3DS sales reach 113K units during UK launch weekend, 330K across EU

@laser beams

Theres never been a system since the SNES thats launched with more than one or two worthwhile games.

@laser beams
Yeah its not like itll be getting more games as the months go by.

@laser beams

Here's betting it has a better software library than the PSP in just a years time.

Also, Shadow Wars is a really awesome launch title.

@Muu

Your really taking this personal.

@Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell

So pointing out bad journalism is now considered taking things personally? Great. I stopped bothering with Gawker blogs because I might as well read the latest news from the writing on stalls, if the trend continues it's just one less site that I visit during the day.

@Muu

I agree 100%.

Certain blogs have become UNREADABLE because of their god-awful attempts at journalism.

The more people like us who put their foot down and hit 'em where it hurts (site traffic) the more likely some of these morons *cough*Kotaku*cough* will change their ways.

@CrashMan

sensationalism and being a paid off pen really helps a lot to stay afloat.
go ask kotaku how much they charge to write a piece for your game\device ;)

@Muu

On Aprils fools day of all days you should just take it as a joke.

@Muu


Also just to point out that blogs aren't pure news outlets. They are commentary so it's more opinion than journalism. If you just want pure news with no opinion go to another website.

@CrashMan

Yet another taking things to heart. Don't worry bro it was just a joke.

@CrashMan

I see tons of Hummers in my area. Doesn't mean it's a good offroading vehicle that won't sink in the ground isntead of climbing over it. I see people who buy Dominion homes (our local, typical cookie cutter homes made of balsa wood). Dozens of these neighborhoods have popped up all over the place. But it doesn't mean that it's a well built home with good resale value.

My point is, millions may have bought the Wii. But last I checked, while the theory is similar, MS and Sony didn't carbon copy the Wii. The games are much more fleshed out (for the Move at least) in features, control and graphics, and the tech is better. They released something, wait for it, when it was ready! Kinda like how the 3DS is coming out with a not-even-3 hour long battery life on default settings. That's modern day Nintendo for you. Releasing first with new tech, then falling behind later on. Their the gaming equivalent of Apple.

@Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell

Ok, well ... yo' momma sucks [ radio edit ].

See?

It's not funny, it's out-dated, and it's unnecessarily insulting assuming you like the subject in question.

But, since it's just a joke, I should keep saying it, right?

@Shockwave

Yes, clearly Sony and MS release things "when they're ready." That's why the XBox has the failure rate it does and why the first PS3s were so timely they had the heating efficiency of a small nuclear warhead and the price tag to match.

By the way, how "ready" was the six-axis motion controls?

But no, I'm sure Sony/MS released their stuff when they did because of planning, not because of following the market leader... totally unrelated.

And yea, I would HOPE having 4 years to copy someone else's idea would result in an UPGRADE. Yet the Move is nearly identical to the MotionPlus, and Kinect is very impressive, but not necessarily great for games.

@Shockwave

Hater in the house!

@CrashMan
I think I smell a fanboy...

I mean, your argument is cohesive and you actually make a valid point, but yopu convey your message with a poor choice of words in the original post. And now you must endure the bashing.

@CrashMan

You do realize Sony's motion controller has been in testing since around 2001 right? Even in 2001 it looked pretty similar to how it does now.

I can't say for sure as I haven't tried the WM+ or the Move, but by all accounts the Move is much more accurate than the Wii even with WM+ attached, and the WM+ hasn't even been that well supported thus far.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PtoxKDcCXc

Video is a 2004 demo showing off what they'd worked on in 2001.

@CrashMan

Very few people I know actually enjoyed the wii for an extended period of time. It was a fade that shortly passed. It sold tons and no one is buying games for it now. Why do you think developers aren't flocking to make AAA titles for it?

@TheShaper

That's a real issue with gaming today.

If you like one thing more than another, even when you have rational concepts to back that opinion, you're a "fanboy."

I used to post my gaming history because I love what Nintendo has done so much with the Wii and DS that people just assume I'm a fan boy. When, in fact, the Wii and DS are the first Nintendo consoles I've purchased since the NES and the Gameboy.

