GameFly's most requested games in 2008

I rent from Blockbuster because of the new "no late fee" policy. For $12 you can have a game for over 30 days. That's usually more than enough time for a game. I don't play that many games, so I'd rather pay that than be obligated to pay $15 a month for GameFly.

All the game was was replayability... don't get me wrong, I liked the game, but by the end I felt like I played it 20 times

Anywho, the first two are curve balls (for me personally), but the rest seems respectable

I agree.
I think what we are seeing here are the titles that the hardcore audience RENTED in anticipation that they wouldn't like the game but still wanted to play them, or didn't need to buy it.

Nah I think its more the fact that there's only 4 or 5 wii games worth owning.

I also think it has something to do with the "gamerscore" factor, people on the 360 want to see that meaningless number grow.

The warmth coming from the glow keeps me comfortable at night, what can I say?

maybe so but if it were only 4 or 5 games worth owning than wouldnt that mean more people would rent the other games???? the wife wanted Wii Music so we rented it.......she aint like it so she told me to send it back.............

and I'll have to agree with the Gamerscore/Trophy thing........hell for a while any game with Trophies was GUARANTEED to be Low in stock......or VERY low.....damn shame really....hell I'm only at level 7......its people on my friends list that are at like 10-13.......which at this point means DAMN near 100% on every game.......

No, it's because the Wii games worth playing are generally also worth owning, because they actually have replay value that isn't tied to online play

True for some........but hell if I had to pay $60 for some of those games I damn sure wouldn't buy them......

I agree with Mr. Khan on this one. The games I have for Wii (with very few exceptions) are games I want to OWN, not just rent and finish, due to replay value. Wii games are games I want to PLAY, whenever I want to be able to do so, and continue to play and re-play even if I beat them. They are games you want to come back to again.

I can't believe there's even a discussion as to why there aren't Wii games up there.

It's because your grandma doesn't know wtf a gamefly is. That's the end of it.

LOL@Vcize

and damn why Khan get voted down??

Probably because Mr Khan had to be a fanboy about it and said that it was because Wii games were of superior value and replayability while other games had to rely on online play (which is hilarious because the #1 game on both lists has no online play).

@nabeshin

Go rent Billy Madison, then you might understand Taylormans comment.

the Wii has a tiny attach rate. I would imagine even less when renting games.

How about the fact that gamefly shows you reviews of the games on the rental page, which is going to hurt a lot of Wii games. Can you imagine how well some of these lame Wii games would sell if there was a review score next to each one at retail? The shovelware devs would go out of business!

Also, to play the Wii-hater for second, if there aren't many good games for a system, wouldn't you be more likely to buy them so that you'll always have something to play?

Feba,

What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

That is, the Wii's community is more likely to be cynical.

"What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."

Wow, that was unwarranted. What Feba said may have been irrational, but it certainly wasn't rambling, incoherent or insane. If anything, I'd say taking such a dramatic stance only shows how those same words apply to your response.

What does Red Steel have to do with it?

I mean, it's a game that people were excited about, but which cynicism allowed to fail, instead of selling really well and THEN having people hit with "oh. huh. this sucks", which is kind of an example.

I love how PS360 owners are so pissed that someone is pointing out that it's easier to find the Wii's Gems, and generally find out if you'll like a Wii game or not.

Methinks someone has not seen Billy Madison. It's a standard upgrade to your sarcasm detection unit; you should look into it.

Nabeshin

"Wow, that was unwarranted. What Feba said may have been irrational, but it certainly wasn't rambling, incoherent or insane. If anything, I'd say taking such a dramatic stance only shows how those same words apply to your response."

Your an idiot. Hows that for a dramatic stance? It was from billy maddison (a moving picture, or Mooooooveeeeeee)

You think that somebody can just come up with a gem like that on their own? However i stand behind my quote in reference to febas rambling wiiblind bowl of hot steaming crap

Nah, i think the replayability thing hits better, considering that total software sales for the Wii & DS accounted for 49% of the industry last year. More individual 360 games get on the top 10 for any particular month, then they all but disappear (except for Call of Duty: World at War, it seems). They sell through quickly, but not necessarily sell more overall. And once again, the big Wii games are generally games to own. Games whose play value stretches on

"Wii outsell the 360 on consoles all the time but every time the 360 outsells the Wii on games."

This is patently false. The Wii outsells the PS3 and Xbox 360 in both consoles and software.

