Wii Closes In On Record

The Nintendo Wii is well on the road to becoming the most successful games console ever after reaching 200,000 unit sales in just 50 weeks.

The enduring Playstation 2, which will soon celebrate its seventh birthday, and the market-leading Nintendo DS handheld, both took 55 weeks to hit 200,000 units.

Andrew Milgate, games analyst at market-watcher GfK, said if Nintendo kept selling the Wii at a similar rate it would become the fastest-selling console of all time.

The $399 Wii, which launched in December last year, brought video games to the masses by pioneering social gaming experiences.

Whereas console gaming traditionally involved sitting hunched in front of the TV with a control pad, the Wii and its motion-sensitive remote made games accessible to a broad mainstream audience. Even nursing homes have installed them as a way of keeping residents mentally and physically stimulated.

"Australias a very casual [gamer] market and you can see that in the top 10 [sales] lists every week with games like Singstar, Nintendogs and Brain Training," Milgate said.

But Sony is refusing to give the Wii a free ride this Christmas, pitching the PlayStation 2, which now sells for $199.95, as a direct competitor. Further, the low-end version of the Xbox 360 now costs the same as a Wii.

"We will be selling PS2 globally and in Australia at least through 2008 with the likelihood of 2009," Sony Computer Entertainment Australia managing director Michael Ephraim said in an interview.

"It is the most successful console ever, backed by the largest collection of games which third parties are still supporting, plus all of the social games that we have."

Ephraim expected the PS2s social games like Eyetoy, Singstar and the Buzz quiz titles would make the console a formidable competitor to the Wii this Christmas.

Nintendo Australias new managing director, Rose Lappin, was equally confident, saying she was certain demand for the Wii would exceed supply this Christmas.

"With some of the other [games] systems and our earlier systems, it would be gamers playing in a room, and it was always a more individual thing; there wasnt as many multiplayer games as there are on the Wii," Lappin said.

"Even the people that are sitting looking on are having fun with the people that are playing, rather than someone sitting there mashing buttons."

Lappin rejected Sonys claims the PS2 offered a comparable social gaming experience to the Wii.

"Playstation 2 doesnt play like Wii does - they may have some social games but its not as interactive," she said.

Even Microsoft, which save for some classic arcade titles like Pac-Man has always catered almost exclusively to hardcore gamers, is heavily promoting new social games for this Christmas. But the selection isnt nearly as broad as that for the Nintendo and Sony consoles.

Scene It? Lights Camera Action, a movie trivia game for the Xbox 360 played with four wireless button controllers, goes on sale on November 29.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, which comes with a wireless Gibson Les Paul guitar controller, is the other social game in Microsofts Christmas lineup, but its also available on the Wii, PS2 and PS3.

"Nearly half of gamers in Australia are female and one-in-ten are seniors," said the local Xbox director, David McLean.

"As a result, demand for social party games has increased and so has the spectrum of choice on our shelves to cater for a wider audience."

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