Author Topic: Third Parties Caught Off-Guard by Wii? (Read 6627 times)

WindyMan · « **on:** July 22, 2006, 06:47:05 PM »

Publishers' reluctance to get an early start on Wii game production could cost them (and their investors) in the short-term.

Investment commentary site TheStreet.com recently took a look how things were shaking up in the videogame industry. The site posted an article explaining why third party publishers and the investors that hold stock in those publishers may not be making money on Nintendo's Wii console come this holiday, despite the positive buzz coming from the system at E3.

It seems that Nintendo's E3 showing was so good, it caught publishers, investors and analysts by surprise. Everyone had come to expect the next-gen top spot to be contested by Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360, with Nintendo bringing up the rear. However, a ho-hum showing by Sony and Nintendo's emergence as a legitimate contender for mainstream marketshare has changed a lot of people's tunes.

The commentary by TheStreet suggests that the only third-party publisher that will profit off of Wii games in the opening months of the console's existance is Ubisoft, who has been supportive of Wii almost since day one. Red Steel will be a Wii launch title, and the Wii version of the new Rayman has also been in development for a while.

While Electronic Arts did have a Wii-specific version of Madden planned from the start, it was the only major game in the works from the publisher until the company revealed that five more games from their stable of sports and action games would also come to the system. Midway was also cited as not having much in the works for Wii until recently, though they attributed that to not having as much information about the console's business model until around E3.

Now that Nintendo's vision with their new home game console is better understood, analysts that initially wrote off Nintendo's chances are re-evaluating the situation. David Cole, an industry analyst with DFC Intelligence, sums it up as such: "The Wii has very strong potential to be the first-place platform."

mantidor · « **Reply #1 on:** July 22, 2006, 07:46:44 PM »

Analysts, the same ones who predicted sony's psp at $400. [/devil's advocate]

Famicom · « **Reply #2 on:** July 22, 2006, 08:22:19 PM »

Third parties, meet bandwagon.

NWR_Lindy · « **Reply #3 on:** July 22, 2006, 08:38:45 PM »

Analysts kill me. They typically say the most obvious things, or keep their comments generic so that even when they're wrong, they aren't THAT wrong. I think that all of the PGC staff and regulars could be analysts, because for all of their education these guys don't come up with anything more insightful than what we discuss in our articles and forums.

Smash_Brother · « **Reply #4 on:** July 22, 2006, 09:01:49 PM »

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Originally posted by: Silks
Analysts kill me. They typically say the most obvious things, or keep their comments generic so that even when they're wrong, they aren't THAT wrong. I think that all of the PGC staff and regulars could be analysts, because for all of their education these guys don't come up with anything more insightful than what we discuss in our articles and forums.

You want a strong analysis? Ken Kutaragi will be fired from Sony for his unbelievable incompetence and commit seppuko.

It should be noted that Rayman Wii is now at the least a timed exclusive.

miedo · « **Reply #5 on:** July 22, 2006, 09:13:31 PM »

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Originally posted by: Smash_Brother
Quote
Originally posted by: Silks
Analysts kill me. They typically say the most obvious things, or keep their comments generic so that even when they're wrong, they aren't THAT wrong. I think that all of the PGC staff and regulars could be analysts, because for all of their education these guys don't come up with anything more insightful than what we discuss in our articles and forums.

You want a strong analysis? Ken Kutaragi will be fired from Sony for his unbelievable incompetence and commit seppuko.

It should be noted that Rayman Wii is now at the least a timed exclusive.

I vote a Giant Enemy Crab for his replacement. Based on real future history.

Smash_Brother · « **Reply #6 on:** July 22, 2006, 09:21:18 PM »

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Originally posted by: miedo It should be noted that Rayman Wii is now at the least a timed exclusive.

I vote a Giant Enemy Crab for his replacement. Based on real future history.

By simply not saying anything stupid, the crab will already be performing ahead of Kutaragi. Since the crab cannot talk, we can automatically assume then that it will outperform Kutaragi.

