Is Nintendo's software success really a curse?
Gamasutra posted an interesting study on video game sales and found that so far this year, four of the top five best selling titles can be found exclusively on the Wii.
According to the publication, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the top-selling game so far this year with an estimated 3.5 million units sold, followed by Mario Kart Wii, Grand Theft Auto 4 for the Xbox 360, Wii Play, and Wii Fit.
There's no debating that Nintendo is extremely pleased with the results and I'm surprised by just how well the Wii is performing. But can we ignore the fact that every single Wii title mentioned in that survey comes from Nintendo?
To those who only cares about playing games, I'm sure that doesn't even matter. Why should it? To the average person, it doesn't matter who makes the games, as long as the games are worth spending $50 or $60 on.
But from a business standpoint, I can't believe that Nintendo would be too happy about Gamasutra's findings. Sure, the company is reaping all the benefits of providing the top-selling games on its own consoles and that helps the bottom line, but we can't forget that a strong third-party library of games still matters to the success of a video game console.
Nintendo has always been a strong first-party hardware manufacturer. With major franchises like Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, and others, the need for third-party titles may seem nominal. But if we consider the broader effect of not having strong third-party support, I think it becomes clear that Nintendo wishes at least one title from a third-party was included in the best-sellers list.
Right now, the best performers on the Wii come from Nintendo. Sure, there are third-parties migrating to Wii and trying their luck with that market, but so far, few have been successful. On the other hand, Nintendo has been extremely successful selling its own games.
So what gives? Is it marketing? Is it Nintendo's relationship with developers? I think it may be partly both, but it goes far beyond relationships and marketing. Simply put, I think most Wii owners have a strong allegiance to Nintendo and they've quickly realized that if you want the best Wii experience and not a half-baked approach to its unique style of gameplay, the only place to find it is on Nintendo games.
Let's be honest--how many third-party Wii games really show off the value of the hardware? I get games delivered to me each day and I've yet to find one third-party Wii title that truly captures the motion control in a way that makes me think twice about my theory that only Nintendo really cares about Wii development.
See, I don't think third-parties are incapable of developing a strong Wii title; I think they're unwilling to develop a strong Wii title.
In an era where success means placing titles on multiple consoles, the Wii becomes the "other" hardware for most developers. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are similar enough that porting a title from one to the other isn't too much trouble. But when it comes to the Wii, it's an entirely different story. The Wii's visual capabilities can't stand up to its competitors, and its unique control scheme makes it practically impossible for developers to easily port controls from an Xbox 360 controller to a Wiimote.
And with an already high budget and Nintendo cornering the Wii software market to boot, the Wii development space is simply less attractive to developers.
Does that mean they will simply stop developing for the Wii? Of course not. But rest assured that if Nintendo continues its dominance in the Wii video game space and few third-party developers have success in the market, Nintendo could lose third-party support, lose licensing fees, and most importantly, lose potential customers that are looking for a huge library of games over anything else.
Success is great. But sometimes, it becomes a curse. And if Nintendo isn't careful, its success could be a curse to its own operation.
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Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Remember the military saying, "If it's stupid but works, it's not stupid."
Here my opinion on the subject.
Actually you are right in the case the game industry is making the right games. But in most of the cases they are not.
Nintendo is on the way to get the creativity of making clever games. The rest of the industry is looking for big noise and amazing action + graphics. They are missing the point.
There is a generation of people that started with Atari and Commodore, that are now around after their 30s that are not necessarily interested in war, bombs... are on the back of continuing a relationship with the gaming world with creative, fun and useful or educative games. I'm sure that is clear for you as well (if you read your comments...)
The rest of the gaming industry is playing on the "cool" factor, the economics and the short term. A very Microsoft style of getting close to the geeks.
Clever game producers are taking serious steps towards well integrated Wii games. Clone Wars for example is one of them.
I have spent so much time playing the old and basic 7 cities of gold, Zork, MindShadow, Civilization, Empire, Gauntlet, Rogue, etc. Most of them with much better story than many actual games.
Yes, Nintendo needs more third parties making better games... but having a top list on their side is a merit that should be recognized. Your article looks like protecting the wrongdoing of the games industry, but it is good food for thought.
It's the big noise, amazing action, fighting game that lacks usefulness, creativity, or anything near educational.
The same games you're describing that are popular on other systems, is the single most successful video game of the year!
There's nothing clever about it either, it's just a blast to play.
I don't even have a Wii, I have a PS3. If i did have a Wii, Super Smash Bros Brawl would be the first game I'd buy.
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you might not think that super smash bros is not creative but tell me this, wat other games are like super mash bros. the thing with nintendo games are originallity. if u look at the xbox and the ps3, there is tons of first person shooters and i always ask myself which one to get, but with the wii the choice is usually clear. if ur into shotter, metroid prime, adventure: zelda, etc. and each of those games has its own unique charm that makes da wii stand alone in its own special field. All the nintendo games are highly creative which they approach you the simplest way possible. u dig?
