Sounds to me like there's too many cruddy games developed for the Wii and that THQ doesn't have the monopoly on it anymore. Makes sense.

Maybe if those kid games weren't Crapatouille they'd sell better

@LittleBigPlaneteer: Oh LBP, Ratatouille, Crapatouille, I like it. You have such a great way with words

@Dannon:

You know it! But it's also more than a play on words, it's fact!

Here are the metacritic scores for each game:

Cars: 65
Ratatouille: 62

THQ, for as long as I can remember, hasn't been about making good products, or good games, but attaching sellable assets onto something. In this case, tacking semi-popular character or series X onto generic platformer/rhythm game/adventure Y. I blame Disney's affiliation with them, as it seems like that's been the Disney strategy for awhile.

So, go back to the drawing board, don't cry about the competition making obviously better goods.

This just goes to show you that the entire line of Nintendo games are still considered childrens games, which for the most part, they are. I just wish Nintendo would get out of their head that video games are only for children, house-wives, and small dogs. Then maybe, just MAYBE, they might put something out that's at least half decent. And yes, I think SSB'Dojo' was crap, considering it was just a blatant remake of the first two consecutive ones and the fact that the Wii controller sucks, only worsened it. I'll play anyone at SSB for the 64 anyday though, that was good.

The lesson to be learned is:

Stop churning out shovelware that capitalises on a sucessful movie. Stop and think, is this game crap? If so, stop developing it.

Message to THQ: Stop making crappy games, get more original IP's, use the money used to get the tons of licenses for games and pick the best possible ones that have the greatest possibility to make a great game.

Anyway, its easy to blame Nintendo for doing so well. Its kinda like saying "Hey, look at that guy! He is making us look bad by doing the best at what does. Lets get him!" Most of the time it seems like most studios developing for the Wii thinking along the lines of "Well, we'll just half-ass it and tack on some motion control. Its bound to sell millions!"

My friend's 7 year old daughter hates all of that crap including the wii and flat out DOMINATES on Burnout Paradise. Its all she plays now, all the games geared towards kids drive he nuts, hows that for the kids market. as far as i'm concered its just parents buying it for their kids while little timmy is at johnny's house playing Halo 3

@LittleBigPlaneteer: I agree, kids games, actually, games for kids (I believe there's a difference) are generally of poor quality as kids are expected to have short attention spans, love/enjoy/relate easier to repetition, etc. I don't think kids are stupid at all, it's been proven that kids are the quickest learners. I also don't think that kids games should be any less thought of than their more adult counter parts.

*cue patriotic music for empowered speech*

I have a dream....I believe that kids games can be made to be good and using only a fraction of the budget of certain games generally aimed at adults that get a huge budget. I believe that kids should not be overlooked in the games market as they do drive a lot of games sales through their power of nagging. If a company would think about how to make a game fun whilst being educational, maybe not educational as in the traditional sense (maths, english, etc) but something to really get kids thinking rather than generic crap with current kids icon licensed to it.

All these CEOs of struggling video game companies needs to take note. They've all been wasting their time earning business degrees, attending strategy seminars and board meetings when all of their company's problems could be solved by just reading the sound advice left by Kotaku commenters!

Stop making crappy games. You don't learn that at Harvard.

@deathsyth8888: Seems like rehashing old IP's is where the money's at. See: GTA4, Halo 3, MGS4, every Nintendo game that features Mario.

Wait, wait, wait: since when was Nintendo ever unsuccessful in the kids market (as Farrell seems to be implying)? I thought Nintendo owned that space, even before the Wii. I mean, has there ever been a time within the past eight or nine years when several Nintendo games (and by Nintendo, I mean Pokemon) weren't at the top of charts?

Well, let me join the chorus here: Mr. Farrell, you're quite a whiner. You could at least take responsibility for your company's crap fiscal year. In fact, why don't you just remove yourself from the kids' market altogether, and get crackin' on pushing out more games like DoW, CoH and SupCom?

Many thanks in advance.

@RTW:Go Bawww and troll elsewhere, no one wants to hear it.

People, people, people. What do you think FUNDS the development of the really great games? It's the shovelware. And let's face it, shovelware is the *bread and butter* of the games industry, hands down.

Look at PS1 and PS2. 80%+ of their libraries were *complete TRASH*, and it was those shit games that funded the 20% golden games. Nintendo saw that model, has adopted it and said "sure, anything goes, just make sure our system has the most games"--which it does. Most good games? Not by a mile. But most games (in this gen so far) is undeniable, and it's one of the reasons Wii will not be dethroned this generation.

@UmeShoryu: True but you dont see THQ and other companies making "kiddie" game to produce licensed sequels like "The Chronicles of Spongebob 3: The Search for Plankton" or "Bratz Adventures 5: Mall Quest" if they were any good to begin with.

@Foxstar Sixtail: It's this kind of fanboyism that gets me. It's not like Nintendo supports you, no matter how much you may think they do. That goes for all the companies, they are driven by a profitable business, not to satisfy your needs. Though, if doing so gets them money, they will try their best to reach that goal.

