Topic: The coming-soon third party Wii U game NOBODY is talking about

[ShyGuy]

Like how I baited you in here? That's called cheap marketing tactics. A mod may change the title.

Anyhow, coming out in Q1 2013 is a WWII third person shooter called Sniper Elite V2. It's claim to fame is an impressive kill cam. Note, this is not a sequel to Sniper Elite, but a remake, hence the V for version 2.

Fifty bucks, I hope it comes with the Kill Hitler DLC. I also hope it comes with the 2 player coop like the PS3/360 version.

[NWR_Neal]

I mean, the title is factually accurate. Nobody is talking about this game.

[MrPhishfood]

Played the demo on 360, kind of a pony one trick pony.


sorry I had ponies on the brain

[azeke]

Hmmm.

I remember watching two video playthroughs of this game. I liked what i saw, and no, not just x-ray killcam.

Multiplayer looked ridiculous though. It's like -- noone's there and BAM you're dead. And you still can't see anyone.

[BranDonk Kong]

Looks boring...and why the Hell is it $50 when it's $20 on PS3 and 360? I understand you've got to pay for development, but this game will be nearly a year old when it's released on Wii U, you can't ask 250% of what it costs on the other platforms and expect to sell more than a few copies.


Edit - oh yeah, I forgot you can use Wiimotes on Wii U. That kind of changes everything...but still $50 is too much for an "old" game.


Edit again - just saw the rifle accessory...pretty rad. Now I want this game.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wii-Sniper-Elite-Bundle-1x-Sniper-Rifle-w-Scope-NEW-/360515709107?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item53f06928b3 - Original Wii version...I think they're typically white, I'd paint mine gunmetal if I bought one.

[Soren]

Not even the publishers (505) are talking about this right now so why should I be excited for it?  Reviews were average but yeah the game is releasing nearly 10 months after it first came out on other platforms. The other console versions are already selling at $20 new and I could get from Steam right now for $12(daily deal). But they expect me to fork over $50 for it two months from now...

[Pixelated Pixies]

I watched the GB Quicklook for this game. I like the idea of having to account for wind direction and speed, as well as the potential for bullet drop (the effect gravity has on the shot over long distances). The game itself, however, didn't look all that engaging.
 
I guess if you're really into sniper movies or gratuitous slow motion footage of heads being blown apart then it might be worth the price tag, but it's the definition of niche and certainly wouldn't appeal to me.

[KDR_11k]

Since it's part of the Steam sale TotalBiscuit commented on it, he said the first game was much better. Didn't that get ported to the regular Wii?

[tendoboy1984]

505 Games, like City Interactive and UFO Interactive, are a shovelware publisher. I don't expect anything good from them.

[TJ Spyke]

No, they are not shoverlware only. They do publish some, but they also publish the European versions of games like Cooking Mama, ArmA, Armored Core, Wild Arms 4 & 5, and Bust-a-Move. The majority of their games are NOT shovelware.

[tendoboy1984]

No, they are not shoverlware only. They do publish some, but they also publish the European versions of games like Cooking Mama, ArmA, Armored Core, Wild Arms 4 & 5, and Bust-a-Move. The majority of their games are NOT shovelware.

Wild Arms is a Sony IP, why would they want a 3rd-party company to publish it?

[ShyGuy]

Since it's part of the Steam sale TotalBiscuit commented on it, he said the first game was much better. Didn't that get ported to the regular Wii?

I don't think so, I know it was on the PS2.

[broodwars]

No, they are not shoverlware only. They do publish some, but they also publish the European versions of games like Cooking Mama, ArmA, Armored Core, Wild Arms 4 & 5, and Bust-a-Move. The majority of their games are NOT shovelware.

Wild Arms is a Sony IP, why would they want a 3rd-party company to publish it?

Because like most JRPGs in the West, the latter entries in the series probably didn't sell as well as the earlier entries.  XSEED had to bring those two over in NA.  It's a shame, really. I really like Wild Arms 5 and Wild Arms 4 is pretty decent as well, and both were unplayable even on backwards-compatible PS3s.  I would love to play those again and actually be able to finish them now as digital PS2 classics, but I doubt the sales of those games would justify it.

See, this is what companies with common sense do when they have 1st party games they don't want to expend the money to release in another region: they make some money licensing the rights out to 3rd party companies that do want to localize the titles.  That XSEED was even allowed to bring over The Last Story when Reggie refused to is something of a small miracle.

[BranDonk Kong]

Since it's part of the Steam sale TotalBiscuit commented on it, he said the first game was much better. Didn't that get ported to the regular Wii?

