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Wii Fit Topples Halo 3 Lifetime Sales
More facts are emerging from the NPD group’s February market data, this time in the shape of a sales comparison between Wii Fit and Halo 3.
Nintendo’s fitness title has now surpassed sales of six million in North America, meaning that it has outsold Bungie’s epic finale in the Halo trilogy, which itself has achieved lifetime sales of 5.9 million in the US.
The data, confirmed by Kotaku, also shows that Wii Fit has achieved the feat despite a higher unit price and Halo being released eight months earlier. For developers and publishers, the data means that the Wii has a balance board install-base of six million in the US, and at least nine million globally.
UK game industry group ELSPA had previously handed Wii Fit a Platinum award, meaning the title has surpassed one million sales in Britain.
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Of course the nagging fear for many of us reading this has got to be that a 'casual' game aimed at women can actually have sold more units than a 'hardcore' title aimed at the traditional gaming demographic - the very people who created this hobby in the first place.
As long as it doesn't mean publishers will begin shifting all their dosh away from traditional enthusiast games to the easy-to-make-easy-to-please-mass market, this news doesn't bother me and certainly doesn't come as a surprise.
Hmmmm, manhattan Do you really believe Brain Age and Wii Fit are not selling to individual consumers through retail outlets?
If we are going to question the 'validity' of game sales, maybe EDGE or some such media outlet should do a study on the 'actual' size of the XBOX 360 install base - surely it has been 'inflated' by sales resulting from broken units - buyers who are unaware of the warranty, or buyers whose warranty has expired. I beleive you could do the same thing with PS2, espeially with the reissue.Or even the DSLite, I am sure many Origional DS 'doubled up' when it was released.
Bottom line - everyone and their dog could see HALO 3 coming out on 360 - and when it did. it was advetised heavily and sold very well.
No one or their dog saw Wii FIt coming when Wii was announced - not specificly Wii FIt, a $90 peripheal game, and when it launched, it was advertised heavily, and sold well.
What is wrong with creative and origional franchises doing as well or better as the handful of established blockbuster game titles that are released year in and year out? It is great that this title is now more important than Nintendo's traditional franchises - should they just have rehashed Gamecube franchise untill the end of time?
Let's see Rockstar accomplish that - let's see them develop an origonal game franchise that trumps the extremely frequent Grand Theft Auto sequels.....
How does it go? There are lies, damned lies and statistics? ;)
There have been examples of Wii Fit being used other than by the general public.
Seacroft Hospital in Leeds for example use Wii Fit in physiotherapy.
However, such uses will be small in comparison to residential use.
Games like Wii Fit or the DS's Brain Age are targeted beyond the traditional game types, hence, are able to establish a broader base of consumers who will buy software not only for entertainment but also for a more 'useful" purpose like getting fit or keeping the mind sharp. That is where the delineation of whether it's still a game or not is blurred. Like what I said in my previous post, what happens if a hospital purchases 100 copies of Wii-fit for muscle rehabilitation therapies, or if a shelter buys 50 copies of brain age for their senior citizen patients? Can that sill be considered "video-game" sales?
A sale is a sale. They don't care if you're playing the game, letting it collect dust, or anything else. You bought the game. Money changed hands. Hell, there are games being used to help with ADD and PTSD for crying out loud. Sort of like how a PS3 sale is a PS3 sale, regardless if its only being used to watch Blu-Ray movies or a PSP is only used as a media player.
This is like saying that Starcraft licenses purchased for e-sports tournaments can't be considered 'videogame sales'. The product itself is a videogame (it is structured around completing challenges), therefore its sales count towards videogame income whether or not it is purchased for residential use.
I agree with both you and Waner (sorry, can't remember the spelling).
I agree that Wii-Fit has a much wider appeal than Halo 3. Halo 3 is a gamer's game, hardcore to the fullest. Wii-is is an interactive workout video (and we all know the world has a bit of a weight problem) so its appeal is well beyond that of a mere shooter. Brain age is a little different than wii-fit as it's a bit more of a game, but it's mass market appeal is still higher than that of Halo.
I do agree though that the majority of the sales of these games are at retail though and not through hospitals, old folk homes, etc. I'm pretty sure they do sell to those areas, but in a smaller percentage than at retail.
I doubt that millions of copies were bought by hospitals or shelters though, you have statistics?
What is the 'traditional game type' then? Halo itself is already a party game that's easy to get into, many people who otherwise don't play videogames will own Halo.