<![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling" - Kotaku Comments]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling" - Kotaku Comments]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Yeah.. They don't do well because Nintendo has such a good reputation and advertise them really well. I think.. haha. poor guy.

XAnthonyX

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @Tepoz: In case you weren't aware, not a lot of people subscribe to Nintendo Power anymore these days. GameStop doesn't even carry it and everytime I pull it out to educate people (for my job) about the articles in it, their first reaction is, "whoa, haven't seen that magazine in awhile...I used to subscribe to that when I was little...aren't all the reviews biased?" With that said, Nintendo magazines do very little in persuading potential buyers, especially potential buyers who are in the mindset that the Wii has a bunch of crap third party titles.

Jenstar

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Raving Rabbids has done really well and that is third party. But it is a collection of mini games. And Z&W except for game magazines/web sites I think has had zero advertising. Look at the big sellers on Xbox 360 - Halo 3 (the third game of a FPS series) it certainly isn't Zubwava the Toilet Slayer. Look at God Hand's sales as an example too. I will buy No more Heroes for sure, but he is mistaken if he thinks this brand of orginiality will be a big seller on any system!

Turael

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Hahahahaha, I love how the Wii is digging a big hole because of this. The reality is, it really doesn't have very many profitable 3rd-party titles, in fact, almost no quality 3rd-party titles.

Don't worry, it will still sell like a cancer-cure. There are more non-gamers in the world than there are gamers, so Nintendo's got a big business ahead of them.

It just sucks for us.

thereturnoftheufo

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @sxp151: @Doshu: Btw, despite more than 20 years of playing games, Mario is the only game I'd ever played on a Nintendo console previous to buying my Wii.

Is that Nintendo's fault? Or yours? That's actually a pretty spectacular record of avoiding some good games.

It's a bit of Nintendo's fault and a bit of my fault. The only game I knew about on Nintendo consoles was Mario (because I'd played it at a friends place). Meanwhile, I was playing games on the Apple II before moving onto PC gaming.

Consoles were of absolutely zero interest to me until I saw Gran Turismo on the Playstation. While I saw advertising for other Playstation games on TV, I don't recall ever seeing any advertising for games on Nintendo consoles. I do remember there being advertising for the consoles themselves, but nothing to ever make me think "hey, I want to play that, so I need to buy a Nintendo".

Some of that lack of awareness is definitely due to me not looking for it. I read magazines like Byte, Nibble, A+ and inCider which had no console advertising that I can remember.

If Nintendo supported their 1st/3rd parties advertising efforts a little more, I would have likely heard their consoles mentioned more. Repetition is the key in advertising. You want your name heard as often as possible.

Sony and Microsoft helping their 3rd parties to advertise their games is a cheap way for them to increase the frequency that their name is heard. The fact that they also publish many of those games means they also get a bigger cut of the game sales, which is why they're prepared to loss-lead with their consoles.

Doshu

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @Sloopydrew: rofl

Irenicus-the one and only

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @Stormrider900:

"Until you can point me to a core franchise Nintendo game that sucks and still sells well, I'm going to have to disagree with you.

Mario Party 8.

Sloopydrew

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Nintendo brought this on themselves. By marketing this as the "casual" console and not giving it nearly enough power to even handle watered-down ports of most of the bigger games (CoD4, Assassin's Creed, RE5, DMC4, etc.) they put themselves in this position and excluded serious developers from releasing serious games on their console (at least if they want serious sales).

People see this as Nintendo's comeback. I see it as Nintendo's last little bit of glory in the non-handheld console market. The Wii is a trend that is attracting primarily the elderly and the pre-teen set. Once they grow up and/or die, the trend will die with it and I can't see how Nintendo will be able to get themselves back in with serious hardcore gamers.

My prediction is their next console flops far worse than the GameCube and Nintendo goes 3rd Party or exclusively to the handheld market. Pretty depressing. Even more depressing when you consider that Nintendo could have made the Wii even 25% more powerful than it is, still made a profit on each console sold (or, at the very least, broke even), and could have had graphically inferior, but sufficient, ports of the big AAA titles the 360 and PS3 are receiving. Then third party Wii games would be selling and Nintendo would capture ALL audiences -- including the hardcore gaming crowd.

Sloopydrew

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @curryman: I and everyone I know bought the NES and then the SNES and so forth FOR the 1st party titles, however the 3rd party titles was great and added to the success and life span no doubt.

Irenicus-the one and only

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @keiichimorisato: That is very true but if Wii gamers dont buy it but 360 or PS3 gamers will it is a issue of them being made for the wrong system. The Problem comes when the people stop taking chances on the games on the Wii platform that Nintendo has to worry about. But it is true there are plenty of examples on all platforms were AAA titles have not sold like they should. I think Nintendo just has over a 10 year legacy of 3rd party exclusive sales issues they have to get over.

Konchu

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> In classic Ralph Wiggum fashion: ''Smell ya later Nintendo!....Smell ya later for good!!!''

asianmacker

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Is Nintendo stopping people from buying these games?

How can it be Nintendo's fault if people aren't buying a specific game. If the developer wants to blame someone (and not themselves), shouldn't the blame be placed on the consumer, since they aren't buying it?

keiichimorisato

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @PAPABEAR434: Nintendo didn't really build itself from its 1st party titles -- if you recall, the NES is what made Nintendo really popular, with hits like Metal Gear, Mega Man, etc. as well as the 1st party titles.

SNES really took off with Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Killer Instinct (kind of a Nintendo title), Mortal Kombat, and many other 3rd party titles.

It's kind of why I always felt like Sony's PS One "felt" like SNES, because all of the former developers jumped ship and developed for Sony's console.

curryman

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> This seem to have become the norm for nintendo systems. Don't get me wrong there are some great games that have came out from 3rd parties on Nintendo systems. And I wont neccessarily blame Nintendo for these games lack of support even if they do not personally fund advertising even though other console makers may I really dont think it is Nintendo's responsibility to sell games for others, but it is there place to insure there are quality games for thier patrons.

There have been excellent games that have been made for the Cube like Viewtiful Joe and Resident Evil 4 that got ported to PS2 to increase sales so a port of No more Heroes does make sense. But really its sad all around that game quality no longer means success. Look at Okami, Beyond Good and Evil, Psychonauts etc.

Sadly the Nintendo platforms have not been good for 3rd partys lately and Im not sure Nintendo can help them. I think there are several groups of gamers on each system but the Wii has a a huge slice of Casual gamers(Soccer Moms etc) and a fair slice of the old time fans that love everything Nintendo(which overlap pretty well with the causuals most everyone has played mario or knows who he is). And the smallest slice of what gets labeled as hardcore(that overlap with the oldtime fans). The thing is if you want these more unique games to do well you either have to make the causuals want to play them or increase the number of hardcore games but without the hardcore games its harder to get that to happen

In my opinion its the gamers somewhere in the Middle range between Causal and Hardcore were game purchases increase and keep going up the closer you get to the hardcore players. So Bottom line the more Casuals you have the system is liable to have a lower attach rate though maybe it will mean more overall sells at the the end of the day but that has yet to be be determined. My mom is the model casual player and has yet to tire of Solitare, Zuma, and many other games in that fair. Were im definatly more toward the hardcore addicted gamer side I start to get the shakes if I havn't bought a new game lately(Stalking the local game stores like a junky needing his next fix).

Really what Nintendo should do is get the system playing Demo's they may need to enable demos on the SD card for that to work for convience at least. Though not sure they will be able to shake the Nintendo console for Nintendo games image nor if that is neccessarily a bad thing just means the Wii will never be able to be my only system.

