Wii gets nearly double PS3's attach rate in Japan

by Julian Thomas { Dec 5th 2006 at 9:15AM }

Nintendo's of Japan's rosy Wii launch looked even rosier today as Media Create unveiled preliminary sales figures giving the machine a 1.8 attach rate, trouncing the PS3's "I'm only buying it to sell on Yahoo auctions" 0.98 attach rate. While this may seem low compared to the States, it's a lot better than the Japanese Cube's 1.2 launch attach rate and the Japanese DS's paltry 0.89. The top ten games and hardware sales were:

Wii hardware: 350,358
Wii Sports: 176,167
Wii Play: 174,297
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: 139,011
Odoru Made in Wario: 63,954
Swing Golf Pangya: 12,908
Ennichi no Tatsujin: 10,763
Red Steel: 9,392
SD Gundam SCAD Hammers: 9,226
Tamagotchi Pika Pika Daitouryou: 8,042
Elebits: 5,791

As rosy as these sales figures are for Nintendo, they're a bit of a kick in the teeth to third-parties, whose offerings achieved sales that can only be described as comparatively weak. Third-parties have always struggled to compete with Nintendo's acclaimed first- and second-party development teams and, according to these preliminary numbers, it seems that this trend will continue on the Wii. It'll be interesting, and important, to see how third-party titles fare on the Wii in the upcoming months.

Tags: attach rate, AttachRate, Japan, Japanese hardware sales, JapaneseHardwareSales

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

> @ Dec 5th 2006 9:27AM

You want to know how third party titles will fair? They're getting SHIT reviews.. thats how.

http://www.gamespot.com/reviews.html?type=reviews&platform=1031&mode=all&sort=post_date&dlx_type=all&sortdir=asc

http://wii.ign.com/index/reviews.html

Zelda is the highest rated game, cause its Zelda and took over 4 years to make. WiiSports is rated high becuase people didnt have to pay for it.

The most common complaints are:

- controls that dont make sense
- graphics that are worst than xbox
- non-exisitent AI
- no physics
- shallow gameplay
- etc, etc.

jron @ Dec 5th 2006 9:27AM

so wii sports wasn't included with the japanese wii?

crono141 @ Dec 5th 2006 9:29AM

Well, maybe if the 3rd party's made games that didn't suck, they'd sell better. This is almost like companies complaining that their sales of PC games are low because everyone is playing WoW.

crono141 @ Dec 5th 2006 9:37AM

Sounds like > is scared because Sony didn't do nearly so well...

Pete C @ Dec 5th 2006 9:30AM

Wii Sports outsold Zelda in Japan? WTF?!?!?!?

Earl @ Dec 5th 2006 9:36AM

That's not fair, I want Elebits too!

Doesn't this just shove the "Sony sucks" theme down the fanboys' throats? You mean people waited in line because they actually WANTED to play the Wii??!!!?!
Guess there are no "hardcore gamers" in Japan.

3rd party developers will be putting out plenty of games for the Wii. Why you ask? Because there are a lot of consoles being sold, and fast.
Now is it the Nintendo's fault they make kick ass games? Nope, 3rd party devs just need to step up to the plate and get innovative with their games.
I hear EA is working on some exclusives, which should be interesting.

Charron @ Dec 5th 2006 9:39AM

I'll play devil's advocate here and pretend > is serious. In between the two games he mentioned, on both sites he cited, there are the same 4 third-party games. Trauma Center (Atlus), Monkey Ball (Sega), Madden (EA), and Rayman (Ubisoft). There are great third-party games out.
Problem is, most people don't know because Nintendo games get the attention first. (I'll admit guilt myself, first and only game I bought was Zelda.) They get first billing because, historically, they're damn good. But people, if you want the third-party support to stick around, get these games, or at least one of 'em.

epobirs @ Dec 5th 2006 9:48AM

Positive revenue from day 1. Nice to see for a change.

