Historical Context

Having seen what the current generation of systems looks like viewed through the prism of review scores, I thought it might be helpful to look back a generation. What are the average review scores for the Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft Xbox, and Sony PlayStation 2? A bit more data collection from GameRankings and I had my answer.

Adding data for those platforms – and keeping colors to identify platform companies – you can see that the Nintendo Wii is still very low.



Even after eight years at the top, the entire library of the PlayStation 2 (and its respective mountain of shovelware) still rates an average review score of 69%, five points ahead of the Nintendo Wii. The more I looked, the more it seemed that something really is different about how Wii games are reviewed.

Review Scores Over Time

Is there any chance the Wii's average review scores will improve significantly over time? If the last generation of hardware is any indication, then the answer appears to be a resounding “No”. Here are the annual averages for the Xbox, GameCube, and PlayStation 2, measured as functions of system age.



The GameCube came out of the blocks as strong as any platform ever has, then dropped down amongst the other systems around the 70% mark. The Xbox had a reasonably strong launch too. The PlayStation 2 has almost always been around the 70% mark and only began to drop below 68% in the last two years.

Incidentally, that little peak at year 4 is an amusing find. After four years on the market, each of last generation's hardware had their best year, measured by review scores (excepting the launch). That data corresponds to the PlayStation 2 in 2003 and the GameCube and Xbox in 2004.

Now, the same graph for the current generation is shown below. Remember, these systems haven't been out nearly as long, so we have less data to consider.



Just as the PlayStation 2 before it, the PlayStation 3 was the only system of its generation to improve its average review score in its second year of life, although by only a small amount. The year 2 drop for the Xbox 360 tracks well with a similar drop for the original Xbox. Nearly imperceptibly the Wii average review score dropped from about 65% for its first year to under 64% for its second year.

Incidentally, if there is a bump in review scores in a system's fourth year then the Xbox 360 is due for that bump in 2008. The Wii and the PlayStation 3 will have to wait until 2009 for their bump.