Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Ah, remember Link's Crossbow Training? The game that was bundled with the Wii Zapper last November (December, for PALs)? It was only released in Japan last week. If sales are any indication, though, Japanese gamers were clamoring for the goron-junk shooter rail shooter, as it claimed the third place spot.

Even so, Link had to hail to the king (baby), as Mario Kart Wii still dominated the charts. The other big news for Mario Kart Wii? It passed one million sales in the Far East, denoting its success. Meanwhile, Deca Sports clamored back into the top ten, but Brawl only slipped further downward, thus answering our question from last week. Also proving that the Japanese love their sports games for the Wii, Bandai Namco's Pro Baseball Family Stadium debuted at spot twenty.

The Wii triumphed in hardware last week as well. While the console continues to trail behind Sony's handheld, Wii sales went up almost 30,000 units from last week -- perhaps from the Link's Crossbow boost. Go on and check things out for yourself after the break, if you feel so inclined.

Wii Fit is selling like gangbusters in Britain, where it accounts for half of all Wii software sold in the last week, and has given Nintendo its first one-two finish in the All Formats Chart since 2003. And guess what? It's more or less the same story throughout the rest of Europe.

The Irish are shedding the Guinness pounds, the Germans are working off those brätwurst, and Sweden ... well, we don't really have a lazy, go-to food stereotype for the Swedes. Anyhow, the point is: they're all loving it, and if Wii Fit doesn't appear in a chart (see: Spain, Denmark), it's probably because a country hasn't got it yet, or the charts have fallen behind.

Mind you, don't expect any of this Nintendo dominance to last: next week's charts are guaranteed to be all about one game (yet we suspect Wii Fit might give you have better legs than GTA IV in the long-term). Lean past the break for this week's European charts.

Mario Kart Wii continues to top the charts in Japan, but a lot of movement happened with the Wii's other software. Because a bunch of new games came out last week, Wii Sports, Deca Sports, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl were all knocked out of the top ten. We know that Wii Sports will return to top ten fame soon enough, since it always does, but we'll be interested to see whether the other two titles can pull that off as well.

On the hardware side of things, the Wii got sandwiched by the two portables as it jumped up into second place:

• PSP: 92,411
  
• Wii: 48,796
  
• Nintendo DS: 42,435
  
• PlayStation 3: 9,107
  
• PlayStation 2: 7,108
  
• Xbox 360: 1,283

To see the software sales, just bring your super smooth moves past the break.

Featuring charts from across the region, Another Week in Europe documents the buying habits and quirky tastes of a whole continent of Wii lovers.

While yours truly had trouble tracking down a copy of Mario Kart Wii on the high street (for our review), it appears plenty of others around Europe had no such problem.

Bar Denmark (where it has now dropped to fifth), the title sits at the top of every European chart, and we suspect it might even be influencing the sales of other games. Surely the rise of Mario Kart DS to 8th in Ireland, 8th in France, and 7th in Germany can't all be a mere coincidence? By our reckoning, Mario Kart Wii has ramped up Europe's interest in Mario Kart generally. Fortunately, Mario Kart DS is the bee's knees!

Finally, this week's overachiever award goes to Sega Superstars Tennis -- despite the Wii version's lack of online play, Sega's tennis/blue skies extravaganza climbed to fourth in the UK. Head beyond the break for more European chartage, and please accept our humble apologies for the lack of a Spanish top ten -- that should be back next week.

The Wii had a good week in Japan, as far as sales are concerned. With Mario Kart Wii continuing to champion the cause, the little white console almost nabbed second place in hardware:

• PSP: 85,421
  
• Nintendo DS: 44,551
  
• Wii: 44,241
  
• PlayStation 3: 7,438
  
• PlayStation 2: 6,545
  
• Xbox 360: 1,076

Even in software, five of the top ten games were Wii titles. Wii Sports found its way back into the coveted ten once again, managing to coexist peacefully with Hudson's Deca Sports. Wii Play, meanwhile, performed the worst in relation to the rest of the Wii games in the top thirty, but still ended up in spot twelve.

Check after the break to see just how well Mario Kart Wii did last week in Japan.

It looks like just the same old stuff for Wii sales in Japan last week. Wait a minute -- what's that, you say? Mario Kart Wii dominated Japan? Sure enough, sitting pretty at the top of the charts is Nintendo's famous kart racer, with almost half a million copies sold in its first week.

Despite the Mario Kart bump, the Wii only took third place in hardware. Considering that Japanese gamers love them some handhelds, though, that's not too much of a surprise. One little observation that may floor you, on the other hand, is that Brawl was already overtaken by Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G in total sales.

See it to believe it after the break.

