Wii Console Sales Up, Virtual Console Sales Down

Written by Jim Squires

Thursday, 03 May 2007 07:15

It's an interesting turn of events. Even though Wii's have been consistently selling out since launch, sales of titles on the Virtual Console have declined -- this despite a much larger installed user base and a greater selection of titles.

Ars Technica suggests that comments made by Satoru Iwata imply that VC sales slipped from 750,000 in January to 600,000 in February. You've got to ask yourself - how is this even possible? Even factoring in the "new thing" hype that would have led to increased early sales, this shouldn't have been possible. Especially since the new thing hype is still there for a majority of users (there are people out there buying their very first Wii as you read this).

Over at Ars Technica they've posted a fantastic article on the topic that I'm in complete agreement with. Mainly they point the finger at high pricing and lack of innovation. It's hard to argue with that.

I know I stopped being excited about the VC release Monday's a while ago - what about you? Are you still excited about the VC, or is it starting to feel like a missed opportunity?

[Ars Technica via 4cr]

Comments (3) Add Comment

...
written by Andrew Hayward, May 03, 2007

For the most part, if I want to play an old game, I'll seek out the real thing (especially at those VC prices). The only one I bit on was Super Mario 64 (despite owning the original cart), and I regretted it almost immediately. $10 for top-tier N64 games isn't -too- bad, but the rest of the prices seem pretty ludicrous.

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written by Muffin Man, May 03, 2007

I don't bother with the virtual console, I either

A) Already own the game
B) Don't like the game
C) Don't think it's worth the amount it's being sold for.

...
written by Dr. Cossack, May 04, 2007

I'm in the same situation: I still own several of the original games, and since my older consoles are still plugged in and in working order, I play directly using them. I'll make some purchases for the Virtual Console eventually, but not yet, since I already have a couple of games waiting to be played.

I wouldn't call it a wasted opportunity: it's not like the thing is ruined already. Through console updates, Nintendo can make several changes to improve the experience if they wish to. It's only the beginning...

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