famitsu next-gen survey

[Dante]

Famitsu recently ran a poll with 58 developers at 19 Japanese game companies concerning next generation consoles/software.

 

What are your expectations for next-gen consoles?

 

PS3 - 48% Extremely high expectations

32% High expectations

18% Low expectations

 

Xbox 360 - 13% Extremely high expectations

40% High expectations and

45% Low expectations

 

Wii - 63% Extremely high expectations

36% High expectations

1% Low expectations

 

For each next gen system, what software are you looking forward to the most?

 

PS3’s lineup - Metal Gear Solid 4 (12 votes)

Final Fantasy XIII (10 votes)

The Eye of Judgment (7 votes)

Afrika (6 votes)

Heavenly Sword (4 votes)

 

Xbox 360 - Blue Dragon (18 votes)

Lost Odyssey (14 votes)

Culdecept Saga (8 votes)

Dead Rising (4 votes)

Gundam Operation Troy (4 votes)

 

Wii - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (26 votes)

Super Mario Galaxy (8 votes)

Wii Sports (5 votes)

Animal Crossing (3 votes)

Super Smash Brothers Brawl (3 votes)

 

What is your favorite part of each next-gen system?

 

PS3 - Visual power took the top spot on (19 votes)

Overall hardware specs (10 votes)

Cell’s computation abilities (9 votes)

Built-in hard disk (3 votes)

Blu-Ray (3 votes)

 

Xbox 360 - Xbox Live (18 votes)

Ease of development (13 votes)

Connectivity with Windows Vista (12 votes)

Visual power (6 votes)

Overall hardware balance (4 votes)

Wii - Wiimote (34 votes).

Wii Connect 24 (9 votes)

Virtual Console (6 votes)

Ease of development (4 votes)

Console price (3 votes)

 

What next-gen console do you believe will sell the most?

 

Wii - 60%

PS3 - 37%

Xbox 360 - 3%

 

What next-gen console would you like to develop for the most?

 

Wii - 63%

PS3 - 32%

Xbox 360 - 5%.

 

What next-gen console are you most looking forward to owning?

 

Wii - 49%

PS3 - 42%

Xbox 360 - 9%.

 

wii.ign.com

[Owen]

Looking good for Wii!

 

Very informative! Thanks for posting Dante!

[Zero]

Always with the updates Dante. Good work.

 

Things are defintely looking goos for the wii. Ler's hope it stays this well after it launches.

[Dilli Gee]

Of course they want to develop for the Wii. It means less work, same pay.

[Nintendork]

I'm sure they said this about the Dolphin, when it was still under that alias.

Of course I know that is different.. but someone needs to be critical of this fairly prospective news.

[Dilli Gee]

It's probably accurate, but only goes to show that the gaming industry has lost its individuality as an industry, and has conformed to business and profit through-and-through.

 

However it's Japan only, so of-course the new PS3 trounces the re-launch of the Xbox 360. But Wii selling the most? We'll see.

 

Playstation still completely bashes Nintendo to death in terms of total sales (in respect to scale and launch dates).

[McPhee]

Of course they want to develop for the Wii. It means less work, same pay.

 

lol

[pedrocasilva]

Of course they want to develop for the Wii. It means less work, same pay.

That's hardly a reason for them to prefer Wii, It's like saying developers prefered NES to SNES, or PSone to PS2... Or saying people prefer DS over PSP because it's inferior.

 

Just for the record Gamecube was the easiest platform to program for this generation (and PS2 was the hardest). Saying that of course developers probably wanted to program for gamecube might be accurate, but it didn't gone like that.

 

Then again I don't recall this ammount of support from the industry for GC when it launched, IMO that's because GC did everything like Ps2 did gameplay-wise, sure it was leaps and bounds more powerful, but it offered the same oportunities to be exploited in the end (gameplay-wise).

 

The industry didn't care about graphics with Psone, PS2 and DS, seriously... You can pull good graphics anywhere, what wii offers is the possibility of taking the gameplay to new highs.

If this kind of gameplay sells as good as it should... Wii could be a winner.

Playstation still completely bashes Nintendo to death in terms of total sales (in respect to scale and launch dates).

hmmm... Playstation Portable bashes Nintendo DS in terms of total sales?

 

Only in PR talk (and in their dreams).

 

More Japanese surveys

October 6th, 2006

 

ITMedia has posted information on a poll they recently ran. The poll asked readers to choose which console they planned on purchasing by the end of the year. The Wii came in at number 1 with 40%, and the PS3 was hot on it’s heels with 39%. The poor Xbox 360 only received 16% of the vote.