If anything, I've spent more hours on Sony platforms than Nintendo.

... and then this generation came and all the games my friends and I wanted to play were on the Wii and the DS. Like, all of them.

My teenage nephew and my one "hardcorez" friend are the only ones who don't still play Wii games.

So... that's where my current perspective comes from! ^_^
Hope it informs others' sense of smell =P

@Maximo

People in 2005/6/7/8/9/10: "Wii is a fad. Nintendo is doomed next year!"

And still first party games continue to show some of the best sales of any this generation.

The third parties don't make AAA games because they apparently can't be bothered to put in the effort for one platform when they can put the same effort in and get it out on the HD twins. Two for the price of one is pretty enticing. Plus, no one wants to wrestle with the PR headache of putting violent games on a "family" platform at vice versa.

As far as third party sales, it works the same as first party. High quality = high sales. MH3 and RE4 do well because they weren't watered down, half-assed attempts at HD games.

Wii Music and Mario Sports Mix sold worse than other first party games because they weren't up to the usual Nintendo quality.

... it's really not complicated.

But if you're happier swallowing down stereotypes ... buy all means, keep on keepin' on.

@CrashMan
Pretty sure third party (aka Just Dance) is selling better than recent first party Wii games....

@xxxsam

Congraturation! You have name the_exception!

+1000 pts

@CrashMan

I don't even know if that rule applies anymore.

I've seen lots of good 3rd party games get decent (at best) sales or just get terrible sales. There's always someone who wants to blame it on the marketing or the quality, but when games like The Conduit get all the marketing a game could ever need, and strive to raise the bar, and then still not sell as well as your average AAA HD game, it seems odd.

HOTD:OK and Madworld are two other standout examples of fairly good games that didn't sell well at all.

Then there's 3rd party games that sell amazingly well, such as Just Dance/Just Dance 2, Michael Jackson: The Experience, Guitar Hero 3, EA Sports Active, MH3, RE4...

The majority of the top selling titles are either Nintendo games, games published or featuring Nintendo characters, games like Nintendo games, or core games with a huge "mass market" appeal (like Guitar Hero).

There are plenty of amazing games being made for the Wii all the time, and there's lots of reasons to own one, but even making a AAA core game that people should love doesn't mean it'll sell well. It seems like sequels and mass-market games are just what sell the best for 3rd parties.

@sonicspike41

This is good because in your post you both answered your own uncertainties and illustrated my very point.

You're right, mass market games sell best on the Wii. Games with name recognition (often first party), games with incredible publicity (fitness and Wii ____ games, rhythm games) and exclusive games of high quality (MH3, RE4). Funny... those are the same criteria that sells well on ALL platforms! =P

However, HOTD:OK and Madworld, while "quality" to some (myself included) are not "mass market" games. They are niche games at worst and cult hits at best. That's speaking from a content perspective, not just a sales perspective.

The fact of the matter is, the Wii will get Tatsunoko VS Capcom and the HD twins will get Super/Street Fighter 4. Both quality games, but you're telling me you didn't expect one to massively outsell the other?

The Wii got the Conduit, yes, and I for one loved that game enough to play it 5 times through. But it wasn't Halo, Killzone or GoldenEye. So it put up merely decent sales numbers (though clearly enough for a sequel!). Meanwhile, GoldenEye (which IS GoldenEye! =P) sold well over a million in only two markets (US and EU).

So, again, to sum up ... when 3rd parties take off their training bras and put real content on the Wii, their bravery is rewarded with $$$. But when 3rd parties hedge their bets with mid-budget experiments (NMH), half-assed efforts (DeadSpace =/= DS:E) and outright shovelware, the response is will only ever be luke warm barring a lightning-in-a-bottle situation.

