Craig Beridon, IGN Insider: With the most recent rumor mills stating that the Wii will launch less than 2 weeks before the PS3, it's even more now important that the system has a strong showing out of the gate. Is this a smart move by Nintendo? Would an earlier or later launch, further away from the PS3's, help sell more systems?
One thing's for sure: the Wii has arguably a stronger lineup of launch games than any Nintendo system that has come before it. With a new Zelda, and Metroid title available on day 1 and Mario Galaxy coming shortly there after (something the big N has never had before) the software is definitely in place for the system to sell big.
So, of all the games announced for the upcoming Wii launch, what are you looking forward to playing the most? What titles will you pass up on launch day? How do you think the system is going to sell with the PS3 right around the corner? Will you actually buy any of Ubisoft's numerous ports of year-old titles that we're recently announced?
Any and all thoughts on the Wii launch are encouraged.
Meghan Sullivan, IGN DB Editor: I DO think it's smart to launch the Wii two weeks before the PS3. Even fans who want both platforms aren't going to be able to afford to do so, considering PS3's staggering asking price. Better to nudge parents to get the cheaper platform for their kids while riding the hype for the PS3 at the same time. Plus, it's better to sell the Wii as soon as possible before people get fed up with that stupid controller...
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Chris Roper, IGN PlayStation: Launching a few weeks or even a month earlier likely wouldn't impact sales too much either way. It's possible that Nintendo would get a few more sales from people that had saved up money for a PS3 as they might think, "Well, the Wii is only $250 (or whatever) and I have time to save that up again before the PS3 hits." But for the most part, early adopters have already made up their minds about which system(s) they're going to buy anyway and it won't really matter much. Both companies are going to sell out, regardless of system price.
Indeed, the system's launch lineup and following release schedule is quite strong. Personally, Super Mario Galaxy didn't wow me in the least, though I'm obviously quite deep in the minority on this one. Regardless, with a (relatively) low price point, a number of AAA signature titles and whatever else hits on day one, Nintendo has given fans plenty of reasons to pre-order.
As for myself, being that I'll have to spend $3,276 a week or two later on the PS3 launch, I'll probably keep my Wii purchases to a relative minimum and pick up the system, Zelda and Metroid, with Mario whenever it hits (regardless of the fact that it currently doesn't interest me). Oh, and Smash Bros. as well of course. Those I'd buy regardless of whether I knew anything about them or not, but everything else I'll hold out on until I can actually try them out and see how they run.
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Peer Schneider, IGN Mastermind: Launching early is definitely an advantage when it comes to the early-adopter crowd. Parents and "casual" gamers wait until November to do their holiday shopping, but if Nintendo's online and TV presence in October is going full force, few gaming enthusiasts will be able to resist plunking down the cash for a Wii, Zelda, Metroid, Red Steel, Monkey Ball, and all the other fun-looking games making the launch window. And the more money they spend early, the less likely the chances that they'll be dropping the big bucks on PS3 come November.
But who knows -- there's plenty of intelligence (check: GamerMetrics research blog) that suggests Wii has the big benefit of falling outside of the purchasing realm of the other two platforms. So maybe gamers' minds are already made up and it's just a matter of whether someone will be an Xbox 360 and Wii gamer or a PS3 and Wii gamer.
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Matt Casamassina, IGN Wii: There are few reasons for Nintendo not to launch early, to be quite honest. The Wii hardware itself is running well ahead of schedule and the games are right on part with it. Launching late offers little to no benefit for the Big N.
Supposing rumors are to be believed and Wii, in fact, does hit in very late October or very early November, the console will enjoy a two-to-three week head start on PlayStation 3 and it will have the same amount of time to deliver its user base waves of games. Wii will have some 35 titles available in its launch window, which is a good number, but it would be stupid to release all of these games at the same time. Some quality games would almost certainly be overlooked. Instead, an early release affords Nintendo and its partners the opportunity to release games every week leading through November and into December without missing out on the busy holiday shopping season. The schedule would be far less flexible if Wii were to launch on, say, November 18.
Retailers will love Nintendo's new console because it mimics the successful business model of DS, but they will also love it because if it arrives in late October or early November, it will effectively jump start the holiday buying craze. And unlike Sony, whose PlayStation 3 system promises to be both expensive and in short supply, Nintendo's new platform will be relatively cheap and in great supply -- more than five million pieces of hardware through the year, if hearsay is true.
Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess is perhaps the greatest launch game in Nintendo history and I think that this title alone will be more than enough for some consumers. But Wii seems to have all of its major genres covered with other legitimately big and anticipated efforts, including Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Excite Truck, NFL Madden, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz Red Steel, Trauma Center: Second Opinion, and more. Mario is unlikely to arrive for launch -- I'll bet it drops around March 2007. Still, even without the fat, Italian plumber, this is an amazing lineup from Nintendo and third parties, and of course we haven't even considered other efforts including Far Cry, Blazing Angels, GT Pro Series, Need for Speed, Call of Duty 3, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, Elebits, and Wii Sports, all of which are launch games for Wii.
Will some of these games arrive as quick, cash-in ports? Perhaps. Certainly efforts like Rampage from Midway don't have me overly excited. But I'm actually looking forward to what Ubisoft does with Far Cry for Wii. There is a lot of potential there. Of course, it isn't likely to look as good as the Xbox 360 version of the title, but remember that Wii is more powerful than the original Xbox, and that build looked pretty decent. Plus, if they can really tweak the control to work with the Wii-mote, it could be a lot of fun. Obviously, similar arguments could be made for Blazing Angels, and GT Pro Series is an entirely different beast as it is designed exclusively for Wii. Meanwhile, there is always the argument that Wii's audience may never have played any of these titles before, which is realistic stance.
I happen to think that this is a hell of a lineup and that consumers will also gain access to all of these high-potential games for a fraction of the price of competing consoles. There's something to be said for that.
Chris Roper(IGN PS版编辑): 我认为，任社早几周或者是早一个月来发售Wii都不会对销售额有太大的促进作用。他们可能会认为，这样做可以让那些攒钱买PS3的玩家忍不住而最终选择了Wii。那么，Wii仅售250美元或者是其他较低的价格，我有足够的时间来咱这么多钱。但是最重要的，那些攒好钱或者正在攒钱的玩家可能已经想好了他们究竟要买哪一款主机。就这点，我认为无论是Sony还是任社都将会有很高的销售业绩。
