Is the Wii a 'viable platform' for M-rated games?
Take-Two Interactive Software, the video game developer behind Bioshock and the Grand Theft Auto series, posted a quarterly loss Wednesday and forecast less than ideal performance, going forward. But the real shocker came from the company's CEO, Ben Feder, who had some interesting things to say about Nintendo's Wii console and Mature-rated games.
Speaking to shareholders, Feder said that although he believes his company's "M-rated content...is much more appropriate for the PlayStation 3 or 360," he thinks it's incumbent upon Take-Two to "look at the Wii as a viable platform content across all" the company's titles. According to Feder, "you can't ignore the (Wii's) install base. You just can't."
If that's true, then why have the vast majority of developers "ignored" that install base? As Nintendo of America President, Reggie Fils-Aime, pointed out recently in a Forbes interview, "I will be able to say our licensees 'get it' when their very best content is on our platform. And with very few exceptions today, that's not the case."
So far, most developers have left the Wii out in the cold when it comes to Mature-rated titles. A quick search of Gamestop's entire catalog of 392 available Wii games reveals that only 13 of those titles are rated Mature. Compare that to the Xbox 360's 154 Mature-rated games, and the Playstation 3's 60, and it's clear that developers have little faith in the Wii as a "mature" platform.
You can't argue with the logic: so far this year, not one Mature-rated Wii game made NPD's top-selling list, even though mature games yield the most revenue.
Whether or not the Wii really is ready for mature games is very much in doubt. Consumers are more than happy to buy the console, but when it comes to games, they're much more picky. In fact, unless a title is either developed by Nintendo or offers some sort of multiplayer fun, it won't perform very well on the Wii.
Realizing that, developers have released half-baked titles on the Wii, with the hope that they will be able to turn a quick profit. In turn, they've kept their major, Mature-rated franchises on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Developers cite poor sales performance for the Wii's Mature-rated titles and additional development costs of porting the title to Nintendo's less powerful and Wiimote-enhanced console as the prime reasons for keeping their franchises on the Wii's competitors.
But how long can those developers ignore Nintendo's install base before they realize that Mature-rated games need to come to the Wii? Feder claims that he wants to bring some of his franchises to the Wii, but notice how he didn't mention any specifics and laid out no new plans for doing it.
In order to coax more Mature-rated titles to the platform, at least one mature game needs to sell extremely well on the Wii. But in order for developers to even consider making mature games for the console, they'll need to see some sort of track record, proving the Wii is a viable platform for those titles. So far, there's nothing of the sort.
Maybe the Wii itself is ready for mature games, but I'm not convinced that its install base is. Sure, it's big, and it has the potential to be profitable, but if history can be used as a frame of reference for the future, I don't see how any developer can justify spending millions of dollars on a Mature-rated game for the Wii.
At this point, it's safer (and more profitable) to offer games that are rated for Everyone or Teens, since those are the titles that appeal to today's Wii gamer more than any other.
Oh, and it wouldn't hurt a developer it if changed its name to Nintendo, either.
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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.
just get the Wii Browser (Opera) on there and watch porn on the internet
oh, wait - the browser's flash player is so outdated you can't watch 90% of streaming video
oops
The lack of Mature games for the Wii is Nintendo's fault - they marketed it for younger audiences it seems
Too much whimsy and not enough awesome.
They still need to update the browser, though.
http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2008/04/18/introducing-a-mature-fps-in-high-voltages-the-conduit/
This video should sell you not only on how well an FPS can work on the Wii, but that the Wii does have nice graphic capabilities. This will also support online multiplayer and voice chat. This game isn't even out yet and it's already won a boatload of awards. Not really sure why this wasn't mentioned in your article because it's this game that will jump start the true capabilities of the Wii.
http://wii.ign.com/dor/objects/14248157/the-conduit/videos/THE_CONDUIT_AWARDS_121008.html
Check out IGN for more videos.
also, Ive seen that exact game, graphics and all, somewhere else. Its called Half-Life 1. Although i wouldnt be too surprised if the wii's killer app turned out to be a clone.
It's still a fun console but its lacking in the grittier game department.
I also disagree somewhat with the view that "everyone and teen" have the most appeal... all the people i know who have a Wii are grownups without kids. The mature market is there... but yeah, you know... it's a Nintendo. who wants zombies with giant bobbly heads?
Just look at the newest CoD on Wii, it looks dumb I'm sorry but it does. On my 360 it looks awesome on my 1080p HDTV. My Wii even with the $40 component cables can still only do 480p, which looks really quite bad in comparison on the same TV.
The Wii is fine for Nintendo's titles; Mario Kart, Smash Bros, etc. But for hardcore M players the Wii simply will not work. Nintendo has choosen a different path and they want causal people and everyone to play and to remake every Mario or classic Nintendo game ever with motion controls.
IgN.com had a very similar article just a few weeks ago about Nintendo losing the hardcore gamer because of these types of things.
