I've often speculated that the 360's success in selling its "game of the week" is offset by a lower average for games that aren't chosen by the hive mind. This data seems to support that conclusion. But that actually seems to be an industry-wide phenomenon: top-heavy sales. And it's nothing new, but I think it's getting worse...or if not, then the bottom part is sinking lower into unsustainability.
It's easy to look at this data and think 3rd parties are nuts. If the Wii has a higher average unit sales by title, and cheaper development costs, then it should be a safer bet, right? But I don't think that's what they're looking at. Nobody wants their game to do the average. They're looking at the peaks, and the 360's peaks are higher than the Wii's (excluding Nintendo, of course). Of course, that means it's valleys are lower, but who cares? There's money to be made, and they'd rather gamble on the 360 than take the Wii's safe bet, especially when that safe bet is becoming more of a gamble (with a smaller payout) as customers become more risk-averse themselves (ie. learn that most 3rd party games aren't good).
