Wii Sells Fewer Games per Console than Xbox 360, PS3

Thu Nov 1, 2007 11:30AM EDT

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New sales figures indicate that gamers are buying more than 6.5 games for every Xbox 360 console sold, versus barely 3.5 titles for each Wii—numbers that add more fuel to the "Wii is just a fad" fire.

Joystiq has a report on the latest sales figures from gaming-industry research group NPD, which has calculated "hardware to software" ratios based on the total number of console and game-title sales for each platform. The results? So far, it's a landslide for the Xbox 360, with a total of 6.8 million consoles and 44.8 million games sold, for a hardware-to-software ratio of 6.59:1. Next up? The PlayStation 3, with a ratio of 3.58:1 (6.8 million games and 1.9 million consoles sold). Bringing up the rear is the Wii, with a hardware-to-software ratio of 3.44 (15.5 million games, 4.5 million consoles). Joystiq points out that the Wii's figures include (and are, arguably, inflated by) Wii Play, a title that comes bundled with sold-separately Wiimote controllers. Take out the Wii Play numbers, and the Wii's hardware-to-software ratio drops to about 3:1.

Of course, like all raw statistics, these numbers are totally open to interpretation. You could argue that the Xbox 360 had a year's head start on both the Wii and the PS3, which means there are more games—and more attractive choices—for gamers, hence the higher games-to-consoles ratio. On the other hand, the report also bolsters the fears of gaming developers (reported in Chris Null's post) that the same people who are buying Wii consoles like hotcakes aren't actively playing them, or that they're content to play Wii Sports over and over.

So I'll ask the same question that Chris posed in his post: how many games do you Wii'ers have at home? Planning on buying any more?

Related:
360 leads hardware to software ratio, Wii and PS3 trail with similar ratios [Joystiq]

Comments on Wii Sells Fewer Games per Console than Xbox 360, PS3

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  • 26 Posted by jnmacc2003 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:37PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have 5 wii games in addition to the wii sports game and I definately plan to buy more but I know many people who bought the console last summer and are still playing the wii sports with maybe 1 or 2 other games but that could be see as good or bad I suppose.

  • 27 Posted by fullthrottle1978 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:04PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have 6 wii games currently and about as many used Gamecube games I picked up for it. I split time fairly evenly with my PS2. I'd love to see more good games for the Wii. maybe something like GTA or maybe a Wii equivalent of the ps2's Socom series. I'd like more titles that are less kiddy, not that my daughter doesn't like mario 64 that we downloaded. which brings up the serious need for more and better content on wii shop channel. Its a fun system, it just needs better software support.

  • 28 Posted by am.johnson48 on Sun Aug 30, 2009 12:06PM EDT Report Abuse

    yes i do planon buying games for our Wii sport. We golf,box and do the bowling alot the prices for games that a 9year old and late 40's would like the prices are so high!! These days and times its hard enough to eat.

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