morriss, you also mention games whose names are based on huge franchises. R6 and CoD are large moneymakers for larger third party companies. Using these games as examples don’t reflect the Wii’s inability to sell games, but rather a different aspect altogether, specifically how popular games sell well.

In that sense, RE4 and a game like Guitar Hero 3 are great examples of how third party games can sell well.

And seriously, Zack and Wiki really wouldn’t have had a chance of selling extremely well anywhere. And before saying that it could, look at Okami, a game with great reviews but abysmal sales on the PS2.

The reality is that poorly made and marketed games will sell poorly. Third parties making shovelware instead of really putting the effort into making the same amount of high-quality software for the 360 is their own damn fault, not Nintendo’s. Why can’t anyone make a GTA4 for the Wii? Seriously, the graphics and controller interface (which would arguably make the game better) are absolutely no excuses.

From the sound of it the Wii version is the best though. I guess you guys are right after all. Putting quality on the Wii is too risky. Better play it safe on the others.

That said, the individual formats chart had twice as many Wii games as 360 games on it. The Wii chart has mostly 3rd party games on it.

Things are already changing.

But to answer why the third-party Japanese developers have been “quiet” recently with the next-gen, I think you guys are overlooking the fact that their games tend to take longer to develop (these same companies also took longer to release their first titles even on the PS1 and PS2; look up their release histories for example; FF7 took 18 months and MGS1 took 3 years since the PS1 release). Also, they HAVE been releasing titles.

So far, on the next-gens (i.e. PS3/360):

Bandai-Namco: Gundam Mussou (PS3), Ace Combat (360)
Capcom: Lost Planet, DMC4 (Dead Rising doesn’t count as a full game IMO, sorry)
Sega: Yakuza 3 (it’s only a spritual successor BTW, and the game is completely different than the Yakuza games; it’s also called “The Dragon ‘Rises’” and based on Miyamoto Musashi’s story. This is a big game.)
Square-Enix: They’re fairly busy making FF13 ATM

(Did I forget anyone?)

My point is that they’re not on the fence by any means. They ARE developing for next-gen, but tend to be less public about their progress.

Furthermore, original third party games *are* getting a look in on non-Wii platforms. The Idolmaster and Lost Odyssey spring to mind for 360 in Japan (although calling anything on 360 in Japan a commercial/market success is at the expense of context).

Again, context and attach-rates are where the story lies. Hardware unit sales on their own (or combined with platform-holder software sales) are a very skewed way of viewing the situation. With regards to the Wii, it’s a fantastic success for Nintendo - it is yet to prove itself as a fantastic success for anyone else in the industry…

..although I’m sure those R4 guys are working on it.

One or two third-party titles on Wii have performed relatively well recently - Hudson’s Deca Sporta and Bandai-Namco’s Family Ski. Both were expressly targeted towards the audience who bought Wii Sports and Wii Fit. I’ve no doubt that Family Ski’s success was partly down to it being the first non-Nintendo game to use the balance board as an optional control method, while Deca Sporta was aggressively marketed as a Wii Sports with more depth. So third-party success can happen.

A 3rd party dev creating a new IP for the Wii is a huge financial risk and one I can understand they don’t want to take. Zak and Wii was fresh and original and the Wii was the perfect platform for it, and it tanked.

All the signs point the way of the Gamecube, atm.

Zack & Wiki would have a hard time on any console. The fact that the Wii is cheap to develop for made it possible to publish it and to profit on it. Something I for one am grateful for.

Personally speaking as a doubter, I’m not at all enthused about the control method and can’t bring myself to shell out the price of a 360 for a piece of kit that’s barely more powerful than the Cube I already own. Add in the fact that I really don’t like most of Nintendo’s primary franchises and you’ve effectively rendered the Wii “hardly essential”.

That’s all imho, of course. I fully appreciate that other people may well think it’s the best thing to happen to gaming since plumbers.

Capcom has said that Zack & Wiki, which is an excellent game, is selling according to plan. I bet SquareEnix aren’t too disappointed with DQ:Swords sales either.

I’m going to stand by my point that it’s borderline moronic not to shift focus on to the Wii. I’m 100% sure we will see a DS style increase in quality and sales from 3rd parties.

The Japanese market has been handheld dominated for ages, if anything’s declining this year it’s the DS as it faces market saturation, not the Wii.

However, 3rd party stuff sells really well on PS3/360 for example.

Right now, for its hardware sales, the Wii’s attach rates are pretty slender. Worse yet, the bulk of the attach is, as we all know, from Nintendo’s own stuff.

In spite of the (relatively) simplified architecture and the (relatively) cheaper cost that attracts third party developers to the Wii, it means little if the return on your (relatively) small development investment is so slender.

The largest third-party successes excluding shovelware (Carnival Games) or launch titles (which sell based on entirely different market factors than other games) have tended to be remakes.

Investing in the Wii, as a developer, is not as ‘obvious’ as many assume.

It’s like saying if you discount shooters the 360 isn’t selling that many games.

I’m beginning to wonder just what the Japanese software industry is doing, tbh. Hardly anything worthwhile on the release schedules, very little that we know about in development. Pretty much all effort seems to be going into the DS and Wii shovelware. This makes me sad. And angry. And a bit hungry. I might get a snack.

Apart from Mario titles, like what?

The latest Monster Hunter for PSP appears to have done very well this week. I’m seen figures of 650,000 units for the first few days banded about.