Nintendo Creates a Wii Problem for Sony With Production Exceeding Expectations

I think this thing is going to be big. Can't wait.

I'm not sure hoe much the Wii will effect Microsoft,The Xbox 2 is well established and is prime for a price reduction. Sony however must be shaking in their boots. If the PS2 is delayed much longer they may find a pretty dry market.

wii will dominate the gaming world. it could sell 11 million by the end of the year. if so they will surpass 360 even, who has had a WHOLE YEAR START.

ok for wolman... the "xbox 2" cmon... seriously... 360 buddy...

and

"if the ps2 is delayed any longer"
its the ps3 by the way.. just thought i'd clear that up for you

can someone tell me what's going on exactly?

Even though this is good news, I still cant see the wii outselling the PS3. Unfortunately Sony only needs half the people that bought a PS2 to be successful. However, that said the Wii could be the only one to challange say a 40 million mark.

Well, it all started in 1985 when a japanese company....

jk, Reports have come out that Nintendo will have 6-9 million Wii's produced by end of year. Which means they should be able to sell 6-9 million units by end of year. In conrast Sony will only be able to build/sell about 500,000 units by end of year and XBOX360 has about 5-6 million sold now and is project to have 10 by end of year.

What that means is Nintendo has a great chance of being at the heels of 360 in sales and maybe even better. Thus, the Wii could very well be #1 this generation and be just like the DS in destroying the compition in sales.

"Unfortunately Sony only needs half the people that bought a PS2 to be successful."

C'mon, how many people do you know that had to purchase 2 or more ps2's due them being a pos. In reality sony probably only has 60-70 million as a user base. Many of that has already shifted to 360 and many will probably not be able to spend 600-1000 on a ps3. Best guess is 360 & wii only lasting through this round.

I'm not even much of a gamer but all this talk about Wii has me actually considering buying one. Not that I am a perfect representation of the market, but if they can convince me, it says something.

I'm with you CCK. I've been an Xbox fan for a long time and I can't wait for Wii.

There are two ways to create the impression of a stellar product launch. The first is to deliver very little product and then, when the inevitable regional shortages occur, announce that "sales exceeded our expectations". This works no matter how little consumer demand there is for your goods; you just need to undersupply high-profile stores in large cities and get a few news camera crews to film some shots of long lines of people waiting. The other way is to create lots of product and set an artificially low "goal", then announce that "sales exceeded our expectations". This should not be attempted unless you are confident that your product will be a success at launch.

the wii iz du bomb wen it lanchez. so if du ps3 iz delayed.then it betta' find sum where elze to go sell itz business.

meh, the ps3 is an overpriced computer that you have to buy an expensive high definition tv for. as for blue ray, IF in 6 months to a year it takes off and becomes a common medium, then i'll buy one for my pc for one hundred bucks.


i'll be wiiing all the way home on launch day.

GameStop's Regional Manager says the holiday launch can't go well for Sony, even in the US and Japan... They have already botched Europe and Australia. And now Nintendo has outproduced them by 10 to 1 to date on consoles.

I expect Nintendo will get the media advantage, and it really has some innovative content to look forward to.

This should get the third parties salivating as well. They know they've made the right choice by making games for Nintendo over PS3.

In a matter of days after launch, PS3 will already be irrelevant in realtion to Wii. Gaming is a numbers game, and Sony can't keep up.

Doesn't look like they'll have as many innovative games, either. Nintendo is just outclassing Sony on every level.

"Even though this is good news, I still cant see the wii outselling the PS3. Unfortunately Sony only needs half the people that bought a PS2 to be successful."

Hmm... depends what you mean by "successful". Don't forget that the PS2 only became profitable after 4 years even given its huge sales volume -- and it never made as much profit as Nintendo did from the GameCube. In real business terms, the GameCube was a bigger success than PS2.

Due to the huge loss Sony is selling PS3 at, it needs to sell AT LEAST as well as PS2 did to have any hope of breaking even -- and that would be several years down the line. Sony's risky strategy absolutely requires them to sell massive volumes to turn a profit, whereas Nintendo's strategy allows them to make large profits from a minority market share (as with GameCube). Since Wii will be profitable from day 1 (not after 4 years, like PS2) they are applying the same strategy this time round, and could again come out on top with only a market share of 15-20%. The only difference is that this time it looks feasible that they might sell extremely large volumes AS WELL as having a high profit margin -- which would lead to them making an obscene amount of money.

This must be a very worrying scenario for both Sony and Microsoft. If Nintendo grab market share then Sony can't realise a profit, and even more questions must be asked of Microsoft's strategy, which has seen them produce two consoles that have made nothing but losses so far.

Yeah the wii is like the first real VR system with out the head set. If it does well look forward to a head set coming out in the next gen because FOLEDs will be out then(crosses finger). Really though almost all there money making franchises will be out plus the new touch gen. I wonder what is next, those nintendo guys are really some visionaries over there and congrates to the prez over there. He use to actualy make game wow so i guess he knows what he is doing.

Nintendo Wii fans refuse to admit Playstation has always been better, and will continue to be better with the launch of the PS3. Blame them for all their delays, problems, whatever. They will kick Wii's ass when the get up and running.

On top of making an obscence amount of money they could also afford to buy more 3rd party developers. With them making money on the system sold they can now invest that money into getting more 3rd parties. The MS and Sony way of making it to the top depends on them paying for the right to even be a competitor. Some say the ps2 installment base is way too large for sony not to make major head way with the PS3. We must also remember how nintendo, sega, among other software and hardware makers fell due to the frail loyalty that is present with in the industry. People forget this is entertainment not sports. Once the fun stops so does your profits. Nintendo knows this and it shows. It really is incrediable to see them make such a great system at such a great price.

