a dead 360? Imagine that. That's why I stick with my reliable Wii. It's never failed, even when it was sent flying across the room by a dog. Same can't be said about a portable DVD player that suffered the same accident. Never had a problem with it, heck, it hasn't even frozen up on me.

That's funny, I didn't see a space for a Wii advertisement. Nor did I see a reason to gloat.

Wii's a niche system. Always will be. That said, I do have a Wii as well. But 99% of the games I care about are on the 360, so... (though there was recently an announcement that has me saving up for a PS3 at long last)

a niche system? It's sold more consoles and games then either of the other consoles, plus now the other two are both copying the motion controller concept with that new PS3 move controller and the 360's Kinetic. You can't argue with success.

Incorrect. The Wii's console sales are indeed far above it's competitors, but sales of GAMES have been far below the numbers generated by the XBox360 and on-par with the PS3(which was held back greatly by it's initial pricetag - god only knows how different things would be if it hadn't been so pricey at launch).

The majority of games for the Wii cater to a specific market which is much smaller than the console sales would seem to indicate. The highest-selling games that aren't included with the Wii are the Wii Sports derivatives and knock-offs, and Nintendo franchise titles(Smash Bros Brawl, Metroid, Mario, etc). As ScrewAttack put it a while back: "Name a good third-party game for the Wii that is NOT a Nintendo franchise." There are very few such examples, while the XBox360 and PS3 are overloaded with them.

Also worth noting: Microsoft is not copying Wii with the Kinect. They're trying to improve upon it. Kinect doesn't actually have a controller. Sony's just trying to copy the Wii to get their hands on that niche market the Wii grabbed onto while Microsoft's trying to take it to the next level. And from what I hear, they haven't done very well.

It's worth keeping in mind, BTW, that gaming is a niche market to begin with.

I honestly can't tell if you're trying to be funny, piss me off, or just have been living under a rock for the past 10 years. I haven't met anyone under 50 who hasn't played a video game or not owned a console or a gaming machine. It's about as much of a niche market as books or movies are.

Also, how is not having a controller possibly an improvement? No feedback, no buttons, and it'll probably get confused the second someone walks around behind you. Though I agree, it's not a copy of the wiimote...it's an updated eyetoy.

Don't pull the film bullshit on me for trying to prove your point. Video games are nowhere near as large a market as movies are. The fact that nowadays you damn near HAVE to produce a hit video game to be able to keep your company in the black is testament to this. Also, the fact that some older folks played games back in the Atari days doesn't mean much if they aren't playing games NOW. And since people who hadn't picked up a controller since the Atari days(like my own parents) make up 90% of the non-Nintendo-franchise sales of Wii games, I'd say this only proves my point.

And yes, I'm sick of people trying to say videogaming is as big an industry as films. It's simply not true.

As for Kinect, note that when I said they were trying to improve on things, I didn't say they succeeded. ;)

And I'm not trying to anger you, I'm merely stating fact. I'm only a casual gamer, but I pay close attention to what's going on out there. I've regularly noticed trends that more hardcore gamers refuse to even acknowledge - most frequently an overinflated belief that one's preferred gaming is doing better than all other despite any evidence to the contrary(PC fanboys are particularly prone to this).

Just to clarify my stance on matters, I'm not an XBox fanboy. I grab whatever system has the more appealing lineup to me at a given time. So right now, I have a 360. Last time 'round, I had a PS2(still have it - a first-gen one, at that), and I also currently have a Wii. I'm now also saving up for a PS3 and I play games new and old on my PC(though I don't exactly prioritize upgrading it to play the newest games).

Quite simply, I call it as I see it. Like it or not, the XBox360 has sold more games than the Wii, which is what matters most in showing which console if on top. You can sell a million consoles, but if the only games you sell are the ones that come with the console, you've got a problem, know what I mean? It's very telling that surprisingly few "hardcore" gamers have even considered buying a Wii(or at least, will never admit to getting one).

The XBox360 has had more "hit" games than the PS3 and Wii COMBINED. And with the videogame industry being a hits-driven industry, that's an EXTREMELY important indicator of the health of a console.

Oh please, first of all, I didn't say anything about the size of the market, I was actually commenting on the demographics. Old, young, middle-aged, with people of every background can and/or have played video games. Secondly the gaming market is growing faster then any other market and the only reason I can think of for why the movie industry is still in the lead is because they sell the same movie to you twice, once at theaters and once on DVD. Possibly more if you've had to start replacing your DVD's with Blu-rays. And on top of that it's a total rip-off. 20 bucks for a 2 hour movie where you just sit on your ass, assuming you didn't also waste money on a theater? For 20 bucks I find games that last at least 10 hours on the first play through and it's actually fun and entertaining. To be honest, I'm not sure how the movie business is still making huge profits on pure garbage.

I also wasn't counting "retired" players or anyone who's actually played an Atari console...not that I actually have met any. You have everything from major league gamers, to hardcore players, to casual players, to people who sneak in a quick game at work when the boss isn't looking, to playing games on cell phones when sitting in waiting rooms, with people of all ages and backgrounds playing. Like I was saying, it's as much a niche market as the movie, book, music, and internet industries are.

Well, there's your error: A "niche market" Doesn't simply refer to demographics ALONE, it also refers to a very small and specific market. It can be a very wide demographic, but still a small market compared to other forms of industry.

Lucky bastard.