Konchu

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> I'm really disappointed in some gamers for not investing in non-Nintendo games. But its also the fault of advertisement. They're too busy giving it to those ridiculously bad licensed games.

GuardianEarth128

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> My question is where's the advertising for these good games on the wii? All I've seen on the tv is that awful carnival game and well, that's it for 3rd party. The fact that I know Carnival Games exists means their marketing team is doing something right. And guess what? It sells. :/ Only reason I bought Zack and Wiki is because of Kotaku keeping tabs on this gem of a game. Not to mention eventually buying No More Heroes.

Advertising for actual good 3rd party games has to increase in the sea of shovelware. Nintendo isn't going to stop making Mario or Zelda titles, so these developers need to work around that, or work with Nintendo to get some spotlight. Complaining isn't going to do shit.

sweetie55

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> *yawns*

Really, that man shouldn't be throwing comments around like that, since most of the third party titles for the Wii have mostly been crap because the developers have either been plain lazy or too surprised to get their
arses in gear to make something creative and unique. Instead, they simply like to whine.

Last I checked, RE 4 sold fine. Zak and Wiki is a great game but it's waaaay too niche, thus why it didn't sell. No More Heroes doesn't have an established franchise and less folks are willing to take the plunge on that, despite good word of mouth. Plus, edited version for the lose.

Masume

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> actually I think he just pwned himself!!?!!?!?!? anyway, 3rd parties don't do well cause most of the time they are crap!!!! heroes might do better in the us though then in europe and asia, maybe!!!

taomaster99

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> If Suda 51 was handing out NMH toilet paper, in person, at a retail location within 10 hours driving from me, I'd go for it. And I'd bring friends.

markuspants

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @gnugeek: Eternal Darkness was published by Nintendo and Nintendo actually owns a sizable portion of Silicon Knights.

Stormrider

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> This ties in very well with a conversation I had last night. While the wii has sold incredibly well, most the people who purchased it are not core gamers. They are folks who see wii fit and brain age and pick it up cause it is cute. Nintendo makes more money and is set to continue making more money off of these consumers than the core gamer market. As such, they simply don't care much about us anymore. All we will get from Nintendo will be the same 3 milked franchises that we have seen for the last 20 years. 3 dozen mario _____ games a year, metroid prime, and a new zelda game trying to clone OOT because too many people whined about wind waker (a fantastic game) being too different.

Nintendo no longer makes games for gamers. They just seem to have walked off and decided the third party devs can handle that... Doesn't look like that's gonna happen when we have shit like ninjabread man coming out for the wii almost every day.

Nintendo, proudly dropping the ball since the N64.

Demonbird

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @Kirbytheslayer: Punch the Penguin and Win a Prize!: Capcom admitted they didn't advertise Zack and Wiki, I sure as hell never heard of it till I want on the net one day... I barely see any of the good 3rd party games in TV ads.

I mostly see the stupid games like Raving Rabbids, or for some reason NOA feels the need to advertise Wii Sports of all things... To be honest I've seen very few Wii commercials lately, but if Nintendo would crack down on bad 3rd party developers, or atleast quit their damn "Wii would like to play" commercials... I think the 3rd party would stand a chance... I think I saw RE4 commercials and what not, many people bought it didn't they? It's still on shelfs and I even saw Zack and Wiki... I guess I'll pick up another game or two before I get brawl seeing how Galaxy is really the only 1st party game I've got on my Wii. I have Metal Slug Anthology, Resident Evil 4, and Super Mario Galaxy... (Wii freaking sports, but I really don't play it.) I still don't see any need to buy a 360 or PS3, but I really wish Nintendo would stop the mini-game complimations or atleast encourage hard core gaming... They could do it with Brawl if need be... I think I'll kill myself if the official Brawl commercials is "Wii would like to play." Atleast Japan doesn't have any dumb ads like that... though they are strange.

Shaoko

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> I'm late to the party :(

My 2cents are that Nintendo will keep doing great for casual gamers, the ones that buy 2-3 games a season maybe a year. And Nintendo will make enough money from this, Nintendo does not need an attachement rate like Sony and MS for several reasons, like the fact they make profit on the console itself and they make profit on all their first party titles.

The Wii will also make it with the hardcore to some extent, cause the hardcore owns more then just the Wii, either the 360, PS3 or both. In the end Nintendo will make money and be happy, and thats all that matters to them.

But as I said, when the system is cheaper I might get one myself for Nintendo games, while playing all the rest including third party and online on my PS3, like the GC. As all the rest will. Only way to burst Nintendo's bubble, is if their games starts sucking, but they havn't since the 80's so I bet they are pretty safe.

Only difference between the cube and the Wii for me and "hardcore" gamers, I hate that word... is that the Wii is making it in the soccer mom market. My feeling anyway.

Irenicus-the one and only

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @kidnicky: From what I've read online from people that actually played the game (Kotaku included) they do indeed like the game. Different sites I guess. The reason for the 5 page spread in the Official Nintendo Magazine was that they also had fun playing the game. It's not shovelware from what they wrote.

Tepoz

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> A lot of third party games seem to be ports with Wiimote controls tacked on - that tend to fail because they don't work.

NMH was sadly one of the ones made for the Wii, and people here seem to love it, but I bet there's a stigma with all the games shovelled over at the start. Personally I think it looks neat, but I tried Killer7 and that was enough to keep me away from NMH unless it becomes a major smash hit or I get it for free...

fuchikoma

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Anytime I see NMH mentioned anywhere online besides Kotaku,it's getting bashed. The fact that the graphics actually have their own style seems to be what kills it for the masses. Wasn't Killer 7 available for PS2? What's his excuse for that bombing?

You have two choices,for the most part. You can make a "product",or you can make "art". Products earn money,art does not. I'm not bashing the guy for having an artistic vision,I'm probably going to get NMH. But the point still stands that obviously more people will buy COD4. That lady that painted the virgin Mary with elephant feces doesn't complain that most people prefer looking at Hummel figurines.

kidnicky

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> i hope the sequel goes to ps3/360

resetbutton

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @dgonchild:
I don't think Nintendo will care! Lol.
Capcom might though...

krisb

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> To be honest, it's a niche game and I don't think it would have sold many more copies on ps3 or 360 anyway. I guess I'll get it at some point, but I have to say as awesomely creepy and stylish as it was, Killer 7 was a ball ache to play. The mechanics were atrocious.

krisb

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> I wonder what Monster Hunter 3 sales will look like, and if Nintendo will end up regreting their decision to move it from PS3 to Wii. I hope they do :P

dgonchild

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @Jenstar: The Official Nintendo Magazine has had two issues discussing this game. The second issue (December I believe) had NMH on the cover with a 5 page spread discussing how great (their words) this game is going to be.

Kotaku, which has the pulse of gaming in general, already has buzz generated around this game. I'll say it again. If this game does poorly in the States then don't expect anyone else to make "hardcore" games for the Wii. Expect all "hardcore" games to only be on the 360 and PS3. Which in turn means that any future PS2 adoptees will head to those two consoles once prices have come down further.

Tepoz

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Hmmm....

Katamari Damacy, I loved that game. In fact, almost every game in my PS1/PS2 game library were 3rd party games. You know, except for the pack-ins, my game library on the NES/SNES were 3rd party games too. Oh well, I <3 Capcom on the 360. I'll <3 your 360 game too Suda51 if it's cool as NMH. Don't forget the tp.

Tepoz

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @EmeraldDragon: Completely agree with you...no one knows about this game unless they visit niche video game websites, which even the so-called "hardcore" gamers don't do. All this means to me is that I will be buying No More Heroes, something I was going to do anyway.

