Screen Digest: Publishers flock to Wii as PS3 falters in 4th Quarter

Media analyst publication Screen Digest has launched a new service, the Game Bulletin. The service is aimed at the game industry and will feature data, demographics and trend-forecasting, with the first edition focusing on software publishing and platform support in the final quarter of 2007.

In its first analyst report, the Game Bulletin states that publishers are backing Wii with the greatest number of titles – 86 in total, compared with 47 for Xbox 360 and 38 for PS3. A quarter of Wii releases are exclusive, compared with eight for Xbox 360 and five for PS3.

Publishers are attracted to Wii's rapidly growing installed base as well as the lower cost and relative ease of development compared to Xbox 360 and PS3. Wii's library will surpass Xbox 360's in early 2008 at current release rates. Given present publishing activity levels and hardware sales rates, the new generation of consoles will move out of transition and into the mass adoption phase by year end.

While the Game Bulletin forecasts Wii and Xbox 360 will have strong end of year sales, its outlook for PS3 is less positive...

[Zhuk]

The Wii and 360 continue to get strong support from third party publishers and consumers alike while things are looking worse for the PS3 coming into the holidays, where they will likely have the weakest sales and will fail to make any gains against their competitors who have taken serious inroads into the Playstation's marketshare.

How long till we see third party support jump like rats off a sinking ship? the signs are starting to show themselves and by the end of next year if the PS3 doesnt improve its position it will lose most of its third party support and be remembered as another Gamecube and have to rely on its first and second party lineup to attract a niche market of fanatical Sony gamers.

[bluebrad1974]

I couldn't agree more with your post. However, it is beyond me why it takes a 30 person team of analysts to figure something this simple out.

[nasim]

already x360 has given up in EU.

the 299 pound ps3 will officially kill x360 in EU /let alone other territories where ps3 has been constantly outselling x360 at a very high price

The PES-PS3 bundle is due this October 26th in UK/EU. i wonder whether competitors would even stay in EU market after that.

In JAPAN the white ps3 +SHOKAXIS will easily see ps3 zip past wii this holiday.

niche ps3 support?????????????????

100 million dedicated fans and niche ps3 support????

this is why Halo 3 bombed in EUROPE .at low price point no one bought x360. Now when ps3 is salshed to 299 pound you do know the fate of your console there.

On the eve of 40 gig ps3 version's launch in UK MS had to pay some journalists to write crap.

NOTHING WILL WORK FOR YOU MS.

the doomsday begin on 10th OCTOBER,2007 in EU and 17th OCTOBER in JAPAN

@ bluebrad
what a blindfolded BOT. keep dreaming cuz everything will be shattered this OCTOBER 10th, 2007 for you and your console

[PS360WII]

nasim I don't think you can bring up the 100 million PS2 owners anymore for Sony wants them to keep their PS2 to play those games. PS3 is PS3 only now. Unless of coarse you get the high end model which those who wanted got already. Also how is a white PS3 going to blow pass the Wii in Japan? I mean really?

[gerrard]

Really? thats what they said about PSP, now it's on top there left eating their words. Lets see in 6months what they say about PS3 now that it's going for $399(£299) with home, dualshock 3, Uncharted, rachet and clank, unreal tournament 3, GT5: prolouge, little big planet, Killzone 2, Metal gear solid 4, FF13 e.t.c. When this lot come make your analisis then.

[PS360WII]

while yes the psp is selling well it's because of FFVII brand name not because people suddenly said hey PSP is cool.(it is but VII is cooler)

Home will be nice for existing owners, I don't think a wireless rumbling controller will break any ground, and as far as your games only GT and FF will sell systems the others are nice additions to the PS3 but not the grand daddy that is FF (the power of FF can be looked upon at the PSP). Metal Gear is a small market though looks awesome ^^

So then you want us to yet again wait till some real games come out to the PS3 before we start handing out report cards. Granted the life span has just begun which is why there are progress reports out. Which system is good to go now? Which system do we need to wait and see? It's all the same just because its not fair for PS3 to be compare with other gaming systems doesn't mean we shouldn't for people want to know what to buy for if they should wait or get something else.