Until, of course, someone attacks its weak point for massive damage.

Guitar Smasher · « **Reply #7 on:** July 22, 2006, 09:28:21 PM »

It wasn't just the third parties caught off-guard. Them analysts were just as clueless, which is ironic considering the the topic of the article.

Kairon · « **Reply #8 on:** July 22, 2006, 10:08:30 PM »

Yet despite all this, the Wii will have 20+ games in its launch window.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

King of Twitch · « **Reply #9 on:** July 22, 2006, 10:08:54 PM »

Did they just figure this out 2 months after E3

Mario · « **Reply #10 on:** July 22, 2006, 11:17:32 PM »

I wish I could have bought stock in Nintendo back in 2004.

ruby_onix · « **Reply #11 on:** July 23, 2006, 03:18:40 AM »

Quote
Originally posted by: Silks
Analysts kill me. They typically say the most obvious things, or keep their comments generic so that even when they're wrong, they aren't THAT wrong. I think that all of the PGC staff and regulars could be analysts, because for all of their education these guys don't come up with anything more insightful than what we discuss in our articles and forums.

There's a huge gap between the fan-media and the "real" media, and these analysts are a great (and underused) tool for the real media.

Personally, I think that any developer/publisher worth their salt should've been interested in the Wii long before E3, because they get even better info than we do, but then again I think Nintendo deserves some blame for keeping so many major details in the dark.

We've got a "Dream Team" of one this time, and the Wiimote was still stolen. Yay for secrecy! When's the Wii launching again? What's it's MSRP? How powerful is it? We're well past the point when the important details were supposed to come out (which we were led to believe was E3), so I wouldn't really blame developers/publishers for still being reluctant to jump on the bandwagon.

And Nintendo's still boycotting TGS (even if they had nothing new to show, they could've done a rerun of E3 for all the people who missed it because of the line). And they apparently think that the Fusion Tour is a good substitute for Spaceworld.

Shecky · « **Reply #12 on:** July 23, 2006, 03:27:59 AM »

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Originally posted by: Mario
I wish I could have bought stock in Nintendo back in 2004.

Same here, they've done better than most index stocks. So now they're at their highest point in the past 2 yrs... do they keep going up?

KDR_11k · « **Reply #13 on:** July 23, 2006, 03:54:33 AM »

Midway made me laugh. "We didn't know enough about its business model before E3." Hahahaha. Yes, the bit they didn't know was that people actually want new gameplay instead of rehashes with better graphics.

Until, of course, someone attacks its weak point for massive damage.

And? That won't make the crab start talking so it's still better than Kutaragi. Unless Jarjar Binks jumps out of the crab's carcass, which would make it just as bad as Kutaragi.

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #14 on:** July 23, 2006, 07:03:07 AM »

"The commentary by TheStreet suggests that the only third-party publisher that will profit off of Wii games in the opening months of the console's existance is Ubisoft, "

EA and SEGA beg to differ, Sega even had its own [ress release saying the same thing as this article, only Sega said it last week(wednesday?). I'll look for the article and then update this post.

edit: Sega says 3rd parties should shape up

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The pundits are missing the point when it comes to the Wii's strategy - not every third party is late to the launch.

"It's true that a lot of third parties have been flat footed when it comes to having games ready for the launch window, but Sega is certainly not one of them."

He added, "Some third parties have shown a lack of imagination when dealing with this new platform. The way the Wii is being built you have to design for it. Ports and upgrades are no good. That thinking takes a little bit of creativity and not every publisher has the necessary creative people available."

He said talk of Nintendo's less-than-stellar record with third parties is a poor excuse. "I can say without any hesitation that we have a great relationship with Nintendo. The American companies don't do a good enough job of wooing Nintendo.

"Sega has become a lot closer to Nintendo, which is ironic given the history of the two companies,

Acefondu · « **Reply #15 on:** July 23, 2006, 07:07:35 AM »

Serves third parties right for betting on the wrong horse.

