Will Master Chief mess up Mario's Christmas?
You've probably seen the adverts on buses and roadside billboards by now. Reviews are everywhere and many Xbox 360 owners haven't been seen for the last few days. Sick notes pour into offices, country wide. Yes, it's Halo 3 and it's out now. But why mention this on a Wii blog?
Before the release of Halo 3, the Wii was well on course to top (in the space of one year) all Xbox 360 sales this Christmas, making it the official leading console in this current generation (at the moment it's in the lead, but Christmas enduces a lot more selling). But now, some are saying that hardware sales of the Xbox 360 simply to get Halo 3 may outpace the Wii's awesome sales rates towards Christmas, and prevent the Wii keeping the crown. The difference in world sales isn't massive - 360 has sold around 11.10 million whereas the Wii has sold 11.78 million, according to VGchartz.com. We won't mention the piddling PS3 sales ... this is a two horse race at the moment.
So, how many Halo-enduced Xbox 360 hardware sales would Microsoft need to regain their title at Christmas?
Judging by recent weekly sales gaps, we think around double the current number of hardware sales per week would be required from Microsoft's Xbox 360, to prevent the Wii swamping Christmas. It's easy to anticipate that Halo 3 will force gamers to purchase the 360, but what about the fact that the 360 has been out a long time, and most serious Halo fans have already got one to play Halo 2? How many people who haven't got the 360 yet (and therefore don't have Halo 2) will feel the need to buy one right now, just to get Halo 3? Sure, there will be a significant increase for a few weeks, and probably a Christmas surge (as the Grannies and Mums invade stores to purchase wares for their precious darlings... that's YOU and me).
But, we don't think it's going to be enough. In fact I'll stick my neck out and say that it's not going to be nearly enough to stop the Wii from topping Christmas. Metroid Prime 3 is going to provoke more serious gamers into buying Wiis who so far haven't been tempted enough, than non Halo 2 owners will feel the sudden need to own Halo 3. That's my prediction. The Wii has an interesting Q4 & Q1 2008 line up, but as usual it won't be the gamers who elevate it to the top.
It's going to be everyone else. And they've got more money than gamers have. Which is why Nintendo are standing under a bank block, slamming their heads against it repeatedly whilst the money flies out in every direction ...
Categories
News0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Will Master Chief mess up Mario's Christmas?.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.denofwii.com/cgi-bin/mt4/mt-tb.cgi/851
Leave a comment