Amazon numbers speak: Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii

You can argue all you want, but there’s no arguing with numbers. And where can we quickly get numbers? Amazon is one possibility. Just remember two things:

• Amazoners aren’t really human. Yes, the shopping behavior of people on Amazon doesn’t match the shopping behavior of people you meet in the real world walking down Main Street. But it does give us a quick updated-every-hour look at what one section of the Internet thinks is worth buying.
• Pay up or shut up. Remember, this isn’t like a vote. It’s one thing for us to sit down and talk about games. It’s another thing when people actually commit real money on a game.

Here’s a preview of the lists (click on the Full Article link below to see the lists):

• Top 10 Xbox 360 sellers. Guns, stunts, and muscles. That’s the theme for this list. One exception: piñatas.
• Top 10 PS3 sellers. The biggest surprise: despite being well-liked and getting good reviews, R:FoM got beaten.
• Top 10 Wii sellers. While it has its share of guns, stunts, and muscles, the Wii list differs from the Xbox 360 and PS3 list. Still, we expected this kind of gaming diversity.

See all three lists by clicking on the Full Article link below.

You can argue all you want, but there’s no arguing with numbers. And where can we quickly get numbers? Amazon is one possibility. Just remember two things:

• Amazoners aren’t really human. Yes, the shopping behavior of people on Amazon doesn’t match the shopping behavior of people you meet in the real world walking down Main Street. But it does give us a quick updated-every-hour look at what one section of the Internet thinks is worth buying.
• Pay up or shut up. Remember, this isn’t like a vote. It’s one thing for us to sit down and talk about games. It’s another thing when people actually commit real money on a game.

Xbox 360. Guns, stunts, and muscles. That’s the theme for the top half of this list – yeah, the Xbox 360 fans are one violent bunch, hehe.

Number eight sticks out: piñatas. Yeah, we Xbox 360 boys talk like we’re the toughest guys around, but we’ve been begging mommy for the animal-whacking strategy game all along. Hehe. Still, it’s good news for Microsoft: this title will bring in money from different sections of the market (you know: kids, non-violent people, simulation and strategy fans).

1. Gears of War
2. Call of Duty 3
3. Gears of War Limited Edition (the most expensive one in this list: US$ 69.82 – yeah, Gears of War gets on this list twice)
4. Halo 3 (pre-order only)
5. WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2007
6. Tony Hawk’s Project 8
7. Madden NFL 07 (despite all the anti-EA feelings, this game is still going strong)
8. Viva Piñata Launch Edition
9. Marvel Ultimate Alliance
10. Burnout Revenge (we think this got to 10th place because it’s so inexpensive: only US$ 29.82 – all the other games are about US$ 60 except for Viva Piñata which is about US$ 45 – Sonic the Hedgehog is 11th on this list)

PS3. The biggest surprise: despite being well-liked and getting good reviews R:FoM got beaten by Madden. What are Amazon buyers thinking? Half the QJ team thinks this is a sign that sports games appeal to a wider range of people than shooters (first-person or otherwise), but the other half of the QJ team are wondering if this is a sign that Amazon shoppers are moms, older people, noobs, and prudes who probably don’t even know what R:FoM is. Hehe.

Still, the Amazon jury has spoken. Madden NFL 07 is a good game, and surely EA Sports has had time to work out any bugs.

Anyway, like the Xbox 360 list, guns, stunts, and muscles is the theme for this list.

1. Madden NFL 07 (yeah, we can’t believe this beat R:FoM)
2. Resistance: Fall of Man
3. Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic and the PlayStation – *tears of joy* – those QJ staffers who aren’t big into R:FoM thought this game would have topped the list because of its mass appeal)
4. console: PS3 60GB (this one isn’t available, but it’s number 4 because so many people have added it to their “Wish List” thingies – you can do the same, or you can go to eBay, hehehe)
5. Marvel Ultimate Alliance
6. Call of Duty 3
7. Need for Speed: Carbon
8. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas
9. Ridge Racer 7 (this was one of the best selling pair of games during the PS3 launch in Japan)
10. Blazing Angels

Wii. While it has its share of guns, stunts, and muscles, the Wii list differs from the Xbox 360 and PS3 list: you have swords, bananas, and bunnies in the Wii list.

We’re not that surprised: we expected this kind of gaming diversity from a platform that encourages girls to grab horns. The Wii is for everybody, right? So you have games here for people who like swords, and you have games for people who like bananas and balls.

1. Red Steel
2. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
3. Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz
4. Rayman Raving Rabbids
5. Madden NFL 07
6. Call of Duty 3 (Activision has a winner – this game is in the top 10 for all 3 consoles)
7. Excite Truck
8. Marvel Ultimate Alliance (say what you want about how shitty Wii graphics are, but the trailer for this game shows that the graphics are good enough for a lot of people)
9. Trauma Center: Second Opinion
10. Need for Speed: Carbon