Also too I'm a fan of PS3s graphics but not the price. People like me also see games like cryteks cyrsis on the way and direct x 10 is going to look way more next gen and HD than any thing sony can possibly make. Even Nvidia knows it may make more money off selling sli cards than the ps3. Bleeding edge is cool until you get felt behind. Unfortunatly the xbox360 has been out for a year and doesn't even seem like a threat even with gears of war coming out for it. Realism is getting alittle boring and expensive for many peoples tastes. While in rome you must do as the romans and find away to make what ever you do fun. I'll pay 600 dollars for an RSX but unfortunatly it will be going in my pc.

I'm happy nintendo has finaly got it right. this side of the company was screaming to come out and play for years. I only wish MS would be alittle more creative and sony to keep giving us cool tech we ACTUALY want. Thats what made the ps2 so cool every one wanted a dvd player. True every one wants an HDtv but unfortunatly sony believe we are all rich and so does MS to a certain extent. Although there is a rumor about a price drop. But then I would have to buy games i would want to play and right now thats alittle hard for me to do on that platform.

^^holy sony fanboy batman!

I really Hope the PS3 does kick Wii ass when they get up and running. I don't understand how you "Blame them for all their delays, problems, whatever. " What is that all about? Hey I think it's a cool system but every one I know believes 600 dollars for the ful system is too much hell I even have a Ps2 and a 4,000 dollar PC but the ps3 I'm not feeling it. For 600 dollars I want crysis type engines high frame rates better controllers more polygons on screen (paralax normal maps are not enough for me) I want the neo geo of the 3d generation basicly becuse these guys are now offically competing with the pc graphics crowd. I have one choice to make. Do i get a PS3 or the G80 rsx varient of the next PC geforce? Right now it's a no brainer. I get a direct x 10 card enjoy my true HD gaming experience on my pc with a 32 inch screen with a resolution that makes the ps3 shutter. Then I wait on Sony to ethier be bull headed and not drop the price of the ps3 or watch them drop the price. I was hype about the ps3 yet it's graphics are barely better than the xbox 360(if not worst) and with the price as high as it is with the same game line up or less than the ps2 man alot of people arn't motivated by it at all. It's like buying an arcade cabinate while waiting on games to come out.

It's funny but I think the PS2 was sony's Snes. The disk format got them into the industry and looks like it will now take them out of the industry. the 400k units will sell out and be a big ebay product but sony really needs to fix the diode problem. I would have though the tech would have been proven before they commit to a date. I also hope they get that price down. I hope Nvidia isn't trying to sqeeze those guys like they did MS on the xbox.

technically xbox 360, ps3, and the wii are in a different market than each other because of the games that sell with them. however, wii has began to take some of microsofts and playstation's games along with them. I agree that the wii will indeed kick ass, but i don't see it selling out any gamestations yet. you don't hear of good games any more, the last xbox hit was halo, when did that come out? 90's maybe??? (don't take me seriously cept it was actually halo) as for the ps3, if square sticks to it, it should be fine. the nintendo have incredible games coming out for themselves though.

this dude below didn't know what he was talking about...xbox 2? And ps2 is already out...lol

I wonder why the sony fanboys are so mad these days? You won the last gen go play your ps2. With the current news of nintendo Wii being on pretty much all otf the top ten list and a famous japanese magazine claiming the wii will out sell the ps3 88% to 11% and the fact that Sony fans including my self like the system but our love for the sony brand is not $600 deep. Then the over heating problems at the TGS. Then the inablity to even make the friggin laser for the propretary disk they designed. Then gives us a slap on the face by given japan a price break. And now some moive studio has figured out how to make disk with both formats on them so paying more for one HD dvd format becomes really silly now. Then you look back at how people where litterly running to go and check out the wii at E3 and one of the most simplist game wii sports won major awards there. Then you add to the fact that becuase of xbox 360 and sony fanboys every one thinks the graphics will be like the GC. The funny thing about that people don't care but when we actualy get to see some impressive graphics on the system like the new redsteel video on their web site suddently the wii becomes a no brainer. Then you add into the fact that nintendo is looking to bring brand new gamers into game with a truely mature approach rather than just mindless blood and sex you suddently see the end of the specs generation of gaming just for the sake of having higher specs. You see gaming getting back to interactive entertainment. I don't know about you but my 4 gigs of ram and all of the other goodies in my current pc have satisfied me for leading edge graphics. I'll be getting a Wii with a load of games and a G80 for my box when it comes out. I may even get a Gyro mouse wireless keyboard too

The funny thing about all three systems is that there CPU's are manufactured by IBM, and they all share 1 thing in common... There CPUs are based off the G5 proccesors' architecture.

ATI developed the GPU for both nintendo and microsoft, and both of those chips share the same technology. If you search digg.com or google you can find the article where the ATI spokesman says that the chip in the Wii can handle HD quality resolutions.

However, the Wii's CPU is not as fast as the xboxs one.
xbox 360 runs a 3.2 ghz, G5 architecture, but PowerPC IBM technology.

Where unsure of the Wii guess go around saying 1.9ghz or 1.3 ghz. Nobodies sure.

xbox1 had a Pentium III in it at 750 or so mhz. haha.

And to be really honest, if you want next gen graphics go 2 high end graphics cards and throw em in your pc via SLI or crossfire. nuff said.

