Developers Are Worried About Wii's Future

[CantGetAWii]

Japanese newspaper The Nikkei Business Daily recently conducted a survey of developers and illuminated the concerns of some studios in developing for Wii.

According to various developers, several factors are contributing to their uncertainty. Some claim that Nintendo has been the only true beneficiary to Wii's success due to the publisher's inability to predict and control that success immediately. Third-party developers, some said, had to cobble games together in an effort to quickly produce titles and keep up with Nintendo.

Other participants subscribed to the notion that Wii is a fad. "The Wii is like the 'Billy's Boot Camp' weight-loss program on DVD," one unnamed president of a developer told Nikkei. "People bought it out of curiosity, and it's likely a lot of them haven't used it".

The recently declining sales of Wii in Japan also pose concern. Nintendo only sold 168,000 units last month, marking September as the worst month of sales since the system's debut in that territory. The Wii previously saw sales ranging from 250,000 to 500,000 per month. The exact cause of the decline is difficult to determine, but developers see these factors as signs of inevitable change with the Wii's success. As a result, third parties now view the prospect of creating for the Wii with greater hesitation.

Anyone feel the Wii is in danger?
Personally I don't feel the Wii is in any harm at all, for now at least.

 

[Default]

I agree. The Wii is fine. It has to much potential, eventually people will see that.

 

[masonb15]

I think the Wii will soon be in trouble if the 3rd Party developers can't come up with something good other than ports of older games.

 

[Squall7]

I never take into consideration what the media says outside the gaming industry about the gaming industry. There's been so many 'experts' and 'analysts' saying pretty much everything there is to say, that at least one of them is going to be as right as saying the next roll of the dice is between 1 and 6....

...So ye, I simply don't believe them (or at least that they've got it from unbiased sources *cough* unlike Mark Rein *cough*).

 

[Trulen]

Well, I wouldn't worry about declining sales.

'Cause I know I wouldn't buy two wii's if you get my drift.

 

[mushroomedmario]

september=pricey month for students

pricey month for students=no students buying wii's


i wouldn't really worry about it, besides mp3 and msc, no good nintendo games are out...

 

[Sovieto]

well i know ill probably spark a war here but its just facts
a lot of people hardly play their wii besides when friends are over (sometimes) and at parties. now, this i can name off the top of my head 6 people who own or owned a wii. 2 of them followed me and sold theirs because they got bored with it, the other 4 dont play it all pretty much. now im sure there are people who play it everyday and will justify that online here, many people on here probably dont touch it often, and then theres the ones who just try to defend nitnendo and say they do play it extremely often but really dont (and lying to yourself gets you no where in life, btw).
but the reasons ive heard are there are no good games, and when compared to the 360 last year--well the 360 has been out for a whole year and the wii is new. well, in a month or so wii will be a year old as well and its not pumping out the games we saw last christmas from 360 or even ps3--of course there are the huge nintendo games--1 already out, mp3, but honestly, who is still playing that that got it the first week it came out? wii is still dependent on nintendo for great games and when you have to go through huge gameless summers like the last one for the wii just to get the good nintendo games..theres a problem. nintendo needs its triple A titles and they need third party AAA titles, or there just wont be enough games to make the wii last.

 

[RivalDestiny]

well i know ill probably spark a war here but its just facts
a lot of people hardly play their wii besides when friends are over (sometimes) and at parties. now, this i can name off the top of my head 6 people who own or owned a wii. 2 of them followed me and sold theirs because they got bored with it, the other 4 dont play it all pretty much. now im sure there are people who play it everyday and will justify that online here, many people on here probably dont touch it often, and then theres the ones who just try to defend nitnendo and say they do play it extremely often but really dont (and lying to yourself gets you no where in life, btw).
but the reasons ive heard are there are no good games, and when compared to the 360 last year--well the 360 has been out for a whole year and the wii is new. well, in a month or so wii will be a year old as well and its not pumping out the games we saw last christmas from 360 or even ps3--of course there are the huge nintendo games--1 already out, mp3, but honestly, who is still playing that that got it the first week it came out? wii is still dependent on nintendo for great games and when you have to go through huge gameless summers like the last one for the wii just to get the good nintendo games..theres a problem. nintendo needs its triple A titles and they need third party AAA titles, or there just wont be enough games to make the wii last.

I have to agree with you, the only reason why the Gamecube supposedly "failed" is because 3rd party developers were either not interested, or just wanted to make some quick cash by putting out crap games. Thus far, it's going on the same road on the Wii, many developers aren't putting enough effort into the Wii...graphics, gameplay, and presentation are all really low compared to the X360. The Wii is on decline right now, they aren't pumping out enough games and they are not satifying as many customers as they need.

