TOP10 Bestsellers in Video Games for 2009 for Amazon.com

[Generalisimo]

Amazon made public the list of bestsellers products of 2009 for each category. This is the list for the videogames:

1) Nintendo Wii


2) Wii Remote Controller


3) Wii MotionPlus


4) Wii Nunchuk


5) New Super Mario Bros Wii


6) Wii Fit Plus con la Wii Balance Board


7) Wii Sports Resort


8) Wii Fit


9) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)


10) Mario Kart Wii con Volante de Wii


11 to 20:
11.PlayStation 3 Dualshock 3 Wireless Controller
12.Wii Play with Wii Remote
13.Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 PS3
14.Official Nintendo Wii Wheel
15.Assassin's Creed II x360
16.Halo 3: ODST
17.PlayStation 3 120 GB
18.Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
19. EA Sports Active Wii
20. Left 4 Dead 2 x360

We can officially declare...
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Full list available here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/2009/videogames/ref=zg_bs_cal

[gchristie]

we can officially declare...

[SIZE="5"][font="comic sans ms"][size="4"]oui![/size][/font][/size]

[tagwyn]

This means simply that teen-agers with money dominate the market being announced! That gives me and upset stomach!! t

[Le Ricain]

Ouais, regarding the top ten items there does seem to be a trend that I can not quite put my finger on.

[Syt]

This means simply that teen-agers with money dominate the market being announced! That gives me and upset stomach!! t

I think in case of the Wii it's more of a case that Nintendo has managed to reach non-gamers with it. I know quite a number of people who would hardly glance at a PC game, or play a shooter or some such on PS3 or XBox360 but who love the Wii.

[Generalisimo]

I think in case of the Wii it's more of a case that Nintendo has managed to reach non-gamers with it. I know quite a number of people who would hardly glance at a PC game, or play a shooter or some such on PS3 or XBox360 but who love the Wii.

Exactly... if you divide the world in two groups, that would be:
Do not play games >>>>>>> Play games

The first group is a lot bigger than the second one... so Nintendo focused their campaign on making casual games for the people that usually didn't played.
This has proven to be a very successful idea... now they got a lot of children, teens, and women playing with their console, accesories and games.

I almost bought one for my wife for Christmas...

[Franciscus]

Exactly... if you divide the world in two groups, that would be:
Do not play games >>>>>>> Play games

The first group is a lot bigger than the second one... so Nintendo focused their campaign on making casual games for the people that usually didn't played.
This has proven to be a very successful idea... now they got a lot of children, teens, and women playing with their console, accesories and games.

I almost bought one for my wife for Christmas...

Things are not so simple. And I know, because if I personally am first and foremost a PC - strategy and RPG - solo - gamer, yet in my house I have:
- One 1)
- Four 2)s
- Two 4)s
- One 5)
- One 6)
- One 10)
- Two 11)s
- One 12) (Wii Play)
- One 14)
and one 17) (80 Gb)


My kids love the Wii, and they also love the PC - Sims, Internet, youtube, etc...
My wife is a non-gamer person (although a few years ago she did play Age of Empires, almost obsessively ), and she does NOT like PC or console games at all, now. Only occasionally she tried Wii Fit (I wonder why ? )
Me ?? I admit that I have many good moments of fun playing Wii with my kids.

(PS: and the Ps3 ? - great blu-ray player, with some extras...:neener

[Generalisimo]

Things are not so simple. And I know, because if I personally am first and foremost a PC - strategy and RPG - solo - gamer, yet in my house I have:
- One 1)
- Four 2)s
- Two 4)s
- One 5)
- One 6)
- One 10)
- Two 11)s
- One 12) (Wii Play)
- One 14)
and one 17) (80 Gb)


My kids love the Wii, and they also love the PC - Sims, Internet, youtube, etc...
My wife is a non-gamer person (although a few years ago she did play Age of Empires, almost obsessively ), and she does NOT like PC or console games at all, now. Only occasionally she tried Wii Fit (I wonder why ? )
Me ?? I admit that I have many good moments of fun playing Wii with my kids.

(PS: and the Ps3 ? - great blu-ray player, with some extras...:neener

Well, you just need to look at the games catalog of each platform and you will easilly notice what I meant...
Try to get MGS4 for WII ... you will not, because the platform is not designed for something like that. It is designed to play WII Sports, WIIFIT, Mario Kart WII or the last Barbie game...
That's the key decision that Nintendo did back then... and it resulted in a gold mine for them during these years.
Now we have to see how long this is going to last... or if we are giong to see a new WII2 with the high level performance of the other consoles.