Last week was once again all about Sony. Although Nintendo still had a good showing in the top thirty, there were only five Wii games in the software chart. Wii Fit continues to be the system's best-seller, but Super Smash Brothers Brawl and Deca Sports also made appearances in the top ten.

As for hardware, the Wii once again trails behind the handhelds, but leads the pack in home consoles.

Hardware:

• PSP: 120,964
  
• Nintendo DS: 55,190
  
• Wii: 44,618
  
• PlayStation 3: 11,303
  
• PlayStation 2: 10,423
  
• Xbox 360: 1,452

More numbers can be seen after the break!

Featuring charts from across the region, Another Week in Europe documents the buying habits and quirky tastes of a whole continent of Wii lovers.

Unlike reigning full beard freestyle world champion Elmar Weisser of Germany (who we admire fiercely), we have mixed feelings about this week's European sales charts.

For example, while we're heartened by the success of debutant Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (5th in the UK, and the Wii edition supplemented sales of other versions across Europe -- not bad for a game that appeared on every other console last October), we're irked by the flat performance of House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return (15th in Britain, and nowhere to be seen in the charts of mainland Europe).

Europe, if you're reading, stop buying Game Party (7th in UK), Smarty Pants (10th in Spain), and Mario & bleeding Sonic (high everywhere) and let's get something half-decent up there for a change. Sega Bass Fishing should make next week's chart, so that'd be a good place to start -- let's have that top ten somewhere, please. Sigh. At least Elmar will never fail to impress us. Click on for the charts.

For the first time in a long time, the Wii is down to having only five games in Japan's top thirty. As House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return fell of the charts in its second week and Everyone's General Knowledge Training TV disappeared after having a good run, only the regulars remain.

Deca Sports is the exception, being the only Wii title on the charts without either "Wii" or "Smash Bros." in its name, but even that is showing early signs of fatigue. While the game managed to nab the eighth spot and sell 29,000 copies, its Nintendo counterpart, Wii Sports, is nipping at its heels in spot twelve. This may seem insignificant, but keep in mind that Wii Sports has been out for around seventeen months, wheras Deca Sports has only been out for two weeks.

In the hardware department, the Wii got a beat down from the handhelds (especially the PSP), but still continues to do better than any other console in Japan. This week, for example, the Wii sold over four times the amount of PS3s, its closest console competitor.

Of course, you can just take a look at all the numbers for yourself by clicking past the break.

Goodbye, Family Ski and Winning Eleven: Play Maker 2008 -- we hardly knew ye. While Family Ski enjoyed a seven-week run in the top thirty, Wining Eleven (aka Pro Evolution Soccer) only lasted for four. It's no coincidence that they fell off this week, though, as fifteen spots were taken up by new releases.

The big Wii dog in town was not Brawl (which ended up 7th), and not even Wii Fit (which ended up 5th), but new release Deca Sports. We can't help but wonder if the appearance of Deca Sports will have an effect on that other sports game for the Wii. Is there room for both on the charts? (We think so.) And will Deca Sports have the same longevity as Wii Sports? (Probably not, but we're sure the game will do well for itself.) It's also worth noting that Deca Sports had the third highest third-party sales debut for the Wiil, following only Dragon Quest: Swords and Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles.

Welcome to a new intermittent feature here at Wii Fanboy: Point/Counterpoint, in which two of our bloggers face off in an ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny over one simple question.

There's no denying that Wii Play is successful -- it has continually been one of the best-selling titles for the console. However, the inclusion of a Wii remote with the minigame collection certainly accounts for most of that success. How worthwhile is the game itself? Does it deserve to be one of the top games for the console? That's the question on the table.

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		The case against Wii Play

You've heard the arguments for and against the success of the Wii Play package, and now it's time for you to tell us where you stand.

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Pro-Play	Back	placeholdertextthisis

If you own a Wii, it's a safe bet you own more than one remote ... and you probably picked up that second remote with a copy of Wii Play. Why not? For an extra ten bucks, Nintendo threw in some mini-games, and for some reason, this aroused the ire of selected gamers and reviewers around the globe (including some who didn't even bother to play it).

Want a spare controller for your 360 or PS3? You're going to drop a similar amount of cash and get ... a controller. Want something extra? You're boned, friend; take your controller and like it. Not so for Wii owners, for whom a second controller is pretty much a necessity; after all, so many of the Wii's games depend on an in-house multiplayer experience, rather than the single-flesh-person online experience the other consoles tend to offer. Sure, that's a drawback in a lot of cases, but it's fact: the Wii is great for party games, so you need a spare remote or three. Period. Which is why the Wii Play bundle is not only brilliant, but an excellent bargain for Wii owners. You get nine small games for ten bucks -- and that's a deal any way you slice it.

