Editor’s Note: Most of these assumptions come from my local area as well as what I heard and gleamed from other sources. Things could be different in other areas. 

Over the holidays I took a part-time job at a local electronic retail store. Take a look at the economy and you will see why. It has been a very interesting experience to see first hand how consumers…well…consume electronics. Let’s be honest, working at Pure Nintendo has separated me from how normal video game consumers think. Over the holiday here is a list of things I learned about consumers and the video game industry.

Let’s start with who won the Holiday season. I can predict, at least by what I saw, that the 360, with the Kinect, dominated the holiday season. Not only did Microsoft cut the Kinect and 360 prices but stores were battling for buyers by offering $50, $75, and even $100 gift cards for a purchase of a 360.

The console that seemed to come in second this holiday was the 3DS. I first started working at the retailer back in October and the 3DS sales still seemed a little slow.  After the thanksgiving holiday, the sales of the 3DS took off to the point that it became hard to keep it in stock.

The loser of the Holiday season has to be the Wii. The Wii still sold units but at a very slow pace. A lot of the people buying the 360, with Kinect, were previous Wii owners looking for something new. The store I worked for did sell out of Wii’s, twice, but a lot of that had to do with not getting the sets 100’s of the system in stock, compared to the 360 and PS3.

Let me expand on the Wii sales by saying that it seems like the Wii is losing momentum quickly. This past November the Wii hit the 5-year mark and it has started to show that old electronic age. The Casual consumers, who bought a Wii back in the day, are now asking questions like, “Why isn’t the Wii HD?” “Can I make it HD?” “Why doesn’t the Wii look as good as the other games on the other systems?” To me it seems like the Wii appeal, with its motion controls, has been met with the Kinect and then surpassed with the 360’s graphics. I am sure Nintendo realized this and that is why they are releasing the Wii U next year. But that is for another article.

Watching closely at the sales of the PS3, it is hard to grasp how it is doing. The PS3 sold better than the Wii but not as well as the 360. Comparing the PS3 casual attempt, with the Move and the 360’s Kinects, casual consumers seem a lot more interested in the Kinect than the PS3 “wii-mote rip off.”

Some top games of the 2011 Holiday

  •  Skylanders was a big hit this holiday season. Everywhere one looks the Skylanders figures are sold out. Activision released a press release warning they may run out of Skylanders by the end of the Holiday season.
  •  Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart both sold very well with Mario 3D Land seemingly selling a little better.
  •  Dance games, like Just Dance 3, and Dance Central, will probably see the top spot for the holidays.
  •  Wii software has just as much hit a wall as the Wii did.
  •  I predict the top non-casual selling game of the 2011 holiday will be MW 3, Skyrim, and then Battlefield 3.

Over all it seems the holidays were very good for the game industry and consumers. This holiday has seen some of the greatest deals on video games systems in years. It seems like all three of the major video game companies are trying to squeeze as much as they can out of their aging systems. Microsoft still seems to be going strong but the Wii, and small part PS3, has started to lose momentum.

What can Nintendo do about slow Wii sales and can they still have momentum leading up to the Wii U’s launch?

One thing to note about the slower sales of the Wii is the fact most people have the system already.  It’s pretty saturated in the market and although Skyward Sword moved a few extra units, it still wasn’t enough to carry the Wii to the top spot for the Holidays.  I truly think Nintendo missed a golden opportunity this last Holiday to preserve momentum on their side by having the Wii U release in the usual 5-year console timeline Nintendo has always used.  If the Wii U launched this past November, Nintendo would have a lot more mindshare than Microsoft was able to muster up with the Kinect.  People wanted something new in the motion control space and Nintendo let Microsoft capitalize for the 2nd holiday in a row with the Kinect.  Nintendo’s got to step it up this year and show consumers why the Wii U is the system to beat in the future.