Crap, I sold my Wii, and I'm going to HAVE to get another one when Zelda comes out.

Console companies must love people like you.

New Star Wars MMO. I had no idea this was coming out.

Yep.

Edit: Actually, no. I haven't bought a new system since N64. I pretty much only buy on EBay, so they probably hate me.

Dola

I'm going to be completely broke after these games come out.

Anyone have any thoughts on the Tiger Woods PGA Online game? It streams right to your browser. Sounds like a pretty cool idea.

Well, you know, Nintendo is having a hard time, what with their consoles still being the closest thing to printing money that exists in the world today.

They've already said the Metroid triple pack is coming out this summer so that's what we'll hear on that front and they leaked that a new Mario is coming out so two of the three are already covered before E3.

Unfortunately, I suspect more of the same from Nintendo at E3. They like to spread out their big announcements across the year and don't save a ton up for E3. Heck, the Tokyo Game Show seems to get more major news than E3. Last week it came out that there's a new Mario and a new Wii Fit so outside of some "big" announcement that really isn't like Pikmin 3 or Wii Music 2 or something Kirby- I don't see them having the infamous "m3gat0n" this year.

I guess the biggest thing to hope for is another Zelda but I think we're still a year too soon in the dev cycle. Tho I think Twilight Princess was the last really big E3 thing I can think of out of E3. Nintendo just always seems to deliver theirs on an even keel- good depth but no super crazy big news.

SI

Not of late. All three consoles have seen a significant downturn in sales. Perhaps E3 isn't as key as the next console to make the price jump. There's market to be had at a lower price for any of these companies.

Also, the Wii has seen large drops in sales in Japan. The Wii is actually trailing the PS3 in sales over there on a month-to-month basis. They desparately need a franchise sequel in Asia to boost those sales and get the Wii corrected.

Yep, I'm sure they are heartbroken that they aren't hemorrhaging money like Sony's game division continues to do.

Wii 340K sold in April in USA * 50-100 dollars profit/unit >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> PS3 127k sold in April in the USA * 25-100 dollar loss/unit.

Once again, that's not even remotely the point. As I mentioned previously, it's like the Obama supporters saying he's better than Bush. That's fine, but is that a high bar to clear? Nintendo could be doing much better than they are currently. They should set the bar at a level that optimizes their impact. Setting the bar in comparison to the 360 or PS3 is a poor indicator of whether they're doing the best they can.

No, you miss the point. They continue to sell better than any other console after already saturating the market with their console. Factor that with a down turn in the economy and there was no chance that their sales wouldn't taper off to some extent eventually. They still continue to sell more than everyone else and they have done so while making a profit from day 1. They are the clear winners and they are doing better than any other console ever.

But that doesn't have any relation to what we've seen over in Japan and Europe. The PS3 sales in those two regions haven't fallen off nearly as much as in the U.S., but the Wii sales have fallen off in those two regions. The only thing that could be related to is the lack of any big franchise releases in the last 12-18 months. Both of those regions tend to get swayed by big releases more than price. In the U.S., price is king. It's the reason Sony is getting hammered so badly in this region while performing much better in the other two regions.

Comparing the PS3 and the Wii is like comparing apples and oranges. The Wii sold at record rates to help saturate their markets in those regions. The PS3 hasn't sold well enough to even come close to saturating their potential market.

I agree with part of your assertion- comparing to the 360 and PS3 is not what Nintendo should be doing. However, you throw out a bold assertion in the middle that's patently false.

They're doing well compared to the PS2 sales numbers which is pretty much the gold standard as it was the best selling console ever and shows a reasonable saturation point for a globally dominating console. And they're doing it in a horrible world economy, worse than anything the PS2 was operating in.

So, yes, all of your other sentences are correct. The one in the middle, which is the crux of your argument, is just flat out wrong.

SI

Sure. So are you saying that the Wii sales will continue to fall in all three regions since the market can't hold many more Wii's? I personally don't think any of the three consoles are anywhere close to a saturation point. It's much more of a cost constrained demand at this time IMO.

Could be. It's a fair comparison point, though it's not wrong as you suggest. The PS2 was at a cheaper price point at this point in its lifecycle than the Wii. If the Wii were running at a price point similar to what the PS2 ran at, I think it would be selling in significantly larger numbers than it currently is.

My guess is that Nintendo is going to remain at this price until we see the expected $100 price drop of the PS3 later this year. Then they'll drop the price to negate that effect. Nintendo may also drop the price in Japan when FFXIII is released on the PS3 over there.

Nintendo is still kicking Sony's ass. No matter how bad you try to paint everyone else, Sony is stuck in 3rd this generation.

You are so fucking annoying.

That's a given as of now and I've already acknowledged that. We're talking about what's going on moving forward, which is exactly what E3 is all about.

BTW.....reverting to the topic at hand. Nintendo press conference is at 12:00 EDT today and Sony press conference is at 2:00 EDT today.

