Microsoft disputes Nintendo's third-party victory claims
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Aug 11th 2008 at 4:00PM }
According to NPD third-party software figures, Microsoft's system has sold 67,929,999 units, followed by the Wii at 33,394,311 units and the PlayStation 3 at 19,976,325. Looking at sales occurring since the launch of the Wii, the Xbox 360 has managed 54,065,728 units (compared to Wii's 33,394,211), though it obviously benefited from having a larger install base to feed off at the time.
This particular third-party tussle has been going on since last week, when the NPD delved into sales numbers and revealed the Wii to be ahead when compared to its competitors' initial 19 months. It's all a matter of perspective, you see, albeit one that publishers (releasing games for the market as it exists right now) might not necessarily adopt. Still, with the hardware battle being won by Wii, it isn't surprising to see Microsoft putting up a fight on a more even battleground.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Fernando Rocker @ Aug 11th 2008 4:06PM
The thing is: like 85% of 360 games are from third party devs. Obviously third party sales would be bigger.
Jack of No Trades 85 @ Aug 11th 2008 4:09PM
Why does that make a difference now? If it was the other way around it would be ok right?
Im sick of your bias unintelligent comments that have been decaying Joystiq for years.
samfish @ Aug 11th 2008 4:11PM
Wow, that's not the pot calling the kettle black at all.
Fernando Rocker @ Aug 11th 2008 4:11PM
mmmm I wasn't bashing or anything. I like the 360.
Jack of No Trades 85 @ Aug 11th 2008 4:19PM
I was saying you were bashing anything. I was saying how one sided you are.
I want you to imagine if it was the other way around and if Nintendo was doing the same thing that MS is doing right now with this chart. You would fight tooth and nail with somebody to disprove the arguement you just made.
So if somebody said this you would be mad...
"The thing is: like 85% of Wii games are from third party devs. Obviously third party sales would be bigger."
And Samfish
I've been reading your comments for a long time now and I can honestly tell you that you and Fernando are pretty similar.
Fenix @ Aug 11th 2008 4:19PM
Obviously is doesn't matter at all! Even if Wii were in 1st place on 3rd party games its NEVER going to get the kind of 3rd party support from devs like PS360 does for obvious reasons. Goodness gracious! Can we please move on already?
Fernando Rocker @ Aug 11th 2008 4:22PM
"Im sick of your bias unintelligent comments that have been decaying Joystiq for years"
Weren't you banned years ago, several times for posting unintelligent and Sony biased comments?
Beelzebub @ Aug 11th 2008 4:30PM
"Samfish
I can honestly tell you that you and Fernando are pretty similar."
More like Butt Buddies.
Jack of No Trades 85 @ Aug 11th 2008 4:29PM
"Weren't you banned years ago, several times for posting unintelligent and Sony biased comments?"
Both of us have walked down that road. The difference between you and I is that I changed my perpective. You still are posting the same stuff since you arrived on Joystiq.
I remember when you got here. You have a photo of yourself and always talked about music. After I walked down the path of of the banhammer I moved onto Dtoid where I started posting models that I creat from scratch and stopped being a troll. People liked me better now. Maybe you need an epiphany to help you move on. It just angers me to see you still pulling the same comments from a year ago.
samfish @ Aug 11th 2008 4:37PM
Fine, Jack, I'll give ya a chance.
Just knock it off with the Holier Than Thou crap, as your reputation still proceeds you 'round these parts.
Lord Chako @ Aug 11th 2008 4:47PM
"Just knock it off with the Holier Than Thou crap, as your reputation still proceeds you 'round these parts."
"Wow, that's not the pot calling the kettle black at all."
Mr Khan @ Aug 11th 2008 4:48PM
Ouch. Fernando's lightened up considerably. Not only because of the banning. His returning identity was almost as bad as he was previously, but ever since he has ceased the unnecessary Sony bashing
He still bashes them, but much more appropriately
And samfish? damn. Not a troll at all. A key NDF guy around here, but never trollish
Duke @ Aug 11th 2008 4:53PM
This thread is starting to look like a mosh pit.
samfish @ Aug 11th 2008 4:55PM
I was unaware I had a reputation as a troll.
hvnlysoldr @ Aug 11th 2008 5:03PM
Well obviously Jack is envious Fernando and I had banned stalkers. Also the bottom line is profit. More profit to the companies equals more games I like.