We'll see what happens when Monster Hunter 3 launches...

Jenstar

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> The first time I saw anything on this game was a bunch of 2.5-5 second clips prefaced w/age verification on GameTrailers, needless to say I loss all interest in future updates/clips/previews/etc...

Example:
[www.gametrailers.com]
[www.gametrailers.com]
[www.gametrailers.com]
[www.gametrailers.com]

FlashIV

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @creid: If you are saying that GH3 and RE4 are irrelivent to bring up (because they are long running, popular series), why the blue hell would you bring up Monster Hunter 3 (another long running, popular series) as a validation?

Let's see, Wii being incredibly popular in Japan + Monster Hunter being incredibly popular in Japan + Monster Hunter 3 not being a rushed out port = gigantic freaking sales for the hardcore.

smitty1123

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @D.Lo:

Before you cal people retarded, you should read the original article. Where they fail in the entire world.

Funny how the 360 though in Japan, has half the attach rate, with 500% less consoles!

That is an issue these devs are looking at and complaining about. Worldwide the Wii lacks to the 360 3.5 games to 1.

EnigmaNemesis

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Well, maybe if third parties would stop dumping horrible games on the Wii they'd sell more. People don't buy the Wii to play "First Person Shooter With Minor Graphical Advancements over the Last One Part Ten." Make an effort to come up with something interesting or don't bother!

James in Dupont

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Actually third parties do sell Resident Evil 4 sold over 1.3 million, Guitar Hero sold over 1.2 million, more than PS3 version, and Umbrella chronicles sold over 700K, thing is Suda games never sell all that well and Zack and Wiki is an adventure game, those are popular in Europe mostly.

Avinash_Tyagi

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Sky need to get Games World back on the telly, to show off great games from each console. It was the only way I ever heard of the NeoGeo's existence.

And now the only original thing I'll ever say on this forum:

Bob Mills = win

Chadders

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Well if his ad campaign was anything like the U.S. version (i.e. non-existant), then I'm not surprised. If I didn't visit websites like Kotaku I would never have heard of No More Heroes.

EmeraldDragon

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> It's really expected - the Wii is not currently composed of people who make their decisions on the internet. Tell me, if there had been, say, Zack and Wiki TV spots running on Nickolodeon, do you think it would have sold so poorly?

Try advertising outside the otaku methods. This game screams "Otaku!", which is fine for the otaku, but the Wii's audience is in a different area. Nintendo already knows to change up their marketing methods. What about everyone else?

Rebochan

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> I can't really think of any good third party games beyond Resident Evil 4 (an upgraded port from the GAMECUBE) and Zack and Wiki (a semi-niche game).

This doesn't mean they don't exist, just that I never hear people talking about them, never see ads...

What I HAVE seen of No More Heroes doesn't even look that good. It looks like it'll have the level of polish as WarioWare did, (the Wii one), and be just as frustrating to play with the Wii controls. If you're going to use the motion detection for the Wii, make sure it follows what the remote is doing exactly. Otherwise forget it. I love my Wii but I hate this crap games that are coming out and just tacking on Wii control when all the do is make the game harder to play. The only places I've seen it used well is in first party games, unsurprisingly.

Comic

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @Hansel: You're comparing extremely popular, long-running series, to NMH? Not fair at all. This and Z&W proves that Great game + for the hardcore = 0 sales on the Wii. This is strike 2 for the hardcore. Monster Hunter 3's failure will be the nail in the coffin.

creid

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> I predicted this trend towards poor 3rd party sales before the Wii was launched. And I didn't need a crystal ball to do it :)

Eclectus

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> The most important question regarding this article...what do you call a sequel to "No More Heroes"

"Some More Heroes"?

As far as the whole "third party games don't sell", I wonder if newer gamers who are making the Wii their first console are seeing all the crapware third party titles and developing a distrust for all things not from Nintendo.

What needs to happen is ads for "offbeat" and "big" games on the Wii need to be better advertised. When was the last time you saw an ad for a third party Wii exclusive?

The only Wii games I see advertised are when Ubisoft or EA or Activision starts pimping their all console licensed games (Barnyard, Avatar, LEGO)

TRT-X

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> There are a lot of comments talking about marketing for No More Heroes, and as the guy who created the No More Heroes page on IMDB (I shit you not... granted, I probably only posted 1/8 of the information that's up there now, haha) I have to agree.

I worry that part of the Wii's problem is, core gamers deliberately ignore the Wii, because they assume only Nintendo games will be any good. Core gamers virtually ignored Metroid Prime 3, which even *was* a Nintendo game aimed at the core gamer.

I do not know this for a fact, but I worry that it's nerdy fanboys who invest more in their ego than in trying out new entertainment experiences who are killing it for other Wii-owning core gamers.

Oh yeah. The fact that the PS2 just won't die, thus permitting third party devs to port their super-watered-down PS2 games to the Wii isn't helping, either. When the PS2 dies, 3rd party devs will be forced to build their Wii games for the Wii hardware, from the ground up.

BtownDesignGuy

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Why did Wii versions of Resident Evil 4 and Guitar Hero 3 sold so well?

Here's the secret:

Good game + Good marketing = Success.

Ratchet & Clank, Heavenly Sword, Uncharted did not sell that well either, should I now jump into conclusion that PS3 is only used as a Bluray-player? Of course not.

Hansel

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Most third party Wii games absolutely suck. The current crop of wii third party games is all either low-budget or 'Kids Movie' games. And we all know about Movie games.. *shudder*

WhiteNoise

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @D.Lo: Sooo... your point is that the Wii is selling 33% more software than the PS3 with 300% more consoles on the market...?

This is supposed to be a good thing?

That's about ten times lower than what the system *should* be selling, all else being equal. The obvious danger for developers being that as the race naturally tightens (as it has over the past year), it's going to be pretty easy for 3rd party software sales on the PS3 to surpass those of the Wii.

badasscat

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> I'd be more interested in numbers (extended sets on multiple titles), than words from this guy. NMH will tank on NA shores as well - Killer 7 all over again.

sadkermit - soon to be banned for standing up to the ummm nazi.

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Is everyone retarded? The highest selling 3rd party game BY FAR in Japan on the next-gen systems is on Wii. Despite getting much worse games, the Wii has sold more third party games then the PS3. Look, here is all the data:

[www.neogaf.com]

2,972,373 - Wii 3rd-parties
2.026.259 - PS3 3rd-parties
1,489,957 - X360 3rd-parties

All while the Wii got Ghost Squad, cheapo Umbrella Chronicles, Dragon Ball Z PS2 port, Power Pro PS2 port and and RE4 port etc, while PS3 got full entries in former million selling franchises Ridge Racer, Dynasty Warriors, Everybody's Golf, Pro Evo, Virtua Fighter, Armoured Core etc.

It's a bloodbath in Japan in software sales, and Wii is the only option for Japanese devs.

D.Lo

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Guitar Hero III begs to differ.

Merus

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @RawSteelUT: The type of game that Zak and Wiki is, and the wierdness of No More Heroes is something that to me assures they wouldnt sell to the general gaming community. Just go take a look at the top selling games for ps2/xbox and you'll see the trend immediately if its not a sequel, movie cash in or sports games its probably not going to sell exceptionally well. Also I think theres more games that dont sell well then you realize. Ico, and Shadow of the colossus still havent sold over a million copies and those are also highly regarded. Dont get me wrong I think 3rd party games on Nintendo consoles have less of a chance of making it then on say the ps3 or 360, but i just dont think these are the two games to try and make that argument about. Now if a dumbed down version of COD4 had made its way to the Wii and flopped hardcore, then thats something that would make a stronger argument.