Rumors (basically photoshop filters applied to a picture of Nintendo's floor space with signs covered by sheets) suggest the new Mario game will be Super Mario Bros. Wii. A new 2D Mario platformer for consoles would be amazing, there hasn't been one of those since Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island on the SNES. The 2D levels in Super Mario Galaxy were fantastic and this would likely be made by the same team. We'll see in a couple of hours.

A year ago moving forward Sony was going to catch Microsoft.

And we certainly agree there. Sony pissed away a year for the most part in regards to hardware. The only good thing was that we've seen a nice improvement in the software library despite the relative lack of the big name franchises.

Realistically speaking, Sony dropped the ball on this generation of consoles. They ain't climbing out of the hole they've dug themselves in anytime soon.

You keep saying you don't see anything big for the Wii on the horizon, but you are missing what will (IMO) easily be the best selling console SKU of 2009 - Wii Sports Resort. The system selling game for the Wii has always been Wii Sports, despite the fact that it clearly does not entertain you. 20 million people have bought a Wii to be able to play Wii Sports. You don't think the sequel might move a few units?

Good, so can you please shut up about your "demise of the Wii" predictions until you have some evidence that it is actually occurring?

Well, I never used the term 'demise' nor have I implied anything of the sort. A deceleration for a speed trap might be a better description.

Software units of Wii Sports Resort? Absolutely they'll move. Hardware units? Not much more than they're already selling. Wii Sports isn't a 'franchise'. Zelda, Mario, etc. are the franchises. Only a price decrease will create a substantial hardware sales boost at this point.

Could you please stick to a single, concise, lucid theory of why the Wii is in trouble, instead of changing the story every time evidence proves your current maleable theory wrong?

I'm not sure it proves anything. So you're stating that you believe Wii Sports Resort is a game that will cause a substantial boost in console sales? I think it will sell millions, but that's because everyone that already has a Wii wants some new Wii Sports games to play. People buy consoles for the Nintendo franchise games.

The fact that a new Mario is in the works is already known, but it isnt known whether it is more of a galaxy sequel or a NSMB sequel. I would heavily expect this to be one of the things revealed. I would love to hear about a new Zelda. Metroid is a long shot I'd say, though.

Once again, you prove your complete inability to understand what is happening with this generation.

If that were true, people would have purchased the GameCube in droves. They didn't.

Repeat after me: People are buying the Wii to play Wii Sports.

I realize that you hate it that this is true, but no amount of protestation on your part will change that. Until you come to grips with this fact, please refrain from commenting on this generation of consoles.

Absolutely they enjoy Wii Sports. But that's a different point. They're buying it to play Wii Sports because it's bundled and doesn't cost a dime. They'll continue to do that going forward, although the effect has obviously been lessened at this point. Wii Sports Resort provides more game opportunities for existing owners, but it's not going to sell hardware at a substantially increased rate. It's a great bone to throw existing owners though.

Major geek-out being show on G4TV. Steve Wiebe is trying to break the Donkey Kong record.....again.

So James Cameron shows up to E3 to talk about Avatar, a movie my daughter and I are waiting for. There will be a video game for it as well. Cameron talks about the movie............and then no clips of anything, not the movie, not the game. I guess people are feeling like this is a first for E3, no clips. :D

The only reason there are Wiis in nursing homes and rehab clinics is because of Wii Sports.

The number of consoles in those situations are an EXTREMELY small portion of the total number of Wii sales. It's a nice thing to do for those people, but nursing homes and rehab clinics have no real effect on the console war.

NSMB4Wii looks effing SWEET. Can't wait. Screw waiting for Christmas though.

Telltale Games - Monkey Island, Wallace & Gromit, Sam & Max, Strong Bad, and more!

Tales of Monkey Island

LucasArts.com | The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition

The Secret of Monkey Island

Wii Fit Plus announced and everyone yawns. EA Sports Active is already better anyway.

Microsoft is making full retail games available on demand via Xbox Live. 30 titles to be available in August with more being added in the future. They are also considering making a rental service available:

Xbox 360 getting full retail games delivered on demand

Wii Motion plus looks pretty cool.

Way to show off superb voice acting Nintendo??

A new Golden Sun game, solid. Mario and Luigi RPG 3 localization was expected. The Crystal Bearers looks great.

Sweet jeebus, how robotic is this Nintendo lady?

That Minis March Again game might push me to get a DSi at some point. WarioWare DIY also looks cool.

Oh awesome, Nintendo's new peripheral is supposed to PUT YOU TO SLEEP? haha how ironic???

booya mario galaxy sequel with YOSHI!

OMG SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 NINTENDO WINS E3

A new 2D Mario and a new 3D Mario, the best of both worlds. So awesome.

edit: new Metroid game as well, not part of the Prime series.

This E3 is increasingly following a trend of putting out games that appeal to the existing base rather than new or innovative IP's. Sequels galore.