Topic: Mature Wii Games "Calculated Gambles" According to EA

[Mop it up]

I just hope they don't give a game aspects which cause it to get an M-rating just for the sake of it. An example of this is TimeSplitters Future Perfect. Unlike the first two games it has blood in it, which earned it an M-rating instead of a T-rating. The blood doesn't make the game any better, and all the M-rating does is limit its appeal.

Have I said that already? I can't remember.

[KDR_11k]

Yeah, in another thread.

Plants vs Zombies is supposedly PopCap's best selling game...

[Deguello]

What's ultimately tragic about all this posturing about Mature games and what does and doesn't "work" for the Wii, is that the answer to all their problems is staring them right in the face.  RE4 Wii Edition was released in June 2007 and it still remains the best selling M-rated on the Wii.  This is a game many of the original owners even bought AGAIN just to get access to the superior controls.

Despite being a port it was a full game that wasn't some kind of karaoke spinoff.  Capcom's response to this was to make a lightgun spinoff and then pretend they've "figured the Wii out" because it sold significantly more than Clapping Party and make a sequel to the lightgun game.

I mean all these guys have to do is make a regular game, make it possibly exclusive, and market the hell out of it.  None of this "casual" crap that you've tricked yourself into believing Wii Owners want.  And as a sidenote even if all that kerfuffle about casual games is true, you'll never beat Nintendo at it.  If EA's goal with EA Active was to make an exercise game that will sell a tiny fraction of Wii Fit and everybody will ultimately forget about, well then mission accomplished.  All those Wii Sports clones did the same.

I remember Ian once saying that Nintendo had no "clout" with developers and publishers.  I disagree.  I say Nintendo is SO powerful to these developers because most of the time these developers are in lockstep behind Nintendo.  Whatever Nintendo does, there are 30 knock-off cash-in variants coming from third parties in a year's time.  What they need to do is just look at the charts and realize a few things:

1. Other than Wii Music, most "Wii ___" games come with hardware.  Notice Wii Music by itself only sold a "mere" 2.5 million.
2. Most of the Top Wii games are just regular ol' games that are not about "understanding the customer dynamics."  Before I joked that they said crap like because it sounds ridiculous but here is a guy saying it.
3. The reason Nintendo's games are at the top is because they make the best games on the Wii.  They didn't create a new market out of thin air, and you can't tap into this new market by studying the recombinant gamer metrics of said market.

I think the worst part is that third parties in general have been so open with their horrible games that they may have sabotaged other good third party games just because of the atmosphere they've created.  I know I recommend Nintendo's games first and then any third party efforts that apply afterward. I want these people to have fun, not play Dogz: Mini-Party Puzzle Challenge and give up on video games altogether.

[Dirk Temporo]

Mature Wii games wouldn't be "calculated gambles" if they would give us GOOD mature games, and not stupid sh**ty spinoffs.

[Urkel]

EA knows they messed up by making Dead Space: Extraction a rail shooter, otherwise they wouldn't be trying so hard to convince us it isn't one.

All this talk about "mature games" is just a distraction from their own incompetant decisions.

[broodwars]

EA knows they messed up by making Dead Space: Extraction a rail shooter, otherwise they wouldn't be trying so hard to convince us it isn't one.

All this talk about "mature games" is just a distraction from their own incompetant decisions.

To be fair, there's no reason that a Dead Space rail shooter shouldn't work, just that it doesn't seem like EA has a lot of confidence that they haven't screwed it up.

[KDR_11k]

I think the biggest screwup was the name, making it clear that this is a secondary effort instead of a primary game. The second biggest is probably going into a crowded genre like this...

[Peachylala]

Third parties are just trying so hard to lose my spending dollars.

I give them a rould of appluse.

1. Other than Wii Music, most "Wii ___" games come with hardware.  Notice Wii Music by itself only sold a "mere" 2.5 million.

I still stand by the fact that the game isn't as big as the other "Wii" games due to the crappy E3 presentation and stupid game reviewers.

[NWR_insanolord]

Third parties are just trying so hard to lose my spending dollars.

I give them a rould of appluse.

1. Other than Wii Music, most "Wii ___" games come with hardware.  Notice Wii Music by itself only sold a "mere" 2.5 million.

I still stand by the fact that the game isn't as big as the other "Wii" games due to the crappy E3 presentation and stupid game reviewers.

The vast majority of the market Nintendo was aiming that game at don't pay attention to E3 or read game reviews.

[broodwars]

I think the biggest screwup was the name, making it clear that this is a secondary effort instead of a primary game. The second biggest is probably going into a crowded genre like this...

My only problem with the subtitle is that it reminds me terrifyingly of the abysmal Dead Space: Downfall animated movie.  I have more issues with the hilariously bad box art.

[grantimus]

I think the biggest screwup was the name, making it clear that this is a secondary effort instead of a primary game. The second biggest is probably going into a crowded genre like this...

I don't see the genre as crowded at all!  House of the Dead: Overkill, House of the Dead 2+3, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, and Ghost Squad are the only currently available light gun games I can think of.  Then, other than Extraction, Darkside Chronicles is the only game on the horizon.  I'd hardly call 6 games a "crowded genre," especially when looking at other genres.

I, for one, was frothing at the prospect for a resurgence of light gun games once I knew what the Wii Remote could do.  I look at the lineup, most of which I own, and am disappointed in the lack thereof.  I'm looking forward to Extraction as a light gun game first, and as a Dead Space game second.

To each his own, I suppose.

[Deguello]

Again I don't think anybody really minds that this game exists, it's just that it's alone in EA's lineup as a a non-sports, non-demographic-reconstituted-gamer-dynamics game.  People don't really mind spinoffs so long as the real thing is also there for them.  If this were, say a special mode in a Port of Dead Space, then people would definitely not be as harsh on it.  And if it were announced that, say Dead Space 2 were announced as a Wii-exclusive, built from the ground up to use the Motion Plus and such, then nobody would have a problem with them trying to introduce the game with a spinoff or that being their lead game.

But since there seems to be no signs of any of that occurring, then It's safe to say that this game by itself is a pretty weaksauce effort, no matter how much production value goes into it.  Even if the game is great, it's still at best a focus-tested spinoff or WORSE, a cash grab to justify and fund more games that Wii owners will not have access to.