Detre

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @LostHorizon: 40% of the Wii market ≈ 100% of the PS3 Market

@Sorwah: My parents were the same when they branched out to SMG - they just couldn't figure out what to do with the guy, so they gave up.

Chadders

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Everytime I go to a local Gamestop or Target I check to see if there is anything on the Wii my mother and step-father would enjoy. My step-father has been a videogame fan for awhile, he currently has a 360 and tends to enjoy Call of Duty, Splinter Cell, Project Gotham, Tiger Woods, Madden, and Nascar. He's fine with that. However, when I bought my mom a Wii it has become harder to find games for the system that they would enjoy. They tell me they just want a two player game that they can play together. I bought her Super Mario Galaxy but she said, "I don't know what I'm suppose to do" and gave up on it because the two-player mode was lacking as a two-player option. They enjoy the heck out of Wii Sports and I just bought them Wii Play but I can never find a game that fits their demands for the Wii. All of the other mini-game party titles are too childish for them they say.

Sorwah

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> WII isnt a hardcore gamers console...period!
Ffs ppl buy it to play wii sports with friends i bet like 60% of the ppl who bought a wii will play only wii sports and another party NINTENDO game.

LostHorizon

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> I'm sorry but didn't our friend suda self argu that this game wasn't for the japanse market. Just wait till it hits US and europe if it fail there also he can whine all he wants.
But to be realistic the main difference between games that make it and don't make it atleast in the european market is in the advertising part. lot of good games that come out don't get any advertising out on the TV, folders and magazines this is something that nintendo is doin' at the moment and guess what others don't.

something else: are there any reviews out for this game yet. Still haven't decided if I shoud get this or not.

Altasia

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> This makes me really sad. I got a Wii at launch, hoping against hope that Nintendo was finally crawling out of the problems they had with third party titles with the Gamecube... and now, the Wii is even -worse- than the Gamecube for third party titles. At least the Cube had gems like Eternal Darkness and some good RPGs.

I am so glad that I bought a 360, and I'll be getting a PS3 soon. I'd get rid of the Wii after I played Smash Brothers for awhile if it weren't for my kids.

It's a travesty that Zack and Wiki didn't sell.

gnugeek

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @PooPooKaKaBumBum: Yeah, bring it on the PS3!

Snappywave

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> As much as I liked the style of Killer 7 and No More Heroes, the games themselves weren't that great. I also don't buy the "3rd party games aren't selling" line. Make a good 3rd party game like, say, RE4 and you'll have a good seller.

PITwelve

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Third party games aren't selling because third party games suck. When third party games stop sucking third party games will start selling. Stop bitching and make a good game.

dowingba

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> It seems like bit of a no-brainer, but why don't Nintendo put on a permanent Preview Channel on the Wii Menu?

Interested gamers like us will know to check websites for releases & reviews, but as has been said, we are not the typical Wii owner. Putting accessible previews on the Wii Menu when you log in would be a better way for kids to get excited about games that are coming to the platform. Much better than the Forecast Channel anyway. :P

Also, Nintendo probably can't afford to back 3rd party games in the way that megacorps like Sony & Microsoft can... at least, not until now, and not unless they choose to.

Because after Mario Kart, not sure where else Nintendo are likely to go with their central franchises. (Unless they build a Pokémon MMO and then they will rule the planet (but I won't buy it!))

Chadders

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> It's the same old story... Nintendo consoles are a bad place for thirdparty developers to be. The DS and Wii market are already starting to resemble the autumn years of the GBA and GameCube market.

According to an interview with Suda51 in Edge this month, he wants to work on Xbox 360 next, FWIW.

kiigan

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> third party games often are poor rip offs from Nintendo games. the only company that pulls it off a bit is capcom and ubisoft and that is about it.

maiky-nisute

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @Green-clad Gamer Dude: I was just about to say the same thing (as have many people already, it seems). How much of their resources do these companies really allocate towards marketing? The general non-gaming website visiting/magazine reading public will remain pretty clueless on such "obscure" (yet fantastic) games like Zack and Wiki (I mean, the game is widely considered the best game no one played last year!)

For franchise characters like Mario, Zelda, Metroid (or even Kirby, Pokemon, etc.), people just need to hear once that a new title is coming out, and they will rush to their calendars to eagerly mark the date the game will be released. This continues on even when the games start deteriorating in quality. While Mega Man 2 still has a place in my heart as one of the greatest games of all time, I am constantly disgusted with each new game that comes out. They keep coming out, however, because a cycle of younger kids keep buying them, and no one ever has any doubt what "Mega Man" is. The guy doesn't need much advertising cash (but still probably gets more than most other games).

On the flip side, let's look at (poor poor) Clover Studios. They made some of the best games in recent years, but in industry numbers they were not a success. To the everyday-joe person who plays games - "Okami? What the hell does it mean? Viewtiful Joe? I don't get it." These games were of such quality that they should have been played and loved by all, sadly, did not. What would it have taken? More TV spots? Demos? Sometimes word of mouth is just not enough. Alas, deemed a failure, Clover was dissolved by Capcom.

Now then, if Nintendo not helping third parties out a little with advertising is true, then perhaps they need to stop and ponder changing that...

Batmundo

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Is there Final Fantasy XIII on WII? Tekken on Wii? Ace Combat on Wii? Metal Gear Solid 4 on Wii? Someone actually thinks those games woudn´t sell well despite which console they are released into? But nooo the developers want to releade new franchises for Wii just now, while keeping the blockbursters ones on the consoles that aren´t selling as well as the Wii. I think it´s a dumb move besause most people will buy those franchises for the consoles they have and if most people have Wi... well.. count up.

But we have new IP , things that the dumb consume don´t buy, and on the other side, we have Mario and other franchises that everyone buys.

Of course we have some titles from not-such-strong franchises as the "AAA" list.. and those don´t well well in ANY console.

And then there are the marketing guys.. who does exactly what SUDA said and more.. and Capcom marketing... well. don´t get me started.

Wyld

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Except some of the big hitters have already shown up on Wii, a significant portion of EAs big selling shovelware has turned up on Wii, and its all tanked.

ShineDog

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @Sixtail:

Actually for Nintendo its in there best interest to go third party. Except these company are crapping out great games but in contrast their Promotion department is pissed poor. Instead of just complaining, how about have the wisdom for asking big N for help and also give them the ideal WHY you need third party games.

Luckydan

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Ummm, how about instead of no more advertising? How about do some actual advertising SUDA and no Toilet paper doesn't count as advertising. Take a look what Vivendi doing for WOW, they have 9 million subscribers for what an MMORPG? You can't just say I'm releasing NO MORE HEROES in the future and then release it out of the blue with out actual advertising instead of relying on word of mouth. Hell if the Supermarkets done that there wouldn't be actual Supermarkets in the world.

Luckydan

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Not that I wasn't expecting to see it happen anyway, but now it would seem No More Heroes getting ported to the PlayStation 2 or 3 is almost inevitable.

I personally don't forsee the plight of third-parties ever changing on the Wii. The path Nintendo chose this gen really doesn't allow them to flourish at all. Most "in the know" consumers are well aware of the fact that Nintendo's own casual titles generally demolish the competitions in terms of overall quality. And those less well versed in gaming will still see Nintendo as the trusted brand and opt for their games instead of a third-party's. Also, there's the fact that the direction Nintendo is taking the Wii in is about as far from traditional/hardcore gaming as one could imagine. Frankly, it's not so much that there isn't plenty of money to be made from the hardcore crowd...it's just that there's about two fuck-loads more to be had from casuals. And they don't have to compete with Sony and Microsoft to get it.