Face it sony has given the industry what they needed the dvd disk format now they have to find another good idea that makes a system affordable and powerful since they don't really make must have games. If also funny but as a current grad in design I find the Wii as been a much better tool for actualy making games. The Xbox 360 and the PS3 have pretty good renders but like some one said above direct x 10 is coming out and openGL's new standard is coming out on pcs. Nvidia and amd are both about to put GPUs on the multi core chips. then all of the sudden we could see emachine like Pcs coming out at the price of a PS3 with direct x 10 hardware which would just kill the Ps3 period. The core duo 2 is the best chip around period and once intel puts there multi core chip together around looks like 07 or 08 this will be the same time that sony will "hit the road running". It's too bad it could get out paced if intel decides to jump into this circle with normal tech. MS will not worry becuse they will make money off of the results any way. So basicly Sony shouldn't have gambled so much on this one. There are alot of people waiting to take Sony down. Nintendo is going to keep doing what they do best... make money by making fun stuff.

Also too the other guy is right the Wii's graphics are looking pretty good for a $250 system.

This is the 1st time since the Original NES that I have been really excited about a launch. I have a PS2 and a 360 and I would get a ps3 except I think they are too much. I also dont like the fact it feels like they want to force blu-ray down my throat as well which is why the systems will cost $500 and $600. I think Nintendo has managed to add a dynamic with thier wii-mote that is going to change how we play games (at least on Nintendo consoles). It doesnt have the graphical power of the 360 or the PS3 but who cares if its fun.

And the public CAN blame Sony for taking so long to develop the PS3. When your competitor launches a product with millions of units and you can't launch with more than 500,000 thats a problem. Eventually I will end up with a PS3 as well, All 3 systems have thier strong points.

Hey if you like those specs go and check out the memory that nintendo is using in there puppy. The xbox 360 has i think 3 megs of it just for a frame buffer(most pc cards need about 512 for a frame buffer like that). This is the same ram as the ram in the Wii. these two typoe of ram are in the same family of ram as the edram on the ati gpu. Yet the 1t-sram is superior and more expensive also. The Wii has a total of 98 megs of it total and it is used for every thing. Thats a rumor cuz specs are not out officially but reliable source are the like of IGN and others. But that type of ram has a retarded bandwidth(meaning it's go hugh bandwith). Google it for your self. Edram xbox 360. Then google sram and 1t-sram Mosys. You'll see some where around 250 g/s refresh rates internally and only 25g/s thur an external bus. I mean even the PS3 is barely getting 20 g/s over it's bus to feed an HD display ouch! Ok Now the LSI for the Wii has all of that ram on the chip like a Amd k8 design. So even though it doesn't have the same results as when addition is applied to the ram or chips the Wii's chip set is looking almost too powerful for standard def. It truely is a system on a chip design. Every one claimed that the GC had way more power than it was showing but it lack enough ram. Problem seems to be solved.. in an affordable manner for the consumer and the manufacture. You can be mad at that unless your a fan boy of another company.

Also too it has been show that you only need a faster cpu when you have a higher resolution to fill. Check out any Sli video card bench mark you;ll see that the cpu speed actualy slows down the fps or render speed of the gpu only when you reach HD type standards for resolution. Any thing under 800x600 can be ran on a old athlon almostwith a api compliant gpu! So the Wii could effectively run at 500-700 mhz and still be powerful enough since it looks like they are designing other chips to do specialized task like physics and other stuff. It's really a smart design and very effiecent it seems. It's just like when they made the FX chip for star fox which gave you Mode 7 which only the neo geo was capable of at that time.

Then you add to that the fact that no one is going to have an experience like the nintendo Wii you get an almost NES era feel where there was no real competition. No one offered an experience like that system. Then like the guy said above me... No one epects the graphics to be good and they are fine with that, but what happens if the graphics are good? You do the math. Looks like some one really is going to over deliver this gen. It's only a matter of time before the developers want to make some real money.

The main reason the playstation became so popular is because it is so easy to get copied games for them. It's that simple. Sony is effectively encouraging piracy, the software type, not Black Beard, etc.

Price is not going to slow down PS3 sales. Just because the Wii is cheap doesnt' mean everyone will buy it.

You can't argue against that.

Yeah you can't because who knows how many PS3s sony would have sold at 300 dollars. Just becuase the PS3 is 500-600 dollars does mean that every one that thought about buying one will now have to save. In a time where the xbox360 is surpose to gets some really pretty games and in a time where every one will be getting a Wii according to all major retail chains and media sources. No one has to slow do PS3 sale since they won't even have a million world wide this holiday season. Sony is the main reason for slow sales for the PS3 right now. After that it will be price once more and hopefully the porduction of the system is good cuase you'll see alot more people complaining about a 500-600 dollar system in public. I'm sorry but how many teen agers have 500- 600 dollars to spend on video games? Maybe over time they will buy that many games but they will have to save for the system and it will be even harder to swallow it the PS3 doesn't some how make it into the grace of the public media out lets. There has been nothing but bad news about this system. I mean you still have alot of people out there playing older snes system and ps2s why becuse they are cheaper... Come on your talking to some one who lives in a place where walmart dominates all sales... You can't tell me it won't sell becuse it's cheaper, because it will offer some thing new and have pretty good graphics along with the fact people actualy have fun playing it. Price is also the reason people in the know will get a pc card instead of a ps3... Then we will all wait till sony lowers the price ethier by finding away to manufacture the thing better or simply redesign it to be cost effective. Price is also the reason why Hdtv hasn't taken off the way it should have. Why are consoles any different? The PS2 was for casual gamers... 400- 600 dollars is not casual. Thats more than rent for most folks who own a Ps2...LOL Some people have car payments thats that high. If you can afford it chances are you won't be buying that many games cuz your job pays alot and expects alot.

