I got pointed to this interesting article today.
In the interest of fairness, the clarification points out that these numbers may not be generalizable. But I still think they’re interesting, and I have a few ideas about why the numbers might actually be lower:
- Social Games Require… People: There are certainly some Wii games that are single player, but I tend to have the most fun playing multi-player games with a big group of people, like Smash Bros, Guitar Hero, Wii Play, or Wii Sports. This can only happen as often as I have people over, which isn’t as often as I play single player games.
- Shorter Average Playing Time: I don’t have the numbers on this, but I can say that adventure games on the Wii (so far) have come nowhere near the 100+ hour behemoths of the Final Fantasy / Dragon Quest franchise.
- New Markets = New Habits: The Wii is applauded for breaking into non-traditional gaming markets. Well, guess what: Non-traditional gamers probably aren’t as obsessed with games as hardcore gamers.
The last point is particularly interesting, because it begs the question: Who cares? Just because Wii usage might be lower doesn’t mean that gamers get less value out of it, or that it’s not as solid of an investment. Personally, I like that I spend less time on the Wii than other consoles. It lets me focus on the real world from time to time.