Nightshift_Nurse

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @Jander: It's not in Nintendo's best interests to go third party. They wouldn't likely make more money and they would live or die based on the platforms they decided to code for. You bring up Sega but you keep forgetting that the reason Sega is third party now is because they lost and lost big, but had enough interest in their various IPs that they somehow lived. It's not a mark of greatness however as as a third party they've not had as good of a track record.

Besides, Nintendo's official stance is if they have to go third party, they aren't making video games at all. I don't blame them really, as they've been doing their own thing for the last 100 years.

As for Suda, the game will not sell if people don't know about it! People act like the PS2 was the true home of the hardcore, but seem to forget that a lot of games they fap themselves silly over (Shadow of Colossus, Okami, GodHand, etc) failed on the system sales wise. The system with the largest install base out there. Why? No ads. Z&W and NMH's are starving for ad attention and just a few ad's in paper mags aren't going to cut it, you need prime time stuff on MTV and whatnot. People keep saying Nintendo needs to pony up for ad time for third parties. I say "Why?" Capcom isn't poor! Nor are most of these other devs and if they want to sell games they should pony up and let it be known the game is out there for christsakes. Stop phoning it in! Nintendo does the same thing at times with first party titles and you can see it sales wise.

Even casual gamers will be more likely to pick up your games if they know about it. Nintendo is not Sony or Microsoft and they do not need to pander as much to third parties as the other two do. Sony and MS's first party studios pale compared to NCL's development teams.

If third parties really want the games they put effort into to make them money, then they need to spend some ad dollars and not sit back and cry about how the Wii's users aren't 'hardcore' enough to lap up their efforts.

As for new IP? Elecbits, Electroplanktron, Elite Beat, Wii Play, Sports, Music..Nintendo puts out new IP's as often as others do, it's just only some get noticed.

Foxstar Sixtail

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Why is it that most people classify the Nintendo Wii as a mini-game console and not a hardcore console? The problem isn't the console. The problem is the people. That's why these 3rd party games aren't selling. Right now, the hardcore gamer in America is dominated by music games and first person shooters with lots of blood. Nintendo makes quality, imaginative titles that rely less on violence and more on creativity. Nintendo expects its 3rd party developers to do the same. When these good, imaginative titles are created (Zak and Wiki, No More Heroes), they are overlooked because they aren't FPSs or music games. Until American gamers change get tired of the same old same old, I'm afraid that this trend of low 3rd party sales will continue. Just to let you all know, I am a hardcore gamer and a Nintendo enthusiast. I love Nintendo and I have stuck by its side through the ups and downs. I've beaten just about every Zelda, Mario, and Metroid game. These are some of the best games that I have ever had the pleasure of beating. I clock in countless hours of gameplay. You cannot tell me that I am not a hardcore gamer because I own a Wii.

MysticDragon8907

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> maybe cuz they suck??

burningranger01

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> What was he expecting? he's making a kill bill clone and expects families to buy it? it even was censored in Japan for the over the top violence.

And the reality is japanese gamers aren't hardcore anymore, and you have to make games for that transforming audience, look at Final Fantasy's old hardcore style to it's easier, quicker recent outings, yet it still sells more than the previous titles, why? because it looks good, lots of promotions and makes it feel like a movie rather than a game.

After all that, I'm gonna be the first in line to get the game, maybe SUDA should think about coming to America, his style fits like a glove with U.S.A.

VakeroRokero

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Well then people, start buying third party games on the system.

Zack and Wiki, No More Heroes, Umbrella Chronicles, Trauma Center, Metal Slug Anthology, Dragonball Z, Ghost Squad, Resident Evil 4, Okami, Bully, or whatever else interests you.

Zack and Wiki with No More Heroes though, you really should have those.

Kenofthedead

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @SuperFox: I think a lot of people thought that Zack and Wiki was a kids game, for example I had to bring a copy of the game over to a friends house in order to convince him it was not a kiddy game. Also the lack of availability and marketing didn't help it either

fumar

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @Jander: As long as their hardware business is profitable for them, it will never happen. In fact Nintendo making games for other platforms is probably the last thing other third parties want, since right now they only need to compete with Nintendo on their own turf, and not everywhere.

Torgen got his apology faceplate but not his fixed GH3 disc

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @Flowen: *slap* Allow me to rephrase that properly.

"I prefer Nintendo games over games created by any other developer."

That statement is your truth, it's not debatable, and I can respect you for saying it. What you offered is inflammatory. You should try better to avoid inciting the many people who disagree with you.

Maldron

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @ceilingFANBOY: sponsor me for PolarBearPlunge, link in prof...: I honestly haven't had a single issue of that with WarioWare. I think part of the problem was that, every game kinda left you guessing exactly what you had to do. Even though it gave you a position, sometimes you just kinda looked at whatever abstract vision of Japanese crack-cocaine induced hallucinations were given you, and wiggled the remote around not really knowing what to do. Sure, you could go into the practice mode and try it til you figured it out... but when you're just playing the game normally, it can be annoying to lose a life or even a multiplayer game because of something that didn't seem to work... when in fact, you probably just had no clue what you really had to do for the lack of any real direction.

Secondly, you can't really compare the PS2 to the Wii in terms of 'shovelware'. The whole shovelware system came about thanks to the PS1/PS2's relatively cheaper-to-develop for accessibility. This wasn't really around before this. Nor was there as much money 'to be had' in gaming. Gaming has gone from 'Bah, nerdy kid activity' to 'Woah, there's serious cash here. Let's invest in gettin' a piece of that!'
If the 360 had come out at a lower price point, with an affordable 'entry fee' to get a title out to the masses, I can guarantee you you'd see the exact same thing happening on it. The PS1/PS2 were the upswing for Sony, and before the shovelware showed up, the veteran developers were hopping over to it for the same reason the budgetware people did. Money was to be had there.

This generation, most the veteran developers figured that Sony would again be the big player, with Microsoft playing for control of marketshare. When they found out the price of entry jumped a bit to get titles out, they shrugged, and shelled out to upgrade their teams, their software and hardware, so they could get in on the next wave of Sony prosperity. Instead, the market was disrupted entirely by Nintendo. Shovelware makers, who hadn't really decided it was worth the investment just yet to spend more to make better titles saw this, and immediately moved what they could to the Wii, everything that they could dig up that was probably headed or already been on, the PS2, the GC, Xbox, etc. I guess in reality, shovelware could be blamed on Sony's success, or the direction the market itself has taken gaming.

Ampillion, Dayman. Fighter of the Nightman.

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @DontTouchMyDaughterYouFilthyGaijin...:
Screw you. Phantom Dust (an M$ developed title) and Panzer Dragoon Orto practically butcher every Tecmo title ever released for the Xbox, if not topping them.

beem

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @Flowen:

The fact is that nintendo makes the best games of ANY dev. No question.

This is very subjective that Blizzard, Valve, etc fans would argue till their blue in the face.

EnigmaNemesis

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> The fact is that nintendo makes the best games of ANY dev. No question. The systems themselves? Yeah, not as good at that. The DS kicks ass but aside from that I can't help but think Nintendo would make more cash if they just dropped home systems and stuck with games and handhelds.

Flowen

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> I'm slowly coming to terms with what the wii is, or will be in the industry. I've been wondering with all its success, and it's uniqueness, how it would fit in, what sort of support would it garner, what sort of market would it carve out, all that stuff.

