Gaming Forums => Nintendo Gaming => Topic started by: Order.RSS on October 20, 2016, 10:13:39 AM
Title: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Order.RSS on October 20, 2016, 10:13:39 AM
So the Wii U release schedule has been pretty sparse after Summer 2016, and I found myself wondering if there were any "quick to produce" titles Nintendo could've hypothetically produced to prop up the last 9 months of the console's lifecycle.
Mario Party had three entries on N64, four on GameCube, two on Wii, but just one on Wii U in early 2015. I'm likely vastly underestimating the amount of time it takes to produce a HD game, but since they made one for 3DS it would have seemed like a relatively doable job? Just throw a bunch of existing minigames from various Mario Parties together, adapt a few from Wii Party U... Could have been doable perhaps right? Maybe not even a full-on Mario Party, but just a "best of Mario Party mini game collection" or something?
The reasons I can think of why they wouldn't are fairly obvious: you don't wanna undermine the series with a "quick cash-grab" version, the resources are better used making one for 3DS or perhaps NX already, maybe MP10 didn't do so great, producing a Wii U title at this point is probably not worth it (if it ever was)...
Just found this curious is all; Wii U didn't have any Mario Golf/Baseball/Strikers/Sports Mix either, all of which seems like faaaairly easy games to produce that could easily prop up the release schedule. I mean those Sonic & Mario games seem popular right, so heck maybe Sega could've made one? By now it's too late obviously, but was just wondering what could have been, and why it wasn't. Was hoping y'all could enlighten me! :)
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Mop it up on October 20, 2016, 04:21:15 PM
No idea, but after the party machine that was the Wii, the lack of strong multiplayer titles on the Wii U is one of my many disappointments with the system. And I know I shouldn't judge games I haven't played, but from what I've seen, Mario Party 10 and Mario Tennis Ultra Smash looked kind of bare-bones compared to past games in the series, and not very worthwhile. I still might check them out if the price is right, but I go back and forth on that.
In the case of Mario Party, somewhere around 2009 it switched hands from Hudson to Nd Cube, and although the company retains some of the Hudson staff, they still work on a different schedule and make different decisions. One thing that happened is that they made Wii Party and Wii Party U, which is similar to Mario Party with Miis instead of Mario, but has some differences. So that has lessened the frequency of Mario Party titles.
Also, the best-selling Mario Party game is Mario Party DS, so it makes some sense they would make 3DS versions when the Wii U has such low sales potential for games.
I do suspect that the budget of HD games means these kinds of B-tier stuff can longer be very feature-full, and apparently sometimes not even as feature-full as past games. It's why we're seeing all the spin-offs appear on 3DS instead of Wii U, where they're far cheaper to make. A real shame, as it feels like graphics has won the war of gameplay vs graphics.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: TOPHATANT123 on October 20, 2016, 04:55:24 PM
So far for party games on Wii U and 3DS we've had Wii Party U, Mario Party Island Tour, Mario Party 10, Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival and Mario Party Star Rush. That's plenty enough in my opinion,I would recommend though Wii Party U if you haven't played that, it's got tons of variety and is often overlooked.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Phil on October 20, 2016, 05:00:09 PM
Don't forget Nintendo Land and Game & Wario!
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Soren on October 20, 2016, 05:01:19 PM
Because they also made NintendoLand, Game & Wario, Wii Party U and Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival. Wii U had plenty of party games.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Mop it up on October 20, 2016, 05:13:07 PM
I've played Wii Party U, it was a freebie from Mario Kart 8 thankfully. We've found it to be subpar and not as fun as Mario Party and other games.
I have not played Animal Crossing amiibo Festival, but every sign points to it being kind of terrible, and a friend of mine who I trust has the game and says it's almost complete junk.
3DS local multiplayer is not really possible for me I'm afraid, only one person I know owns one and that isn't what we'd want to do when meeting in person. Besides, party games are better on a TV.
I just thought of another one, only recommended for masochists though. (http://i738.photobucket.com/albums/xx24/anthonydranfield/Party%20Games_zps1p71dm4j.jpg)
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Mop it up on October 20, 2016, 05:30:49 PM
I dunno mate, it has the word "great" right there in the title. Surely you aren't suggesting they would flat out lie on the box.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Order.RSS on October 20, 2016, 07:28:26 PM
Yeah I had not considered market saturation of partygames! Just would have seemed like a relatively easy way to pad the release schedule. It's interesting to hear that both Mario Party and the Wii Party (U) series are done by the same teams, didn't know that.
Hopefully for Switch they'll finally take Mario Party online. I can see the reasons why they wouldn't (nothing like smirking in their face when you steal someone's hard-earned star), but it would certainly expand the opportunities to play it 'properly' (so not against CPUs).
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Phil on October 21, 2016, 03:29:36 AM
I was thinking the Xbox way of confronting someone who stole your hard-earned star online. Calling them a [REDACTED].