 

In another poll (which posed the same question) put together by Japanese gaming magazine Gamaga, the Wii was the clear winner with 65% of the vote, then PS3 with 20%, and last was the 360 with 14%. It should be noted that the readers of Gamaga are purely focused on video games, while the readers of ITMedia are more focused on technology as a whole.

Source: http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3956&Itemid=2

[Mokong]

Playstation still completely bashes Nintendo to death in terms of total sales (in respect to scale and launch dates).

 

Yet 500,000 units at launch i think you can agree thats just not good enough

[Dilli Gee]

lol

That's hardly a reason for them to prefer Wii...

I don't recall ever giving a reason why Wii could be perceived as requiring less work. But I will now:

 

Game companies like Ubisoft and EA have shit-loads of games on Xbox and PS2 that never got released on the GameCube.

 

Wii allows them to port over these titles with ease, and because they've never been on Nintendo before, they're "new" titles. Also by re-arranging the control system, it makes it a "new experience" - and a few graphical ugrades make it "newer" too!

 

It's a developer's dream. They only need a small team of "converters" to change the control system, and they're done. They don't even need to make the games 5.1 or widescreen.

 

It means Wii, in theory, should never be short of "new" titles. But GC, in theory, should never have been either.

 

Playstation Portable bashes Nintendo DS in terms of total sales? Only in PR talk (and in their dreams).

Is this the Handheld discussion forum? Because last time I checked it was the Wii discussion one. The PS3 is the sequel to the PS2, not the PSP.

 

And "PS2+PSP" still sells more than "GC+DS", if I'm not mistaken (correct me if I'm wrong).

 

Finally, before you criticise Sony's PR talk, Nintendo seems to be throwing a lot of shit around this week about how much "profit" it'll make off of consumers. Whilst it's wonderful to hear that the Wii is so cheap to make and produce, and that Nintendo expects to make $850 million profit because they charge a lot more than the system is actually worth, it de-values me personally as a customer.

 

An Xbox 360 costs $550, but is sold for $400, and Microsfot have publically announced they lose money.

 

Nintendo Wii sells for $250, and Nintendo have publically announced they make money. Any guesses on the actual cost of the system?

 

Yet 500,000 units at launch i think you can agree thats just not good enough

No it's not. I agree. But Sony has the added bonus that parents who save for a PS3 aren't going to then go and spend it on a Wii, because PS3 is a premium/considered item. Wii isn't.

 

And PS3 doesn't launch until March in Europe, probably when Wave 2 or 3 hits Japan and North America. There will be enough stock to meet demand.

[pedrocasilva]

Game companies like Ubisoft and EA have shit-loads of games on Xbox and PS2 that never got released on the GameCube.

 

Wii allows them to port over these titles with ease, and because they've never been on Nintendo before, they're "new" titles. Also by re-arranging the control system, it makes it a "new experience" - and a few graphical ugrades make it "newer" too!

LOL... seriously... hey... Gamecube is a standalone architecture, I can understand the agument of them having the game engines already running on GC, but you're telling me it's easy to port a Xbox or PS2 native game/engine into GC?

 

That's ridiculous.

 

It's a developer's dream. They only need a small team of "converters" to change the control system, and they're done. They don't even need to make the games 5.1 or widescreen.

Isn't that like that to every half assed port at the face of the planet?

 

Also bare in mind that the control scheme idea/executing and calibration, for the control to work with the wiimote is not simple. It requires time and work, if this alone works well... it's already a port with some effort, even if it has crappy graphics, that may be because they were really working on gameplay.

 

Widescreen is really simple to add, and not every game needs 5.1.

It means Wii, in theory, should never be short of "new" titles. But GC, in theory, should never have been either.

You have "theories" going on in there that's a given.

 

It's as simple as... If the console succeds it'll get ports and effort in the process of doing them (namely good graphics), other-wise most of them will be low budget. really simple.

Is this the Handheld discussion forum? Because last time I checked it was the Wii discussion one. The PS3 is the sequel to the PS2, not the PSP.

You were talking about Nintendo versus Playstation without giving brand details.

 

Also... PSP is a PS2 side-sequel, if you will, as it aims to be just that: a PS2 portable.

 

You could argue what keeps PSP selling is GTA, and seeing that even that isn't enough to beat DS it might be because it's more expensive, because it lacks GT4 or because public is getting saturated.

 

PSP flopping just before PS3 launches is bad publicity for Sony, that's why you keep seeing support under the table for it, and lying PR talk about it (like: DS is loosing core gamers).

