Wii Winning the Title Race Also

It’s no secret that the real money in the console game business is not in the consoles - it’s in the games. It’s an established fact that Microsoft and Sony both sell their consoles at a loss in hopes of just getting them into people’s living rooms so they can start making money on the games. The fact that Nintendo is actually making money on console sales is almost showing off…

But what about the games? All the PS3 evangelists (yes, there are some) and XBox fans all point at the technological superiority of their consoles in terms of raw processing horsepower and dismiss the Wii craze as a fad. “Just you wait…” - they say. “The games coming out for (XBox/PS3) are going to leave Wii owners sobbing in the streets…” - they say.

The currently available lineup of games for the Wii almost 6 months after launch now, isn’t a huge list - but there are certainly some gems in there. Zelda is a hall of fame title, Mario Paper is extremely cool, people are still competing for screen time with grandma over Wii Sports… And take a minute and think about the big guns that Nintendo hasn’t even fired yet. Smash Bros, Metroid, Mario Galaxy etc etc…

It isn’t the technology but the games that make money remember? Nintendo has stronger in-house developer support - plus, they have more long running and loved exclusive licenses than MS and Sony put together I’ll see your Master Chief with Samus and raise you a Link and a Mario…

So… If the other consoles are pinning their hopes on winning market share on the strength of their game titles they better have something a little more substantial up their sleeve than just rendering ‘fire’ a little better.

There’s a a PC World article I saw today talking about “Who Has the Best Game Title Lineup“. It’s worth a look, check it out.