I too own a PS3 and a good PC (not an I7, but an Intel Core2Duo QUAD)... I have played games like Empire Total War (yeah! an old discussion ) or Europa Universalis 3 on my PC... but also Resident Evil 5 and Metal Gear Solid 4 on my PS3...
But they are completelly different markets... that's why Nintendo was SOOO successful.
I know a lot of people (in Argentina and around the forums) that own a PC, the WII and a XBOX360 or a PS3... they can coexist without a problem.


The good thing about this is that Nintendo managed to get a lot of "non-gamer" people into the gaming world... and that's something that we all need to thank them.

[Jarkko]

This means simply that teen-agers with money dominate the market being announced! That gives me and upset stomach!! t

Errr.... Teenagers buy Wii? I think you are seriously mistaken.

We have Wii at home (have had it for two years). The younger kids (I have four children) love the Wii games (just for the record, all of us have our own pc's (except I have two and a laptop, but that is because I am the alpha-male in the family ) on which we play PC games we like). My wife who does not play any computer games (well, not anything outside Hearts or Spider on her pc) likes Wii games. We have sessions every night with the whole family with WiiFit, WiiSing, Mariokart, World of Goo and Kororinpa.

Just my oldest son doesn't take much part in the Wii fun (except in the evenings when curtains are closed and he is sure none of his friends coudl witness he is playing Wii games with the rest of the family). In his opinion Wii games are intended either for small kids or old grannies. When his friends visit us and they notice we have Wii, the usual comment is "Oh, you have Wii <snarl&snigger>". Thus I would suspect he'd never buy a Wii if he had had the choice. I also seriously believe teenagers are not the primary people buying Wii.

Wii made gaming fun (again). You don't have to be a hyperactive teen (or a hyperactive adult who used to be a hyperactive teen) to play the games on Wii. Anybody can handle the controls. What is more, Wii is a social thing. I don't think we've ever had in our family somebody play alone on the Wii, there is always others along (at least following the game and commenting the playing). When we have guests over at us, it has become rather natural to turn on the Wii at some point and have a Mariokart race or Marioparty game (I suspect this one couple have started to visit us more often lately because of Wii...).

Wii is the game console for people who haven't been recognised as potential gamers before. It is simple, it is fun, and I bet it is a goldmine for Nintendo because of that.

[Pocus]

Interesting analysis Jarkko... I was inclined to buy a Wii too for family this Christmas. Perhaps this is not too late

[Strategy]

I agree with Jarrko that the primary draw of the Wii is how it has made gaming social and fun. The only game console I have is a Wii (in fact, it is the first one I've ever owned - before that I was 100% a PC gamer), and the reason is really very simple: it is the only console that has games that I cannot also get on the PC. There is nothing I want to play on the Playstation or XBox that is not also available on the PC (if the specific title isn't, there is always something very similar). The Wii, on the other hand, has a bunch of unique and fun games - in addition to being an excellent alternative if you want to spend some gaming time together with other people, and don't quite feel like bringing out the boardgames.

@Pocus: Go ahead... you know you can't resist the lure of that giant mushroom...

[Pocus]

What is important is: can my wife resists the lure of that giant mushroom?

[Adlertag]

Before purchasing a Wii and despite its own advantages, I'm currently following with interest the development of the "Natal project"; a new way of playing without any controller.
Maximum freedom of play, it seems, but we don't know its price and if the technology will be reliable soon after being available...

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/projectnatal/

[Generalisimo]

Well, the Project Natal has been announced by Micro$oft since a long time ago... but I haven't seen it as advanced as it should after all this time...

Sony has it own "response" to that project, the Playstation Eye... but you still got a "controller" on that system...

[Adlertag]

The system is nevertheless promising but it relies on 2 synchronized cameras (25 im/s) and a software able to analyse in real time not less than 48 differents points of a moving body (the player)...and here it is the challenge.
So the long development time is finaly understandable.

[Jarkko]

What is important is: can my wife resists the lure of that giant mushroom?

"Kororinpa" was the game that brought my wife into Wii games. We had "WiiSports" and "Mariokart" at first, but she wasn't interested in those, but when she saw "Kororinpa" she actually asked if she can try that. After that she succumbed into playing "Mariokart" and then later on "MarioParty" too. A year ago she asked if she could get WiiFit as christmas present (and the Santa was nice, she did get that!), this christmas she asked for WiiFit+ (and she got that too!); although they have really been presents for the whole family (do *not* play the game if you've had a few beers, because you'll get too eager and next day every single muscle (even those muscles you didn't know you have) aches like hell (at least if you are in as "fit" shape as I am, you know, afraid that you'll get a heartattack if you have to take the stairs to 3rd floor)). She also plays the games purchased as downloadable stuff (like "World of Goo" or "Pop 'Em Drop 'Em Samegame"; btw, the ~5 euros spent on "Samegame" have prolly been one of the most efficient money I've ever spent, it's just hypnotisingly addictive to pop the blocks, especially in multiplay, and it doesn't matter if you've had few beers during the evening already ).