Saria the Cat @ Aug 11th 2008 5:06PM
Oh, Joystiq comment drama. You wacky characters I know and love are the reason I keep coming here. (Oh, and because I care, Chris).
Mr Khan @ Aug 11th 2008 5:08PM
hvnlyspamr was one of the most hilarious things to happen to this site in a long, long time,
It wasn't topped until "I rest my cast"
samfish @ Aug 11th 2008 5:08PM
nakedPeach is nothing, if not a Drama Queen.
PojoMofo @ Aug 11th 2008 4:08PM
I dont think its fair for MS to compare numbers since Wii launched, because 360 had been out for a year, and already had a bunch of title in the works from that head start.
Using the NPD method for initial 19 months gets everybody on the same plane.
Lord Chako @ Aug 11th 2008 4:14PM
In the business world, there is no "fairness", only numbers.
Magetto @ Aug 11th 2008 4:25PM
Why isn't it a fair? 3rd Party Devs aren't going to care about which system sold more in it's first year, but rather which system sells the most, period. As it stands that's the xbox, by quite a large margin.
Can't we just accept that software does sell on the Wii, but sells much better on the xbox? This is such a silly argument birthed out of PR spin.
Tel Prydain @ Aug 11th 2008 4:46PM
Fair? This isn't a sports game, dude. It's not supposed to be fair. Developers aren't choosing between the Wii today and the 360 a year ago - they are choosing between the Wii and 360 right now.
Of course, no one really cares about these numbers other then fanboys.
No one developing a AAA+ RPG will suddenly decide that they'll cut down their game content for the Wii because of the original chart. Nor will anyone making a Wii-style party-game suddenly switch to the 360 because of Microsoft’s reply. This is just a stupid pissing contest.
Vcize @ Aug 11th 2008 6:47PM
If Nintendo wanted to disregard the 360's headstart and still leave their chart relevant they should have included the 360's sales during the same 19 month period as the Wii's, not the 19 months after the 360's launch, which is irrelevant.
These things are on an ever increasing curve (until the next round of consoles is released) and the 360 will ALWAYS have a year headstart. Developers don't care if the Wii at 19 months is selling more 3rd party games than the 360 was at 19 months, because that's not what they're deciding between. They're deciding between developing for the Wii at 19 months or the 360 at 31 months.
The Wii will ALWAYS be 12 months behind. The can't undo time.
Cody @ Aug 11th 2008 9:22PM
@ Vcize:
The Wii is actually 12 months AHEAD. ;)
PSN & GAMERTAG: jorojoserojas - Wii FC: 0749-8609-3752-6926 @ Aug 11th 2008 4:09PM
Blah blah blah...
Just release more games already. I'll pick and choose which ones I want to buy.
samfish @ Aug 11th 2008 4:10PM
DING DING DING!
Correct!
Duke @ Aug 11th 2008 4:16PM
Yeah, this is getting old. There is no victor in this console war. All of them are getting rich, so who cares who they say is doing what numbers- all that matters is that we get something good to play. Wii is lacking in that department to me.
Dirty @ Aug 11th 2008 4:11PM
The Wii plays games?
Draco @ Aug 11th 2008 4:11PM
That's not a fair assesment.
The PS3 didn't have any good games in the first 19 months, so this graph is skewed!!!
Mr Khan @ Aug 11th 2008 4:14PM
Life-to-date sales are definitely more deceptive than Nintendo's method, but both strategies just amount to spin in the end
I could probably produce a big wall of text explaining why i feel that the 3rd-party situation on Wii is going to be the best Nintendo has seen since the SNES, but that they are only rarely going to net the big-budget efforts from 3rd parties.
However, you are going to see more such projects (though still few in the face of the competitors), once Wii surpasses 50% marketshare all on its own
King James @ Aug 11th 2008 4:15PM
Jesus, Yahweh, Allah, Buddah, Halie Selassie and Krishna, won't this chart just die already so we can get back to just friggin' enjoying playing video games?
eugene @ Aug 11th 2008 5:00PM
Don't you know that the enjoyment you're supposed to get from a console, is not from the console but in looking for reasons why: a) the other consoles suck and b) the people who bought the other consoles are idiots?