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: supermario2k on October 21, 2016, 09:53:08 AM
Yeah I had not considered market saturation of partygames! Just would have seemed like a relatively easy way to pad the release schedule. It's interesting to hear that both Mario Party and the Wii Party (U) series are done by the same teams, didn't know that.
Hopefully for Switch they'll finally take Mario Party online. I can see the reasons why they wouldn't (nothing like smirking in their face when you steal someone's hard-earned star), but it would certainly expand the opportunities to play it 'properly' (so not against CPUs).
I am not convinced that is the case, otherwise how is PS4 and Xbox 1 doing so well with the glut of FPS games. There is no such thing as market saturation with a Nintendo console, the truth is they didn't do anything else Wii U because they were shifting their focus to the Switch and they needed to get people to forget the Wii U and move on. The more distance they put between the Wii U and the NX the better chance they had people would get excited for it, which we largely are doing. However if they had kept making games for Wii U it would have taken money and resources away from NX teams and that would be a bad situation plus Mario Party wasn't going to stand out it just had one last year, those other consoles had annual Mario Party releases but since Wii that has not been the case.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Phil on October 21, 2016, 05:23:34 PM
I was thinking the Xbox way of confronting someone who stole your hard-earned star online. Calling them a [REDACTED].
Oops! Sorry, Khush. I thought bleeping most of it out would work, so that's good to know for the future!
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Khushrenada on October 21, 2016, 06:45:30 PM
I just thought it was best to remove it. I don't think I have a swear filter on since I usually see other poster's cursing so I imagine you added the asterisks in the word but I still thought it best to delete it anyways especially with the trouble that happened with Lucario a few months back.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Phil on October 21, 2016, 06:47:13 PM
Good call. It wasn't really productive to the topic anyway.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: ThePerm on February 13, 2017, 03:16:52 AM
What if there was a Metroid Party game? :D
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Khushrenada on February 13, 2017, 05:46:43 PM
Just Dance Samus edition.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Kairon on February 13, 2017, 06:38:06 PM
But seriously, I guess Mario Party slowing down is also affected by the disappearnace of Hudson? In truth, I find it hard to mourn too much over this because Mario Party got horribly annaulized didn't it? As a player I'd prefer for there to be only one or two per generation, (they're seriously low on my radar) and maybe Nintendo needed those dev resources to finish up Pikmin 3? Also, if they do a single Mario Party game right it would be befter if it achieved evergreen sales and sells itself with no additional development over the course of the next couple years.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: ThePerm on February 13, 2017, 07:47:38 PM
Maybe the Party franchise could just switch mascots over the years? I would do that to both spot lite franchises and limit franchise overexposure. Mario Party and Mario Kart and Mario Tennis and Mario Golf all kinda overexpose Mario. Generationally, it should switch to a different mascot.
Like for Metroid, there hasn't been a Metroid game in years. It would be an interesting way to put a spot lite on the series. They sort of did this with Metroid Pinball.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Kairon on February 13, 2017, 07:53:04 PM
Maybe the Party franchise could just switch mascots over the years? I would do that to both spot lite franchises and limit franchise overexposure. Mario Party and Mario Kart and Mario Tennis and Mario Golf all kinda overexpose Mario. Generationally, it should switch to a different mascot.
Like for Metroid, there hasn't been a Metroid game in years. It would be an interesting way to put a spot lite on the series. They sort of did this with Metroid Pinball.
I really like this idea!
C'mon Zelda Party!
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: UncleBob on February 13, 2017, 10:59:23 PM
I usually only buy one Mario Party a generation at full price. They don't get played enough to justify multiples.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: ThePerm on February 13, 2017, 11:08:16 PM
The last Mario Party game I got was for Gamecube. Which, sadly to me, does not feel like that long ago.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Khushrenada on February 13, 2017, 11:39:41 PM
Maybe the Party franchise could just switch mascots over the years? I would do that to both spot lite franchises and limit franchise overexposure. Mario Party and Mario Kart and Mario Tennis and Mario Golf all kinda overexpose Mario. Generationally, it should switch to a different mascot.
Like for Metroid, there hasn't been a Metroid game in years. It would be an interesting way to put a spot lite on the series. They sort of did this with Metroid Pinball.
I really like this idea!
C'mon Zelda Party!
Yeah! And then when Metroid Party and F-Zero Party don't sell, Nintendo can be like "This is why we don't make games for these franchises anymore. They just don't sell."
