Matt Matthews from next-gen.biz has written a compelling article asking why the Wii has the lowest review scores around. Now while I found his article very interesting I do think the answer is because most publishers thought it was a gimmick and didn’t put any effort into it at all.
The Wii is an oddity in that everyone wrote it off before it outsold everything. Now they are scrambling to create something for it.
However what did become strikingly apparent is that according to Gamerankings.com the PS3 is actually the console with the best titles on it which I found very suprising. Now I haven’t had the time to verify this against Metacritic but for now the facts are quite solid.
Granted you could say that it is because the 360 has been out longer and has had more people throw rubbish at it than the PS3,
Well when we look at the top 10% of games the Wii is still doing abysmally while the PS3 and 360 are tied…
As we can see from the next graph
The 360 got off to a flying start but then started dropping quite alarmingly while the PS3 has just been improving. There is some light for the 360 fans however as generally review scores seem to increase again in year 4, while it is normal to drop in scores after year 2. So the 360 is destined for a comeback this year, now we just need someone to explain where all the great exclusives are hiding.
[Thanks to Dale for the tip]Last Updated: February 14, 2008
hilt_ctn
February 14, 2008 at 13:47
I really dont want to debate who has the better games between the PS3 and XBox. But I too have no understanding why the Wii does so well. The games are nasty. The only two I’ve ever found remotely entertaining are Tennis ( to a limited degree ) and Tiger Woods…that’s it !!
So what on earth are people buying ? Especially in the PAL parts of the world
boredhousewife
February 14, 2008 at 15:38
Average score is a bit of a meaningless statistic because the scores of your clangers has an adverse effect on your overall score. In the real world if a game sucks b@lls you don’t buy it – and if you got it as a gift you don’t play it. What is more significant is how many quality games you have to choose from. The wii has four games with review scores over 90 (metacritic)and the PS3 has three so its pretty even one year in. In SA however the Wii has bupkiss to brag about (No SMG ,Metroid,etc.)
Burns ZA
February 14, 2008 at 15:46
Super Mario Galaxy is available in SA – and it has been for almost a month already.
Hilt – People are Metroid Prime, SMG, Super Paper Mario, Zelda, Ravin Rabbids, Trauma Second Opinion, Resident Evil. Other than those there are really some crappy titles out.
doobiwan
February 14, 2008 at 15:59
I would have to agree that it’s a matter of looking at the absolute numbers rather than averages. I mean be fair, No one gives a hoot about Bomberman Zero 😉 If you wanted nother measure I’d say perhaps look at the rate of titles coming out on a platform.
That’s exactly why the Wii still does well – because the one single title that is important to everyone is in the box: Wii Sport. The other games are gravy.
JimBob
February 14, 2008 at 17:29
Apart from Burns’ list, Zack & Wiki and No More Heroes are essential Wii games. It’s true that the Wii lags the otehr platforms in quantity of good releases, but many of the best games for the system are truly unique in a market that is saturated with racing games and shooters, and of such high quality that they’re unmissable.
And I can’t wait for Smash Bros 🙂
evilredzombie
February 14, 2008 at 17:37
This respose just proves that fanbiys love stats if its in their favour…
@ boredhousewife and @doobiwan….. last time figers where flased u guys where right up front with your pom-pom’s….
doobiwan
February 14, 2008 at 18:46
Okay Zombie whatever,
You go play through your 3-4 short A rated PS3 exclusives. Because, you know, on average it just rules!
I’ll cry in my coffee over the the fact that my average sucks even though 360 has, oh 20+ A+ exclusives?
I think not.
Fox1
February 14, 2008 at 19:02
I just posted this in another thread last week. So here it is again:
According to vgchartz.com:
he PS3 has 8 games that sold a million worldwide. Impressive…
The XBox 360 has 34 games that sold a million worldwide.
So that goes to prove that we have some really bad game reviewers out there!
Fox1
February 14, 2008 at 19:05
Well you know how averages works. Its banana science… the more games a console has then the more greater the divisor. With the PS3 the divisor is tiny while with the 360 it’s huge.