Earl @ Dec 5th 2006 9:44AM

Trauma Center is GREAT on the DS, and read it is even better on the Wii. I too am guilty of just buying Zelda, but that is because Christmas is coming up I need to leave something for people to get me.
So I plan on getting Trauma Center and Rayman. I had to rent Rayman first, and it truly is a fun game! I still need to rent Monkey Balls too.

bubbastump @ Dec 5th 2006 9:50AM

The 360 has a 5.2 attach rate which blows away both Sony and the Wii combined several times over. So I don't think either Sony or the Wii have anything to boast in right now when it comes to attach rates.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/business/news/e3i74d7f1097c5379d68a04f292200c079f

Jaded Alyx @ Dec 5th 2006 9:54AM

bubbastump,

1. This is in Japan only.
2. This is at launch.

epobirs @ Dec 5th 2006 9:56AM

There is nothing to feel guilty about if your Wii purchased wasn't accompanied by an armload of games. It very early for the machine, reviews were pending, and discounts were few and far between. Such is the situation when buying at launch.

The big difference is that many machines have launched in the past with a single worthy game and very few release for months to follow, leaving the early adopters with little to throw their money at after becoming sated by that first game.

I'd say the Wii launch lineup has managed to give shoppers more and better options than most other launches.

Deej @ Dec 5th 2006 9:55AM

When you bear in mind that around 75% of all Wii advertising in japan had images of Wii Sports it becomes unsuprising that it saw a great attach rate (even compared to Zelda) . Advertising for 3rd party games was non existent. 3rd parties will be pleased to note however that worldwide around a million Wii's are in circulation now meaning that there is plenty of potential for games which get good word of mouth to become sleeper hits - I'm thinking Elebits could definately do that in Japan

lowallyn @ Dec 5th 2006 9:55AM

bleh i dont like game spot reviews as for ps3 http://ps3.ign.com/index/reviews.html
not doing so good either

lowallyn @ Dec 5th 2006 10:00AM

so whats sony's excuse maybe we just suck thats right isnt it wii 10 games 80% or higher
ps3 at 7 when it comes to ign. you can check gamespot im not gonna bother.

epobirs @ Dec 5th 2006 10:05AM

#10

The Xbox 360 stats are averages for the entire installed base. This includes the million machines that have passed or are coming up on their first year of use. That is a very different issue than the attach rate at time of pruchse or within a week of purchase.

Comparable stats for the PS3 and Wii won't be possible until this time next year.

algernon @ Dec 5th 2006 10:01AM

bubbastump,

lol if you actually read that article you would see that 5.2 is pretty low for the 360... since its been out for a year now

takao @ Dec 5th 2006 10:02AM

@10
and the 360 has been out out ... 2 days right ?

let's face it: attachment rates only make sense if you compare products which are available for the same amount of time ;)

(the wii outsold the 360 + ps3 in japan on it's launch day .. so much for that)

> @ Dec 5th 2006 10:03AM

lol .. Nintendopes (crono et al) bringing up PS3 launch games. Yea, most of them suck... that doesnt make sucky Wii games any better, does it?

If you spent time reading the Wii review, you will see that there are fundemental issues with them; namely, control and GC-level graphics. Read the Splinter Cell and Marvel reivews for a good laugh.

But, never mind, just close your eyes and pretend that these arent issues at all.

McWeen @ Dec 5th 2006 10:09AM

Of the games I got at launch Rayman got the most attention. Zelda has been sitting on the back burner compared to Rayman, Wii Sports and virtual console Bomberman. I love Zelda, its a great game but I mean, you have played it before. Zelda's haven't differed that much since Ocarina.

mgroves @ Dec 5th 2006 10:15AM

I think the only decent 3rd party launch title (in the U.S. anyway) is Madden, and I doubt football would go over very well in Japan. Raving Rabids is supposed to be okay, but all the best launch titles are first party. Which makes sense.

Lou D @ Dec 5th 2006 10:15AM

IIRC the 360 launch had a 1.9 or less attach ratio in the US.