I don't think so, I know it was on the PS2.

*COUGH*

[UncleBob]

[..]bring over The Last Story when Reggie refused to [...]

[citation needed]

[ShyGuy]

Since it's part of the Steam sale TotalBiscuit commented on it, he said the first game was much better. Didn't that get ported to the regular Wii?

I don't think so, I know it was on the PS2.

*COUGH*

Color me corrected! How did I miss it the first time?

[tendoboy1984]

No, they are not shoverlware only. They do publish some, but they also publish the European versions of games like Cooking Mama, ArmA, Armored Core, Wild Arms 4 & 5, and Bust-a-Move. The majority of their games are NOT shovelware.

Wild Arms is a Sony IP, why would they want a 3rd-party company to publish it?

Because like most JRPGs in the West, the latter entries in the series probably didn't sell as well as the earlier entries.  XSEED had to bring those two over in NA.  It's a shame, really. I really like Wild Arms 5 and Wild Arms 4 is pretty decent as well, and both were unplayable even on backwards-compatible PS3s.  I would love to play those again and actually be able to finish them now as digital PS2 classics, but I doubt the sales of those games would justify it.

See, this is what companies with common sense do when they have 1st party games they don't want to expend the money to release in another region: they make some money licensing the rights out to 3rd party companies that do want to localize the titles.  That XSEED was even allowed to bring over The Last Story when Reggie refused to is something of a small miracle.

If those games weren't expected to sell well in the West, why would they even waste time localizing them in the first place? If Sony doesn't have faith in their own IP, then why would a 3rd-party publisher care?


Same thing with Activision bringing Call of Duty to Japan. The Japanese don't care about it, so localizing it for their market is fruitless. I doubt the Japanese want to play as a "big bad American soldier".


Not everything needs to be sold in a global market. Not every culture likes the same thing. Hence the reason why anime and manga are considered extremely niche in America. Sure a few select anime shows are popular over here, but the average person doesn't know or care about that genre of animation.

[NWR_insanolord]

What are you talking about? Black Ops 2 was just recently near the top of the charts in Japan. There is definitely an audience for those games there. And the third parties who do stuff like that in the west base their whole business model around bringing over niche Japanese games. They know the market for them and are better equipped for limited releases like that.

[TJ Spyke]

But usually the COD games only appear for a couple of weeks in Japan, then disappear. It seems like most to the audience are westerners living in Japan.

[Ceric]

But usually the COD games only appear for a couple of weeks in Japan, then disappear. It seems like most to the audience are westerners living in Japan.

But that's ok.  Showing up in the Top 5 of the chart for 2 weeks will probably cover the localization cost and a profit.  It also enhances Brand Awareness.

[TJ Spyke]

To be fair, the "localization" for the COD games is to add Japanese subtitles, they don't change the voice acting to Japanese. So I guess selling a few thousand copies is indeed enough to cover it.

[Ceric]

To be fair, the "localization" for the COD games is to add Japanese subtitles, they don't change the voice acting to Japanese. So I guess selling a few thousand copies is indeed enough to cover it.

Least amount of work for maximum profit.

[broodwars]

If those games weren't expected to sell well in the West, why would they even waste time localizing them in the first place? If Sony doesn't have faith in their own IP, then why would a 3rd-party publisher care?

Like insanolord said, companies like Atlus; NISA; XSEED; etc. want these titles because they know how drive up hype in and sell niche titles to the maximum possible audience for such games.  The perfect case in point is when Sony declined to bring over Demon Souls to NA when they published the game in Japan.  Instead, they sold the NA publishing rights to Atlus, and Atlus turned around and made the game a relative phenomenon in North America.

Likewise, after Reggie refused to bring over The Last Story (which, Uncle Bob, he would have had to have done b/c NOA had first say on publishing that game in North America), he made the extremely rare move of selling the publishing rights to XSEED.  It's now XSEED's best-selling game ever at over 50,000 copies reported sold, and considering how XSEED's lasted several console generations now selling much fewer copies of other titles, that worked out very well for them.

Niche titles depend on smart marketing to the right audience at the right time with the right presentation (and in limited quantities), and smaller companies excel at that.  That's why they care when bigger publishers pass over bringing certain games over.

[Shaymin]

To be fair, the "localization" for the COD games is to add Japanese subtitles, they don't change the voice acting to Japanese. So I guess selling a few thousand copies is indeed enough to cover it.

There is a "dub edition" as well.

[tendoboy1984]

There is a "dub edition" as well.

I just thought of Midnight Club. Whatever happened to that series?