Nintendo's Wii continues to enjoy stellar sales figures on a monthly basis, but this is only really guaranteed for the hardware and accessories. Outside of a few flagship first party titles, North American Wii software sales don't always enjoy the same numbers, and The New York Times reasons this may well lie behind the one asset which Nintendo covets the most: the players themselves. While Nintendo gets new Wii gamers by the bucketload, their crowd is also the least likely to purchase new titles for their console on a regular basis, compared to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 gamers.

Nintendo is tapping into a new breed of gamer, one not so entrenched into gaming as a hobby. While the company has succeeded in charming "non-gamers" which so effectively boosts the Wii userbase, this market can also be a double-edged sword. Once they've got the titles they need, non-gamers are not necessarily as keen/savvy in purchasing further Wii games, especially those which aren't geared towards the casual gaming crowd. To exaberate the potential issue, the Wii already comes bundled with Wii Sports in North America, the one Wii game which non-gamers could be content with for the rest of their gaming days.

"You don’t see a lot of titles that reach 30 to 40 percent of the installed base," said a Lazard Capital analyst, Colin Sebastian. "My in-laws in Texas have a Wii sitting on their living-room floor next to the TV, which to me is kind of amazing. They have Wii Sports, a Brain Age game, Wii Play. That’s about it."

This adds up to Wii getting the hardware sales, but a smaller software tie-in ratio for consoles sold as well. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter estimates the average Wii gamer purchases 3.7 games a year, while the average PlayStation 3 owner goes for 4.6 games. Xbox 360 gamers are the most likely to purchase new titles for their console at 4.7 gamers per year, one more game annually compared to Wii owners.

Pachter also believes game publishers are to blame for lagging Wii software tie-in ratio. For better or worse, the Wii has cemented itself as a casual gaming machine in the eyes of the general public, and publishers will need to start looking behind traditional advertising avenues in the gaming industry if they want to translate the large Wii install base into sales.

"The kind of person that buys a Wii is not the same kind of person that buys a PS3 or an Xbox," said John Greiner, the chief executive of Hudson Entertainment, the North American arm of Hudson Soft. "You have to be very specific when you design a game and target not only the gameplay mechanics for that user, but also the marketing for that kind of a product launch."

In Nintendo's defense, they enjoy the benefit of loyal, longtime fans who drink up the history of the company and all its key franchises. Fanboys aren't enough to start bringing software sales in line with the hardware, however, especially given the new industry heavyweights in the North American market. (e.g. Grand Theft Auto, Halo, etc.)  It should be said that Mario Kart Wii is the only other title, aside from the upcoming video game adaptation of the Iron Man motion picture, expected to be capable of even denting Grand Theft Auto IV's super armor when it launches later in April.  Of course, GTAIV is still on course to being the biggest game yet this year.