What I keep hearing is people seem to be content to bust it out for Nintendo's fantastic first party games, and then periodically for thanksgiving when the family goes head to head in wii sports. There's no denying Nindendo knows how to make games, even build a certain stigma about the type of gaming to be had on their console. They're marketing toward a casual set of gamers, family oriented stuff, with a few exceptions. What I wonder is how that'll pan out. What sort of divide in terms of sales will happen between the hardcore types of games and the casual as time passes?

It seems to me that Nintendo would be better off, for all of us, to become what Sega became(though sorta unsuccessfully), a game producer, and a peripheral manufacturer. What happens when you combine the technical prowess of Sony and MS's consoles with Nintendo's ability to make and maintain their little worlds people love?

I think the pricing has been awesome, and opened up new doors for a lot of people to play games, I just think Nintendo is better at making games, than making consoles and providing online services, and would do some amazing things with the sky Sony and Microsoft have on their machines.

So what if Nintendo went multi-platform? Good idea? Or bad idea?

Jander

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> That's really disappointing to hear as a Nintendo Console owner. I really hope sales pick up for his game.

Para

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Frankly, I don't see the interest in this game from my personal taste. Never saw the appeal of Killer 7 either. Hopefully this isn't third-parties' beacon of example of hardcore games not selling on the Wii because I'd rather have something else. I don't care for NMH, Killer 7, Manhunt 2, or the like. It's about as appealing to me as BMX XXX. I'd rather have games like Resident Evil (the good ones - i.e. not Gun Survivor, though UC's okay), Metal Gear Solid (the good ones - i.e. not AC!D), God of War, and the like. They're "hardcore" "mature" games, why couldn't the Wii get those kinds of games instead? The only games coming soon that have been announced for the Wii I'm eager for are games Fatal Frame IV, King Story, Tales of Symphonia 2, FF:CB, etc.

questworld

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @AdmiralRupert:

Did you not even read the article?

mpmaley

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> I was gonna wait to get No More Heroes when I'd pick up Brawl, but seeing as how that's delayed another month, I'll pick up No More Heroes ASAP. Besides, I'm sure someone will have it on sale the first week (Fry's Electronics usually does that with new releases).

The big problem with Zack & Wiki's poor sales is probably because it's advertised so poorly.
Take Kane & Lynch, for example. Despite it's less-than-stellar reviews (Metacritic: 66), it's managed to ship over 1 million units. And why? It was advertised pretty well!

And you think poor are limited to Wii only? Okami, Psychonauts, and Beyond Good & Evil beg to differ. It just happens sometimes.

Hey, Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition has shipped over a million, and not even Capcom expected it to do that well (If memory serves me right, their projected figures were something like 400,000 or 600,000 worldwide). While it didn't have a huge media campaign either, it did benefit from name recognition. Which neither Z&W nor NMH can claim.

I do think third-parties can succeed on Wii, but they have to TRY. They need to:
1) Make a game worth buying.
2) Promote it well.
3) ???
4) PROFIT!

BPMΣ

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @psychicfriend: He said he expected more hardcore titles, not that none existed. Holy hell, try to read.

Maldron

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @Plunkett: Does nobody read Kotaku anymore?

No, err....

@Ninja-Z: The problem is, the latter two systems have to rely exclusively on third party games with the occasional second party game thrown into the mix. Nintendo, on the other hand, is capable of releasing its own games.

Sony and Microsoft might not create their own games, but they do publish a lot of them and therefore have a vested interest in helping out with advertising budgets, etc. As many have stated above, Nintendo don't need to do this as they write their own games. Sometimes that works for them (Wii), and sometimes it doesn't (Gamecube).

Doshu

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @sxp151: However, with the PS2, it is just a drop in the bucket. So much so, that it becomes difficult to find the shovelware games because there are enough good third party games to take up the shelf space. With the Wii, there aren't enough non-shovelware games to keep the shovelware from showing up even in a store that has only one case designated to the Wii.

@Stormrider900: I didn't say that it would. However, how well you think a game controls when you are someone working on the game is completely separate from being someone who has to pick the game up for the first time and play the game. Especially with the Wii's emphasis on intuitive controls, bad controls don't necessarily mean that they are impossible to use, rather that they don't make sense or don't come naturally. Also, they are forced to work within the limits of the ability of the system. There were a lot of games in WarioWare that were made either too easy or too hard based on the motion sensing of the Wii. Some games would require you to thrust the controller at the screen to do something and just pointing at the screen to get the controller in position would cause the game to do whatever was being asked of you. Meanwhile, there were times that you are asked to swing the remote like a sword that leave you swinging with nothing happening. A lot of the times, these issues weren't caused by the game's programming, rather the capability of the system to register your movements.

ceilingFANBOY

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @RawSteelUT: actually, nec kind of killed the turbo itself, first of all, having around 10 different versions of your consoles is more confusing than the hdd thing with the ps3/360... supergrafx, coregrafx, etc etc. the cd peripheral was ridiculously overpriced and had no games, yet in japan, it had a great library. i knew about nintendos licensing issues and third party monopoly that actually was ruled illegal before the turbo died. the genesis was a hit and only lost to the snes because they didnt support it as long and confused consumers with crap like 32x, and even the sega cd (americans dont like peripherals, and the japanese mega drive wasnt so popular). at one point, sega had 65% of the american videogame market, because lets face it, we like sports and violence, and sega offered just that. the genesis was the first playstation. but id imagine that mercury meltdown, geometry wars galaxies, and medal of honors heroes 2 wouldnt have faired well on the massively popular ps2. first of all, nobody compares with msft when it comes to online multiplayer in an fps, not even sony, and their service is free. and geometry wars is hard to buy in disc format when you can dl it, as much as i love old school games, ive even struggled with buying them for a standard console in optical disc formats. but lets face it, nothing thats not gta, madden, halo or something of the sorts will sell well in this generation.

shouryuuken

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> I guess Suda thinks that Zelda, Mario Galaxy, & Metroid are "for non gamers?"
Teh bitterness!

psychicfriend

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> I'm a little curious where any precedent exists that there's no market out there for third-party, hardcore Wii games, especially in the US. What games fall under that category so far? A lot of that demographic would have played the ps2 rehashes, and wouldn't buy into the kiddie image of Elebits, Dewy, or Zack & Wiki (and the lack of advertising would keep kids from picking them up.) Fire Emblem? Disappointing, maybe, but did it do any better on GC?
I'd love to see No More Heroes do well over here, and plan to buy a copy when it hits, but while the uncensored version should resonate better with Western audiences, especially those starved for a fresh hardcore title, I've got to agree with the lot of you that say that it'd take a TV spot or some considerable word of mouth to reach any significant sales. On this or any other console.

mobiusxxiii

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @ceilingFANBOY: sponsor me for PolarBearPlunge, link in prof...: Most of the worst shovelware for Wii (Ninjabread Man and such) was originally developed for PS2. So I'm not really sure what to do with your argument.

sxp151, the happy-headed nose

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @ceilingFANBOY: sponsor me for PolarBearPlunge, link in prof...: So you think the people who were working on the game would not be able to tell if their game was crappy? That's a bit naive on your part. There are people on development teams whose jobs deal specifically with weighing the quality of the game with the development costs. Those people at Nintendo are notorious for being extremely selective with the quality of game they allow to reach the market, and that is why Nintendo's first-party standards are so high. That won't change with the new Mario Kart, I guarantee it.

Stormrider

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @Doshu: Btw, despite more than 20 years of playing games, Mario is the only game I'd ever played on a Nintendo console previous to buying my Wii.

