Can Halo 3 save the Xbox 360 from the Wii?
Can the much-hyped Halo 3 save the Xbox 360 from oblivion at the hands of the overwhelmingly popular Nintendo Wii?
Despite the current buzz around Halo 3, the Xbox 360 itself has been labeled a disaster by some industry experts, such as business guru, Roger Ehrenberg.
David McLean, Australian Xbox regional director, told the Sun Herald (print edition) that Microsoft expected to sell more Xbox 360s after the release of Halo 3.
The question is — will Halo 3, and games like it, be enough to turn the tide against the unexpected success of the Wii?
The Wii started life as Nintendo’s last ditch attempt to stay relevant in the highly-competitive games console business. Its breathtaking success has astounded critics and brought tears of joy to Nintendo true believers.
The sheer sales volume of the Wii has been staggering, catching even Nintendo off guard. In just under a year the cumulative sales of Wii consoles have, according to some reports, caught up with its main next-generation competitor, the Microsoft Xbox 360. And don’t forget the Xbox had a 12 month headstart on the Wii.
In the vitally important Japanese market, Nintendo has sold 3.4 million Wiis, while Microsoft has sold just 400,000 Xbox 360s.
Analysts generally agree on the factors behind the Wii’s success – its low price, innovative motion-sensing controller and fun games, make it console of choice for casual gamers.
However, the Wii’s low price comes at the expense of hardware power. While you’ll find plenty of fun games for the Wii, you’re not going to find power-hungry games being successfully translated to the Wii.
As time goes on what you’ll see happen is that the Wii will continue to find favor with casual gamers, but the Xbox 360, and to some degree, the PlayStation 3 (PS3), will find favor with hardcore gamers who are serious about their gaming.
I suspect you’ll also find some Wii gamers who also purchase an Xbox 360 or a PS3 in order to have access to the kinds of games that are technically not possible on the Wii.
So will Halo 3 save the Xbox 360 from the Nintendo onslaught? Not by itself it won’t, but it, and games like it, certainly help make the Xbox 360 a more compelling proposition for anyone who wants a more hardcore gaming experience.
While a more hard-core gaming experience might not slow down the Wii’s success in the short term, it will certainly help ensure that there’s a place for the Xbox 360 in the games console market.
Bring on Halo 4, I say.
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8 Responses to “Can Halo 3 save the Xbox 360 from the Wii?”
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September 26th, 2007
While i agree with what John said the only problem is tha Bungie already said that Halo will be a trilogy, thus making Halo 3 the last instalment. So for Halo 4 is only a fantasy.
September 26th, 2007
Nah- they’ll just make prequels like Star Wars did.
September 26th, 2007
“The Wii started life as Nintendo’s last ditch attempt to stay relevant in the highly-competitive games console business.”
Yeah. Nintendo, a $40 billion dollar company at the time, went from the brink of irrelevancy to trumping Sony’s market value in less than a year–all because of Wii. That would be quite an achievement if it were only true. You simply cannot get that far that fast from irrelevancy.
September 26th, 2007
I think the Wii has already proved that hardcore gamers are a small percentage of the population compared to casual gamers. If Xbox and PS3 want to beat Wii sales they’ll have to focus on casual games like Sing Star, not Halo. I think PS3 is quite happy being an elite gaming machine for hardcore gamers, but xbox is kinda stuck in the middle – it wanted to be like PS2 when that was leading, but now it needs a new direction if it still wants to follow the leader
September 28th, 2007
Bob I think Halo 3 proved that Hardcore Gamers are the ones that will pay the big bucks. Show me a “casual” game that makes 300 million dollars world wide on its first day.
October 1st, 2007
@larry
As much as i love halo i’d like to see bungie use their awesome skills to make a fps that looks different but still has the infallable mechanics, to tell the truth i’ve never liked the pink and purple aliens, especially those stupid little ones. oh and i don’t think the wii is a threat to anything but calories, its aimed at a different market.
October 9th, 2007
…show me the 360 being neck and neck with a console that came out a fricken year later.
Oh wait, not need to show that, it’s already self-evident.
Reality is that microsoft loses money if a person buys a 360 and only purchases a very small number of games, while Nintendo turns a significant profit off of a person that buys a wii only for wiisports. ‘Hardcore’ gamers are merely children that think better graphics = better gameplay.
June 22nd, 2008
haha who cares about halo 3 or wii to be honest i have a 360 because nintendo have allways stuck to childish games. the only good nintendo was the 64… haha and gamecube
poor nintendo boys.
and bob… how will casual games help hardcore gaming consoles to sell? that is rediculous and xbox wants to be like ps2? wtf? are you triping on acid or somthing boy? xbox hasnt followed the leader… microsoft are very capable of destroying the compition.. bill gates has a 3rd eye that shoots red ring of death so be warned fanboy!