And "PS2+PSP" still sells more than "GC+DS", if I'm not mistaken (correct me if I'm wrong).

PS2's stop working often you know? it's due to cut corners, and even third parties such as Capcom have complained because they have to substitute their beta testing PS2's every 6 months to a year.

 

Also a lot of gamers buy a PS2 put a chip on it and never buy a game again.

 

Sony's numbers are inflated, meaning they count units shipped to stores, not total sales.

 

Of course PS2 sells more in the end of the day than Gamecube, but bare in mind that there's strings atached. Even if PS2 would still be a winner without them.

Finally, before you criticise Sony's PR talk, Nintendo seems to be throwing a lot of shit around this week about how much "profit" it'll make off of consumers. Whilst it's wonderful to hear that the Wii is so cheap to make and produce, and that Nintendo expects to make $850 million profit because they charge a lot more than the system is actually worth, it de-values me personally as a customer.

At least they aren't saying that they don't have rumble in their controller because it'll be costly to the consumer when the consumer pays $600 for their console. (yes this happened this week)

 

That or saying that Euro gamers don't mind at all the delay of PS3, they like it. (also this week)

An Xbox 360 costs $550, but is sold for $400, and Microsfot have publically announced they lose money.

Of course they loose money, but are you blaming Nintendo for not wanting to loose money when they sell you a console that you want?

 

Seriously, it would be good if they were willing, but their console is already cheaper than X360 to start with.

Nintendo Wii sells for $250, and Nintendo have publically announced they make money. Any guesses on the actual cost of the system?

They've also said they are breaking even and will soon be turning a profit.

No it's not. I agree. But Sony has the added bonus that parents who save for a PS3 aren't going to then go and spend it on a Wii, because PS3 is a premium/considered item. Wii isn't.

That's called a object of desire product, and that comes and goes you know, it's fashion... Nintendo is well positioned (better than PS3) for impulse buy's since it costs $250 rather than $600. And... Wii doesn't look cheap be it in design or controller, it feels like a object of desire (ipodish), and with a blue light.

[Dilli Gee]

It looks more like an iPod Shuffle than it does an iPod video. Actually, using iPod as an example:

 

Wii = Shuffle

Xbox 360 = Nano

PS3 = Video

 

And before you start this "cutting corners" crap, Nintendo cut the biggest corner in modern gaming history - the graphical capabilities. Shove a "good gameplay is more important than good graphics" label on it to make nay-sayers feel bad, and you've saved yourself the effort.

 

As for my Microsoft comparison, they only make their money from the games. Nintendo is making theirs from both the "cheap" system, as well as the games. I've also read (uncited) the licensing fee Nintendo charges is 50%, compared to Microsoft's 40%. As Wii games cost the same as 360 titles, we're being played the fool by corporate greed.

 

As for the PS3 "coming and going", I don't think so. PS3 has a shelf life of around 10 or so years, Nintendo Wii doesn't. I think Nintendo fans are setting themselves up for a fall and disappointment, just like they did with the GC.

 

Wii will have impressive launch sales, but I think it'll fail to have any significance this time next year, just like its predecessor.

[pedrocasilva]

It looks more like an iPod Shuffle than it does an iPod video. Actually, using iPod as an example:

 

Wii = Shuffle

Xbox 360 = Nano

PS3 = Video

That... is a no basis claim. to start with Xbox 360 and PS3 don't ressemble Apple design as much as Wii, and if you go figure... Ipod Video is probably not the best selling ipod out there, mainly because it's expensive as hell, ipod nano is the market leader. and ipod nano targets the same kind of public Nintendo Wii does. (in terms of budget and impulse buy's)

And before you start this "cutting corners" crap, Nintendo cut the biggest corner in modern gaming history - the graphical capabilities. Shove a "good gameplay is more important than good graphics" label on it to make nay-sayers feel bad, and you've saved yourself the effort.

Sony's kind of cut corners is when you compromise the products durability in order to take more profits from it, and you just know your buyers are stupid enough to buy another console from you when theirs get damaged, because they have games for it.

 

Crap? I don't think so.

 

And of course good gameplay is better than good graphics... otherwise Zelda OoT, Chrono Trigger, FF6 would be crap by today's standards...

As for my Microsoft comparison, they only make their money from the games. Nintendo is making theirs from both the "cheap" system, as well as the games. I've also read (uncited) the licensing fee Nintendo charges is 50%, compared to Microsoft's 40%. As Wii games cost the same as 360 titles, we're being played the fool by corporate greed.

Is that wrong? turning a profit?

