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Sales of Nintendo Wii have slowed down across the globe, but Nintendo believes that the video game console not only has a long life ahead because it still has millions of potential customers to address, but is also the most used game console in the current generation.
“Even though our install base is, at this point, five million households larger than the PS2 install base was at the same point in its life cycle, it still has a lot of room to grow. If you think PS2, there has been about 50 million sold [in the U.S.] – Wii close to 28 million sold – so, it says to me there is still a big audience out there that we can access with Wii,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales and marketing, reports Joystiq web-site.
The claim by Nintendo seems to be rather interesting, considering the fact that Sony PlayStation 2 originally addressed a lot of hardcore gamers and began to focus on casual gamers only when the PlayStation 3 was approaching. At present it is impossible to address the market of hardcore gamers with Wii, which lacks high-quality graphics and multimedia support, hence, Nintendo will have to push Wii into the hands of novice gamers.
Nintendo also asserts that Wii is the most used game console in households that own it.
“In Wii households, 69% of the people in the household are playing the Wii, which far exceeds similar numbers for Xbox 360 and PS3. When it comes to Just Dance, the ideas that seem pretty simple can be incredibly innovative," Ms. Dunaway said in an interview with Gamasutra web-site.
Even though the executive vice president may be correct about the fact that Wii is utilized by more people than the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, it should be kept in mind that hardcore gamers, who own the aforementioned game consoles play a lot more games for a longer time compared to casual gamers that own Wii.
When asked about a possible successor for the mega-successful Wii, Ms. Dunaway responded that it would be available when it is done and not anytime soon, something which all executives at Nintendo say on the matter.
“I don't think [the successor for Wii] will be anytime soon. We will have it ready when we think the time is right,” said Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales and marketing.
