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[Fantastical]

I don't mean for this to be inflammatory, but I just started thinking about the audiences of each console and I wondered what GAF thought. Do developers really gain much by porting their PS3/360 games to Wii U? In particular, how many more copies of a game would they sell by porting games in series established on PS3/360?

I could be really off base, but in particular I was thinking about Grand Theft Auto V. There have been rumors about it coming to Wii U since last E3. How many more copies would Rockstar really sell from the game being on the Wii U? This is a different question than "how many games would Rockstar sell on the Wii U?" I would say that a large amount of people that have a desire to play GTAV already have a PS3 or 360 and they probably bought GTAIV. The only people they would really gain are people with only a Wii. Sure, those with a 360 or PS3 might buy the Wii U version if they bought a Wii U, but that can't really count as an added sale as they likely would have picked it up for 360 or PS3 if the Wii U didn't exist.

Obviously the Wii has sold a lot of units and has been successful for Nintendo, but thinking from a developers standpoint, does it really make that much sense to port your game to Wii U? It probably isn't super costly and doesn't require a ton of effort, but I thought I would ask GAF. I will also add that this doesn't really take launch games into account as people might buy games they wouldn't otherwise buy just because there aren't a lot of games at launch.

Please poke holes in my argument.

 

[Dabanton]

All i know is i hope the rumour that R* is delaying the game so the WiiU can build up a userbase is wrong.

 

[The Boat]

At this point there's not a lot to say other than the fact that if it's easy to port, it's easy to make some more cash out of a game and start penetrating the Wii U market, which was something pretty much every 3rd party failed to do with the Wii.

 

[Sandfox]

Exposing the people who only have a Wii U and never played the game you are porting would increase your fanbase and with the development cost of games today the boost in profit can help ease the pain.

 

[Pyrokai]

They're not going to happen because. Just because.

 

[FormallyFamicom]

The time to build a Wii U audience is NOW.

 

[D3RANG3D]

Gotta make those test games to fund next gen efforts.

 

[timetokill]

I just started thinking about the audiences of each console

Okay, so what is the audience for the Wii U?

 

[Fantastical]

Exposing the people who only have a Wii U and never played the game you are porting would increase your fanbase and with the development cost of games today the boost in profit can help ease the pain.

But how many people would only own a Wii U and would be interested in GTA for example? That's really what I'm wondering, I suppose.

 

[Freezie KO]

In particular, how many more copies of a game would they sell by porting games in series established on PS3/360?

Zero right now.

 

[BassForever]

Hypothetically they should be able to make the port with very little effort assuming they don't do much with the WiiU screen, they can make an easy profit even if the console doesn't sell that well out the gate. It could also be a good litmus test for those kinds of titles on WiiU, if the test turns out positive they might decide it's worth it to make exclusive WiiU titles or make WiiU the primary console to develop for.

 

[UncleSporky]

Any games released at/near launch traditionally have pretty good sales potential because of people not having any other games to buy.

If the port is quick and easy, an enhanced Gold Edition or whatever with all DLC and screen integration could encourage some purchases as well. Even little things like the same game at 1080p would be nice to have.

There seems to be an underlying assumption here that WiiU games will look exactly the same as 360/PS3 games, and while that's likely the case, we just don't know yet.

 

[Penguin]

Yes, you gain exposure, and build a fanbase.

Especially since the Xbox/PlayStation will also go through a transitional phase.
And honestly, think leaving money on the table if you don't have your game available to as many people as humanly possible.

 

[Fantastical]

Okay, so what is the audience for the Wii U?

What I'm getting at is the overlap of console audiences for consumers that would be interested in something like GTA. I'm arguing that a large percent of the people interested in GTA (or let's say Assassin's Creed 3 as well) already own a PS3 or 360 so they're not actually selling that many more copies (AC3 is actually a bad example here because it will be a launch game).

There seems to be an underlying assumption here that WiiU games will look exactly the same as 360/PS3 games, and while that's likely the case, we just don't know yet.

But how would that attract people that wouldn't have bought the game on 360 or PS3?

 

[Razlo]

I have all the consoles and buy the best version of whatever game comes out. So if Darksiders II or Arkham City is better on Wii U, I'm buying it there.

Otherwise, if you're a Wii only user and now a Wii U user, you may want to play new versions in franchises you've been locked out of.

 

[Sandfox]

But how many people would only own a Wii U and would be interested in GTA for example? That's really what I'm wondering, I suppose.

Its really hard to say but porting it for the people who only have the Wii U or prefer it over the PS3 and 360 can't hurt them.

 

[Barkley's Justice]

no.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

They gain free experience of working on the machine with final code. Porting is a way of learning the ins and outs of the machine. Better than cutting your teeth on an original title and having problems because it's all new.