The average age of a gamer is a lot older than 15 though. I think studies show most are in their 20s, in which case 500 or 600 $ is much more realistic.

The same demographic that bought the PS2 years ago will be begging for the PS3.

Who the hell remembers GameCube?

Good god, I haven't seen such horrible grammar and english skills for a really long time. Brand loyalty has turned all of your brains into mush, how wonderful.

For the record, I own an XBox360 and plan on purchasing a Wii. I think the combination of both devices should be more than sufficient for any type of game I am interested in. The PS3 is of no interest to me as it is unnecessarily including non-standard drive (BD), and the price is reflecting it. I already have a DLP HDTV (720p, 1080i) and to date neither HD-DVD or Blue-Ray have inspired any confidence in their products, or the need. DVDs in 480p are still looking fantastic on my TV.

I am in my early thirties, with kids, and a very well paying job. When you talk about the demographic of who these systems are being targeted, I'll let you in on a little secret... it isn't you kiddies.

i feel that the wii is a nice game console but please stop calling it next gen.... it is an improvment on nintendo's last system now the next system nintendo puts out after the wii needs to be a next gen or they will be screwed. microsoft will be laughing all the way to the bank this christmas. now sony has a huge problem they need to start fireing some people over at that company. why did they not think that all these things cramed in this small unit won't overheat????? i read where someone said that sony made alot of sales on the ps2 on people who had to re buy there systems because of disk errors and crashes any you know what?? now that i think about it!!! i know this is true because they were getting sued at one point. i feel sony will release it regardless of flaws and see what happens but these systems will not be tested since we are 2 months from the holiday season and production is just kicking off. i would not want to be the first one to spend $600 just to bring it back because it crashes......i will be getting my xbox 360 followed by a nintendo wii and a ps3 after a price drop lol.

I've never owned a game system. I might buy a Wii. I'm not alone.

The Wii is Nintendo's next console. Therefore it is Nintendo's next gen.
Next gen does not mean bleeding edge of technology.

I want to stab anyone who makes wii puns in the fucking eye. its not funny anymore.

wii will obliterate all the competition especially ps3. Before we know it sony will be making games for the wii since it will have such low production rates and people buying it. Hail the new king WII!!!!!!

Of course Wii is next-gen. Look at all the innovation with the controller. If it wasn't "next gen", Sony wouldn't have copied it.

Zing.

I'm 33 years old. Looking back, the console systems I've bought were:
Atari 2600 + ~30 games
Nintendo NES + ~30 games
Sega Genesis + ~ 10 games
PS2 + ~ 50 games

I like sony, I like the playstation. I *was* very excited about the ps3 when the details of the cell processor were hyped at the beginning of the year. As time dragged on, and the price became available, I was less excited.

Then I found out about the Wii, and was very interested. Now I'm certain I'll buy a Wii, and if the PS3 price dropped and the quality is good (yet to be seen) and the 2nd hand games market becomes large enough, then I'll probably end up buying a PS3 also, but that's probably going to be in a year or two. I'm thinking a price of $350 may be my PS3 entry point. I might have gone higher if it weren't for the Wii, but now it just doesn't make sense.

From the other responses, here and elsewhere, it looks like Wii is going to be a very big hit. Even nicer, it may actually be available to anyone who wants one, without fake shortages like xbox had.

I have no particular loyalty to sony or nintendo, but like both companies. I do like the used game market for ps2, and it has a huge selection of games, which is not going away soon. However, I do have a thing against Microsoft, they have burned me enough times to where I try to avoid their products, and will not buy an XBox ever, at any price.

I'm a hardcore gamer. I'm 35. I stood in line on launch day to buy a PS2. I got many of my co-workers to buy a PS2. I still prefer PS2 to XBox or GC. I have a lot of disposable income. I can easily afford a $600 PS3. What I can't figure out is why I should actually buy one.

Blu-Ray isn't a selling point for me. Going from VHS to DVD was huge. I had no problem paying $600 for my DVD player. Going from DVD to Blu-Ray? Meh. I'll wait two years and buy a $50 player at Walmart. Maybe the disc prices will have gotten more reasonable by then.

Games? Well, there's only two PS3 exclusives that really interest me at this point. If the PS3 was priced competively, those two might sway me towards the PS3. A couple exclusives can't overcome the huge price difference though.

I'm only going to buy one system this year. Right now I'm leaning toward the Wii. If the 360 gets a nice price drop, I might swing that direction instead. Sony isn't even on my radar at this point.

Everybody knows that Microsoft skipped Xbox 2 to launch the third installment of the Xbox brand; XBOX 3.

Sony fan boys please shut up. Seriously no one needs to hear from someone who refuses to let the facts speak fro themselves. Sony has less than a million units priced at a point that many people seriously have issues with. Nintendo has more than a million units ready for the United State alone and has plenty for the rest of the world to get some.

Lots of back and forth. For someone like me who hasn't seen either system, or doesn't know a WHOLE lot about the technical side of each console. Which is better?

everybody knows that xbox "3" was a hugh dissipointment because the lack of decent games, with execptions of a select few...eldar scrolls... blah blah blah...
i do have a question though did anyone really think that the new perfect dark was worth the black eye and chipped tooth that you endured during the seemingly endless lines at xbox 360s launch

"seemingly endless lines at xbox 360s launch"

In Japan it was a complete failure; there were more press people then customers at launch.

"everybody knows that xbox "3" was a hugh dissipointment because the lack of decent games"

I'd like to hear if any 360 owners feel that is true. I've yet to meet a 360 owner who doesn't absolutely love it and their games.