I bought 5 Wii games on launch day. Zelda, Exite Truck, Red Steel, GT Pro Series, Madden 07 and Dragonball Z. Of those, 3 were 3rd party and of those I only regret GT Pro Series as it's even below Gamecube level graphics...but plays nice...though the wheel should have been designed to hold the controller higher so it's easier to press the gas button...and how do you include analog steering but not analog acceleration and braking...which could have been mapped to tilting forward and back.

crono141 @ Dec 5th 2006 10:21AM

WTF are you talking about >? I was talking about 3rd party nintendo games relative to 1st party ones, and the fact your insecure in your sony fanboyism because nintendo is trouncing your favorite system with one with "5 year old graphics" and "a gimmicky control scheme".

Every system has bad games at launch (like all but 1 ps3 game and all the 360 launch games). The fact that a ton of Wii games are getting great reviews (DBZ anyone?) is a testament to the creativity inspired by the Wii.

burn @ Dec 5th 2006 10:21AM

ya know, its only been a few weeks.

check back after the quarter is over, and then check the 3rd party unit numbers.

generally speaking nintendo's in house games are far superior of a product to the 3rd party offerings.

Though not all 3rd party games suck, the majority of them do.

give the system more time. Not everybody who wanted one, can get one (myself included), and when that happens you will probably start to see with more clarity how the 2nd and 3rd party games fare on this new system.

Its not fair to anyone to even talk about this stuff right now because only a third of people who wanted one got one, and its probably going to be a while before the majority of folks get to even play the thing.

Anna @ Dec 5th 2006 10:26AM

Out of curiosity does anyone know what the North American attatch rate for the PS3 and Wii is?

shase @ Dec 5th 2006 10:25AM

PS3 doesnt have as many games and I only got RR7 and Resistance @ launch. Genji is a rent. I am waiting for Motorstorm and Hevenly sword next.

Hugh Mann @ Dec 5th 2006 10:24AM

Everybody is saying "Ooooo, look, that or this had a slightly highr/lower attatch rate than X"

In the article it mentions the DS attatch rate as very poor, yet this is the best selling handheld in the world right now.

all this stuff about initial sales figures is bull.
I bet the initial figures for iPod sales wern't that impressive (oh, wow apple has made an MP3 player, so what? was most people's initial reaction) yet as the device gained popularity, and managed to become considered "cool", everyone and his dog suddenly wanted one.

Now in the case of the PS3 vs Wii, the Wii is unheard of by most people 8 - 12 months ago, but is currently rapidly gaining popularity, and becoming this Xmas' must have item. The PS3 on the other hand has been "highly anticipated" for far too long now, and I think that interest has now peaked.

ChrisBo @ Dec 5th 2006 10:24AM

I was wondering where in the hell > has been keeping himself. Looks like he popped up to crap all over a good news post for the Wii. >, do you have a PS3 yet?

Honestly, though, I didn't think his first post was trashing the Wii--bad games get bad reviews, so there you go. As for the first-generation Wii games? Give it time, this is just the launch. Remember: things can only get BETTER from here on out. I'd also like to point that out to whoever said that the Wii would be awesome and perfect at launch; I hope their bubble was popped when they got their Wii and realized that, while good, the Wii wasn't everything Nintendo cracked it up to be... yet.

As for the PS3, I'm sure the games for it a year from now will look amazing. I remember how skeptical I was (rightly so) about Xbox 360 when it launched, and I was right. Now, though? The 360's got some pretty killer (and sweet-looking) games. I'm sure the same will happen for the PS3. Whether or not I'll BUY a PS3, though, at $500-$600, is the major question. The answer is no. It'll be years to get a PS3 'cause it's too damn expensive. Consequently, I won't be getting a Wii for a few months since demand is super-high right now and I'm not that hard up for a Wii to wait overnight for one (I live in Indianapolis, just moved from Dallas two months ago, and I am VERY not used to the cold weather here! Also, GO COWBOYS! TAKE THAT, COLTS!). Also, Nintendo seems to be having some hardware issues so I want to wait until those are fixed.

