Wii are the champions

14-09-2007

by Emmet Ryan

Nintendo has returned to the top of the console pile with the Wii overtaking the Xbox 360 as the best selling next-gen console.

A report by Japanese analysts Nikkei Net Kansai found that by the end of July, the Wii had sold 9 million units across Japan, America and Germany, outdoing Microsoft Xbox 360 sales of 8.8 million during the same period despite launching a year later. The Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3), which was launched in the US and Japan within a few days of the Wii, only sold 3.7 million units during the same timeframe.

Not since the heady days of the SNES and its predecessor the NES could the Japanese console giant stand tall and proclaim itself king of console makers. It's been over a decade since Sony came from seemingly nowhere to knock Nintendo off its pedestal with the PlayStation before Microsoft entered the party with the original Xbox, leaving Nintendo's N64 and Gamecube trailing behind. How fitting it is now for Nintendo to 'pull a Sony' and come from the role of dark horse to be market leader yet again.

For Nintendo this victory has been largely down to the firm adopting a different approach to gaming. It's also been helped by its rivals facing problems with their consoles.

The PS3 was beset with problems from the start, a hefty price tag, delays to the launch and an inability to get units made fast enough. Microsoft on the other hand had been riding high on the Xbox 360 but recent months have been less kind to the console. In July the IT giant said it was setting aside USD1 billion to cover problems with faulty consoles.

While its rivals have faced adversity Nintendo has generally made the headlines for positive or quirky reasons, the latter is hardly surprising given the control mechanism (the Wii-mote) used by the Wii. Aside from some early teething problems users had with the wand-like control mechanism it's been plain sailing for the console, which now appears to be the king of the hill.

Top dogs are there to be knocked down though and Nintendo knows all too well that its competitors are gunning for it. Two words are likely to put hope in the hearts of Microsoft executives in the run up to Christmas: Halo 3. The release of the massively anticipated game is likely to give Xbox 360 sales a boost when it is released later this month and could shift the tide back towards Microsoft.