I'll personally be buying my Wii, and then 360 when the price drops. I just can't think of any PS3 game that will compete with Halo3 in terms of a FPS with replayability nor such a well woven story. I love the FF series, but Microsoft now owns the man that created it, so no need to bother with the PS3 for me. But they could always suprise me, a good price drop and a few good games can always turn the tide.

wii is not nex gen it is not even an xbox 1 under the hood it is a gamecube with better processor and motion sensor get mad and stab me in the eye........ lol u know it is true.

a motion controller is not nex gen unless you can read and understand spec's your just a consumer. i never said i wasn't liking the wii but lets call it what it is.....not nex gen .....but close.

As I said before, and I will emphasize... NEXT GEN DOES NOT MEAN BLEEDING EDGE OF TECHNOLOGY. By definition, "next gen" means: The next generation of a particular product. Because the Wii is Nintendo's next generation of console (In other words, the newest console in their product line) it is a "next gen" console. Nintendo could release a new console that is less powerful than the PSOne, but as long as it was the newest product in their line up it would be considered "next gen".

Wii is not next gen. without HD how can you call it next gen? It's just a gamecube with a cool controller.

If you would read what was said above you, you would know.

it can't be "next-gen" because Sony says when "next-gen" begins.

Nothing bugs me more than someone being that pompous, I used to love the Sony brand, but they are just going down hill. Nintendo tries to be innovative while Sony tries to force crap down your throat. They probably bought their copied controller technology from Nintendo just like they bought their LCD technology from Samsung.

C'mon you little girls.

Wii will have 4 million at least sold by end of year. That is only 1.5 or so million than M$ has been able to sell in 11 months. It will take $ony nearly a year just to get 4 million produced at this rate. There is no way they will have their 6 million by march as they claim. Too many problems with a the many new techs in the ps3.

Wii will probably have 6 million sold by end of year and be caught up with the 360 by end of fiscal year in March (probaly around 10-12 million sold). Think about it, Japan hates M$, so no big sales there, and it has been shown by every rating or voting there has been that, Japan is much more interested in a Wii than a ps3. DS has outsold the PSP by 4 to 1 and it is the lower tech. It has also outsold the 360 by like 6 to 1 since the 360 launched, the wii will gain a huge momentum from this and if it matches the DS's more 21 million sold in less than 2 years,it will not only have quickly out sold the GC or XBOX 1, but it will be the sales leader and all the while be the only system showing a profit.

That will drive investors and developers more to the Wii, thus, as what has happened in every generation, the console with the most game choices sells the most consoles, regardless of power.

PS1 < dreamcast and N64 but had many times more games and clearly won the sales race.
PS2 < Xbox or GC but again had many times more games and clearly won the sales race.
WiI < 360 or ps3, and has shown a ton of developers leaving sony to both 360 and Wii, with Wii having the highest percentage of growth for new 3rd part development. Escpecially since E3. My vote is within a year, Wii will have a much larger game library for both new and downloadable. Thus, it will sell more systems.

Now this is big and you can't go against the guys that made the games you love.In the latest Famitsu issue, the magazine conducted a survey of 58 developers at 19 different Japanese game companies; the grouping included programmers, directors, designers, essentially anyone who actually makes the games, in contrast to those making the business decisions.

The very first question was a general one, asking the developers what they expect out of next-gen consoles. 48% said they had "extremely high" expectations for the PS3, 32% said "high," and 18% said they don't expect much at all.

The Xbox 360 was next up, which not surprisingly scored lower. Of those polled, 45% said they're not expecting much at all, 40% had "high" expectations, and only 13% had "extremely high" expectations. What's interesting about these results is the contrast between "high" and "extremely high."

Last to go, the Wii. And clearly, it has garned the favor of the Japanese design community. 36% have "high" expectations, only 1% said they weren't expecting much at all, and a whopping 63% claimed to have "extremely high" expectations. Nintendo's more-impressive-than-expected E3 showing may have played a part here, but for the most part, the Wii has had mostly positive feedback this year.

And of course, we can't do a survey without addressing the games themselves. In the PS3's lineup, developers were most excited about Metal Gear Solid 4 (12 votes). Next on the list was Final Fantasy XIII (10 votes), The Eye of Judgment (7 votes), Afrika (6 votes), and Heavenly Sword (4 votes). Other games that received some recognition were Resistance, Bladestorm, Gran Turismo HD, and Lair.

Much like the Xbox 360 system feedback, we could've anticipated how Japanese developers felt about the 360's software. Sitting atop the heap was, unsurprisingly, Blue Dragon with 18 votes. Following on down the list was, Lost Odyssey (14 votes), Culdcept Saga (8 votes), Dead Rising (4 votes), and Gundam Operation Troy (4 votes). Other games mentioned were Lost Planet, Gears of War, Riot Act, and Idol Master.

For the Wii, we got another "shocker." The new Zelda easily took the top spot with 26 votes, followed by Super Mario Galaxy (8 votes), Wii Sports (5 votes), Animal Crossing (3 votes), and Smash Brothers X (3 votes). Others included Wario Ware, Fire Emblem, Sonic, and Elebits.

Then they moved on to the technical side, asking the survey-takers to name their favorite aspects of each system. For the PS3, visual power was the most popular by far (19 votes), with overall hardware specs coming in second (10 votes). Next came the Cell's computation abilities (9 votes), the built-in hard disk (3 votes), and the use of Blu-Ray (3 votes). Some designers also listed PSP connectivity, online functionality, the six-axis system, and even the brand-name power of PlayStation and Blu-Ray.

On the Xbox front, Xbox Live garnered the most votes with 18. Going down the list, there was system's ease of development (13 votes), connectivity with Windows Vista (12 votes), visual power (6 votes), and overall hardware balance (4 votes). Also recognized were the system's demo download service, ranking system, and strength of sales in North America.