TehSudds @ Dec 5th 2006 10:35AM

#2, Wii Sports did not sell with the system (note that they sold two times as many Wiis and they did that game? Know you what numbers are?)

#28, no specific numbers, but I know both numbers were higher (with the Wii leading).

Attach rate is doubly important to Sony because they're selling each console at a slight loss. Nintendo makes money on each console, and on their first party games, which tend to be the top sellers on any of their consoles. In other words, even if they didn't outsell their competitors, Nintendo would be making a killing.

Farseer @ Dec 5th 2006 11:27AM

Yay, > is back!

We needed a good trolling!

Get a ps3 yet buddy?

lol

JodyAnthony @ Dec 5th 2006 10:41AM

for > and others that like to say wii is bad because of its graphics:

I have Zelda and Wii Sports for Wii, and I have a 360 with Gears, Zelda has 35 hours put into it so far, Gears has 16, and Wii Sports (the 'ugliest' of the three) has about 50 hours put into it. I know quite a few people that would have similar time put into the above games.

if a game is fun, the graphics aren't the end-all be-all. Are pretty graphics nice? no shit. Do they really matter all that much in the long run? hardly.

you can say I'm just an "nbot" or "wiitard" or whatever your term du jour is, but at the end of the day, more people are having more fun with Wii Sports than they are with Gears of War (considered by many to be the best looking game ever made)

Anna @ Dec 5th 2006 10:46AM

29. I figured they'd be higher out here, since I didn't see a single person walk out with less then 3 games. (We were all forced to take 2, and then 95% of the people took zelda as well) I bought 4 games, so stores like mine... would have to push the numbers up.

Moogle @ Dec 5th 2006 10:47AM

IIRC, the 360 got panned for months after launch for having xbox level graphics on most of its titles, and it was *supposed* to be phenomenally better.

Crap is crap no matter what system it's on. From the CNET Splinter Cell Wii review, they point out that that studio has historically sucked at porting games, so it follows the trend of one developer. The marvel game was a multiplatform release, which was pretty much expected. Whoop-tee-doo.

Really, >, you need better arguments, it seems to me you're struggling to turn over every rock to find anything bad to say. :)

I'm doing my part for the Wii attach rate in the US, I got 3 games but I'm thinking about trading in Red Steel for Rayman or whatever I don't get for Xmas. Honestly I was enjoying it well enough but I think the reviews hurt my opinion of the game more than the game did. I'll play through it before I decide whether to keep it tho, it has been kinda fun so far.

> @ Dec 5th 2006 10:58AM

Heres the difference folks. The PS3 games that suck, suck because they suck. They were poorly made games and rushed out to market for the launch.

The Wii games are getting poor reviews because of CONTROL issues which in turn hinder the level of FUN. Why are Splinter Cell and Marvel Wii getting lower reviews than the other platforms? Because the CONTROLS suck and hinder the FUN that would otherwise been had if the controls werent so sucky. The GC-level graphics dont help, but, the reviews seem to be able to ignore that (Zelda got high scores).

This is a fundemental issue here that wont be resolved with newer games. Mario64 nailed the controls perfectly when analog sticks came out... SMB nailed the controls when the d-pad came out... if devs cant get the wiimote right, then its hopeless.

And, the Wii is ALL about the CONTROLS and how its suppose to make games better despite crap graphics. The reviews are saying that; NO, the wiimote aint the shit and in fact makes games worse (lower scores than on other platforms).

Seriously though, dont take my word for it, go read the actual reviews.

hegemonyhog @ Dec 5th 2006 11:12AM

"And, the Wii is ALL about the CONTROLS and how its suppose to make games better despite crap graphics. The reviews are saying that; NO, the wiimote aint the shit and in fact makes games worse (lower scores than on other platforms)."

Uh, the remote doesn't make the games worse.

