Topic: Virtual Console Mondays: January 1

[Smash_Brother]

Quote
Originally posted by: IceCold
Also, you haven't acknowledged the Japanese VC sales. Third parties got raped there; I think there was only one VC game from a 3rd party in the top 10. It's likely that the games overlooked won't get a second chance, and the lifetime sales will still be horrible. As we all know, the VC is supposed to appeal to the casual and lapsed gamers, those who remember the old 2D days. The "gateway drug" for these people is Super Mario Bros. Sure, you may say that it's been re-released countless times, but they don't care. That is the ultimate hook.

First of all, Wii Play, Wii Sports and Wario Ware are raping Wii 3rd party titles in Japan, and Zelda is raping up the charts in the US and Europe. Ergo, 3rd parties are doomed on the Wii unless Nintendo cancels MP3, Mario Galaxy, and all of their other titles so that 3rd parties can have a chance.

Second, what were the Japanese 3rd party titles on the VC? Did they get SF and Castlevania as well?

Third, SMB sure as hell ain't MY hook...

There is a HIGHER chance of someone buying a 3rd party game if they've bought Wii points for WHATEVER reason than there is if they have NOT been enticed to buy Wii points.

Since the Wii uses channels, this simile is apt: the Wii is like a television and the VC is a channel. Just because someone owns a TV doesn't mean that they're necessarily going to give a rat's ass about your channel. The channel has to offer SOMETHING worth watching to pull people in which, in turn, dramatically increases the chances that people will watch other shows on the channel.

The bottom line is this: If nothing has enticed players to buy games on the VC, they will not buy 3rd party games. If SOMETHING has enticed them to do so, be it a Nintendo IP or otherwise, the chance of them then buying other games on the VC increases exponentially because they will have put money into Wii points and will be more likely to do so again in the future.

Unless you can have Wii points refunded into cash, then the barrier to entry is encouraging people to buy points, after which the chance of them buying a 3rd party game they wouldn't have otherwise tried is infinitely higher because they actually HAVE the Wii points to spend on it!

If 3rd party games on the US VC which don't have to compete with Nintendo's first party titles are selling in numbers comparable to Nintendo's 1st party VC sales in Japan, then I'm clearly wrong.

Otherwise, I stand by the idea that getting people to try the VC in the first place takes higher priority of giving 3rd parties a head start. By that logic, the Wii should have launched without Zelda, Wii Sports, Wii Play or Wario Ware so that 3rd party sales could be higher.