That innovative controller of Nintendo's came in first for the Wii, raking in 34 votes. To follow came Wii Connect 24 (9 votes), the Virtual Console (6 votes), ease of development (4 votes), and the console price (3 votes). Other aspects mentioned were the hardware size, the concept of body motion, and the focus on light users.

And lastly, Famitsu pitted all three systems against each other in one final Battle Royale. In the category of system sales, 60% expected Wii to come out on top. PS3 was second with 37% of the vote, and in a distant third was the Xbox 360 with 3%. On a side note, one of the reasons cited for low PS3 expectations was the high retail cost of the system.

Furthermore, most of the developers polled want to give the Wii a shot. 63% picked Nintendo's system as the one they want most to develop for, compared to 32% for the PS3 and 5% for the Xbox 360. The Wii also took the category of which system the developers want the most (to own, personally), but this was a closer race. 49% have the Wii on their wish list, 42% want the PS3, and only 9% have an interest in the Xbox 360.

Given these results, it looks like Nintendo is doing much better than anyone expected at this time last year going into next-gen, and Microsoft - as always - has a lot of ground to make up in the Japanese professional market.

So it seems the next generation system Wii and it's next generation controller will end up winning the console war because the only thing that the GC lacked was third party support. For a system that most Fanboy gamers claim is not next generation the developers the people that actualy code next generation system and may also actualy have the system in their office they all seem to have high expectation for the WII period.

For any one wanting to know which system is better just go to a game store on the date of the Wii release. By then you will see Ps3 owners returning there system due to some malfuction(like over heating).Oyeah if you want pertty graphics go to this web site www.redsteelgame.com yeah thats a Wii launch game... Yeah the first generation of the Wii and it's only gonna get better. You will have ports but if the game is made entirely for the wii then it most definitly will have a next generation graphical feel and next generation controll system. Admit it this generation Nintendo is going to win. The next generation is pretty much in the bag too cuz they only need to update the graphics chip past direct x 10. By then HD graphic will be dirt cheap the way there supose to be.

Also too when you figure out how to make the GC a Wii come let me know since you obviously feel this is true prove it!? Go the the red steel web site and tell me that can be done on the GC. If your still hanging on to the Wii being an upgraded noworthy next gen system then and the xbox can out do it then be sure to kick your self in the face after going to the red steel web site.

Saying the controller is not next gen also is just dumb. the wii mote is the evolution of the PC mouse. Go to comp USA and pick up a gyro mouse and you;'ll see. It's cool though if you don't think it's not next generation unless it has HD graphics then thats cool. It's obvious you need some thing more to validate buying an HD tv.

I'm a huge fan of Nintendo and a big microsoft stock owner (sigh), but I really think the only mistake that was made with the PS3 was the fact that they included Blu-Ray. If they had the Blu-Ray as an add on, they could have the same price as XBox 360 and compete better against the other consoles. The PS3 does have some awesome hardware in it, but BD is not mature enough to be put into a game console.

lol@wii fanboy dude the wii is nice and you can keep coming with your magazine mombo jumbo but understand this!!!! nintendo wii is not next gen it is not even as powerfull as an xbox1 dude it doesn't even have a dvd player!!! or a hard drive.... next gen is not the next system a company puts out, it is definded by the next level of power a system can bring to the user and developers. yes i will be getting a wii but call it what it is..... not nex gen.... even nintendo said it is not next gen..... the first company to bring out a next gen system is microsoft hate it or love it. nintendo will outsell both microsoft and sony but yes i am a geek and im trying to tell you by reading the spec's and im telling you it is not next gen .

Champhf you are a retard little man. The Wii is not as weak as the Xbox 1, the Xbox 1 was a 733 MHz pentium 3 with a hard drive and a graphics card that resembles at most a geforce 2. The Wii has not had its specs released yet, but even if it is 729 MHz, the fact is it is going to have more memory than the Xbox, which only had 64MB. The graphics chip is definitely more advanced, the images of Far Cry, Red Steel and Mario Galaxy have shown this. Next gen is what the Wii can be described as, but also as Nintendo themselves hav put it as, NEW GEN is another.Don't go taking the pictures of Zelda Twilight Princess as an indication of the graphics for Wii, that game was only having the 16:9 aspect ratio added to enhance the game's presentation, but the graphics are not getting any upgrade from the GC release.

hey dumbass sony launches the 17th not the 19th

ok i will take what you say with a grain of salt but atleast i can leave my name!! from all the research you are doing it seems like you work for nintendo are you a sales rep?

The hype for the Wii is already so big everyone will buy one when they come out. It will get a lot of non-gamers to buy just because of the curiosity over the new controller. Let's hope Nintendo gets as many units to the retailers as they say the have produced. Nintendo has done their homework on this one. They know how big this is going to be.

I don't know anyone who wants a wii. The name is stupid, and people who play it will look like idiots dancing around their living rooms for no reason. Here's an idea, instead of pretending to play tennis, why not go play actual tennis?

Gimme a 360 and a PS3 any day.

why would anyone pick the PS3 or the 360 over the wii. the wii is incredible and it is just $250, unlike the PS3 which is $600 who in the hell is goin to buy some big as box for $600. and the 360 is ant any different, its $400 THATS TOO MUCH. and besides the wiis games are awesome and the wiimote is like ur actully playing the game, its like ur there...... al im saying is the wii can kick the PS3 or 360s ass any day

it looks like the Wii is allready kickin ass...every store is fill up with pre-orders of the Wii.......the $250 price of the Wii kicks the price of the PS3 and the 360..............and the Wii is still goin

it looks like the Wii is allready kickin ass...every store is fill up with pre-orders of the Wii.......the $250 price of the Wii kicks the price of the PS3 and the 360..............and the Wii is still goin

hEY GO CHECK OUT THE NEW SCREENS FOR REDSTEEL OVER AT THEIR SITE!