The programmers not adapting the game for the remote properly makes the games worse. When 3D gaming and analog control became the order of the day, we saw a crap ton of awful platformers with spotty controls and bad cameras. That doesn't mean that the PS1 or the N64 made those games bad - bad programming made those games bad.

Charron @ Dec 5th 2006 11:18AM

#33

Well, of course the Nintendo games are gonna get the new control scheme right, it's their control scheme. I'm sure there were launch games for the NES that had no idea how to use the d-pad, and for the N64 that didn't know what to do with the joystick. The fact that someone's getting the control scheme right means that it can be done, and those particular games didn't. You couldn't make a game that properly uses the remote; does that mean nobody can? Of course not. It means you can't.

ChrisBo @ Dec 5th 2006 11:17AM

Translation from > : "Remember kids, if at first you don't succeed... eh, screw it, go home."

Remember the horror stories reported when the PS2 first came out, about how hard it was at first to develop for? Or the horror-stories we're hearing now about the PS3? Could we just imagine what would happen if all those developers just threw up their hands and said, "Crap, this crap is too hard. Don't bother guys! The Gamecube/Wii is much easier to program for! Don't even bother with this Playstation crap."

I'm glad *THAT* didn't happen.

Are you actually serious, >? I've gone back to read the reviews, >, and you're right. The reviews say that the controls for Red Steel suck. The controls for kicking in Madden are off. I also read that, in Madden, everything else was done pretty well. I also went further and read things OTHER than the reviews.

I read the previews. Far Cry has improved controls OVER Red Steel. Metroid Prime were able to refine the controls more and feel better now.

To say that there's no room for improvement, that's just... WOW. I can't believe you'd say something like that! Things can ALWAYS be improved! Look at RE4 for the PS2! I didn't believe they could pull that off! Or just take RE4, PERIOD! Leaps and bounds in controls and direction over its predeccessors!

kimo @ Dec 5th 2006 11:26AM

I bought 4 games at launch. Three are 3rd party. One of my favorites by far is Trauma Center. I like the Wii.

Todd @ Dec 5th 2006 11:49AM

"Seriously though, don’t take my word for it, go read the actual reviews."
If you've gamed for any length of time you know that reviews have nothing to do with sales. Plus your argument about control issues holds no water. Some games created for standard controllers that have been out for years have serious control issues. It's not the remote that causes these control issues it's the games creators. While I do see the point that control issues will be harder to overcome with the remote, simply because it is new; it will also allow for some games to have phenomenal control. This will make up for any “crappy” graphics. Why else do you think people are trumpeting their praises for Wii Sports, even though it didn't receive really high review scores?

Joseph @ Dec 8th 2006 7:04PM

The worst Wii game is better than the best PS3 game

Yoshi Likes Boys @ Dec 5th 2006 12:43PM

Personally, I'm excited by all the bad games on the Wii, it reminds me of the NES era, where Monkey Game Studio couldn't just throw something out there, when if you didn't put thought and effort into it, your third party game would suck. It shows that there's a huge upside to be discovered for developers as opposed to the steady line of mediocrity we've seen for a few years now.

Zelda, Wiisports, and Trauma Center control very well. Monkeyball controlled like ass. All that means to me is that developers who don't put the proper effort into their design will create bad games. OH NOES~.

Sony HQ @ Dec 5th 2006 12:04PM

Hey ">" I demand that you apologize to the posters and get in line with our PR department. Remember you drone, the Wii is more fun as your Australian overlord emphasized in an interview.

Behave or we'll take your Playstation 3.

Darkness @ Dec 5th 2006 12:47PM

Okay. I think things are different in Japan, but also, people buy games later. I bought only Red Steel originally with my system. However, the next week I picked up Trauma Center and Zelda. In the U.S. I say that people simply wanted more types of games and I don't know anyone who has less than three Wii games. EA is liking the sales numbers, as are Ubisot and other third parties. Games that don't normally do well in Japan (first person shooters, western made games in general) aren't going to suddenly be viable in Japan. I'm sure these companies knew this going in.

