On the subject of how Nintendo plans to attract third-party support at a time when many developers are seemingly reducing Wii development budgets, Reggie said, "First, as a platform holder our responsibility is to create a large installed base for developers to create content, to provide them with the tools and the insight to help them create great games, and to have in place a profit model that motivates them to create the content and reap the rewards. We've done that; global installed base is over 67 million for Wii and there are 120 million in the DS family. So there's a large installed base, an easy platform to develop for and a strong set of tools out there."
When asked if Nintendo truly cares about third-party titles on the Wii, Reggie responded by saying, "For us, it is important that third parties bring their very best content to our platform. You could say 'Why?' It's because... well, let me focus in on the West. There are 28 million Wiis out there in the marketplace. We know, based on our data, that we've got consumers from 5 to 95 playing on that platform. The fact of the matter is we know we create great content for younger consumers, we know we've got great content for more casual players, and we want fantastic content for that more active player who loves Metroid or Zelda but maybe also wants something like a BioShock 2 to play as well. And we also recognize that we don't create that type of content ourselves. We're not good at it and it's not a key focus area. So we want that content on our platform, so we have to court third-party developers and encourage them to make [those games], but it also has to be financially viable for them as well."
As he has stated in other recent interviews, Reggie re-iterated that HD visuals alone are not enough of a reason for Nintendo to release a new home console, and stated that he believes the PlayStation 3 will have difficulty with its new motion controller, the Playstation Move, because of the high cost associated with the product. He said that he had not had a chance to play with the Move controller, but agreed that it sounded like an interesting device.
When asked if Nintendo had any interest in bringing its intellectual property to a social gaming site like Facebook, Reggie stated that the company had no interest in doing that, but would continue to monitor that environment, and evaluate it going forward.
When asked whether the DSi XL was priced too high at just $10 below the price of the Wii, Reggie replied, "In Japan, where the DSi XL has fabulous momentum and is currently outselling the base DSi model and outselling it pretty substantially, the price point for the DSi XL is exactly the same price as the Wii home console."
You can read the full interview at Industry Gamers.
He found that bitch wasn't worth dealing with, and dropped her. Unlike Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo is not a bitch-nigga. They don't escort bitches, the **** bitches. Ya feel me?
3rd Parties are the companies that are supposed to approach platform makers. THEY are the ones without a game machine of their own to put games on.
Nintendo always carefully asks the question "why should we support them?"
The values held by many developers also make them intent on excluding Nintendo in their ideas/projects. It's as if their means of successfully competing with Nintendo is being enemies of the entire Nintendo brand.
They've also gone out of their way to market the Wii as casual-focused grandma console, and third parties are unsure if their games that don't target this market (ie: their GOOD games) will find an audience on the Wii.
Okay, Reggie, so why is BioShock 2 NOT on the Wii? You're the market leader! Why is this great game not on your console?
QuoteThe values held by many developers also make them intent on excluding Nintendo in their ideas/projects. It's as if their means of successfully competing with Nintendo is being enemies of the entire Nintendo brand.
Can you elaborate on that because it's an interesting point? Are you saying that Nintendo's success is a threat to them making the games they want to make so they treat Nintendo as an enemy?
Some days I can convince myself that third parties have some vendetta here but I can't longterm. It just doesn't make sense because it's not good business. Some companies may let bizarre grudges and personal feelings get in the way of good business, but with the Wii it ain't some third parties. It's like EVERY third party that is even remotely worth a damn is treating it like garbage. ALL of these companies consider themselves enemies of Nintendo? That's just too conspiracy theory.
I think that Nintendo offering hardware that's too different from the other consoles, mixed with Nintendo's complete lack of effort to give anyone a reason to care, is a more likely reason. You can't just include the Wii in most multiplatform games and Nintendo doesn't provide any incentives to make a Wii exclusive while Sony and MS do. Nintendo probably just has no rapport with the devs that matter and makes no effort to.
They've also gone out of their way to market the Wii as casual-focused grandma console, and third parties are unsure if their games that don't target this market (ie: their GOOD games) will find an audience on the Wii. We argue this is a misconception but I don't see Nintendo working to correct that. If anything Nintendo almost exclusively toots the casual horn and just perpetuates the stereotype. Nintendo acts like the "casual vs. core" situation doesn't even exist and that just makes them look casual-focused.
Okay, Reggie, so why is BioShock 2 NOT on the Wii? You're the market leader! Why is this great game not on your console?
Because the Wii can't handle it. I'm sorry, but it can't. As much fun as I have with with the games on the Wii, BioShock would have to be severely weakened to even run well on the little white box. Hell, the HD consoles don't even look that great running it.
How about a Bioshock game built from the ground up for the wii and not a port of the current versions on the HD consoles?
No, they need to make the same Bioshock for the Wii, making a different Deadspace is what killed it on the Wii.
That is exactly what I was trying to say in as few words as possible.QuoteBut it wasn't just a different Dead Space. It was a completely different game with completely different gameplay. Nobody wants the Dead Space NAME on the box, we want the gameplay experience that PS360 owners got to have. If it was Dead Space Wii and it was a third person surivival horror game, okay, now we've got something. But it was an on-rails shooter. What it was was EA wanting to get the Dead Space IP on the Wii in some form. Same with all of these spin-offs. They don't count because they're just a name on a box. The gameplay we associate with those games is not offered. Dead Space on the Wii didn't bomb because it was not the PS360 Dead Space. It bombed because it played nothing like the PS360 Dead Space. We don't know how well a unique Dead Space Wii would have sold because we didn't get one.
No, they need to make the same Bioshock for the Wii, making a different Deadspace is what killed it on the Wii.
Franchises like Rockband, Guitar Hero... show there's hope, but in every instance (a case could be made to exclude Madden), the games lack something from their HD counterparts. And the sales still reflect this.
Franchises like Rockband, Guitar Hero, Madden, WWE Smackdown and Call of Duty show there's hope, but in every instance (a case could be made to exclude Madden), the games lack something from their HD counterparts. And the sales still reflect this.