@jasongw: Oh, don't get me wrong, I wholeheartedly agree with the most of your statement. The only problem is, that with developer groups like THQ, there is a much heavier trash-to-gem ratio. There are other developers even worse than that, who do nothing BUT shovelware. They don't fun any grand projects, or push any technological limits, they are here purely to cash in on unsuspecting rubes.

I find this humorous for the same reason everyone else in this thread finds this humorous. Blaming Nintendo for Shovelware not doing well.

I Also see a Nintendo = Teh Kiddie conversation has popped up. I disagree partially. Nintendo went for a broad appeal with their games. Doesn't make them less fun to play as a gamer in the classical sence.

Their child friendly online is sometimes annoying, but then again
the randomocity of Miis has made going online to race Adolf Hitler in a Baby Carrage all the more rewarding.

@RTW: Nintendo makes enjoyable games that don't have content parents tend to deem inappropriate. It's not a kiddie game just because it competes with kiddie game; the same games compete with GTA and Halo.

The problem is that Thq apparently wanted to have children ready to buy up whatever piece of crap they put out starring a cartoon character, and children apparently decided to get something of a decidedly higher quality.

In other words, people making bad games shouldn't complain about them not selling well.

@RTW: In all honesty, your original comment could stand for some rewording to not be confused with some sort of haterade statement. Negativity runs rampant around here.

Firstly, Nintendo doesn't aim at children, they aim at the broadest possible market. Does this mean the games are inherently childish? No, but they are certainly more superficial. Very little depth, more about the gameplay than anything. More colorful. They might be child-friendly, but that's certainly not the same.

Secondly, gaming as a whole is still seen as a kid's hobby, even to this day. Hence why we have such outcries every time a Bully or a GTA or what-have-you violent title hits the ground. It's not because these things are movies, which are public events that some movie attendant can 'screen' young kids away from seeing, but private, at-home affairs that could potentially be brewing the next serial killer. At least the media would have you believe that, anyway.

@RTW: What you wrote in your first post is going to be a very unpopular opinion around here. Not because you're necessarily wrong, but people like to overreact. However, what you wrote in your second post is true. As a publicly traded company, Nintendo's primary goal is to maximize shareholder value, or as you put it turn a high profit so to increase EPS. Now unless someone owns Nintendo stock then yeah, Nintendo isn't looking out for their needs.

But back to your first point. Nintendo games just appeal to all ages. Their games are rated E for Everyone not K for Kids Only. Of course if their games can be enjoyed by both parents and their children it's going to create that kiddie image.

It would help to take a page from Nintendo and make less casual titles, but make GOOD ones. Nintendo doesn't exactly flood the market (except Mario Party, but thats bascially 3rd party), but most of their titles are genuinely good, even if it's a nongame like Wii Fit.
And that gives them a good rep, aswell. You can rely on Nintendo games being better than most others on the console, while licensed games have a reputation of being cheap cash-ins (and they are).

@RTW: Yeah, the first SSMB was way better than the new one... Wait, no it wasn't! You're on crack. :P

The real reason is that disregarding Kingdom Hearts (as lets face it, KH rode on the popularity of Square rather than Disney) there hasn't been a good Disney game since their Megadrive/Genesis platformers. Quack Attack was awesome.

Like everyone else has been saying, stop making shitty shovelware cash ins. I'll play a Disney game when they don't suck and there hasn't been very many good ones from the 16bit on. Disney platformers kicked ass back then.

Nintendo makes better games than us! It's not fair! BAWWWWWWWW!

@RTW: Uhm, what?
You're calling Foxstar a fanboy, when your initial message was one of the worst pieces of fanboy'ism I've read in a while?

Feel free to call the Wii the worst console, I think the three competitors are pretty well balanced, but I can see why a lot of gamers don't enjoy the Wii that much.

But claiming the console doesn't have "even a half-decent game" is just wrong. There are some really great games out there for the Wii, and even though they might not be your cup of tea, you should at least be able acknowledge the quality.

I hated Gears of War, because I found it depressing, repetitive and boring, but I respect it as a shooter and as a really high quality game. It's just not my kind of game. Same deal with Halo 1,2 and 3, hated them, but I recognize their quality.

If companies are complaining now what would happen if nintendo went third party? Would all the other 3rd parties just give up and close shop?

Theres like 10 quality games for the Wii. This guys needs to step up, stop whinning and run his business better.

The Pixar (and yeah, I suppose Nickelodeon as well) licenses should be passed off to Capcom. They made the best licensed games back in the day: Duck Tales, Chip 'n Dale, Darkwing Duck, Little Nemo, Aladdin... BOOM! C'mon, people!

@Odin: Quack Attack was awesome!

THQ has been making crappy, crappy games for years. Now, Nintendo's just calling their bluff.

Third party games fail on the Wii for a few reasons:
1) The game are crap
2) The game is great yet it is not marketed well
3) The game is crap and it is not marketed well

Nintendo supports its games better than THQ, so don't blame Nintendo.
THQ needs to start making good games and actually market them.

As others have hinted at, it's the shovelware that makes our hobby viable. Even companies that make exclusively shovelware and don't put the profits towards better games still benefit gamers in that they expand the install base of consoles, which gives other, better companies the ability to make games that are actually good. Get rid of the shovelware, and the number of quality games would go DOWN, not up. It's not like you have to buy shovelware, and it's not even that hard to spot a piece of shovelware.

