Harrison: We'll Sell 35 Million Wiis in U.S. by 2012

[Tommy Tallarico]

Nintendo of America marketing chief George Harrison is very confident in the Wii - so confident that he's now predicting that 35 million units will be sold in the United States by 2011/2012. He doesn't think the PS3 and 360 are "motivating the market."

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(Link to GameDaily.com)

[Yoshi]

I guess motivation and progress are mutual exclusive.

[Bojack]

As if you need technological progress to create compelling games? Not to say Nintendo is falling over themselves to make compelling games these days but more powerful consoles are not really necessary.

[Yoshi]

If you want archaic AI and games that don't utilize current TVs and stereos, then they're not necessary. By that logic, you're probably running out of 2600 or Intellivision games to play by now though.

[Brand X]

Aspects like AI while can be greatly improved by the power of a system, also lie in the hands of what the developer is capable of. The original Halo's legendary difficulty had AI that was far better then anything seen on Wii, and a lot better then the majority of games being released now. And that was in 2001.

[Rem]

I still think the rush for the wii is little more than a fad, but I've underestimated how remarkably thick the consumer is more than once.

[Bojack]

If you want archaic AI and games that don't utilize current TVs and stereos, then they're not necessary. By that logic, you're probably running out of 2600 or Intellivision games to play by now though.

Ok obviously SOME power is needed, but lately we're hitting a tech wall. Now all games on better systems can do is essentially better graphics and better AI, that's about it, maybe pile on some other non-game features. I guess if having advanced AI and graphics/display capabilities are how one is to define quality then fine you do need super consoles. But many genres do not need such consoles.

[Yoshi]

Like what? JRPGs? 2D games? The latter can now be downloaded, which might be a plus for some people. Almost every genre benefits from the new consoles. I love 2D games, and I would love it if the Wii built a niche there, but every 3D genre is better on the 360 and PS3 and not just a little.

[bbobb]

Oh man, I want to make unrealistic predictions as well.

Corey: I'll convince the nation of Japan that shaving is the right thing to do by 2011.

Well that was fun.

[gamevet]

I'll be amazed, if the Wii manages to sell 35 million worldwide. I just can't see it happening. The Wii frenzy will die out by 2008, mark my words.