Is that Nintendo's fault? Or yours? That's actually a pretty spectacular record of avoiding some good games.

sxp151, the happy-headed nose

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @Doshu: That's certainly a well-written opinion, and explains why even when Nintendo puts out a new IP, they don't put a lot of effort into getting the word out (even the print ads for stuff like Pikmin is limited). If it's not Mario, Metroid, Zelda or Pokemon, they're not going to push the games.

RawSteelUT

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @thepolyamerouscoz: One could say that all the shovelware is a sign that they don't care about the third party games. As long as it's giving them money, they don't care if you put out Wii Teaches You How to Breathe or This Game Is Nothing More Than a White Screen. The systems that actively work with third party companies are the ones that get good third party games with less shovelware. Really, most of the games that I would consider shovelware for PS2 I only see that way because they are games for kids and not my demographic so they look stupid to me.

Well, now that I've written enough in this article for a graduate thesis, anyone up for some Warhawk? I might even play drunk.

ceilingFANBOY

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @PapaBear434: I bought a Wii for Mario, Zelda, and Smash Bros. To a lesser extent Metroid and other 1st party titles.

Though I'm also interested in upcoming 3rd party titles (such as No More Heroes), I have to agree...

I have my PS3 for PSN titles like Stardust and Pain, as well as The Orange Box and upcoming big titles (GTA, MGS, etc.).

Though if it came down to it. I'd rather spend the money for the Wii (and future Nintendo systems) for their games than any other system and its games. Nintendo will always be first for me.

2NinjasTapedTogether

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @Doshu:

Very good points indeed!

EnigmaNemesis

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Nintendo doesn't care about their third parties????
The hell you say, look at the terrible trio "Ninjabreadman" "Anubis 2" and some god awful game with an Elvis like main character. Nintendo has more third party then anyone should be allowed to have, they HAVE SHOVELWARE!!! Its just that the japanese KNOW nintendo has their shit together and know what they are doing, so ask yourself, if you had to choose between working with some new guy in glasses and a tie or some old vet with a bit of gray in his beard, who would you choose? I'd go with the vet due to the fact that the new guy wouldn't know what I wanted.
Those are my thoughts at least. Maybe I'm just insane.
~Peace~

Cozwic

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @PapaBear434: People buy Nintendo consoles for Nintendo games.

I think it's more than that. People associate Nintendo consoles with existing Nintendo franchises. Mention Nintendo to most people on the street and they will immediately think of Mario. If you ask a "gamer", they might also know about Mario Kart, Mario Galaxy, Paper Mario, Zelda, Metroid Prime, Monkey Ball, etc, etc. But many gamers wouldn't have even played those (me included, even though I've been gaming for >20 years) and even Nintendo fans continually list those games as the reason to buy a Nintendo console.

I think if Nintendo really wants this to change, they need to take the risk of clearing out some old IPs and introducing some new ones (even though the old ones sell really well). Stuff like Wii sports and Wii fit are bringing in new customers, but they do nothing to make those customers consider what other games might be available for the console as they're unlike most games on the market.

Sony and Microsoft have both handled this much better. Both consoles have a good mix of new IPs and old IPs. None of them sell as well as something like Mario, but the "wealth" is spread more evenly between 1st party and 3rd party developers. Their support for new IPs and their 3rd party devs willingness to try new IPs also helps.

Btw, despite more than 20 years of playing games, Mario is the only game I'd ever played on a Nintendo console previous to buying my Wii.

Doshu

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @Stormrider900: I doubt that by the time the magazines are getting copies to review they would cancel the release date to do a complete overhaul of the game such as fixing broken controls or trying to put the charm back in the game. Things like that are basically things that would require starting over from scratch to fix and Nintendo would simply prefer to release the game and have it suck than basically have to pay for developing the game twice. Things like online not working or a level causing the game to freeze are reasons to delay a game, not the controls suck and the game is boring.

ceilingFANBOY

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @Sparkamus:

Exactly ... if only they advertised some of the third party games in the commercials, like the other 2 do, and make people go, "I wonder what that game was, I need to check it out"!

Instead, they are advertising a lifestyle, and the people buying it, are not buying all the right games.

EnigmaNemesis

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> When third-parties actually start offering interesting gameplay concepts in the form of a fairly well polished game, then they will start to sell well. So far, most third-party companies have yet to do such a thing.

Most of them are simply taking advantage of Wii's popularity and cheap software development costs. As a result, the Wii has received too many uninspiring and low quality mini games, ports, franchise sequels, spin-off games, tv show/movie licensed games, and original and multiplatform games. Shovelware.

It's just a shame that No More Heroes has a lot of things working against its chance for being financially successful. At the very least, the developer will most likely be recognized and praised for making good use of the Wii controls and offering one of the best original games on the Wii.

Damn, it's just depressing thinking about how bad this potentially cool game will sell. Just sitting here right now talking to all of you knowing that we could have tried to prevent it from happening.

I'm sorry Suda 51. It seems that there's just not enough fans out there to support your games. Whatever happens, please continue to rock on.

Hiltz

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Companies need to advertise. Discussion over.

ImBigBob

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @Sparkamus: By Metroid " own commercials" I mean commercials without those two bastards in the Smart Car.

Sparkamus

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @shouryuuken: That was because Nintendo took advantage of NES' strong sales to strongarm 3rd parties into anti-competitive contracts, a practice that was deemed a violation of anti-monopoly laws only AFTER the Turbo died. The Genesis only survived before Nintendo was forced to loosen the screws because of the powerhouse Sega was in the arcades at the time. The initial reason 3rd parties abandonned the N64 (in addition to the cartridges, of course) was that they all had a bad taste in their mouths, especially Square Enix, who got royally screwed with cart size for Chrono Trigger. Nintendo's move to optical media with the Cube and now the Wii have helped (NO 3rd parties would be making games for Wii if it was cart based), Nintendo's shift from monopoly to 3rd choice has led to a crowd that is increasingly hostile to 3rd party games, screaming up and down that they all suck, despite gems like Geometry Wars Galaxies, Zack and Wiki and Mercury Meltdown Revolution, despite EA pounding their heads against the wall for 32-player online with Medal of Honor Heroes or non-friendcode online with Madden 08. 3rd parties are trying, at least some of them. It's just that the core Nintendo user hates 3rd parties and the non-gamers only want Wii Sports and maybe Wii Play.

RawSteelUT

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @huginn:

/agree with you there

No question!

EnigmaNemesis

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @EnigmaNemesis: I also notice that Nintendo ads focus on the system rather than any specific game--even Mario ads. Two Japanese guys show up in a smart car, and then the camera pans to a family having fun. Camera focuses on the game they are playing for half-a-second, then the camera devotes thirty seconds to the family doing strange, unnecessary motions around their Wii. I think Metroid Prime 3 faired relatively poorly because Nintendo didn't advertise it with its own commercials and because the ads disappeared after about a week.

Nintendo would sell more of their own games if they would do what BioShock did. Advertise a lot before the game is released and in the two weeks after release. After that first push, sprinkle the holiday TV schedule with a few ads between Thanksgiving and New Years.

Sparkamus

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @RawSteelUT: For the Crash and Spyro thing, they probably aren't selling as well as they used to because, while some people still see them as mascots, they truly aren't mascots anymore. They aren't that game that says "this is Playstation" anymore. The games that do sell of them are probably mostly to people who remembered playing those games on Playstation back in the day or people looking for a game that looks wholesome.

