's Blog: Super Smash March
April 19, 2008 at 03:01Nintendo is once again making a huge impact on the game market. Their Wii platform is a huge success and so is their portable DS platform. Both are outselling Sony’s Playstation and Microsoft's XBox 360 by more than 2 to 1.
Despite a slow economy in the US, game platform sales are booming. The latest figures from NPD Group show that with Wii and DS, Nintendo owns more than half the total platform sales market:
Nintendo’s riding a huge wave of popularity with the recent release of Super Smash Bros. March sales figures show Super Smash Bros. Brawl selling 2.7 million copies in March alone. Ars Technica puts that into perspective:
Nintendo sold a copy of Super Smash Bros. to 31 percent of its US installed base in one month. Just when our expectations are set for what Nintendo can do in sales, the company comes up with a new way to blow away the competition. Nothing in software or hardware came close to touching what Nintendo did this month (full story in Ars Technica)
This is a classic example of function over form.
The Wii is lots of fun to play, even if the games lack the quality and resolution of the Playstation or XBox. Obviously it doesn't matter - Nintendo games' arcade style characters pale in comparison to more sophisticated characters on other platforms - but the game play is fun, simple, and fast.
A game of Super Smash Bros. doesn't require a huge commitement of time or deep thought - it's just tried and true fun. And Wii tennis has a learning curve of zero.
Sony's PSP may have outstanding graphics, a wonderful screen and a great form factor, but the DS is still outselling it more than 2 to 1. In our house, with two game playing boys, the PSP hasn't been out of the closet in months - the DS gets used cosntantly.
At the end of the day, it's the game - the content - that makes the difference.