Put Dead Space 3 on the Wii, make it exclusive so that the devs put in "Nintendo level" effort and polish, and magically the Wii audience will become evident to the cynics. Promise. =)

Lastly, people enjoy those Dance games. It might not be you, me or the authors of most gaming websites. But it is millions of people. One game can be a fad. Three games of outrageous sales shows repeat customers. Meaning they feel they get their money's worth enough to opt in again! The only concern here is whether the developer feels like running it into the ground like the Rock/Hero franchises.

Good talking with you.

@CrashMan

It was posted on Aprils fools day. If you can't take a joke on April fools day then you are wound way to tight. Aside from that, blogs are in the business of opinion not just reporting news. Don't like it? Find a site that either just reports news with no commentary or one more inline with your same opinion. Why come to a site you have no confidence in?

@Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell

This is too stupid to actually respond to.

@CrashMan

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your point then. You say that games need to have quality to sell, I point out quality games that didn't sell (though HOTD and Madworld are a bit more niche) and you say you're right. You then point to another quality game that's probably not going to sell well despite being an established name with plenty of marketing.

It seems to be that the Wii crowd just doesn't like original IP that isn't mass-market friendly. I've seen many quality games get little more than 300k sales in over a year. Compare that to Dead Space which sold 1m between 3 platforms in only a few months (so that would be roughly 333k in about 3 months per platform). Then there's also Mirror's Edge which sold about 1m as well in 2008 between mostly 2 platforms (as the Windows version was out less than a month when the sales were announced).

I'm not saying that mature/"core" titles won't do well on the Wii, as we both know they can, I'm just saying that when Carnival Games outsells The Conduit, MP3, Epic Mickey, Rock Band, and more, then maybe it's time to consider widening your audience on the Wii more instead of making games focused more on select groups (like FPS games or Madden games).

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze Same; wish they launched in Red..

@TheShaper
Should as well be rick rolling...

@TheShaper
Joystiq doesn't really need to do jokes. The do it normally every other day of the year. April Fools is actually the one day they get serious.

@TheShaper

eh, it's a lame holiday

@The Only Girl
I know, I've been a regular for years, but my attendance only escalated to sickening (with what, 20 visits a day, minumum?) in the past few months.

I think that if anyone in the trade of gaming journalism (or any other kind of journalism, for that matter) can successfully play a prank on this day, it's got to be these guys.

@MLS

it's a holiday??

@BananaBoat - I just went to Target to look at the 3DS. After spending maybe 10 minutes with it, I was unable to find any point on the slider where the 3D didn't look...I don't know...off to me. Maybe it was the game (Pilotwings) but that 10 minutes saved me 300+ dollars for now. Does it get better if you sit in front of it for hours? I was extremely disappointed.

@BananaBoat

I was on the fence and said WTF and purchased it. I think you really have to hold the 3DS in a position you're comfortable with. When I played the Pilot Wings demo in Bestbuy I didn't really like the experience.

@Bubbameister33 - The 3DS was bolted down, but I was moving my head all over the place trying to find some sort of sweet spot, and it just never happened. I don't even know how to properly describe what I was seeing. It was like the screen was made of plastic, with a not-quite-2D but not-quite-3D image on it. I didn't like it at all, and the small size of the screen wasn't really helping matters.

I can't take a leap of faith at $250, especially when there aren't really any games I'm chomping at the bit to play right now. I figured I'd step up to the 3DS and be blown away (like so many people at E3 last year) but it just didn't happen.

@BananaBoat yeah they say pilotwings prolly has the worst 3D.

@BananaBoat

Well from what I hear the demos in stores usually give a bad experience. I tried it and it seemed pretty off compared to my actual system.

I've been playing with it since I got it, and the 3D effect improves over time. I guess your eyes just sorta get used to it.

@TehRay - I'm going to wait until a friend picks one up, and then force him to let me borrow it for a while and see what happens. I'm skeptical though, because the people at E3 (after the 3DS was unveiled) didn't have any time for their eyes to get used to it, and almost all of their reviews were positive.

Maybe it was the bright overhead lighting in the store that made viewing the 3D difficult. It's hard to say at this point.

@CaramelZappa

we all hope so :D