Fact: The Wii isn’t #1 in the U.S.?!?

Recently there was some “big”, but expected, news that Nintendo’s Wii took the #1 seat in the “next-gen” console console race away from Microsoft’s Xbox 360. One thing that oddly no one mentioned was that the only country or region the Wii actually has the #1 spot in is Japan.

Fact 1: There are 50% more Xbox 360s than Wiis in North America

Fact 2: If you add the Playstation 3 and Wii install bases together you’d still be about 300,000 units short of the Xbox 360.

I know some people care about the Japanese gaming market, like oh, the Japanese, and there are some people (a seemingly vocal minority) who enjoy Japanese games, but really how much does that matter most consumers outside of Asia? Obviously Microsoft would like to gain some ground in Japan, but I don’t see any games in my collection that I would consider to be Japanese titles.

If video games are actually breaking out as the next major mainstream media format, why is it so important to get Japan? Have you ever heard of a movie getting canceled because the producers thought nobody would watch it in Japan? How about a book, or a CD? Me neither. I guess my point is, there is some room in our global economy for some regional preferences.

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