NPD Top 5 Selling Games of 2008 (units in millions)
1. Wii Play (5.28)
2. Madden NFL (‘09 5.25)
3. Grand Theft Auto IV (5.22)
4. Mario Kart w/ Wheel (5.00)
5. Call of Duty: World at War (4.63)

That's two Wii exclusive games in the North American top 5 including the number one seller. The other three games are multiplatform. Ergo the sales of those remaining titles cannot be attributed solely to the Xbox 360. In fact, two of those three games were also released on the Wii. We can look at the story that was posted here on Joystiq yesterday morning to catch a glimpse of the bigger picture:

Edge-Online Top 5
1) GTA IV (13 million)
2) Mario Kart Wii (11 million)
3) Guitar Hero World Tour (10 million)
4) Wii Fit (9 million)
5) Super Smash Bros. Brawl (7 million)

That's three out of five top sellers in the US and European markets, and again, the non-Wii exclusive titles are multi-platform (including one that also sells on the Wii). Xbox 360 may pull in more Gamefly rentals than the Wii, but developers don't get any bonuses for people renting their games a bunch of times.

@Boffo, there's a big, big difference between the rankings of the top five selling games and the total software sales, especially given the Wii's top-heavy sales distribution.

That isn't to say I would be surprised if the Wii was no. 1, just that the latest top 5 is anything but evidence.

Get off the replayability thing. The 360/PS3 offer just as many (if not more) games that have 100's of hours of replayability as the Wii does.

The difference is that the 360/PS3 also have other games worth playing beyond those few.

Also, soccer moms have never heard of gamefly.

But yeah, the replayability thing for the Wii is bunk. Online play ensures that. There is no game on the Wii that could ever offer nearly the number of hours that many people put into games like Gears, Halo, CoD, etc online. Many people probably can't even find enough games on the Wii to put as many hours COMBINED into as many people put into one of those above listed games by itself.

@matthew

I concede your point that if we went further down the sales list that it is possible another console may catch up. I still believe that it is much more likely that the Wii is king of the hill here though.

The Wii leads the next closest console (Xbox 360) in software sales by 7.76 million units sold based off the NPD top 10. I've seen no more than the top 10 titles reported, so I admittedly don't have enough information to say for sure if the Wii sold more throughout the entire spectrum. However, the data available suggests a trend that has the Wii beating out the other consoles in terms of software sales..

A clear picture can't be painted by the other numbers because the multiplatform games are not broken down into individual console sales on that list.

Everyone knows Wii Play only half-counts as a software sale since it's a hardware sale too. If Microsoft or Sony included a free controller with a game, it'd sell like crazy as well. I'd almost be willing to say that the number of Wii Play's sold is equal to the number of people who have bought a second controller for the Wii, since you'd be dumb not to (post-Wii Play release, of course). That alone gives a hint at what percentage of Wii owners are interested in anything beyond Wii Sports.

Meh, the 360/PS3 already offer free demos, the Wii doesn't.

Again, this is just the lack of a "2nd tier" that's very big on the Wii. All three systems have great tier 1 games that are sure thing's worth buying. There is just a weak 2nd/3rd tier on the Wii, so there aren't really games beyond that.

If the 360/PS3 was just a small handful of elite 9.0-10.0 games and then a bunch of shovelware it would be easier to decide on as well. The 360/PS3 just offer more of a middle ground in addition to that, which the Wii skips.

hyperbole is fun, right?

It's not hyperbole. In my personal experience, I know significantly more people who bought a Wii just for Wii Sports/Fit/Play than for anything else.

For instance, I know two friends who are real gamers who bought Wiis, and myself.

However, both one friend and I sold our Wiis, both to people who were not interested in any games except Wii Sports and Wii Play. The couple I sold it to only took DDR off my hands because I basically offered it for free.

My cousins just bought a Wii, they only own that stupid "Outdoor Excercise Adventure" game with the "fake" DDR-ish pad.

Two ladies at work told me they bought Wiis for their (very young) kids. I asked what games they were getting, and they just looked at me weird. I asked if they were getting Wii Fit, and they said maybe but wanted to know how the balance board worked with the system (they didn't know it came with a game).

So there is my personal experience. I have met 5 people who bought a Wii just for Wii fit, and 3 who didn't. And 2 of those 3 sold the Wii (myself included) to people in group A.

I haven't done any research on NPD numbers, but from my own experience talking to Wii owners, my figure was actually an understatement.

So 5 friends = 50% of all Wii owners?


What??????


And Gamefly can be worth it even if you only rent 1-2 games a month.
$16 month vs $60 per game

I clearly said it wasn't a scientific sample.

And if you only rent 1 game a month, it costs a lot less to rent that game at Blockbuster/similar stores. True, you keep it for a shorter time. But most games don't take more than a week to beat anyway.

try request number 1 receive number 26 & 30....yea pissed me off too

I'm not denying your personal experience, but it might just be bad luck. I got several games in Fall 08 shipped to me in the first week of their release, including stuff like Dead Space, Gears of War 2, and Fable II. I think the trick is to only have in the queue what you want next. I usually don't have more than 2 games in my queue because I'd rather wait an extra day or two than get my #14 choice.