Nobody actually "plays" their console, they just whine and bitch about everyone else's.... kinda like religion. :p
Spartacus @ Aug 11th 2008 8:36PM
Hey wait a minute... Yahweh and Jesus are the same guy! Your argument is biased towards Judeo-Christianity!
Fenix @ Aug 11th 2008 4:16PM
Nintendo should have never posted this BS in the first place.
Mr Khan @ Aug 11th 2008 4:44PM
It isn't BS, though. It's fact. It's a spin on fact, but fact anyway
Just as Microsoft's reply is equally factual.
The difference is that the former was a move to dispel the idea that 3rd-party sales were crap on the Wii, which isn't true. The releases that were effectively advertised, priced, or were all-around good have done well.
Vandor @ Aug 11th 2008 4:20PM
What? That's all? Just "it's not true"? Wow, this "analysis"-thingie is easier than I thought
Slayer @ Aug 11th 2008 4:21PM
That's funny. I didn't know high sales make the games better and that gamers would enjoy them more. I was led to believe that good games came from good devs. Maybe I was wrong?
chris @ Aug 11th 2008 4:26PM
Who cares? We all know 3rd party we games are crap no matter how many are sold. I think the wii should only be compared to ps2. Then it's still going to look dumb. Enjoy the fact it sells like crack in the Ghetto and get over the 3rd party crap. Let MS and Sony battle it out.
Snowblind @ Aug 11th 2008 4:25PM
Am I the only one that really doesn't care about sales figures, at all?
samfish @ Aug 11th 2008 4:29PM
yes
Fenix @ Aug 11th 2008 4:31PM
I dont care all that much about numbers and all that balogna but for some reason I just think it's right for the best console *all around (which IMO is Xbox 360) to be leading in overall sales.
It should be Xbox360, PS3, then Wii.
Period.
chris @ Aug 11th 2008 4:37PM
If youre counting break downs then yes the 360 is far better than the other consoles.
samfish @ Aug 11th 2008 4:45PM
I care about them insofar as traditionally, the market leader has always gotten the most great games. This isn't the case with the Wii, in part because the perception that 3rd party games don't sell on the Wii exists.
...but the truth is, as disappointed as I am with the Wii, I suspect I'd be equally let down if it was getting the kind of games that are most commonly being made for PS360, too, as I have little interest in most of them.
I was really hoping that one of two things would happen with the Wii's sales lead:
Either a lot of the DS devs would stop up to the Wii, and we'd get great games like Soul Bubbles or and the like, or
2) Publishers would do what they've done since forever, see what genres are selling big on the lead console and make more games in said genres...in the Wii's case, Action-Adventure and platformers (and party games, which is has in spades).
...but so far, neither of those scenarios have really panned out.
Donald @ Aug 11th 2008 4:46PM
Fenix, what you think shouldn't dictate how systems sell.
Fenix @ Aug 11th 2008 4:51PM
Donald
IMO, IM-fucking-O!
Duke @ Aug 11th 2008 5:02PM
Chris, troll someplace else. Its always a rrod or xbots comment from you. Give it a fucking rest already.
Superstar90 @ Aug 11th 2008 8:11PM
I have the same feelings as samfish with the Wii... It has so much sales, but there is rarely a third party game that I want. Capcom games have been the few so far, but I want more NEW stuff (I like Okami and RE4 and all but... where the fuck is Viewtiful Joe 3?)
Also, I want Nintendo to bring new IP's to the Wii... the DS has got loads of new ones, they should do the same with the Wii.
verymetal @ Aug 11th 2008 4:30PM
I think the victor in the console wars is determined by who has the most systems sold.
Park Zero @ Aug 11th 2008 4:39PM
No the victor goes to whoever I like the best. Period.
007craft @ Aug 11th 2008 4:43PM
I disagree. I think the victor is whoever sells the most software, or perhaps makes the most moeny.
In fact If you have sold the most consoles (wii) and your software sales are not even half of your competitors, who has sold less hardware then you, then I would consider that a pretty big failure, as your system is clogged with crappy games that no1 buys. Maybe still a success financially, but from a gamers perspective, failure.