Rant: Reggie's Bet, Part 2
Total sales of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for PS3 as of December 2009 according to NPD Group are 2.99 million.
Total sales of New Super Mario Bros. Wii for Wii as of December 2009 according to NPD Group are 4.21 million.

Reggie just won his bet.

The Stereotypes of the Console Makers and How They Affect the Industry
Each console maker has genres associated with them, and each console maker has trouble with games outside their genres. Nintendo is associated with mainly family-friendly stuff, like platformers and minigame collections. Sony is associated most with JRPGs and Fighting Games. Lastly, Microsoft is associated most with Shooters and WRPGs. These stereotypes is why it seems like JRPGs and Fighting games aren't popular anymore. JRPGs and Fighting games are less popular, because Sony's system is less popular and is associated with those genres. Family Friendly games, Shooters and and WRPGs are most popular because Nintendo and Microsoft's systems are more popular, and are associated with those genres. Even though Xbox 360 and PS3 share much of their library, they do not share a stereotype.

The Definition of a Non-Gamer
A non-gamer is a person who doesn't play games. When a company like Nintendo says they want to appeal to the non-gamer, that's what they mean! They want to turn non-gamers into gamers.

To get a non-gamer to become a gamer, one must make a game that would draw them. A percentage of the newbies to gaming will invariably stay and call themselves gamers. This addition of newbies to gaming has happened twice before. Both times, they appealed to the market with a cheaper price and revolutionary technology, and the "hardcore gamers" of the era lamented their success. Wii in this aspect is very much the successor to the NES... and the PS1. Both the NES and the PS1 appealed to the non-gamers who were out there. The computer gamers of the third generation lamented the NES's success with kids and the NES's simplistic controls. By the time of the fifth generation and the success of Play Station, many of these kids were the "hardcore gamers" who disliked "Polygon Graphics" and the 16-35 year old male moving into gaming. Now we see that the children who grew up on the PS1 are the "hardcore gamers" complaining about "Waggle" and "girls and old people" invading on their hobby in the seventh generation.

The Definition of a Gamer
A gamer is a person who plays games. Period.

Now someone really deep in the hobby will try to play as many great games as they can, regardless of image. People deride Bejeweled and Kingdom Hearts, but I like both of them, as any gamer who are ok with Puzzle Games and Action RPGs would. I myself am not good at Stealth or Music Games, but I recognize that Metal Gear Solid and Rock Band are pinnacles of their genre and deserves their fanbase. Not every gamer has to play every genre, but they should respect people who do play genres that they don't like.

Rant: Reggie's Bet
Most have heard of Reggie's bet on New Super Mario Bros. Wii outselling either the Xbox 360 or PS3 version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in three months. It is actually a fairly safe bet if one considers these few points.

April 2008: Mario Kart Wii outsells both versions of Grand Theft Auto 4 separately at launch.

Point #1: New Super Mario Bros on DS outsold Mario Kart DS.

Point #2: Grand Theft Auto 4 outsold Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

Point #3: The only single-SKU release to even reach the level of sales of even Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl is Halo 3.

The conclusion is that Nintendo is both the cornerstone AND the millstone of the video game industry.