In total, 126,000 copies of Zack & Wiki have been sold in North America since the game's release 26 months ago. Capcom isn't exactly sure why the game sold so few copies, but Kramer has a few ideas. He described the Wii as having "a very tough market to crack," and believes that for third-party developers it seems that "If you're not Nintendo, it does seem harder to make money on the Wii today compared to the PS3 and the Xbox 360."
Kramer further cited the Wii market as "extremely scattered and chaotic," because "for any sort of solid statement you want to make about the platform or the audience," there are plentiful amounts of evidence that totally contradict them. For example, party games were extremely successful soon after the Wii launched; however, the market has now been saturated by that style of game. Overall, "third-party publishers are having a hard time determining who the Wii audience is," said Kramer.
Capcom Product Manager Colin Ferris said in an interview in March 2009 that he was willing to place some of the fault for Zack & Wiki's poor sales on the art design for the game's main character. Ferris said, "Well, you know, Zack and Wiki
Another one in a long line of very highly-rated Capcom games that unfortunately did not sell very well. We can take a part of the blame on ourselves by having it star a shirtless boy pirate. That is actually a personal favorite of a lot of people in Capcom, so dont be surprised if you see it again but we have nothing in the works at the moment."
I was rather put off by the style, but when I tried the game, I became a believer.
Dear developers: Just because the Wii is "underpowered" doesn't mean every game on it has to be kiddeh-cartooneh! :@ I'm glad they acknowledge some part of the blame at least.
We are already off to a great start already. Man your life boats because Cheep Cheeps have become feral!
Capcom isn't exactly sure why the game sold so few copies, but Kramer has a few ideas.
He described the Wii as having "a very tough market to crack," and believes that for third-party developers it seems that "If you're not Nintendo, it does seem harder to make money on the Wii today compared to the PS3 and the Xbox 360."Not mentioned is that if your games suck massive amounts of ass and only piss off the Nintendo fan base more, they won't make jack-****.
Kramer further cited the Wii market as "extremely scattered and chaotic," because "for any sort of solid statement you want to make about the platform or the audience, there are plentiful amounts of evidence that totally contradict them."Kramer is doing a good job doing this right now and I am happy to report it will get better and more entertaining!
Overall, "third-party publishers are having a hard time determining who the Wii audience is," said Kramer.Universal appeal says hi. Advertising says hi. Niche game slit it's wrists/game case...?
Capcom Product Manager Colin Ferris said in an interview in March 2009 that he was willing to place some of the fault for Zack & Wiki's poor sales on the art design for the game's main character.AD-VER-TISE-MENT. The best, new problem solver for those games third parties can't be assed to advertise.
Who here has ever seen a Zack & Wiki commercial on TV? I sure as hell didn't. You can't blame consumers for not buying a product they have never even heard of. It is the responsibility of the game's maker (Capcom) to make that happen.
third-party publishers are having a hard time determining who the Wii audience is
Zach & Wiki is a good game BUT it has Dreamcast graphics [...]Sold!
Quotethird-party publishers are having a hard time determining who the Wii audience is
I've heard this a lot lately. It shows exactly what publishers don't understand. The Wii audience isn't one like-minded group. You don't "crack" it. Nintendo has done a great job of selling Wii to the most diverse audience ever assembled in gaming. It's impossible to create a game that will appeal to all of those people. Choose your segment, understand it, and go after it with gusto. You can't say "well Wii owners seem to be buying X, so let's clone that and dump it onto shelves". That doesn't work on any other console, so why should it work on Wii?
According to Kramer, "If you're not Nintendo, it does seem harder tomake money on the Wii today compared to the PS3 and the Xbox 360. It'sa very tough market to crack and is ever-shifting."
He recalls that when the Wii first launched in North America inNovember, 2006, simple casual or party games did so well that they soonsaturated the market. "Now, I don't even know what the market is," hesays. "
"Third-party publishers are having a hard time determining who the Wiiaudience is," Kramer adds. "You can no longer say it is solely casualgamers or that only E-rated games own the space. For any sort of solidstatement you want to make about the platform or the audience, thereare enough opposite proofs to show that it is extremely scattered andchaotic."
I've heard this a lot lately. It shows exactly what publishers don't understand. The Wii audience isn't one like-minded group. You don't "crack" it. Nintendo has done a great job of selling Wii to the most diverse audience ever assembled in gaming. It's impossible to create a game that will appeal to all of those people. Choose your segment, understand it, and go after it with gusto. You can't say "well Wii owners seem to be buying X, so let's clone that and dump it onto shelves". That doesn't work on any other console, so why should it work on Wii?
You can't say "well Wii owners seem to be buying X, so let's clone that and dump it onto shelves". That doesn't work on any other console, so why should it work on Wii?It seems to work with shooters on the XBox 360.
Carnival Games is kind of a clone, but it undeniably picked a market to target: Wii Owners who only had Wii Sports.
The Wii seems to be the only platform ever that third parties expect their games to sell without any advertising.Because the Wii audience is gullible and buys into everything regardless of quality.
Who here has ever seen a Zack & Wiki commercial on TV? I sure as hell didn't. You can't blame consumers for not buying a product they have never even heard of. It is the responsibility of the game's maker (Capcom) to make that happen.
I tried to introduce some casual gamers to it but they were all turned away by the art style.
You probably don't if you think it means the creation of less games that suit your tastes (which, if true, is a ridiculous sentiment IMO). We're not going anywhere so you'd better get used to us.I tried to introduce some casual gamers to it but they were all turned away by the art style.
Remind me, please: why again do we want these people in our hobby? ::) With each passing game they ignore, I keep coming back to that central question.
RAB, are you looking at the same games? Neither game you mentioned looks bad.
Epic Mickey is going to have the same problem. Cartoon characters, "hardcore" gameplay.
Epic Mickey is going to have the same problem. Cartoon characters, "hardcore" gameplay.Can you really say that with certainty about a game which hasn't been released?
I know you are joking, but I hate people who complain about so-called "casual" gamers. You don't see many people complaining about "casual" TV viewers, "casual" movie watchers, "casual" music fans, etc. There are people who complain about those, but it's nowhere near as bad as the number of people who complain about "casual" gamers.
During the promo the PR lady actually said the game was for kids 13 and under,
During the promo the PR lady actually said the game was for kids 13 and under