The only 2 games that a I truly enjoyed were MP3 and Zelda, the rest were either total crap or just O.K. PS2 and X360 right now are getting my most attention, the Wii is sorta just...sitting there.

Christmas season is coming up and we'll see how Nintendo does. Games like Fire Emblem, Super Mario Galaxy, Battalion Wars 2, and some others may get my attention. Right now is when Nintendo needs to pick it up and they better soon.

 

[CantGetAWii]

well i know ill probably spark a war here but its just facts
a lot of people hardly play their wii besides when friends are over (sometimes) and at parties. now, this i can name off the top of my head 6 people who own or owned a wii. 2 of them followed me and sold theirs because they got bored with it, the other 4 dont play it all pretty much. now im sure there are people who play it everyday and will justify that online here, many people on here probably dont touch it often, and then theres the ones who just try to defend nitnendo and say they do play it extremely often but really dont (and lying to yourself gets you no where in life, btw).
but the reasons ive heard are there are no good games, and when compared to the 360 last year--well the 360 has been out for a whole year and the wii is new. well, in a month or so wii will be a year old as well and its not pumping out the games we saw last christmas from 360 or even ps3--of course there are the huge nintendo games--1 already out, mp3, but honestly, who is still playing that that got it the first week it came out? wii is still dependent on nintendo for great games and when you have to go through huge gameless summers like the last one for the wii just to get the good nintendo games..theres a problem. nintendo needs its triple A titles and they need third party AAA titles, or there just wont be enough games to make the wii last.

Yeah I agree with the last part there especially.
Nintendo can only make so many games, like Brawl and Galaxy..Mario Kart etc.
Could be some new characters that we will see soon (hopefully).

But we need third party support in a big way.
Cus your right, there won't be any games to make the Wii last.
Just like our good friend the Gamecube.

Also I honestly can say I play my Wii everyday, despite all that.

 

[Squall7]

well i know ill probably spark a war here but its just facts
a lot of people hardly play their wii besides when friends are over (sometimes) and at parties. now, this i can name off the top of my head 6 people who own or owned a wii. 2 of them followed me and sold theirs because they got bored with it, the other 4 dont play it all pretty much. now im sure there are people who play it everyday and will justify that online here, many people on here probably dont touch it often, and then theres the ones who just try to defend nitnendo and say they do play it extremely often but really dont (and lying to yourself gets you no where in life, btw).

All very subjective though. Also depends on your social circles. Personally, I know quite a few people that are still playing about with their Wii's, maybe not on a daily basis, but definately often enough to warrant their purchase. Also, most of them are looking forward to titles that are coming out over this holiday. Then, of course, there's still those ones that haven't had the opportunity or money to get themselves a Wii yet...

but the reasons ive heard are there are no good games, and when compared to the 360 last year--well the 360 has been out for a whole year and the wii is new. well, in a month or so wii will be a year old as well and its not pumping out the games we saw last christmas from 360 or even ps3--of course there are the huge nintendo games--1 already out, mp3, but honestly, who is still playing that that got it the first week it came out?

I think you shot yourself in the foot there. Most people that own a Wii that I've ever talked to is either looking forward to a game that is coming over the christmas peroid or before or many of them. And I'm sorry that I haven't got your taste in games, but I don't really see anything released as of yet that has really sold me on the 360.

wii is still dependent on nintendo for great games and when you have to go through huge gameless summers

Whoa, you're forgetting that all consoles usually have dry summers. And secondly, that's rubbish. There's plenty of third party titles that people are looking forward to.

like the last one for the wii just to get the good nintendo games..theres a problem. nintendo needs its triple A titles and they need third party AAA titles, or there just wont be enough games to make the wii last.

Galaxy, Brawl and Mario Kart not enough for you? Can't really say anything about third party titles, because they've not yet proven their quality in as much depth as Nintendo (which everybpdy trusts to bring out AAA titles), but some really do look very promising.

I have to ask, you always seem so down on the Wii. If it doesn't hold your interest, why does bitching on it seem to make it up for you?

 

[Wiingman]

it's probably a conspiracy.

think it about it... nintendo has profited ridiculously from the Wii. if nintendo is the only company releasing good games for its system, well then it's going to profit even more ridiculously.

if third parties dont make decent titles for the Wii, then nintendo stands to make even more money. I'm sure 75% + people who own a Wii will by Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Mariokart.

