun.
So don't get it twisted.

To be honest, I find it quite laughable and immature seing how you feel inclined to shed light on the graphics issue as if it ever mattered at all. I respect people who can downright ignore the obvious just so that their meaningless speeches make more sense. For the first time in years people are actually having fun again with video games and you have nothing better to do than to nitpick on the Wii graphics or what?
Listen, I'm telling you,the majority of people doesn't give a sh... about visuals.
Come to terms with it once and for all.

For that matter Wii has definitly some tricks up it's sleeve.
Games like Mario Galaxy are already a marked improvement over Gamecube.
Metroid Prime 3 is supposedly "leaps and bounds" ahead of the E3 version in terms of visuals. Those games already gave us a small glimbse of Wiis' potential.
You clearly overacted there with your post I'm afraid to say mate.

Furthermore concerning Zelda.
If you take the sheer size of the world into account that fitted on one Gamecube disc,(and the fact that it IS running on Gamecube hardware I should add)the graphics are nothing short of breathtaking from a technical standpoint.

You cannot judge Wiis capabilities solely based on Zelda and some rushed 3rd party games (that probably didn't take advantage of the Wii hardware at all in order to keep development costs low and in order to meet the deadline and to make a quick buck)
Wii more close to Xbox?You must be kidding be.You cannot be serious. What you dish out is utter nonsense I'm afraid mate.How can you even breath?The old schoolers from Capcom who worked on Resident Evil 4 alone killed 99% of all Xbox games in terms of visuals with their tricks.Also note that nongamers are scared off by these sometimes depressive(in GOWs case) and overly realistic high end graphics! They want unconstrained,light uncomplicated games to have quick fun with.The majority aren't nerds like you.The problem is, you always talk from a hardcore western gamers perspective and loose sight of the golden mean.Like Miyamoto said in a recent BusinessWeek interview, it wouldn't have made sense to develop a high-end console,because they couldn't have sold it for less than 450$ (as far as I remember).They had to forgo it in order to be able to keep the price attractive for non gamers and "mothers".And that's quite reasonable if you ask me.It was a sane decision on their part. They would have run a much higher risk had they chosen to deliver on both ends eventually.It's a double edged sword, I understand, but at the end of the day it makes sense.

------------------------

PEER SCHNEIDER:

>How does it feel to have a high-end home theater at home, yet still being forced to play games with 15 years old controller technology on it?

Who's got 15-year-old controller tech? I don't think anyone is denying that the Xbox 360 controller is derivative -- but it's a fine controller. You could ask in turn how it feels to be a multiplayer fan and have to make do with Wii's anemic friend list and rankings support system or lack of online games.

I think you're missing my point with your post -- and you're ignoring most of my comments in my last one to focus on my graphics complaints. The Wii hardware is missing some key graphical techniques that could have helped elevate visuals in games that strive for realism. I'm not bitching about graphics in general or the low quality of the graphics with the launch titles. Ignoring that everything is low-res and will always look dated on larger screens, no matter how clever the developer, my point is that ignoring shaders was a mistake. There's no question that Twilight Princess is a beautiful GameCube game (and it's still a graphically pleasing game overall, too). There's no question that it's cool to have a company come up with a radically new controller. But I'll be damned if I side with your argument that I should gleefully accept GameCube visuals in my new console because it saves Nintendo some money.

I have no problems playing simple-looking games. Wii Sports can still look like Wii Sports in hi-def (and it wouldn't have cost Nintendo more to develop the game). I played plenty of Zuma (downloadable puzzle game) on Xbox 360 and enjoyed it. But it's foolish to say that the quality of the overall presentation has no impact. Just like seeing a beautifully-shot movie on a large screen in a theater with a great audio set up makes for a better experience than seeing it on your PSP, I'm sure I'm not the only one who can (and would want to) appreciate great graphics, great surround sound AND great gameplay and control at once.

------------------------------

IALS :

Guten Morgen Herr Schneider,

Unfortunately, it's crystal clear that you still don't understand the general philosophy behind Nintendos approach with Wii.You still refuse to access the situation from a non hardcore gamers perspective, I'm afraid to say. We are at cross-purposes.
Consequently, I would recommend you to take a gander at the insightful Business Week Miymoto interview for a valuable elucidation.

While I can see where you come from, the main problem is that you fail to see that your view only represents and reflects a small, small percentage of the populace(taking non gamers into account).
Try to look at it this way:
When Nintendo came up with the new control methood in mind in the first place, their main endeavour was to cross borders and break free from the bonds of complex two handed controllers that scare non gamers off, in order to get them on board by all means neccessary. That's the essence of it, and the reason why they came up with the remote design(a stroke of genius in my mind by the way).

It's no mystery, that the next step consequently would be to stay in line with the controller idea that drives the whole concept, in order to appeal to said demographics.
Non gamers look for an affordable, fun alteration/solution to their life when they consider the purchase of a videogame system.
They don't have the knowhow of hardcore gamers.They don't know what shaders or bump/normal-maps are.They couldn't care less about those things.Techies are a minority.
Hence, it's only reasonable for Nintendo to stick with an affordable solution that is line with that philosophy and not charge as much from people as the competition.
They simply had to forgo it in order to be in an unique postion.It all boils down to that in the end.
I don't know why that should bother anyone.

As for your take on so called Gamecube graphics.
Sorry, but if you don't come to terms, if you are not content with Resident Evil 4/ Rebel Strike/Metroid Prime type of graphics(which I'm pretty sure will be surpassed on Wii early next year already with Galaxy and Corruption I should add)then I really can't help you and would strongly suggest you to rethink what got you into gaming in the first place(since you are old enough). Was it really visuals?

Last but not least, I would also like to encourage you to watch the spider-boss battle from Galaxy concerning shaders.
Shift lanes!

-------------------------------

To be continued......

Falafelkid said...

Well, more bad news for the PS3. Now the New York Times has written the PS3 off, editor Seth Schiesel writing:

"Sony seems to have put a lot of effort into cramming as much silicon horsepower under the hood as possible but to have forgotten that all the transistors in the world can’t make someone smile."

This is after New York Post, CNN Money, TIME magazine and MSNBC all gave the console the thumbs-down, not to mention what developers said.

Anonymous said...

Even Joystiq's C. Grant apparently said the PS3 seems unfinished.

I'm glad they delayed it in Europe, saved me the trouble of deciding whether to get one or not. Seems like people should wait a while yet.

Anonymous said...

IALS spends way too much time on the internet. More than me. And that's a lot.

But I'm sure everyone knows that already.