 

[Ogrekiller]

If Nintendo compensates your efforts I don't see a reason to refuse as well.

 

[timetokill]

What I'm getting at is the overlap of console audiences for consumers that would be interested in something like GTA. I'm arguing that a large percent of the people interested in GTA (or let's say Assassin's Creed 3 as well) already own a PS3 or 360 so they're not actually selling that many more copies (AC3 is actually a bad example here because it will be a launch game).

How many people who buy a Wii U and also own a 360/PS3 are going to want to keep all their systems hooked up?

Maybe they figure: "I can get the best looking version of the game, or the one with the cool unique tablet features, and I can also sell my 360 because it's on the way out anyway, and I want to sell it while it's still worth something."

 

[John Harker]

Well, the userbase of Wii U is 0 right now so early ports give publishers a chance to ESTABLISH a profitable audience on the platform for their preferred content.

That is a big incentive to do it from Day 0. It'll be cheap for them to port and the potential payoff is rather big as people wane from current systems and they can sustain profits on Wii U till PS4/XboxNext comes out without having to increase dev size that dramatically.

So, get in early with your core content, establish a user base that buys those types of games, and get medium-term profits. It's not a bad strategy. That, and Nintendo will match marketing dollars for select launch titles, and who doesn't want free money?

Last, CoD Wii gets Acti ~1MM incremental sales. That's more than a lot of these games will sell at all... so, go get your pie third parties. Eat it too.

 

[Fantastical]

I have all the consoles and buy the best version of whatever game comes out. So if Darksiders II or Arkham City is better on Wii U, I'm buying it there.

Alright, so they didn't gain a sale.

Otherwise, if you're a Wii only user and now a Wii U user, you may want to play new versions in franchises you've been locked out of.

This is true, and it's impossible to really know, but I'm just wondering how significant this audience really is.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

As long as porting is cheap and easy, it'll be free money for the developers.

 

[bgassassin]

Okay, so what is the audience for the Wii U?

 

[LegoArmo]

People might buy a game they usually wouldn't because there's less choice on that console. Makes sense to me, as long as porting it is easy.

 

[HylianTom]

Yes, you gain exposure, and build a fanbase.

Especially since the Xbox/PlayStation will also go through a transitional phase.
And honestly, think leaving money on the table if you don't have your game available to as many people as humanly possible.

Leaving money on the table.. I'm glad someone hit-upon this.

Capcom was probably pretty happy with their decision to bring RE4:Wii Edition over. Not much effort, nice payday.

 

[cacildo]

I have a family

I bought the wiiU for my family. Its our only system aside from our old wii.

I see a big game coming. GTAV, its big, its a world wide recognized name, has a massive marketing campaing, seems like the next big thing. I just cant resist.



There. That´s one bazillion extra copies of GTAV being sold. A simple scenario that could have happened with Wii, but it didnt because the wii didnt had this kind of support.

 

[Fantastical]

As long as porting is cheap and easy, it'll be free money for the developers.

But it's not if they are trading 360/PS3 sales for Wii U sales.

 

[UncleSporky]

But how would that attract people that wouldn't have bought the game on 360 or PS3?

Attracting people that would/would have bought the game on another system is not the goal. The goal is simply to sell as many copies of the game as possible.

For example, what does Madden on 360 offer to attract people to it over the PS3 version? Well, what does EA care? The porting was easy, and they made lots of money. That's all.

 

[johnsmith]

People might buy a game they usually wouldn't because there's less choice on that console. Makes sense to me, as long as porting it is easy.

It's the reason I bought the Godfather on wii when it launched. Wouldn't have touched it on PS2, but on Wii with those blackhand controls? Sure, why not.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

The idea behind porting is that you use a fraction of the original dev resources for a potential 10-50% increase in sales. Even If Wii U sells primarily to people who don't already own HD consoles, that's a huge chunk of potential customers who may be willing to give a first-time-on-a-Nintendo-console ip a chance.

 

[MikeE21286]

At this point there's not a lot to say other than the fact that if it's easy to port, it's easy to make some more cash out of a game and start penetrating the Wii U market, which was something pretty much every 3rd party failed to do with the Wii.

Some would even say... stupidly easy

 

[whatsinaname]

Your whole argument begs the question that there might not be a change in Wii-only vs PS/Xbox-only audience this gen.

 

[Anth0ny]

What do they have to lose? Is porting a game over that expensive?

 

[zroid]

Chances are fairly good that they won't gain much, but conversely, how much do they have to lose? We've heard from various devs that the porting process is relatively easy, and if true, it wouldn't hurt.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

But it's not if they are trading 360/PS3 sales for Wii U sales.