I saw the DMC4 video not impressed the only thing they added was xbox style graphics and partical effects... sad and look even more boring.

Ohyeah I'm hearing the Wii is a hybrid chip with the geeko tacked on there with speed trottling. People are also saying it has absolutly no bottle neck unlike the other systems. The bandwidth is reportedly stupid high also. Most lauch games only use the geeko side of the chips with a few broadway/hollywood effects for polish. No game is fully build for the Wii yet with a Wii designed engine! Red steel is using an unreal engine 2.5 with effects from version 3! So basicly the graphics are only gonna get better! All for 250!

The Wii's chip design is so good major cpu designers are taking a hard look at Sram and dram now! Samsung just made a Dram chip that is 1gig! Google it lazy basterds!

well the Game cube never beat out the PS2 the the PS2 didn't beat Xbox.
Systems do not make themselves games make systems. So until the games come out we won't know what the better system is. By the way an ex of this was the Game Cube which was a good system which had so many shitting games made it a shitting system.
Now this Wii looks good lets hope they make better games for this one. But once again this hole system war come down to one things. The Games.

@JMFQ:
...the PS2 didn't beat Xbox....

Dude...PS2 smoked Xbox. The PS2 is the best selling console.

PS2 only sold on the success of the PS1. When it comes to xmas its the parent buying it for the kids, not the kids themselves, so the parents go with a name they are familliar with. They know the hype about PS1 so they think PS2 must be good too. Then the kids just have to make the best of it. If they never play a game like Zelda, how do they know what they are or are not missing out on?

Wii will own PS3. Sony have made so many cockups recently and have gotten so complacent they think that everyone will just be like sheep again and get the PS3 based on the PS2's success. They are also trying to force people to have Bluray players which is a redundant as fuck format, HD-DVD will be the new HD format. Trust me.

It nearly always comes down to cost, and let me tell you, although smaller discs, the better compression on HD-DVD is actually higher quality than Bluray.

Another thing. People keep going on about MHz. MHz means jack shit. A 730MHz PPC (similar to the one Wii uses) is equivalent to a 1.5GHz P4. That is at least 2 times faster than Xbox 1. Not to mention the GPU and RAM have been updated too. Another thing is that the CPU power the PS3 and 360 have is so that it can deal with HD resolutions. Wii uses SD, and HD is 3 times more complex than HD, so the CPU needs to be 3x faster than a CPU that would handle SD. Now if you took the Wii and scaled it for HD, it's CPU would be 2.0GHz for the same performance as it has at SD (same polygon count etc, just larger resolution), now seeing as a PPC is roughly 2x faster than a P3 or P4, that means that a Wii running at HD res would need the equivalent of a 4GHz P4. The Wii is not underpowered by any means, it just looks like that at first what with the numbers.

Did you know the original brick gameboy had a 4MHz CPU but the SNES had 2 or 3 MHz? Which was better of those 2?

The insides may be similar to a Gamecube, but there have been lots of improvements. Do you really think Nintendo is stupid enough to put out an underpowered machine? Nintendo has always put out the fastest (barring Xbox maybe). We have NES vs Master System, SNES vs Megadrive, N64 vs PS1 and Saturn, Gamecube vs PS2. Yet where did this speed get them? Because of Nintendo's copy protected formats and cost to develop for them, not very far. 3rd parties didn't want to know, and so they went to the other machines because they were cheaper to make games for.

I can't see the PS3 selling at all. Not when I can get a Wii and a 360 for the same price with change. Does the PS3 have any killer titles that won't appear on a Wii or 360? It may have a few, but it's nothing compared to the exclusives you will find on Wii or 360. If you want the best choice, it has to be a Wii and 360.

Oh yeah, the PS3 games cost more too. So take this for example, EA release FIFA 08 on Wii, 360 and PS3. What they will do is program it for the slowest machine and just simply port that over, so it won't take advantage of any graphics the PS3 has. So why pay $60 for an identical game you can get on Wii or 360 for $50?

Sony has fucked up good style this time. I hope this teaches them not to take their customers for granted. I actually feel sorry for them. Come to Nintendo, you don't get fucked over left right and center here, just quality games.

I don't know a single person buying a PS3, and I know a lot of people, believe me. On the contrary, Wii is getting a fuck load of hype and plenty of people are getting one. This is Nintendos round, for sure.

They saved gaming in 1983 when it was saturated with shit games and same old same old, now they will save it again with a revolution, with the Wii.

The Wii remote is strange at first, but I have come to trust Miyamoto; I have complete faith in him that the Wii remote will be absolutely awesome. Think of all the different ways you can use it! As a sword, a drumstick, tennis racket, baseball bat, golf club, bow and arrow, even a bowling ball, and that's just a few of the early ideas! Wii is interesting because it's about as much using your imagination as playing the game. And imagination is the root of all fun and games.

I hope people decide to get a Wii, check out the awesome new games, check out the awesome old games, play online with me sometime (for free I might add) and generally see what it is what kept Nintendo alive for over 20 years. Welcome to the gamers company, not some faceless corporation who simply extract money from you.

Wii..... the only thing people can think to bash is its graphigcs, but look at this, the Gamecube hosted RE4, and those graphics are the best I've seen yet, including the 360 games, and the wii is more powerful than that. If you ask for anything over 3 times more real looking than Resident Evil 4, you're just greedy!