[bluebrad1974]

do we really need another analysts opinion? This article would have been much more entertaining if the author had used the screen name "Captain Obvious".

[THE TERMINATOR]

I cant believe this bull. The PS3 with price cut, great games coming out Ie, Uncharted, Ratchet and clank, Haze, UT, COD4 how could this fail? And with capcom announcing that there main console of choice will be the PS3 next year doesnt sound to me like developers are jumping ship. The PS3 will dominate this year just wait and see.
ZHUK you need to stop sucking major c0ck!!!!!!!!!

[UnasFortuna]

This article is a crock. Analysts always trying to start a ruckus to try to get more hits to their website. Sure the 360 has more in development currently... it has been out over a year prior and game development was probably started at that time...games aren't made overnight...some take years. As far as the Wii goes... who cares...it is inferior technology and thus much easier to program for. It is just gathering dust on my shelf currently. After playing Zelda and Metroid...haven't used it since. As far as I am concerned the Wii is just a glorified Gamecube with a gimmicky controller. If Sony wants to make a hit this season and next year... they need to make sure they don't have any more game delays and keep the exclusives they currently have as well as try to get more lined up. It takes money to ensure exclusives and MS has alot... but there is alot of money at stake in the game industry wars. MS is Sonys only competitor...that is who they need to focus on.... the Wii is not a next gen machine... nor are any of their games.

[ericnellie]

Most people who own a PS3 (including me), knew that 2008 would be a key year for SONY! I really hope my investment in the system and the wait pays off!!!! The Wii and 360 are performing very well for 2007 and I've enjoyed playing games on all three but, right now -- I'd say my 360 is getting most of my attention;)

[nobizlikesnowbiz]

You really don't see many 360 gamers making duplicate accounts and spreading hate as much as you do with the Ps3 gamers.

I mean wtf? You guys just enjoy making eachother look fvcking stupid?

[Captain Tuttle]

They live with their mommys...they don't have anything important to worry about.

[PS360WII]

Well you can balk analysts but you can't balk raw numbers. The way games are moving away from the PS3 and more to the Wii and the 360 staying the same game wise. Sure no one can predict what will happen but this shows that the games are coming for the Wii and we'll still have to wait longer for PS3 to get the games. To bad the new PS3 owners won't be able to pass the time away with the awesome PS2 games out.

[ericnellie]

When CAPCOM made the statement about concentrating on the PS3 for 2008 -- they said that in reference to PS2 development. Meaning, shifting development resources away from the PS2 and concentrating on the PS3. They were not implying that they were moving away from 360 development. They want to only focus on next-gen development;)

[sajj316]

Yes, publishers are flocking to the Wii and look what they've released so far.

Egg on the face .. You'll see.

[cooke15]

Great games take longer than 6 months to make. So we wont really see good 3rd party till next year. Right now its getting filler

[felidae]

Wii is a nice system but the games need to get better.

[toughNAME]

says the AAA-starved PS3 fanboy

[cheetorb]

Seriously, how many good games are on the Wii? How many more to come? I have no regrets trading mine in yesterday. Maybe in a couple years they might have a few good games, maybe.

[cooke15]

Sure Wii has a lot of bad games, but thats because development its cheap, its similar to PC. PC has a ton of bad games but that doesnt make the platform bad. Wii has a lot of standout games too and its only going to get better as developers have more time with the system. Give it time. Developers started supporting PS3 and 360 long before they came out, it was different with Wii. Developers were caught off guard and right now only sloppy games are capitalizing on the success. 2008 will be a stellar year for the system.

[colony]

Exactly. bad development = Bad games...

so the WII is a great console, witch also means that the PS3 is a good console, the DEVELOPMENT is the problem... some people dont see this ^^
but i understand that it could be hard to develop for...

anny who, i agree with you^^

[ItsDubC]

Where are ppl getting the idea that the Wii has no games? This is clearly evidence to the contrary. Granted, the Wii has more titles that may not appeal to gamers on this site but that's a different topic.