JimBob
February 14, 2008 at 19:43
“According to vgchartz.com:
he PS3 has 8 games that sold a million worldwide. Impressive…
The XBox 360 has 34 games that sold a million worldwide”
You can use numbers to prove whatever you want them to. The Xbox 360 has been out twice as long as the PS3 (more in PAL territories), so obviously it would have more million sellers. Logically, you’d expect it to have at least twice as many million sellers, given that the adoption rates are more or less the same for both consoles over the first year.
But the nature of the console business is that it relies on gathering momentum and virtuous circles. As adoption ramps up and more of the big games hit the shelves, so do software sales climb. Again, just as you’d expect them to.
In fact, it’s hardly surprising that so many of the PS3’s million and double million sellers only came out in the last quarter of 2008. I dunno, maybe, there’s some sort of weird correlation between the amount of consoles in people’s home and how many games are sold or something.
Mark
February 14, 2008 at 20:07
“There are three types of lies – lies, damn lies, and statistics.” – Variously attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, Alfred Marshall, Mark Twain and many other dead people.
Fox1
February 14, 2008 at 20:41
Well, it ain’t the 360’s problem that the PS3 came late to the party so it took advantage of the late comer that couldn’t shrug it’s weight through the front door. The 360 has sold almost 4 times the amount of PS3 games that sold a million. That’s the price that SONY paid for turning up late. Yes there is a correlation between consoles and games… it’s called an attach rate. Here’s the link and it’s gonna raise some stink:
http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=24568
@Mark- Are you Mark Twain?
boredhousewife
February 14, 2008 at 22:10
@ EvilRedZombie – While I have been known to flase the odd figer when the mood grabs me – the real point I was trying to make , perhaps slightly inarticulately , was that a global average is not testament to having the best games . It would be more accurate to say that it has the least poor quality titles (ie Shovelware). This statistic is meaningless unless you make your gaming selection by putting your hand into a box whilst blindfolded and randomly selecting a game.
doobiwan
February 15, 2008 at 00:22
@bhw, nay good sir. The true measure of a desirable console is the one you want to spend the most money on, ie the most games you want.
Remember, that’s how PS2 did it. 4 million tons of po0h, but still more good than the others.
Evilredzombie
February 15, 2008 at 07:23
@ JimBob thank you..
As Homer J Simpsons said ” peoiple can use stats to prove anything.. 90 % of people know that ”
Even if the PS3 had half the success and half the games id choose it over the 360 . I hate MS, hate their games, their cosole, their internet browser, their OS, their Office..
So its not a attack on the 360 from my side.. I do think that the PS3 has more potential than the 360, but dont think its not worthy. There was a time…a time when I had a 360 and loved it, A time I was proud to say I am a MCSE, I time I believed in MS. A time before I relised how they s$crew us .
VIva opensource !
LazySAGamer
February 15, 2008 at 07:42
@evilredzombie, You do realise that Sony is more of a threat to open communications and freedom than Microsoft?
Rootkits, DRM, region encoding…. How come the Japanese get all the cool PS stuff before anyone else?
The point can be argued from both sides, all three companies are in it for the money and to believe different would be to be naive.
Evilredzombie
February 15, 2008 at 07:49
Jip…its a choice thing. I had just bumped my head a few times with MS… havnt had that with sony..yet.
J4NR1K
February 15, 2008 at 08:01
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080214-xbox-360-failure-rates-worse-than-most-consumer-electornics.html
Anybody have a notebook with a 3 year, no nonsense swap out if it freezes policy? Or a PC for that matter? No?
doobiwan
February 15, 2008 at 16:15
Zombie, yeah I’ve heard all the sob “MS ate my baby” stories a million times. Truth is they’re a company, they make money or die. Guess what? So is Sony and they’re masters at lock in and screwing their customers. Ask anyone with a PS2 who had their laser kak out on them, or heaven forbid, try get a Sony item repaired out of warranty.
I’ve at times in my career been quite close to Microsoft, and they’re far from perfect, but their intentions are usually in the right place, but if you filter them through the scum that is the internet all you hear is the conspiracy theories.
Fox1
February 15, 2008 at 16:59
Follow my ramblings about SONY here:
http://www.lazygamer.co.za/xbox-360/ps3-outsells-360-in-the-us/#comments