The problem with Mario Party is that the last few console games haven't been that good. My favorite Mario Party games are 5, 6, and 7. The series put out some good stuff then. Mario Party 8 was alright but the minigames were so-so with the Wii brand new and so the motion control stuff is a bit basic / dated. Then they completely switched up the formula which garnered a more negative reception with Mario Party 9 and then stuck with it in Mario Party 10 as well as shrinking the number of selectable characters and hiding the traditional style of Mario Party behind an Amiibo purchase. Not that the traditional map is that interesting since it is just a square shape for any Amiibo you buy. While the handheld Mario Party games seem to be a bit better reviewed, Mario Party isn't a single player game to me so playing against CPUs isn't that interesting. If I am going to play multiplayer, I'd rather do it on a big screen with friends than us all sitting around looking at our handhelds. Basically the Wii killed Mario Party and it is just another sin of that cursed console. At least we got Fortune Street to make up for the dismal Mario Party offerings.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Wah on February 14, 2017, 01:19:04 AM
Because since Mario Party 10 all of them have sucked realllly bad.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Wah on February 14, 2017, 01:19:36 AM
Fav Mario Party was Mario Party DS.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Kairon on February 14, 2017, 12:17:51 PM
If they stop annualizing the game then it can be made at a higher quality, and not need to be replaced every year. I bet they can still keep Amiino tie-ins, but as a form of physical DLC where specific amiibo are needed to access (not play) special themed boards.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Khushrenada on February 14, 2017, 12:50:25 PM
That's the opposite of what I want and talked about. My favorite games are 5, 6, and 7 and those were annual iterations. When the series stopped being annual, that's when the games got rough. There was a 2 year gap between 3 and 4 and I find 4 a weak entry in the series. There was a 2 year gap between 7 and 8 and I found 8 to be so-so. There's been much longer gaps between 9 and 10 and it has not resulted in better games but rather the opposite. Can't comment on the handheld titles since I haven't played them at all. Moreover, the last thing I want from the Mario Party series are board maps requiring Amiibo to unlock. I'll stick with the past iterations if that is the future of the series.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Mop it up on February 14, 2017, 05:44:16 PM
Party games are a big hit around here. I have every console Mario Party, as well as two of the handheld ones (still need the 3DS ones) and even the e-Reader card game. MP 8 and 9 are our faves, with 7 being a third. I hope the Switch goes back to offering up some strong party games like the Wii did.
While I don't normally go for this sort of thing, I think it'd be neat if they offered a compilation Mario Party game which included all (or most) of the boards from every game, a selection of the best minigames from every game, and all of the characters and features that have been in each one. It would be the ultimate Mario Party, though that also means it would offer too much value for them to make it.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Stratos on February 14, 2017, 08:16:20 PM
They could tier it by generation. Do a compilation of MP 1-3, then another of 4-6, and a final one of 7-9.
But honestly, MP 10 seems to be a flop, so it might be best to give the series a rest. My sister went to a party and they tried playing it and quickly decided to ditch their game and go back to Mario Kart and Smash. This was a group of gamer kids and many of them loved the old Mario Parties. They really seem to have lost their vision for the series.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Evan_B on February 14, 2017, 08:28:17 PM
Oh, so not this is going to be a Mario Party thread, is it?!
3 is the best because Battle Mode is the best. 2 is the second best because it's 3 without Battle Mode and stupid costumes.
The rest?
NEED.
NOT.
APPLY.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Khushrenada on February 14, 2017, 08:58:59 PM
I didn't really want it to turn into one because I plan on doing a Run the Series entry for Mario Party games at some point but I just couldn't help responding further on the topic. Still, no reason we can't rehash all this again when that happens....
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Order.RSS on February 15, 2017, 02:53:28 PM
It could be because it was my first one, but Mario Party 3 is pretty awesome. It may be the most complete package of the bunch, with a great selection of boards, a good amount and variety of minigames, a very fleshed-out dual mode, and other nice features. The main reason it isn't currently one of my top picks is mostly because it's on the N64, so I can't really get people to play it like I can with Wii and Wii U. Funnily enough, if it were on the VC then I probably could play it again...!
Still, no reason we can't rehash all this again when that happens....
Oh you know I am so there for that!
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Stratos on February 16, 2017, 08:34:58 PM
Really? I thought 2 and 3 got VC releases, or was that just 2?
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Khushrenada on February 17, 2017, 02:04:31 AM
I don't recall 3 ever getting a release but 2 did. I also remember liking 3 a lot at the time. Never owned it. Had to rent it so its been well over a decade since I last played it but at the time the series kept getting better with each entry and 3 was tops. It brought in Waluigi thereby making the Mario Party games a legit series. I just remember that because 3 was so good it was another reason why 4 was such a disappointment. Having recently purchased 4 and replaying it a bit, I know I'm not wrong to call 4 lackluster.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: Mop it up on February 17, 2017, 04:32:15 PM
Yeah, I'm not sure why they never released MP 3 on VC. I think they've even put up Mario Party Advance and Mario Party DS, which I believe aren't even capable of multiplayer on Wii U.
Mario Party 4 must have suffered from being the first game they made on that system, still learning how to develop for GameCube. It not only has less features than MP 3 but it also has less minigames, and the items were a lot more limited and focused on mini and mega mushrooms. I wouldn't call it a terrible game, but compared to the rest of the series, it's one of the weakest entries.
Title: Re: Why did Nintendo only produce one Mario Party for Wii U?
Post by: NWR_insanolord on February 17, 2017, 05:50:00 PM
I had the opportunity to play Mario Party 3 with friends of mine recently, having not played it in probably over a decade, and it really reinforced my belief that it was the best one.
