Wii Music Flops During First Month at Retail

Instead of providing Wii owners with an actual music game (ala Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero) or an interesting music tool (like their very own Electroplankton), Nintendo decided to release Wii Music, a music game that features such exciting (and by exciting, I mean “not exciting at all”) tracks like “Yankee Doodle” and a laughable presentation (your little brother would blush if you forced him to play this in front of his friends).

Not only is Wii Music getting panned in terms of reviews, but it’s also been sales flop thus far. While Nintendo probably expected this title to appeal to the same casual audience that eats up titles like Wii Sports, Wii Play, and Wii Fit, their music creation title has sold less than 66,000 copies during its first month of release.

The hardcore following and absurdly high eBay prices of Electroplankton have proved that the hardcore will notice a brand new type of music title if the game itself is actually, y’know, good. That title also had no real goal and was more of a tool than a traditional game, but due to its exciting graphical style and unique presentation it gained a cult following. Also, the immense success of the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises showed that the core gamers and the mainstream alike will eat up a music-based release if the game play itself is satisfying – and those games didn’t need to become dumbed down in order to appeal to a wider audience. Nintendo seemed to be banking on that with Wii Music.

Although the rhythm genre didn’t require a more streamlined approach for a large audience, Nintendo seemed to think it did. If sales for Wii Music wane (shops are packed with it, and it’s not flying off store shelves like Mario Kart Wii and other mainstream-friendly titles were), maybe Nintendo will re-think their approach to their next casual release.

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Troubling Times Are Ahead for the Xbox 360 Core Gamer

It’s no secret that – despite the overall low quality of many of the shovelware “casual” releases clogging up the Wii’s current library – these games sell well regardless. When half-hearted affairs like Carnival Games and Deca Sports outsell original, critically acclaimed software such as Zack and Wicki and Fire Emblem, you know there’s a problem.

Microsoft, sadly enough, seems to want a bite out of this casual market as well. During the summer they announced that Xbox Live will be given a visual downgrade in order to make it more user friendly. Also, they blatantly ripped off Nintendo’s Mii idea with “Avatars”, which, um, are basically the same as Mii’s (cute little people that you use as your online persona).

Not only that, the big M recently announced that they’re going to be closing up Ensemble Studios after their upcoming RTS, Halo Wars, is released. It’s rumored that the reason for this is to focus more on kid and mass market-oriented affair ala the Nintendo Wii. Could Lionhead Studios (of Fable fame) get the boot next?

Add this to the fact that Microsoft is also rumored to have a motion sensor controller (again, not unlike the Wii) prepared right in time for this year’s holiday season, and you have a reason to be worried. Could the core Xbox 360 gamers be forgotten about in favor of a mass-market “casual” audience? You know, the kind that eat up any software that requires no effort whatsoever?

The game market is going down a frightening path right now, and I don’t see the situation improving anytime soon. I’m already feeling nostalgic for the Playstation 2-generation…

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