[where did i get this pic? stole it from google image search. yeah, you heard me.]Props to Mitch Krpata, who suggested I ask Nintendo about Wii Play's life-to-date sales; it's 7.9 million in the U.S. alone.
So, right, we've got it, a surprising megaton of people buy Wii consoles and their family-friendly games. But how many people really use them?
Ben Popken at Consumerist says the Wii is the purchase he absolutely regrets most this year, and a quick glance at his commenters seems to find a consensus. Do you think the Wii's really analogous to, say, an exercise machine -- something that the average consumer (the one driving Wii sales) buys around Christmastime because it's a trend, because they feel vaguely pressured to have one, and then gets only a little bit of use out of it?
If that's the case among the mainstream audience, then it tends to contradict what analysts are saying about why game consoles are still selling so well in a recession. The common wisdom holds that games are making money because of their value proposition -- i.e, in tough times people would rather drop $200 on something they can use forever, than spend $20 on one single trip to the movies. But if people are finding the Wii to be a guilt-inducing fad purchase, it sort of deflates that argument, doesn't it?
I was just telling friends* how waggle-fatigued I am, and I've tended to have an especially hard time these days sticking with games that don't use the Classic controller or a basic pointer-and-nunchuk scheme (Super Mario Galaxy and No More Heroes are the only times I've really enjoyed it). Hell, I'm even slightly tired of scribbling on the DS, and am playing Chrono Trigger in Classic mode. So yeah. I'm a bit over it -- but I also know I don't account for the almighty "mainstream consumer," and neither do you.
Still, I've added a little poll in the right-hand sidebar -- report in on your Wii usage, please! And feel free to elaborate in the comments. Is there any merit to the idea that the Wii is a fad product, versus a high-end console that can have as much as a decade's lifespan of regular use?
[1. "telling friends" = shouting drunkenly to N'Gai and various new pals wearing supersexy Meat Bun T-shirts at Fünde Razor on Wednesday, and I do still play Virtual Console a considerable amount]
