Third Party games DO sell on the Wii.

[Valkysas]

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/09/ni...ifies-some-de/

For the first 20-months at market, this is the breakdown:

• Wii: 60 million software units total, 56% are third-party units or 33 million (Nov. '06 through June '08)
• Xbox 360: 35 million software units, 84% third-party or 29 million (Nov. '05 through June '07)
• PS3: 25 million software units, 82% third-party or 20 million (Nov. '06 through June '08)

If we completely removed Wii Play from the Nintendo figures, it would actually boost the company's third-party data to 62% of a 54 million unit total.

first 20 months at market, third party games sold better on the Wii than the 360 or PS3 in their first 20 months. and more than half of the first 20 month sales for the wii were by third parties.

so all the developers who complain about no one buying third party games for the wii, or it being impossible to compete with nintendo should just not open their mouths again. like, ever.

[Zeroth]

Re: Third Party games DO sell on the Wii.

It's sad that a lot of those third-party games a terrible.

[Valkysas]

Re: Third Party games DO sell on the Wii.

same is true for any system, dude.

perfect dark zero was a huge financial success. what the hell is up with that?

[Zeroth]

Re: Third Party games DO sell on the Wii.

The Wii has a lot more than the PS3 and 360. Nintendo makes a lot of really great games for their systems, but the same can't be said for the third-party developers. Granted, there are some good third-party games for the Wii, like Zack and Wiki and No More Heros, but the majority of third-party games are simpley devices to make a quick dollor.

[Duel]

Re: Third Party games DO sell on the Wii.

Billy the wizard

[Translucid]

Re: Third Party games DO sell on the Wii.

[Red Dragon]

Re: Third Party games DO sell on the Wii.

I want to see the actual games sold.

My bet 35% licenced movie games, 20% shovelware (ala translucid's post), and 1% actual good 3rd party games.

[Valkysas]

The Wii has a lot more than the PS3 and 360. Nintendo makes a lot of really great games for their systems, but the same can't be said for the third-party developers. Granted, there are some good third-party games for the Wii, like Zack and Wiki and No More Heros, but the majority of third-party games are simpley devices to make a quick dollor.

Only because of development costs. compare the wii's library to the PS1 and PS2's and you'll see they had more licensed trash and shovelware than the wii ever will. but yes, the problem with the wii isnt the high amount of shovelware (which is pretty much industry standard, and actually pretty low compared to the DS and GBA), its that developers have the retarded assumption that ONLY that shovelware sells, because that's all they make.

good games DO sell on the Wii. RE4 sold great, umbrella chronicles (shut up, I like it) sold pretty damn well, and most people will argue that they sold on their name alone. I don't think that's true. it's consumer awareness. boom blox had pretty much no marketing. and it sold like crap. zack and wiki had no marketing. again, retail disaster. same with the okami port.

if they don't bother to advertise their damn games, of course the average consumers are going to go with random cheaper games opposed to a more expensive game that they don't know anything about, or a more expensive game with a familiar title.

is the fault of the publishers, no one else.

[Zeroth]

Re: Third Party games DO sell on the Wii.

Very good point. I just forgot for a second that all systems have a lot of crappy third-party games.

[Perversion]

Re: Third Party games DO sell on the Wii.

What you say MAY be true, Valk (percentage of shovelware on older systems), but to me, there's one crucial difference. I'm gonna take a wild stab in the dark that a lot of the people who owned PS1s and PS2s at the time would consider themselves "gamers" (whatever THAT means) to an extent. So even if they bought a few pieces of total garbage, chances are they knew the difference between what was good and what was bad, because they already had some experience with games in the past. And I'll let the kid demographic go on this one, because of course, developers know that they can slap a familiar name or a cartoon guy on a game, and it'll sell, and this has been going on since the Atari days.

What I'm more concened about is all these Wii owners who might be playing games for the first time (the dreaded "casual gamers"), and their first exposure to the industry is filled with garbage after rubbish after refuse. Sad thing is, they don't know any better. Now, is this a good thing, or a bad thing?

Maybe it's a good thing, because when they play an actual GOOD game (made by Nintendo, of course), it'll make them THAT much more in awe of what video games can do. Maybe (and I'm playing devil's advocate here) it's a good thing, because they'll begin to think that video games are not fun, and do not understand what the big deal is (because they've been playing trash), and decide to leave the fold of "gamers." That way, companies can focus on those of us who REALLY matter, the "hardcore" gamers.

More than likely, though, it's a bad thing, because as much as we all might hate it, the influx of casual gamers due to the Wii and the DS (and you say there's a LOT of shovelware on those systems??? Coincidence? I think not) is probably why the industry is posting record numbers this year. If they DO all leave the fold, that means less money for the industry, which might mean fewer chances taken on new and original (and probably risky) ideas.


As I see it, once the majority of the shovelware began to hit the PS1/PS2, those systems had already been established, and already had a large amount of quality software already available. It was more than likely released to make some quick money off of all the newcomers who arrived later in their respective lifecycles.

With the Wii, though, this god-awful shovelware has been omnipresent since almost the beginning (well, since the developers saw the huge numbers of casual gamers (ie-newcomers; ie-naïve sheep in a herd) that they could take advantage of).

And as already mentioned, it MIGHT also be a bad thing that quality software (Zack and Wiki, No More Heroes, etc) is being ignored in favor of cheaply-produced junk. As every game company is for-profit, might this mean that they begin looking more closely at their bottom line, and divert development funds from a small quirky game that most likely will appeal to a niché audience (ie-it will not make money), and instead greenlight something that is familiar, derivative, and quickly and shoddily produced that will appeal to a large audience (ie-uninformed newbies...moms, grandparents, etc) and make a tidy profit?

The PS1/PS2 had/has enough of a marketshare and varying demographic in terms of preference in games that fulfilling those niché audiences' wants was/is profitable. With the Wii, not so much.


So, yeah, Valk. I think this is apples and oranges.

[simple man]

Re: Third Party games DO sell on the Wii.

O_O*

[Perversion]

Re: Third Party games DO sell on the Wii.

Glad to see you contribute something worthwhile to this topic, simple man.

[Duel]

Re: Third Party games DO sell on the Wii.

Carnival games actually sold well didn't it? Damn casual gamers.

[marcus]

Re: Third Party games DO sell on the Wii.

first 20 months at market, third party games sold better on the Wii than the 360 or PS3 in their first 20 months. and more than half of the first 20 month sales for the wii were by third parties.

I always thought about this even without looking at sales figures. If 3rd party Wii games didn't sell then Ubisoft wouldn't waste the time it takes them to poop in a case and call it a game.

The Wii is a veritable gold mine for small time/cheap developers. Just create a bunch of lame minigames, call it family fun and wholesome and BAM million units sold right there.

Remember Nintendo's Seal of Quality back in the NES/SNES days? It then turned into the Nintendo Seal on the Gamecube but they completely dropped it when the Wii came out. I wonder why...

[Translucid]

Re: Third Party games DO sell on the Wii.

aaaaaaaactually boom blox has sold over 450k units and rising. it's still full retail price.

I can't say much for zack and wiki, I haven't played it and yes it sold badly. but okami wasn't the best port.

I just think if a 3rd party made a really good game on the wii, it wouldn't take an epic advertising campaign to get people to buy it. but other than the light gun games, I haven't played much on the wii that couldn't be recreated on other systems