Like he said, it's displayed at 480p vs 1080p for PS3. That's 346,600 pixels vs 2,073,600 pixels. If there were no big difference, we wouldn't be buying HD displays.
The graphics engine has nothing to do with the system's display resolution. It just crunches the data and outputs what it's told to. The more pixels, the better the output will look.
We got a Wii for the kids and supposedly for the family. I wanted to get a PS3 so we'd move on to Blue-Ray at the same time. Got over-ruled because my son's friends all have a Wii so he wants one too. Who can argue with that? Much more fun to play with your friends than be by yourself as the only kid on the block with console X.
Anyway, now that BR players are becoming more affordable I may get a 360 for myself to play some games and stream Netflix. Get a separate BR player.
Nintendo is moving consoles by the ton regardless of the number of mature or hardcore games available. The number of Wiis sold per month compared to the competition is something that Nintendo and journalists like you repeat over and over again. Number of units sold should not be the sole measure of success for any business.
Honda and Porsche are in the same market in a macro sense. They both sell machines that take human passengers from one place to another. Porsche sells less cars than Honda. This means Porsche is a failure right? Wrong. Porsche sells high tuned machines to driving enthusiasts with lots of disposable income. Honda sells care to people who want an attractive, long lasting well performing cars that will not break the bank. Both of these companies do well in their respective sectors of the car market.
One only need to look at your recent column about why Apple should not lower their prices to understand why Nintendo does not need mature titles.
Apple is not going to compete with Dell and HP on the low-end $500 - $600 laptop category. They do not need to. Their entry point for laptops starts at $999. The major reason why Apple is successful is the perceived value by their potential buyers. Apple has a much smaller market share than HP or Dell but no one is calling Apple a failure. They have carved out a niche in the consumer laptop market and are doing great. Apple has argued they could not maintain quality and value at the price point that HP and Dell are at. Diversification is usually seen as a good thing for business but there is something to be said for finding one thing you are good at and dominating that sector.
Nintendo has marketed their console as a family, kid friendly, party machine. They are doing great in this regard. The Wii does not have the graphical horse power for the next gen graphics, AI, and physics goodies that appeal to the 18 - 35 year old demographic who likes to buckle down for hours with games like Fallout 3 or Gears of War 2 exploring new; realistic worlds or earning achievement points and trash talking over Internet multiplayer games. And that's OK.
Please let this be the last time you use a column for this subject.
And to those who comment about serious gamers not wanting to game on the Wii, don't equate serious gamers with mature games people may want to play. There may be some overlap but they are not the same thing.
Add to that all of those creepy Japanese graphics in most of the games and given the fact that Nintendo sold people a bill of goods with the GameCube and then never bothered to push it here in the US and you can have it.
I will take my PS3, Xbox 360 and PC over anything from Nintendo. It is almost like Nintendo thinks the world of games should be seen through japa-vision. Yuck!
In the end the Wii is for kids, low IQed adults like our outgoing president and for people that want to feel the thrill of real gaming but lack the money for a real system. In the end the Wii comes from the uncontrolled mating of the VW Beetle and the Yugo. It is cute and cuddly but has all the performance of a brick.
Robert
True, but that is exactly where PS3 and Xbox need innovation. Hard core gamers don't need mature titles for the Wii, we need decent controllers for Xbox and PS3. If I could have the control system of the Wii as used in Metroid Prime 3 Corruption and the graphics of a PS3 or 360 I would finally have a console that was as good a gaming system as my PC.
- by rouse51 December 20, 2008 6:34 PM PST
- Let me get this straight. You want the Wii whos install base is about family fun to turn around and make a game for hardcore gamers that is all about loners? That's dumb. As dumb as the people saying its the graphics. The wii has graphics that are a little better then the original XBox and the PS2. People paid for those games by the tons even though the PC had much superior graphics and still does. It is about your core audience. You don't put horror movies on Disney. Hardcore games like Metriod and Galaxy sold well because they did away with the gore. Even grandmay can watch metroid and Mario. Resident Evil 4 did well but that will be the exception not the rule. Lets face it, parents and kids playing together again is a good thing. Lets not ruin a good thing.
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- by beat_elite February 5, 2009 7:53 PM PST
- Loners? well excuuuuuuuuse me princess but idk if having friends come over to your house to play Halo or DOA4 on your 360 is considered being a loner. Also the first game i played on my friends Wii was RE4 and i loved it instantaneously and it became one of my top favs (which is why im getting RE5).
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(32 Comments)Graphics don't really bother me at all even though i have an HD TV because whether its standard def or high def its all comes down to the gameplay, which unfortunately the wii lacks with most games (excluding originals like mario, zelda, metroid etc.) and my family sometimes gets together to play Castle Crashers without the need for unaccurate motion controls or tiring arm waving (stares at every other wii game out there).
in one point in my life i actually considered getting a wii (thus my Gamertag wiilove...long story), but once i realized the only game i could actually play with my friends was SSBB i was dissapointed from the lack of good action multiplayer games and soon later bought a 360.