Topic: Wii isn't hardcore enough

[GoldenPhoenix]

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Originally posted by: bustin98
I give more weight to Medal of Honor Heroes 2 than RE:UC. The Wii has already captured alot of Japanese support. MoH:H2 could show that Wii fans want to go online and want shooters, which Western devs seem to excel at.

Not sure of that because MoH falls more under port territory.  

[Amodaus1]

Alot of this Wii isn't hardcore sillyness is due to lack of steady new monthly hardcore game supply, I assume. But by the end of it's first year the wii will have been graced with a mario title, a paper mario title, a zelda, and a metroid. I know 2 were ports, they shouldn't count, but they are on the platform. We didn't see this kind of support in the DS's first year at all, and becuase of that DS and PSP were deadlocked in equal selling rates, that were decent. But the DS exploded in its second year, redesign yes, but new super mario bros and the fall/winter line up for that year were big and the previous year's titles (the few that were truly good) were also available. You can see the same trend with the 360, obviously not hardware numbers, but with software. The 2nd year coming into the fall and christmass season the 360 has a great line up.    

My guess is 3rd parties are going to be late to the party because they dismiss the Wii now as if it won't have a more polished line up next year. The damn thing sells itself WITHOUT new software every month, the september NPD numbers prove that. And the same effect with the DS will most likely occur on the Wii. With that said, remember even with the PSP's horrible software sales it still get 3rd party support which is quite good, and the 360 is no PSP. So expect 3rd parties to be more stubborn and not support the Wii, or at least not support it to the fullest.

[Adrock]

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But by the end of it's first year the wii will have been graced with a mario title, a paper mario title, a zelda, and a metroid.

They're all Nintendo games. That's partially the problem. Those titles are expected to sell on Nintendo hardware. Publishers are weary that Wii owners only buy Nintendo games and party/family fun titles. I think that's where this "Wii isn't hardcore" stigma is rooted in.

It also hurts that porting games isn't really an option for Wii, mostly because of hardware constraints and to a lesser degree, the controller. It's easier and cheaper to port a game than it is to make a Wii version. I think publishers want to take advantage of Wii's large userbase but are weary of the userbase at the same time, whether or not, people will even buy their games. There's some validity to that argument, but it's ultimately faulty. A well-made game, especially from a popular franchise (and isn't a spin-off) will attract an audience. What made Playstation a winner? All the big publishers put all their big games on it. Wii is attracting everybody. It has a hardcore audience which would undoubtedly become larger if more hardcore games were released for it. I don't think 3rd parties are necessarily shafting Wii; they're just approaching support the wrong way. Capcom is using a gamer's series to attract casuals instead of developing a true RE game and Konami is just b*tching out.... again.

[darknight06]

I still think this has nothing to do with the idea that the games won't sell as much as it does the games chances of being on the highest selling list for that platform is smaller.  The one advantage that third parties felt like they had on the PS2 and X-Box was that any company's title could be on that best selling list for that platform and that the bar for getting there is admittedly a hell of a lot easier to tackle than it is on something like the Wii where you have a first party that pulls no punches on it's releases which are almost guaranteed high sales.   That's not to say that stuff like God of War and Gran Turismo or Halo aren't competing against third party titles on other platforms either, but at the same time those titles at least in their eyes don't seem to compete in the same way something like Smash would.  Note how some are even saying how titles like Call of Duty 4 will actually benefit this holiday because Smash won't be out this year and this title is on the other platforms!  

[GoldenPhoenix]

Yeah as others have pointed out, I think 3rd parties are scared of NIntendo first party games. Nintendo is arguably the most consistently high quality publisher/developer out there right now (Heck they win awards for it).

[Kairon]

It's even scarier looking at the Japanese year-long charts, Nintendo publishes more than 50% of those top 100 games on those things!

[Chozo Ghost]

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Originally posted by: Kairon
It's even scarier looking at the Japanese year-long charts, Nintendo publishes more than 50% of those top 100 games on those things!

Yeah, but that's mostly because initially most 3rd parties neglected the DS and the Wii and they missed the boat when those consoles exploded in popularity. Naturally, Nintendo backed their own hardware so it is no surprise that their games did well. Square-Enix was also an early supporter of the DS and it paid off well for them too. But most other 3rd parties bet on the wrong horse, so to speak.

It's the situation right now that is so baffling. a year or two ago neglecting Nintendo's hardware was excusable, but why are some companies STILL resisting? RE4, Godfather, and the handful of other Mature Wii games are selling extremely well. There's absolutely no reason to not put mature "hardcore" games on the Wii.

[Deguello]

"Note how some are even saying how titles like Call of Duty 4 will actually benefit this holiday because Smash won't be out this year and this title is on the other platforms! "

But then it really doesn't matter what platform they put the games on.  I think some people may be under the misconception that third parties can rule on any of the platforms.  360's top sellers are Gears of War and Halo 3, both first party published titles.  PS3's Top sllers are MotorStorm and Resistance, both Sony First party published games.  Nowhere can the third parties be the top seller anywhere right now.

[Mario]

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Originally posted by: GoldenPhoenix
I really want to see what happens if Zack and Wiki becomes a hit. That game is probably more important then people give it credit for, it is a fresh, full fledged traditional game for Wii that appears to be well designed with alot of ingenuity (Heck I bet even the budget was decent sized). Zack and Wiki and then RE:UC have potential to make or break 3rd party support.

Zack and Wiki is probably going to flop big time. Games don't sell well just because they are good. Think about what you'd think of it if you've never heard it before, then picked up the box at the store and had a look. I'd probably be so offended i'd push over the shelf.

[IceCold]

You know, a lot of people are using RE4 as an example of how hardcore mature games can sell, but no one mentioned Red Steak - that game sold a tonne - it should have convinced publishers a while back that there's a significant market for these games.

It's the vendetta.

[NWR_pap64]

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Originally posted by: Mario

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Originally posted by: GoldenPhoenix
I really want to see what happens if Zack and Wiki becomes a hit. That game is probably more important then people give it credit for, it is a fresh, full fledged traditional game for Wii that appears to be well designed with alot of ingenuity (Heck I bet even the budget was decent sized). Zack and Wiki and then RE:UC have potential to make or break 3rd party support.

Zack and Wiki is probably going to flop big time. Games don't sell well just because they are good. Think about what you'd think of it if you've never heard it before, then picked up the box at the store and had a look. I'd probably be so offended i'd push over the shelf.

I doubt its going to be a major flop. It will definitely find an audience like Phoenix Wright did but won't be a massive hit. A sleeper hit is the word I am looking for.

The game IS Gamefly's most rented game for the Wii so definitely there are people interested in it.