It doesn't surprise me that third party sales weren't that good. It'll be good to look at the numbers again in a week or two.

Rocket Punch @ Dec 5th 2006 12:27PM

Well, In Japan they don't bundle rap3 you vs US's pay $800 for a $299 wii bundle. Yes I use the word "rap3", as in bendover and try to enjoy it if you can.

Thanks BB,CC,EB and GS!

Aex @ Dec 5th 2006 3:29PM

I think that is an awesome attach rate. Too bad the story had to be sullied by fanboy rivalry. Oh well. The thing that pops out at me the most is the low attach of 3rd party games. Even Elebits, which has won oh so many rewards for oh so many shows, only sold a measly 6k. In turn the best selling games on the Wii are Nintendo games. Stats like this really drive the point home that 3rd parties shy away from developing for Nintendo cause their biggest competitor is Nintendo.

Remember, the Ps3 is good in its own light, just as the Wii is good in its. I'll probably be buying a Ps3 before a Wii, because I don't think the Wii has much lasting power. Stats like this, showing great attach rates for Nintendo games only also don't up my confidence in that. Hopefully a year or two from now I'll be proven 100% incorrect and the Wii will have the best offering. :)

Oh! hegemonyhog:

"Uh, the remote doesn't make the games worse.

The programmers not adapting the game for the remote properly makes the games worse."

It is the same thing. If there was no wiimote, there would be no reason to adapt the remote properly. Thus no degredation in the game. Right now the Wiimote is a detriment to 3rd-party crossplatform games. When they learn to program the controls for the games better, then it may be a positive note, and may even make the wii the crossplatform choice. Right now tho, the wiimote is causing games to be crappier.

DojoRacoon @ Dec 5th 2006 5:13PM

I know it's late in the thread and < has probably started trolling his next thread (I think this is the same guy that posted his comment about one article in the comment thread of a newer article just so people would pay attention to him.

Anyway the point I want to make is you're argument about the controls only works if a. every site said the controls don't work and b. all games that were ports got generally worse reviews than the other games. You're right that overall scores for Marvel COD and Splinter Cell were slightly worse for the Wii (the difference is negligable for all but splinter cell). Madden 07 actually scored better on the Wii than anything else. This tells me one thing the controls can be done right and on several games already actually have been done right.

Trauma center controls are well done. As are Rayman, the single player part of Monkey Ball, Zelda, and of course Wii Sports. A good number of the reviews for Zelda go as far to say that they can't imagine playing a Zelda game any other way. The controls can be done right it is entirely up to the developers. As for the graphics, get over it almost every one else is. I'm not saying it wouldn't be nice to have high def but it's not a deal breaker by any means.

justchris @ Dec 5th 2006 10:48PM

@Anna, we don't have exact numbers, the best reports we have (from gamestop) were ~1.5 for the PS3 and ~3.0 for the Wii. That doesn't include any of the bundles though, I expect attach rates were much higher in the US because of forced bundling from various retailers.

byrn @ Dec 6th 2006 12:32PM

My roommate got a Wii and I've been playing with it quite a bit. I've been around since the Colecovision, and every time we've had a new thing out, the 1st gen that were made by the console publisher were cool, but most of everybody else's sucked. The same thing is holding true right now. Nintendo made the thing, so they know what it can and can't do.

I don't see the Wii as being a "portable" system right now (something you can just port a game from another system to). It might work if a lot of thought goes into the control scheme. Usually ports have just been a quick re-code just to try to make a quick buck (that's not always the case, but usually). But the system is too young right now to say anything.

There's probably lots of games that can't use the Wiimote very well. I'd love to see someone try Smash Bros Brawl with a Wiimote. Then again, there's gonna be lots of games that you can't do without/wouldn't be half as fun without the Wiimote. Wii Sports would just be dumb if you couldn't actually "play" it.

I guess all I'm trying to say is that it's too early to say Wii this, PS3 that, and 360 there. Give the game developers some time to figure out how to use the new stuff and THEN I'll side.