If you have yet to check out Boomblox.... do so.
I worked at a game store. All those 3rd party titles you talk about didn't sell. The only titles that sold strong were those made by nintendo and ofcourse grand theft auto. I don't think nintendo has to worry as long as they keep making strong titles. people arn't looking for 3rd party games. Those 3rd party games are a waste of money and most people know it. Always has been that way.
Plus the Wii fever may be finallying dying down, for the first time since the Wii was released I saw not just one Wii on the shelf (which I had never seen) but a giant tower of Wii's at my local best buy. That tower has not even shrunk by half over the past 3 weeks.
Now just think about it for a minute. The N64 and the Gamecube were both going for the same market as Xbox and PS2 and obviously failed, therefore some say is why the Wii is what it is.
But the truth is, Gamecube and N64 had all the 3rd party games exactly the same as their competition but no one wanted those games because they probably also had a PS2 or Xbox.
Therefore you can easily see that people don't buy the Nintendo systems to play all videogames. They buy Nintendo systems for Nintendo games. The only reason I bought a Wii on launch was because I wanted to play Zelda and Metroid and Smash and Mario and all those other games. I would pay more than 250 just to be able to play those games and it is the only reason myself and millions of other gamers buy Nintendo systems, because we want to play those games.
Long story short. Nintendo games sell the Nintendo systems, no one cares about the other games because 3rd party games are on the other systems. We care about the exclusive games.
Don't get me wrong i like my Wii..........BUT!!!!!!!!!......they do need to up the third party support. Although i don't know if the blame can be placed on the big "N". Personally i think it's the individual developers and publishers fault. For not really taking advantage of the the Wii can do, giving us poor quality games and just tacking on waggle crap. Take a game like Metroid Prime, they kept the graphics up to snuff, and made sure the controls were tight. Same for any GOOD game (regardless of platform) requires. It is Nov. 19th, i just left IGN.com went through some recent review of new games, Need for Speed Undercover...Terrible. Graphics poor, controls marred, "Open world" is not even that. And compared to Burnout and Midnight Club not even worth a second glance. PREACH!
Now they also just reviewed The Sonic game the Casltevania fighter for Wii. Now they gave both about a 7.5/ 10. So at least effort was put into it. As they did with Call of Duty 5. And a hope those three 3rd party games sell at least moderately well so bigger and better sequels (although I'd prefer a full castlevania) can come about. But see that's my point. 3rd party developers need to start putting effort into the Wii titles just as much as with the 360 and PS3 in order to be successful. Not just port crap and stick waggle in it. Come up with original titles, or if it is a multi-platform treat the Wii version as a WII VERSION. Not a PS2 knockoff with some gesture mess in it. PREACH!!
Not all of the people who play Wii are 5 years old. Some of us have a 360 and/PS3 too and are as hardcore gamer as they come. You'll have our support too as long as you pay us attention. Remember, a five year old will play a Wii until he opens the next present. I'm 21 and have been playing games since i was three. Between the two of us who, do you 3rd party publishers, think will generate the most (long term) revenue if you pay us a little more attention. I'm not saying don't make casual games (that'd be ignorant and shortsighted). But what I'm saying as of right now, 15% of games for Wii are for the hardcore and 85% are casual. And of all those games altogether , maybe 10% of the 3rd party games are worth the full our full $50. So...whose fault is it? PREACH!!!
P.S. if you wanna look at how to try to develop a quality 3rd party game for Wii, take a look at THE Conduit. High Voltage came out hungry,Sega jumped at the chance to work with them...and I'm hoping the game does well and that level of dedication to a game spreads through the 3rd party gaming community like a wildfire...
CHURCH.
I'm bouta go play Gears....
I think that there's this perception that everyone loves bloodshed, graphics, and action, and that's it. It's irrelevant whether you think that's true or not, but the Wii is eschewing this style of gameplay, and because of this eschewing, third parties aren't making games for the Wii. It's sad because they're only focusing on one market right now. If Nintendo can make good Wii titles, I'm sure that Bethesda, BioWare, etc. could as well. They're just not going to invest the time in it (I think ) because it involves more work and different, innovative titles. For them, it's easier to go with a tried and true control scheme and simpler ports (from the 360 to the PS3 and vice versa).
- by John_Johnson November 19, 2008 4:39 PM PST
- These arguments don't strike me as particularly relevant, all that really matters to consumers is whether or not a good product is available. If Kim Jong Il put out a respectable Half-Life 3 do you really think that gamers would care who made it? So as long as Nintendo continues to make games that move consoles, why should they do anything differently?
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