It'd be like saying the DS has no games when in all honesty, you're fooling yourself if you're a self-proclaimed "hardcore gamer" but don't own a DS because like it or not, the DS has so many awesome current and upcoming non-casual exclusive titles in addition to the casual ones.

Either way, I think we can all agree that none of the consoles will see a decrease in sales during Q4 07. Consumers will own more consoles after the holiday season which hopefully will attract developers to create games for the consoles that are most appropriate for the games they want to make, without having to worry about dismal sales due to a limited installbase.

[bluebrad1974]

I see your point, but I see no reason to own a handheld. People who routinely use public transportation are the only people who should shell out $200+ for a handheld. And that hardly makes someone "hardcore".

[ItsDubC]

If you truly love playing games and certain games can only be found on a handheld, why not take time out of playing games on your home console to play your handheld at home? Just because it's portable doesn't mean you only have to play it while riding public transportation.

I just feel that if you're passionate about gaming, you're only doing yourself a disservice if you limit yourself to home console gaming. This is just my opinion of course.

[PopEmUp]

As the matter of fact hardcore gamers doesn't often or even play hand held they always stuck with pc and console games not portable beside most hardcore are more willing to give psp a try more than DS,
does anyone agree?

[Sayai jin]

I do not see the PS3 faltering nor either of te other consoles. The reason why developers are making more games for the Wii because it is simple to program for and cheap. It gets harder to dev for the 360 and even harder for the PS3. Do not expect the 80 something gaes for the Wii to be high quality. Their first party games will be top notch.

[jlytle1234]

it takes years to make a great ps3 360 game. you can whip out a wii game during a smoke break. and more games doesnt mean more quality games.

[bluebrad1974]

Making a Wii game is like Eminem having sex at work in 8 Mile. It can be done on a smoke break.

[ItsDubC]

Development time doesn't necessarily equate to game quality either tho. Other than that you're right, more games doesn't always mean more higher-quality games.

[pilotpistolpete]

Is it just me, or does gaming websites always favor 360/ps3 and "general marketing" sites love the wii.

It makes me laugh, since it shows how gaming is still in its own little bubble. No gamer cares much for the wii, even though it's selling like crazy. But with sites like these, they are looking at numbers, not the games themselves. This one in particular uses the number of games for each platform as their grounds for predictions. But we all know that most wii games aren't really good and most of them seem rushed and use the wiimote as a gimmick. But that doesn't factor in here.

I'm not trying to bring the wii down; I'm just amused of seeing totally different predictions/analysis based on the type of website/news agency.

[cooke15]

Sorry but no. Wii is popular among gamers and the general public

[BrotherNick]

It's good for nintendo loyalist gamers is the more correct term. I like nintendo games cause they are predictably good, and now they can find more of an audience that may like them also, and may become hardcore gamers themselves. There are many games that people overlook because they aren't made by big publishers or use hype. Right now I'm looking at an online fishing game coming out for the wii, sounds lame but I miss fishing, and I can't get to a lake or river all the time. Plus I play a decent amount of pool, but pool tables are expensive at home, so maybe the wii can help me with that (pool party). I believe we need a website that will review these less advertised titles and help them purchase them, cause I can't find many videos on these games.

[cooke15]

There really is nothing that can stop Wii from dominating 2008 and beyond. There are going to be some hefty announcements comings up.

[BrotherNick]

It's hard to find many stand out titles because of the inundation...but some clues are super mario galaxy, smash bros, dance dance, guitar hero, Manhunt 2, new geometry wars(I like the multiplayer), Medal of Honor Heroes 2, Raving rabbids 2 for some laughter, and budokai 3 (heard controls are really good, doesn't matter if it's dbz) will be fun. I'm on a semi tight budget :| fortunately all I want is MOH heroes 2 and smash for the fall and spring. These games are most likely to get reviews of 7 or up and I believe everyone who plays the wii will agree.