Oh, and this is off topic, but this applies to casual-versus-power gamers in all genres, whether they be console games, online shooters, or MMORPGs. The casual gamers basically pay for the power gamers to have their precious game. The casual gamers don't owe the power gamers for the privilege to be in their presence, like so many message boards seem to suggest; the power gamers owe the casual gamers for the ability to play the game in the first place.

@Ampillion = That Man.: Yeah, it didn't sound harsh to me, wasn't trying to bash the Wii. Was mainly pointing out that the Wii is compared with children's games in sales.

@Nico8332: I don't see how see where your getting that idea. I don't hate the Wii, Xbox360, or PS3. They all have their pros and cons. Maybe I was a little bit harsh by saying they don't have any decent games. No More Heroes looked like a lot of fun and so did that one about leisurely searching the ocean for sea creatures...

@RTW: The opnion that all nintendo games are for kids is a silly opnion that should has died in the late 90's, you say you don't hate the Wii but your first post has that written all over it, also you clamn Smash Bros Brawl sucks but you refer to it as 'SSB'Dojo' showing you've never even played it and are just ignorant

Boo hoo. Make better games and they'll sell better. By the way, considering the Nintendo first party games(Which are not all for children) are actually very good, I would buy them over Rataouille and Cars any day.

@RTW: And GTA and Halo aren't remakes of their previous games?

@excel_excel: I think you missed the point of the article, in which it's talking about how THQ kids game sales are compared to all Nintendo's first party games made by them. So the opinion still persists, heck, there was even an article a few months ago talking about how Miyamoto states that games are for kids, and didn't understand why adults play them. And I refer to it as Dojo instead of Brawl because I feel that it should have kept that title instead of the english language dumbing it down to Brawl.

I've played SSBD with the wiimote, gamecube controller (which I personally detest as one of the worse controllers ever made), and the classic controller (my favorite of the three). I played this at a friends house for 6 hours over the course of 2 days. It was alright, but it was just a blatant remake of the first two.

It was like Nintendo was kissing me softly and then punching me in the face at the same time.

And last but not least, I wouldn't say something sucks unless I've tried it out myself. So don't just go bantering around pointing fingers kid.

Damn there was some serious PWNG being handed out by INFORMED responsible posters in this thread. I commend you all, all the immature, prejudging by people who probably haven't touched a Wii outside of Kiosk in a game store needs to stop.

That being said, Yup THQ and all other devs not making money STOP CRYING. Put time into developing your titles and stop trying to "cash-in" and maybe market them better instead of relying on a "tie-in" and maybe you won't have to complain about new competition (was this guy serious when he said that?) from Nintendo.

Maybe he needs to join the 21st century Nintendo has been making money and bringing quality since like '86.

@KM91: Did I ever say anything about GTA and Halo to begin with?

Halo is a remake, it just gets better graphics, a few new weapons/vehicles, and a few more baddies.

As for GTA, 1 and 2 are likely enough to be considered remakes. 3 and VC are similar enough with both cheat codes, items and driving to be remakes, which is kind of what VC is considered. I would personally consider SA to be pretty stand alone, with the whole "personal stats for improving your body", co-op Rampages, as well as a lot more added territory and things you can do, like bicycling and cops that are like Cruise on Winfrey. As for GTA4, they got rid of quite a bit and added other things, like multiplayer. (No hidden packages, you can climb around the map for once.) But it does kind of get back to the GTA3 formula for the most part.

@thenino85: The argument that shovelware is good for gaming relies on the idea that shovelware is cheaper and more broadly appealing than the A-list. Based on sales figures, it's not shovelware selling week after week, it's the good games that people are bypassing bad games in favor of. The whole point of the article is that people AREN'T buying Thq's crappy games because there are better games to be playing; how does this support the idea of bad games increasing the install base? And if so much of the Wii's lineup is shovelware, why is the install base lower than the other competing systems with lower rates of shovelware compared to higher-ranked games?

The money made from low production cost games isn't shared with other companies, so Thq putting out a terrible Disney licensed game isn't helping out Square with their prodigious FFXIII budget.

I'm sorry, I'm going to have to see your math here.

"traditionally strong kid's business"
wow. who would be relying on kids for anything but wanting fun junk. kids have no concept of capitalism, of game design, of marketability. they want what they want and that changes daily. this is just them saying "traditionally our sales figures dont change so we usually crank out the same old movie and tv tie-in crap and kids gobble it up for lack of anything better. now we actually have be innovative! damn it nintendo! why did you have to come out with the wii?!"

*ahem* It's Wall-E, not Wally, silly journalist.

They think the Wall-E game is going to take them in the right direction? That game trailer looks HORRIBLE!

The movie, on the other hand, looks SPECTACULAR!

Wall-E is the new ET, I know it, the difference is that he won't call home, he will leave it for good.

Back on tpic, what all the other intelligent commenters said, THQ:

Stop sucking and give already some DoW

@RTW: Your the kid, guy, sony fanboy...