 

[RivalDestiny]

Galaxy, Brawl and Mario Kart not enough for you? Can't really say anything about third party titles, because they've not yet proven their quality in as much depth as Nintendo (which everybpdy trusts to bring out AAA titles), but some really do look very promising.

I have to ask, you always seem so down on the Wii. If it doesn't hold your interest, why does bitching on it seem to make it up for you?

What he's trying to say is that 3rd party developers need to improve on making games. In my opinion I've seen no games from the 3rd party that really made me say "wow, that was a good game".

Many 3rd party games on the Gamecube looked very promising but ended up playing like crap.

Many of us saw a great future for the Wii a month in when it was released. Now it's almost a year old, and we have not seen anything eye-catching. Also some things Nintendo promised us never happened...

Don't get me wrong, Nintendo makes fantastic games, but they need some
support or else the console won't succeed later in life.

if third parties dont make decent titles for the Wii, then nintendo stands to make even more money. I'm sure 75% + people who own a Wii will by Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Mariokart.

I don't see how Nintendo would make more money if third parties make crap games...wouldn't they lose money? People will own most of Nintendo games, but most people can't just live with those, we have to have some other content outside of Nintendo.

 

[JAKE196]

hmm, well the decrease in sales is probably because a lot of people have it now. . . strange a couple months ago I read a lot of dovelopers were becoming more confident in doveloping for the wii. . .

can't really know what to trust, I do know a few impotant people have expressed intrest in the potential of the wii in interviews though. :lol:

EDIT: one more thing, instead of worrying maybe they should concentrate on making better games, and it's seems kind of hard to be worried about a console that is one of the fastest selling ones yet.

 

[Squall7]

it's probably a conspiracy.

Usually conspiracies are based upon evidence (whether legitimate or not - and more than someone elses' opinions).

think it about it... nintendo has profited ridiculously from the Wii. if nintendo is the only company releasing good games for its system, well then it's going to profit even more ridiculously.

So you think Nintendo are paying other developers NOT to do a good game...? It's only logical to assume that Nintendo has the best games on a Nintendo system because they know exactly how they can push their system, and obviously are more aware of audiences (selling hardware and software is more difficult than simply selling software).

if third parties dont make decent titles for the Wii, then nintendo stands to make even more money. I'm sure 75% + people who own a Wii will by Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Mariokart.

Actually, the more Nintendo makes available to third parties, the more they can make instead of their competition. A lot of people won't make multiple console purchases if they don't have to, and if some Nintendo games don't appeal to them, then they have to try and rely on third party devs.

What he's trying to say is that 3rd party developers need to improve on making games. In my opinion I've seen no games from the 3rd party that really made me say "wow, that was a good game".

Maybe not "wow, that was a good game", but surely you have seen a third party titles that's coming soon that you think might be really fun? Ghost Squad, Umbrella Chronicles, Zack and Wiki, Worms, Medal of Honour Heroes 2, No More Heroes, Sadness, Red Steel 2, etc... I mean, I get what you mean about third party titles out now, but now we're just seeing the tail end of the first wave of games. I think this christmas, we'll begin to see some second party titles, and some do look promising (or at least I think so).

Many 3rd party games on the Gamecube looked very promising but ended up playing like crap.

Which ones did you have in mind whilst saying that? Personally, I enjoyed the gamecube, it's just that it was against the powerhouse of PS2, and the classic Nintendo games seemed to have got drowned out...

Many of us saw a great future for the Wii a month in when it was released. Now it's almost a year old, and we have not seen anything eye-catching. Also some things Nintendo promised us never happened...

Yet... To be honest, I'm willing to wait for some of those promised features if it means that they work well right away.

Don't get me wrong, Nintendo makes fantastic games, but they need some
support or else the console won't succeed later in life.

I agree, but then I feel that the Wii is getting more support than the Gamecube had, even if devs are still a little unsure about it.

 

[[DT]]

The logic in the article is all ass-backwards.

You've got a potential consumer base of 12M people who are hungry for games, representative 3rd party titles like RE4 that sell 800,000+ copies (with a limited target demographic) and THIS is the market you want to abandon?

The real metric here is software sales (*ahem* yes, this is a side effect of pirating games) - if good titles can hit a sales target of 10% of the Wii owners, even if another Wii was never sold, you're looking at ~1.2M units.

I would think the cost of doing business in the Wii game industry would be cheaper than the 360 or PS3 - the latter have much more complex development costs and far longer time-to-market.

Anyone have any average software sales per platform information?