As I preach to the choir here at Infendo, I often forget that a lot of people don’t like Wii or Nintendo. I even forget that publishers and developers were until recently still operating under the assumption that Nintendo was failing in the console category. Apparently developers and publishers are now realizing that Nintendo is back and that their non-portable game system is a big deal. From an article at GameDaily:
Why is Wii so attractive? According to Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian, the answer’s simply in the economics: “Based on the typical front-line retail price for Wii titles, we estimate that publishers need to sell approximately 300,000 units per title to break even. In contrast, we estimate that breakeven units for front-line Xbox 360 and PS3 titles are in the 600,000-unit range, or at least double the Wii’s break even level.”
Not to forget about everyone’s favorite dual-screened portable unit, the article goes on to say:
By the end of Nintendo’s fiscal year in March 2008, Sebastian believes that the Wii will have an installed base of nearly 20 million worldwide. He also thinks that tie ratios on the platform will continue to improve and Nintendo will offer more in the way of DS-Wii connectivity.
It’s hard to argue with numbers, maths, and analysts. (Stop snickering, Jack.) Will this truly be a golden age where both 1st party and 3rd party titles will lift Nintendo to the upper echelons of industry domination and fun games?
[Thanks for the tip, John McG!]