But this goes beyond the idea of price. Not only is Wii Play a surprisingly good mini-game collection for ten bucks, but it's an effective game in its own right. Sure, it lacks the depth of most full-fledged games, but it beats the pants off a few, namely Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz and Carnival Games. Pound for pound, Wii Play is certainly a better deal than either of those titles. The first features a few completely unplayable mini-games (and has review scores I will never understand), and the second feels half-finished in many respects. Wii Play, however, can be a blast! Grab a friend and sit down for a few rounds in the shooting gallery, or half an hour with Tanks! or Charge!, and then tell us that it was the worst experience of your life. Unless you hate fun, you're probably going to manage to have a little.

Further, the mini-games of Wii Play seem tailor made to teach new gamers how to use the Wii remote in different ways; simply by playing, you learn to point and shoot, to grab and move items, and to "drive" while holding the remote sideways. There's a good reason for this -- Wii Play started its life as a tech demo, but that actually makes it very useful as an in-home title. Like it or not, many Wii owners (or users) are new to gaming, or returning to the hobby, and games like Wii Sports and Wii Play get them accustomed to manipulating the controller ... which means they'll probably want more games. That gives the more robust gamers more people to play with. Everybody wins.

Does that mean the experience is perfect? No, not at all, but despite the perfect review scores that are being tossed around more and more often, few games are. What's important is that Wii Play is exactly what it sets out to be -- an inexpensive bonus training game that offers shallow fun -- and for that, the bundle deserves the crazy sales. It's one of the best bargains out there for any Wii owner.

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Anti-Wii Play	Back	You decide!

Wii Play.

Anyone who keeps up with sales figures knows that the package has been selling steady ever since it released early last year. Folks see an almost-free game with a Wiimote for only $50 and they immediately think it's a deal. And many can argue that it is, but for this individual, the bundle has no appeal.

The first issue I have with the package is the software. Wii Play as a "game" is like saying a peanut butter sandwich is "a meal." It's lacking. When looking directly at the worth of the software (the games within it), one finds titles that, upon being tried for the first time might come off as mild amusements and "well worth the extra $10," but after several sessions, the truth comes out. These minigames feel like they were never finished.

The mini-games seem half-baked and only offer a diversion for a short amount of time. After giving them a few plays over an hour, I quickly came to my senses that Wii Play is something I didn't want to see happent to the Wii. I didn't want quick slap-togethers of minigames to flood the console. Luckily, that isn't the case, but doesn't save Wii Play from its own flaws.

Also, as a sort of "Wiimote trainer," it's not any kind of introduction to some wider world of Wii wonders that can only be seen through picking up Wii Play and playing it. Wii Play only trains you in how to get bored quickly. Nintendo would have you believe otherwise.

Finally, the comparisons between it and Wii Sports are inevitable. Again, where Wii Play is nothing more than a tech demo with some added polish, Wii Sports stands on its own as a worthwhile experience on the console. The sports games included in that package are, more or less, actually fleshed out and allow you to play for more than 5 minutes. In Wii Sports, you can also enjoy multiplayer gaming, where should you expose a friend to Wii Play you're probably only going to get a smack to the face in response. At least, that's what I'd do.

In the end, it's no doubt going to boil down to what your personal preferences are, but I really don't see the validation of Wii Play. For what this software is (a collection of quick and tedious minigames), I would say the only way I could accept Wii Play was if it were packaged with a Wiimote for free. Until then, my extra $10 will go to more important things. Like lottery tickets.

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	Back	In favor of Wii Play

Japanophiles and sales chart nerds, it's that time of week again to take a look at last week's sales in the Land of the Rising Sun. Those of you who've been keeping up won't find much excitement in this week's chart, though. All the same software from the week before showed up, but it might not be long before Family Ski and Winning Eleven fall out of the top thirty.

It was also nice to see Metroid Prime 3: Corruption stick around, as the Nintendo FPS nabbed the number eleven spot for this week. Other than that, the only noticeable difference is that Smash Bros. dropped to fourth. What's interesting is that Brawl is no longer the best selling Wii game, either, as Wii Fit reclaimed that honor. We also learned that you can't keep the big three (Wii Fit, Wii Sports, and Wii Play) out of the top ten for long.

In hardware sales, the Wii fell a smidge behind the PSP, and did only slightly better than the DS.

Hardware:

• PSP: 57,651
  
• Wii: 55,845
  
• Nintendo DS: 53,266
  
• PlayStation 3: 14,934
  
• PlayStation 2: 9,930
  
• Xbox 360: 1,744

To see the software numbers and rankings for last week, make sure to click past the break.