 

Xbox software sales didn't change the fact that Xbox was a 6 bilion dolar loss for Microsoft. Microsoft makes money from Operating Systems and aplications for them, not gaming, Xbox Live or console hardware.

 

And Nintendo already droped the licencing fees to the point of being cheaper than Playstation licencing fees if I recall correctly.

 

Bare in mind that GC also used proprietary discs, using DVD's lowers the costs further.

As for the PS3 "coming and going", I don't think so. PS3 has a shelf life of around 10 or so years, Nintendo Wii doesn't. I think Nintendo fans are setting themselves up for a fall and disappointment, just like they did with the GC.

It didn't dissapoint me, and I have more than 65 games for it... for those who say GC has lack of games.

 

So you really believe the 10 year lifespan thing though? you're really naive... they'll keep it going for more than 5 years if they find their market position confortable, and that is... if Microsoft doesn't release a new "much better" console middleway (Xbox1 had a 4 year lifespan) and if they are overwhelming market leaders like they where with PS2, otherwise trust me they'll be rush-releasing a new console sooner than you think in order to turn tables.

 

That lifespan is dependant of the console not being a flop, and that applied to any console who happens to sell loads. (the console who wins that generation that is)

Wii will have impressive launch sales, but I think it'll fail to have any significance this time next year, just like its predecessor.

Cool. I think I'm repeating myself... but... I don't give a damn about what other buy... what I give a damn is that the games I want are on Wii, and I'm gonna buy one.

 

Is that hard to understand?

[demonmike04]

Despite the pricepoint, PS3 isnt far behind the Wii. Hmm...I would say we'l wait for the sales figures, but the way has a far superior amount of units to ship than the PS3 in japan.

 

But I can imagine the news papers... PS3 SOLD OUT! Thats how friggin awesome it is! Even though theres 100,000 units..

[pedrocasilva]

As for my Microsoft comparison, they only make their money from the games. Nintendo is making theirs from both the "cheap" system, as well as the games. I've also read (uncited) the licensing fee Nintendo charges is 50%, compared to Microsoft's 40%. As Wii games cost the same as 360 titles, we're being played the fool by corporate greed.

 

December 4, 2000 - In talking with several different publishers across the industry, IGNcube has uncovered an interesting bit of news regarding Nintendo Gamecube licensing fees versus those of PlayStation 2 and Xbox. While Nintendo has charged considerably high fees for Nintendo 64 licensing in the past, publishers have anonymously told us that the firm has taken steps to bring down the cost for Gamecube.

 

Licensing fee costs for Nintendo's next-generation console are very comparable to PlayStation 2 -- both of which charge a standard fee of between $9 and $10 per unit. According to publishers contacted, those fees are negotiable depending on the product being licensed and the number of units being shipped. Obviously a company such as Electronics Arts would be able to cut a deal for a lower fee, for example, with a product such as Madden NFL 2001, while the average developer and publisher would be applied the standard charge.

 

Perhaps the most interesting piece of news is that Microsoft, in an attempt to gather more publisher support for its Xbox console, is charging a $8 licensing fee standard and possibly much lower than that depending on the caliber of the title presented. "Microsoft has been very accommodating," one major publisher told IGNcube today when speaking on behalf of fees.

Source: http://cube.ign.com/articles/088/088598p1.html

 

Nintendo Gamecube licencing is on-par with PS2's, sure Xbox is cheaper but that's because Microsoft never turned a profit in videogame market and are willing to loose as many money as needed in order to be market leader.

 

Still this generation Xbox 360 games cost more to develop even without taking fees into account, due to HD, and PS3 uses bluray, whoose fees go to Sony, and it's definetly not as cheap as DVD or HD-DVD (or even Gamecube Discs). Wii is the most profitable console, and bare in mind that they are literally "giving away" development kits to the developers (inexpensive prices), there's a high probability that the licencing fee's were lowered too.

 

All in all... it's definetly cheaper and faster to turn a profit with a Wii game.

Despite the pricepoint, PS3 isnt far behind the Wii. Hmm...I would say we'l wait for the sales figures, but the way has a far superior amount of units to ship than the PS3 in japan.

 

But I can imagine the news papers... PS3 SOLD OUT! Thats how friggin awesome it is! Even though theres 100,000 units..

That's natural though; Sony won last generation after all, and they are promising GT HD for launch, most casual gamers must be thinking it's GT5, there no "Demo" word in it.

 

A lot of people might say they are looking forward to a PS3 but won't buy it due to high price, as for Wii I'd say they have no reason not to (buy one).