Smash_Brother · « **Reply #16 on:** July 23, 2006, 07:59:23 AM »

I should have also pointed out earlier that Square will have two games set for the Wii's launch (CC and DQ).

Ubi may be the only American/European dev, but they're not the ONLY dev to speak of.

Still, if the article's overall point is that many devs are underestimating the Wii, that point does indeed stand.

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #17 on:** July 23, 2006, 09:48:39 AM »

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Originally posted by: Smash_Brother
I should have also pointed out earlier that Square will have two games set for the Wii's launch (CC and DQ).

Ubi may be the only American/European dev, but they're not the ONLY dev to speak of..

Did you forget about EA too even though I just just mentioned them?

KDR_11k · « **Reply #18 on:** July 23, 2006, 10:06:18 AM »

Listing other devs/publishers depends on whether their games really appear during the "first months of the console's existence". With EA that's likely but Suare might take some more time (at least in the west).

MaryJane · « **Reply #19 on:** July 23, 2006, 10:36:11 AM »

this is pretty much what happened with the DS isn't it? except some devs and investors waited until it launched which caused mass hysteria, then they said oh snap, lets call Nintendo. They shouldv'e wised up for the Wii since the philosophy behind both is the same.

Smash_Brother · « **Reply #20 on:** July 23, 2006, 11:07:50 AM »

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Originally posted by: BlackNMild2k1 Did you forget about EA too even though I just just mentioned them?

You see, I have this condition... (sorry, just watched "Memento"

)

But seriously, I mean companies supporting the launch, the ones which will have these new games and franchises alongside the Wii on day one (the ones that aren't multiconsole ports).

Square promised that FF and DQ would be launch titles (I'm guessing Japanese launch with the US possibly coming later). EA has Madden and that's it, not a "new" franchise in any sense of the word or even a new iteration (like DQ).

In other words, EA won't be left out in the cold or anything, but in terms of who stands to profit the MOST, it's companies bringing original concepts and games to the launch. These games will likewise enjoy the benefit of being something new and innovative, given that they're built from the ground up for the Wii.

Now watch me eat my words as Madden Wii breaks a million in the first month...

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And? That won't make the crab start talking so it's still better than Kutaragi. Unless Jarjar Binks jumps out of the crab's carcass, which would make it just as bad as Kutaragi.

I meant it would kill the crab, which means Sony might hire something which could talk, like a parrot.

If all the parrot can do is say "Ridge Racer!" and clean its nether regions while perched on the microphone at press conferences, it'll be like Kutaragi was never gone.

GoldenPhoenix · « **Reply #21 on:** July 23, 2006, 04:16:57 PM »

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Originally posted by: mantidor
Analysts, the same ones who predicted sony's psp at $400. [/devil's advocate]

Aren't you always? Hehe j/k. Anyway at least it looks like 3rd parties are starting to wise up, and I bet you anything that if Red Steel sells well there will be 3rd parties swarming in. As someone else mentioned, a similar thing happened with the DS, and I expect the same to occur with Wii.

Mario323 · « **Reply #22 on:** July 23, 2006, 05:53:49 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: Shecky
Quote
Originally posted by: Mario
I wish I could have bought stock in Nintendo back in 2004.

Same here, they've done better than most index stocks. So now they're at their highest point in the past 2 yrs... do they keep going up?

Haha, you keep track of stocks.

Michael8983 · « **Reply #23 on:** July 23, 2006, 08:32:55 PM »

Far as I'm concerned the Wii already has all the third-party support I need.
The only third-party I was counting on that's been surprisingly absent is Namco but I'm sure it's just keeping things on the down low.
I mean it's one of Nintendo's biggest allies. It would be nice to see the RE title from Capcom too but just knowing it's coming is enough.

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Author Topic: Third Parties Caught Off-Guard by Wii? (Read 6627 times)