Should There Be A Wii Seal Of Quality?

[CantGetAWii]

They are the professional analysts whose job it is to research, keep track of, advise their clients, and opine to the media about the gaming business. Analyze This cuts right to the chase.

Rather than reporting on a subject, and throwing in quotes by analysts to support or refute a point, Gamasutra offers up a timely question pertaining to the business side of the video game industry and simply lets the analysts offer their thoughts directly to you.

Each person's opinion is his own and will (probably) not necessarily agree with their fellow colleagues'.

Even over a year after its release, the Nintendo Wii is still in huge demand -- and difficult to find on store shelves. But some commentators are now vociferously claiming that the selection of Wii game titles contains a large number of underwhelming, if not downright lackluster titles, especially those from third-party publishers.

This change is allegedly tied to Nintendo being more permissive about the publishers and titles it concept and manufacturing approves, especially compared to rivals Microsoft and Sony. In fact, some third-party titles that look to have been rejected by SCEA for American PlayStation 2 release are now turning up on the Wii.

We asked Jesse Divnich of The simExchange, Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities and Ed Barton of Screen Digest:

Are you concerned about the long-term prospects of the Wii, if Nintendo manages to meet consumer demand for it this year?

Should Nintendo bring back the "Nintendo Seal of Quality" (or an alternative game approval method) to enforce more stringent standards for third-party Wii games?

Are there any upcoming Wii titles for this year that you believe will help the system -- besides the Nintendo franchise titles (e.g. Super Smash Bros. Brawl)?

The third-party publishers have failed capitalize on the gap between the large demand for quality Wii games and the supply of them.

2007 was a good example of this gap, as we had millions of Wii consumers screaming for more quality titles, but had third-party publishers porting over games like Need for Speed, NBA Live and Manhunt 2 -- all with lackluster quality and sales performance.

Lately, industry professionals and the general gaming community have suggested that Nintendo bring back its "Nintendo Seal of Quality."

People have forgotten why Nintendo introduced the seal in the first place: to stop piracy and to inform consumers of any extremely low-quality titles. Once piracy wasn't an issue and game quality began to evolve, more and more titles were receiving the seal, diluting its significance.

Believe it or not, back in the 80's, a lot of gamers made purchasing decisions based solely on the box art and the description on the back.

Fortunately, technology has evolved and we now have numerous media outlets (magazines, gaming community web sites) that have taken the place of needing a "Seal of Quality." It is unlikely any poorly developed title will fool consumers -- shame on Manhunt 2 for thinking otherwise!

I believe we won't see a huge influx of quality third-party published Wii titles until 4th quarter 2008. Until then, a few third-party titles can occupy our time: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Rygar, No More Heroes and Sega Superstars Tennis.

Source and More Opinions

 

[thas]

what does it mean by bring back the nintendo seal of quality. it never left. i think that they have to raise their standards, but i dont think they need a name change. but if they did reject crappy game they wouldnt earn enough money. there will always be crappy games that help nintendo earn enough money to make the good games that people actually buy.

 

[gidget]

i buy generic often if it is matches the product. i do the math and bargain hunt... I bought my wireless sensorbar for $6 AFTER shipping... why pay $20 for Nyko? my sensor bar has 6 bulbs... nyko has 4... if the generic isn't justified then i buy the known name.

i bought the authentic wii zapper, and will use the wii wheel.

ok... hope my sensible opinion is all here cause i'm typing too much.... :yesnod:

 

[vashivihan]

brings tears to my eyes when remembering teh seal on nes games. htey should bring it back and show theird parties thtat we care.

 

[thas]

brings tears to my eyes when remembering teh seal on nes games. htey should bring it back and show theird parties thtat we care.

is the the official nintendo seal the same as that?

 

[vashivihan]

yeah its the original

 

[smyth]

is the the official nintendo seal the same as that?

they removed the part about "quality" in 2003. now it's just the "official nintendo seal" which basically just means that the game is a legally licensed game, it doesn't mean that it was well made to any standards anymore.

 

[vashivihan]

they removed the part about "quality" in 2003. now it's just the "official nintendo seal" which basically just means that the game is a legally licensed game, it doesn't mean that it was well made to any standards anymore.

yeah that was the worst that could happen. nintendo basically said that it doesnt care about nintendo players playing third party crap on systems. i would rather play nes than licensed ******* crap

 

[jjrules352]

hmm in france there still is an original nintendo seal of quality on every wii game and even the wii box maybe its different in the US!!

 

[laderer5]

They should atually start bringing back requirements for games to be made by 3rd partys. Some of the games are more the less worth 5$ and are total rubbish.

 

[T3kNi9e]

When games that are pitched to Sony is denied then approved for the Wii, it shows that Nintendo is as much of a money grubber as Sony/Microsoft. Except they don't have as much options when it comes to 3rd parties to squeeze money out of. Some people think just because Wii is cheap and they make quality games that Nintendo cares about its gamers, but I think they care as much as Microsoft and Sony, which is very little. They care enough to make money just like any other company. But in the end it comes down to both Nintendo and 3rd party devs to make good games on the Wii, not just 1 side.

 

[wezeles]

I doubt Nintendo cares as does any of the other systems for that matter... The worse the 3rd party games are the better there 1st and 2nd party sales end up being..lol

This is all in your Video Game History 101 class who was sleeping?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_crash_of_1983
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainment_System

The Seal of Quality was because of the video game crash, Too many people making "Cheep knock off" unlicensed games to play in any console, and selling them in the mix of "real" licensed published games.
These games weren't regulated in anyway and pushed out by the millions because they were so cheep to make, making inturn all games seem worthless... Why pay 20 bucks for a game when the knock off version sells for .99 cents?

It had nothing to do with what games could or couldn't be on the system because of quality. It was what games were endorced by the console maker and had obtained an "offical license to make it".

The problem for Console companys is the FCC and other such agencys look at Game Consoles like a DVD player they don't think the people that built it have any say in who else can make games for it. That would be a Monopoly. good board game bad buisness...

Thats like saying you can only watch Sony approved movies in your Sony DVD player consumers would laugh ignore you.

Because of this and the fact they can't "controll" who makes games, everything you see is "Wii Approved." Aslong as you pay for the rights to make the game you can make it as horribal as you see fit..lol
And if anyone ever cracks the Wii game codes and can make a game without breaking any "copyright laws" then they can legally sell nintendo games without paying one cent to nintendo "unlicensed games" It happened on NES!

So they can't limit the "Crap" legally, they can only make it stick out more.
With Game Cube they started the "players choice" seals on some top selling games. They could do the same thing for Wii, maybe make a special case for "endorsed" games from the company including 3rd party... Giving the 3rd party the right to sell it in said "endorsed" case if they meet a specific players set standard... Thats our best bet...

No one not Sony,Microsoft or Nintendo can stop someone from comming out with a game on a console if they are willing to pay for it... Its just like Movies all they need is a rating when done! No garantee is has to be good