Price doesnt even matter. Anyone willing to spend $250 on that steaming pile of donkey crap called Wii is out of their mind, even more so than those buying a $600 PS3. Wii is the exact same thing as a gamecube with a new controller. Great, I cant wait to play the same exact games on a crap system with a dumb controller, while looking like an idiot. Nintendo is dumb, Wii is dumb, and anyone who buys one is dumb. All of the current generation consoles suck beyond belief, and the new console coming out in 2008 by SEGA is going to put all of them out of business. Enjoy your stupid pointless crappy consoles, fanboys.

Price doesnt even matter. Anyone willing to spend $250 on that steaming pile of donkey crap called Wii is out of their mind, even more so than those buying a $600 PS3. Wii is the exact same thing as a gamecube with a new controller. Great, I cant wait to play the same exact games on a crap system with a dumb controller, while looking like an idiot. Nintendo is dumb, Wii is dumb, and anyone who buys one is dumb. All of the current generation consoles suck beyond belief, and the new console coming out in 2008 by SEGA is going to put all of them out of business. Enjoy your stupid pointless crappy consoles, fanboys.

I own a 360. I bought it solely to play Call of Duty 2. That was back in March. The only other game I own for it now is Lego Star Wars. I haven't seen that many games on it I wanted to keep; I bought more, but always traded them back in.
The Wii looks like loads of fun and I've pre-ordered lots of games for it.That's all I want- something FUN to play, that's not too hard to master.
No interest in the PS3 at all, my Wii60 combo will do just fine.

I know 1 person getting a PS3 this year. Everyone else is getting a Wii. Sorry 360, no one wants you, lol.
Two of my friends have never owned a console at all and they are getting the Wii. My own stepdad asked me if he could put a Wii on his Christmas wish list- this system will do very well with the non-traditional gamers, I think. Those sorts of gamers don't know/give a rat's behind about "specs" or "next-gen"- but they do know "fun" and 'cheap" lol.
Wii for the masses! Let the fun begin!

Most of you keep yapping about how Sony has always "Ruled". I think it's funny, because in this generation, the least powerful gaming system was #1. That's right fanboys, go look up your specs, then go to IGN and look up the "Head to Head" articles. The GC version of a game had better graphics and better load times than the PS2 most of the time. And if you don't want to be troubled with numbers, fine. Look up articles from when Capcom announced RE4 for the PS2. Everyone said the same thing: "wait and see if the ps2 can handle the graphics." Now that the PS3 is the most powerful, fanboys think that the world is good again. I could care less about who sells more systems. I just want good games. But for all of you that still believe the most powerful system will win out, here's three letters for you: PSP! I thought you'd finally shut up now.

"Champhf you are a retard little man. The Wii is not as weak as the Xbox 1, the Xbox 1 was a 733 MHz pentium 3 with a hard drive and a graphics card that resembles at most a geforce 2. The Wii has not had its specs released yet, but even if it is 729 MHz, the fact is it is going to have more memory than the Xbox, which only had 64MB. The graphics chip is definitely more advanced, the images of Far Cry, Red Steel and Mario Galaxy have shown this. Next gen is what the Wii can be described as, but also as Nintendo themselves hav put it as, NEW GEN is another.Don't go taking the pictures of Zelda Twilight Princess as an indication of the graphics for Wii, that game was only having the 16:9 aspect ratio added to enhance the game's presentation, but the graphics are not getting any upgrade from the GC release."

Agreed, but gotta point out, the Xbox 1 had a graphics card that was more or less Geforce 3. .

lol somebody thinks sega is releasing a new console. somebody was dropped on his head.

This has to be said, and probably already has. The PS3 is only as fast as it is on launchday. Alot of PC games already have the PS3 beaten, so you can't even call what they are doing. "Cutting Edge". Everything that the PS3 has been touted to be able to do, has already been being done by PCs for a couple years now. What this next fight is going to be about is fun games. Nintendo better put up or shut up when it comes to fun games. Personally I found very few games, outside of Vice City, that I liked for PS2. I haven't really seen any games for PS3 that look much fun either. Same can be said for the Wii. Other than the Metroid Prime Series and Zelda, Nintendo has been pretty sparce as well. Graphics don't do jack for me if the game isn't fun to play. ie Halo. Halo was so repetitive! I think Wii and PS3 are going to clean up this next round, but I also think the Wii is going to take alot bigger a bite out of Sonys bottom line than they ever expected.

ok idc really about ps3. i heard its good but wii is definately better. who cares about graphics when u can play classic games without an nes(online store), message other people wit the wii, and actually move to it. so the ps3 kinda has the moving around but who cares. the wii can be used for so much more. im sry but also would u rather pay 600 dollars for a system wit good graphics, or 250 dollars for a system with 9 different and unique options, great games, and the ability to actually get off your butt and play IN the game. Actually be link when he shoots his bow, or be a tennis player without going out to a tennis court, or a baseball player when he swings, or a boxer without the bruises. all i sayin is that it is better. the only reason i would buy a ps3 is cause i could sell it on ebay for like 3000.

this guy is right i did some # crunching
Sony has to sell Over 3 million games with teir system launch just to break even
that means each person that buys a ps3 has to buy 7 and a half games with it if this happens then after everyone buys over 3 million then sony starts to profit
Nintendo is and always has been the future
U know what would be funny if nintendo would get into the dvd and tv business and advertise their stuff as the next sony
Then give us good quality tv's and dvd players and put sony out of business
If they put half of their energy into that the way they put on their video game systems nintendo would put them out of business in like 2 years