 

Eventually if PS3 takes too long to stock and fulfill the userbase needs, the hype might die favouring Wii.

 

Nothing is won, but nothing is lost aswell, as of now.

[solitanze]

Wii - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (26 votes)

 

High number of units, definitely in excess of one million, possibly as high as 10 will be sold for this game. But this stat is a little concerning. This game MUST DELIEVER. I hope i'm SIGNIFICANTLY proven wrong with my predictions for this game [As at least 9.8/10 and not 8.8/10 or just mariginally above 8.8 getting 9.1/10 otherwise, extremely disappointment for the most anticipated game in a very long time will follow and out of spite PS3 sales will skyrocket --> PS3 - 48% Extremely high expectations. Nintendo will make their money in the end but the Wiis reputation and brand loyalty will be extremely tarnished if this game is less than spectacular [i.E. below 9.8/10], as this game is the foundation for which people will be making their judgements about the Wii controller and the console as a whole and it has to be just about perfect if Nintendo want to maximise their success with Wii, FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE SO IMPORTANT.

[Dilli Gee]

I think the GameCube version of Twilight Princess will be better than the Wii one, simply because Zelda doesn't seem like the kind of game you'd want to play fully Wii-style. And last months demos still suffered from unstabilitiy, where it would require 4 or 5 arrow shots to shoot a bat, instead of one (simply because you miss most shots).

 

Despite the pricepoint, PS3 isnt far behind the Wii. Hmm...I would say we'l wait for the sales figures, but the way has a far superior amount of units to ship than the PS3 in japan. But I can imagine the news papers... PS3 SOLD OUT! Thats how friggin awesome it is! Even though theres 100,000 units..

PS3 is aimed at a much "taller" audience than Wii is. It's limited number increases demand, and hype.

 

The way I see it is the PS3 is to the Wii what a HBO TV show is to normal television. Another whack comparison:

 

Wii = Broadcast TV

Xbox 360 = Cable TV

PS3 = Premium TV

 

You get quality from all three types of programming (Lost/Battlestar Galactica/The Sopranos), but one is obviously more developed than the other two.

[solitanze]

I think the GameCube version of Twilight Princess will be better than the Wii one, simply because Zelda doesn't seem like the kind of game you'd want to play fully Wii-style. And last months demos still suffered from unstabilitiy, where it would require 4 or 5 arrow shots to shoot a bat, instead of one (simply because you miss most shots).

 

The shaky aiming is probably a result of the guys that were previewing the game pulling their dicks too much thus having Parkinsons like hands and inability to aim with a very sensitive device that requires steady hands. Fishermen will be ace at playing Wii games.

[Zechs Merquise]

I think this is pretty accurate for Japan, and I think that Wii will be a success in Japan. I have a feeling that the Wii mote and the whole 'interactive' nature of the console is very 'Japanese'.

 

I think the Wii could even do for the home console market what the DS did in the handheld market. I think that will be the case in Japan. However, as people can tell from my other posts elsewhere, I'm concerned that this may not be the case in other territories.

[Kurtle Squad]

And before you start this "cutting corners" crap, Nintendo cut the biggest corner in modern gaming history - the graphical capabilities. Shove a "good gameplay is more important than good graphics" label on it to make nay-sayers feel bad, and you've saved yourself the effort.

 

Also, to add to pedrocasilva's point getting just the right controls for motion games on the Wii is probably pretty difficult with quite a lot of work, Nintendo aren't cutting corners at all.

I'd rather have a console thatwas fun AND reliable. Unlike: PSP [] button and fragilness, 360 Need I say more?, PS3s overheating? and if you remember correctly, PS2 had quite a few teething problems?

 

Also, just look at the trouble Ubisoft has had with RedSteel, or Retro with Metroid. And Wii bowling's supposed to be pretty real in terms of your swing and such...why don't you tell me that there arent many calculations involved in gameplay with the Wii controller:rolleyes:

 

Wii will have impressive launch sales, but I think it'll fail to have any significance this time next year, just like its predecessor.

I have a feeling that this time next year's when SSBB will come out.

 

The shaky aiming is probably a result of the guys that were previewing the game pulling their dicks too much thus having Parkinsons like hands and inability to aim with a very sensitive device that requires steady hands. Fishermen will be ace at playing Wii games.

I think that over exaggeration is probably part of the reason, people just have bad aim, but it is overly sensitive, but I'm sure Nintendo can fix this before launch.

[raven_blade2006]

I think Wii has a LOT of potential for success. Certain things need to come together by the end of the year and it will have a great platform for sales.