Also, thanks for finding an example of a game that people will continue to buy even though it sucks.

ceilingFANBOY

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @EnigmaNemesis: touche, I forgot about Nintendo's old third party rules. The old Maniac Mansion 'edits' just came to mind

Of course, one thing to remember is due to the Wii's system shortcomings. It does lower development costs in a few areas. Mainly since next gen graphics aren't an option. No 1080i resolution for the models. As well as it's apparent commented ease to develop with (as stated by a few producers, atleast compared to that of the PS3) This lowers cost (less development time) enough to where it might be cheaper to develop over a more expensive, time consuming PS3 with a subsidy. This is of course a 'might'. I'd need to see hard facts to back this theory up.

But if anything, it might encourage smaller third parties who would not get anything to work with the Wii due to it's ease.

If you build it, they will come they say, but I agree with you on the point that Nintendo needs to get in the third party game. Sooner rather then later. It's newly found cash cow needs to be backed with the right food. Otherwise you'll see a repeat of what happened with the GC when all the first party title games had run there course and steam had run out.

And on that note, bed. Have fun responding to everyone Engima :)

huginn

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> I think the problem is that 3rd party titles don't really know who they are marketed to. Zack and Wiki is the best example of this. I'm not sure who it's target audience is, and I think most people know very little about it. Look how well Resident Evil 4, a Gamecube port, sold.

Take a reputable franchise, put a solid effort into a sequel and put it on the Wii and it will sell. If Capcom took the RE4 engine and did some sort of side story like Code Veronica was, I'm sure it would sell very well.

I think a lot of the "hardcore" gamers that bought the wii had envisioned their favourite franchises with interesting controls. Problem is, most of these popular franchises ended up putting these titles on the systems with more horse power and putting shovel ware on the Wii instead (see square for example, I'm sure every wants another Crystal Chronicles!).

Roland25

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @DontTouchMyDaughterYouFilthyGaijin...: I mean GOOD Wii games.

And I'm a Sonic fan without being part of the idiot clique... a lot of the newer games aren't actually that bad. Sure, I'll give you Shadow and 360/PS3, I don't know what they were thinking with them, but Secret Rings is actually all right.

Gah, there I go defending Sonic again. Third time today.

Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @EnigmaNemesis: Also, Super Paper Mario has an 85% at Gamerankings so apparently I wasn't the only one who enjoyed it.

@ceilingFANBOY: sponsor me for PolarBearPlunge, link in profile: But what chance is there of Nintendo releasing Mario Kart Wii if the gameplay turns out horrible and the charm is gone? Zero. If that were the case, they would delay the game and fix it, like they always do. I admit I don't know anything about the Wii Sonic game, but from what I've heard people say it's a decent game that's a lot better than most of the Sonic vehicles on the other consoles.

Stormrider

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Developers need to learn to stop blaming the audience of a console when their games don't sell. There is competition to be considered and quite frankly, I have severe doubts about how well No More Heroes stands up next to Nintendo's offerings. Couple that with a complete lack of realistic advertising, and you just can't hope to get much of anywhere.

Humorously enough, while the Wii might be trying to appeal to new audiences, the vast, vast majority of Wii owners fall under the same demographic as ever.

DimensionWarped

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> I think he's just being pissy cause his game isn't selling in Japan. I mean...

"I wasn't expecting that Wii would be a console targeted only for non-gamers. I expected more games for hardcore gamers. The reality is different to what I expected."

What? I'm sorry. The majority of Nintendo's own releases are marketed towards the core gamer. If Japan doesn't buy them, what makes you think they're going to jump right on your title, developed by a virtual nobody in a sea of Capcoms, Konamis, Namcos, and Squares? Maybe the commercials show it as a casual device, but the core gamer doesn't need convincing to buy gaming product, just needs to be pointed in a direction to consume.

I agree, they do need to spend some advertising dollars on some of these third party titles. Nintendo would be wise to aid them, because there's no way that third-party games are really going to cut into their piece of the pie. But to say that they won't sell is a foolish concept. Didn't the RE4 Wii version sell over a million fairly easily because of a good pricetag, the added control scheme, and a few ads here and there? Meanwhile, Zack and Wiki? I saw not a single spot on television, ever. No wonder it was a total failure. SilverStar95 is onto it.

Regardless of what you think about Nintendo, the simple fact is they put out a LOT of quality software. Look up a list of million selling titles over the years, and it is dominated by Nintendo, they have to be doing something right. Suda isn't making art, he's trying to sell entertainment, and on a Nintendo system. So, either his title needs to be amazing, or needs to be advertised.

Ampillion, Dayman. Fighter of the Nightman.

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @CenatorC: I don't think they can ever rehash it to the point where no one will buy it because systems cycle so frequently that no matter how many system generations down the line you go, the main group of game buyers will have grown up with Mario.

ceilingFANBOY

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @ceilingFANBOY: sponsor me for PolarBearPlunge, link in prof...: Oh I'm sure Spyro and Crash still sell, but they're not blockbusters like they used to be. There was a time, believe it or not, when Crash Bandicoot was incredibly popular IN JAPAN. Those days are gone.

@ceilingFANBOY: sponsor me for PolarBearPlunge, link in profile: Mario seems to be unique. While Crash and Sonic have become small-time compared to other games, Mario games can suck absolute balls (Hello, Mario Party) and still sell into their 8th iteration.

The new gimmicks thing worries me too. Peripherals are always a turnoff for me, mainly because I don't want to have all that crap in my home. Is the Wii going to be a system where you're REQUIRED to have a bunch of peripherals to have anywhere near a satisfying experience? What happened to just having one controller and being happy?

RawSteelUT

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> *sigh* can we move on? no im not a nintendo fan boy, but this is old news. nintendo started out as a GAME company, so making games is what they do best. does anybody remember when nintendo had tons of third parties supporting them, so much so that nobody else could get third party games? back in those days "hardcore" consoles were made by sega and nec, and a great majority of the games that ppl bought their systems for were by guess who? sega and hudson. but even with that, nintendo had all their great franchises that alot of ppl still bring up today. nintendo is just doing what theyve done best and third parties need to pay attention and make games worth a crap. i dont get all the flak they get, bringing up games like no more heroes and zack and wiki isnt really fair, because we all know how well okami, shadow of the colossus, beyond good and evil and other critically acclaimed games did on ps2. yet the ps2 wasnt casual, only the wii.

shouryuuken

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @DontTouchMyDaughterYouFilthyGaijin...: I honestly don't see people buying PS3 games just because they are desperate for new games. This whole idea that they will accept anything is not true. If that were true, we wouldn't have 20 copies of Icon or Spiderman 3 or Dark Kingdom that will never sell. Even on the PS3, if a game sucks, it isn't going to sell.

ceilingFANBOY

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> @EnigmaNemesis: Hey, I liked Super Paper Mario! It wasn't as good as the first two, but it wasn't bad. Plus, that's hardly a 'core franchise'. And Pokemon may be the same thing, but it's still a deep and addictive portable RPG in all of its iterations.

Stormrider

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Like Zeropunctuation said about the Mario franchise its like a damn frankenstein. Nintendo will just keep rehashing its games to the death!! And thats what keeps them afloat.

CenatorC

]]> <![CDATA["Third Party Wii Games Aren't Selling"]]> Honestly people are just drawn to bad titles that appeal to them. The average system owner does not go to kotaku, ign, gamespot, 1up or read any kind of magazine; For all they know they think GameStop develops every game on the floor. They just go to what they think is cool, this is why Jaws Unleashed is a PS2 greatest hit.

Anyway, there is a problem with advertising. The average kid doesn't want a game with unfamiliar characters (Zack and Wiki) and the older Wii owners feel too afraid to play anything