1 sold copy is still 1 sold copy, and putting the game on three platforms (PS360+Wii U) will ensure more sales than if it had been on only two platforms (PS360).

 

[UncleSporky]

Your whole argument begs the question that there might not be a change in Wii-only vs PS/Xbox-only audience this gen.

No, see, he wants you to tell him the exact scale of that change, because we have a crystal clear view of how things are going to unfold for the next couple years.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Why not wait to find out the details on the Wii U, how Nintendo positions and markets it, how much it costs, how well it launches, etc so instead of having a speculation thread, we can actually talk about the question?

 

[Log4Girlz]

 

[Terrell]

The time to build a Wii U audience is NOW.

This is what I came to post. Seriously, Microsoft started from scratch, but the foundations laid with that first console are the reason for the success of the 360. Had 3rd-parties not brought the content, no one would have considered the 360 as anything more than a Halo box.

Just because Nintendo has not historically sold their works doesn't mean that now isn't time to start.

We also have to factor in the possibility that they're market leaders again. If that happens, that's a lot of consumers that really can't be ignored for yet another 5+ years in this economy.

Ports now lay the foundations for other things down the road, plain and simple. And launch-hype sales go a long way to establish oneself within a fan base.

 

[Fantastical]

Attracting people that would/would have bought the game on another system is not the goal. The goal is simply to sell as many copies of the game as possible.

For example, what does Madden on 360 offer to attract people to it over the PS3 version? Well, what does EA care? The porting was easy, and they made lots of money. That's all.

How is it not the goal to sell the game to people that wouldn't have bought it on PS3/360? If you don't you are not selling anymore copies than you would have. EA ports Madden to 360 and PS3 because there are a sizable amount of people who only have a PS3 and only have a 360. When you say "How many people only own a Wii U?" that number will be a lot smaller.

Why not wait to find out the details on the Wii U, how Nintendo positions and markets it, how much it costs, how well it launches, etc so instead of having a speculation thread, we can actually talk about the question?

I was just thinking about it. If you don't think the discussion is going anywhere feel free to lock it. I still don't think we need to know all of that to discuss how profitable it is to port games on "last gen" systems to "next gen" systems.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Jesus, that's the goddamn Corinthian right there D:

 

[Terrell]

How is it not the goal to sell the game to people that wouldn't have bought it on PS3/360? If you don't you are not selling anymore copies than you would have. EA ports Madden to 360 and PS3 because there are a sizable amount of people who only have a PS3 and only have a 360. When you say "How many people only own a Wii U?" that number will be a lot smaller.

Ummm..... user base and launch sales numbers from THIS generation seem likely to prove otherwise, dude.

 

[plainr_]

Holy shit that gif is creepy.

 

[AzaK]

I have a family

I bought the wiiU for my family. Its our only system aside from our old wii.

I see a big game coming. GTAV, its big, its a world wide recognized name, has a massive marketing campaing, seems like the next big thing. I just cant resist.



There. That´s one bazillion extra copies of GTAV being sold. A simple scenario that could have happened with Wii, but it didnt because the wii didnt had this kind of support.

And exactly what would happen in my household. My PS3 died, twice, so that's the end of Sony products for me. I have a Wii only now, and I'll get the Wii U. For at least a year it'll be the most powerful console and have a very interesting controller that can do a lot of cool shit. Why wouldn't I get GTA on it?

 

[Fantastical]

Ummm..... user base numbers from THIS generation seem to prove otherwise, dude.

Maybe I should say "How many people are interested in games with series established on 360/PS3 and will only own a Wii U?"

I suppose it's entirely speculative, so maybe this conversation won't go anywhere. But then again.

True. Tons of folks laughed at the idea of Nintendo being market leader after the Cube. The fact is.. we just don't know how things are going to unfold.

But still.. if they want to take that risk, fine.
We can just see how that works out for 'em, hmm?

For sure, I'll be picking up a lot of games I would have bought on the 360 for Wii U so I'm happy this is happening.

 

[HylianTom]

We also have to factor in the possibility that they're market leaders again. If that happens, that's a lot of consumers that really can't be ignored for yet another 5+ years in this economy.

True. Tons of folks laughed at the idea of Nintendo being market leader after the Cube. The fact is.. we just don't know how things are going to unfold.

But still.. if they want to take that risk, fine.
We can just see how that works out for 'em.

edit: they may prove wrong to avoid, they may be right. But spreading bets might be a safer idea.

 

[Orayn]

Maybe I should say "How many people are interested in games with series established on 360/PS3 and will only own a Wii U?"

I suppose it's entirely speculative, so maybe this conversation won't go anywhere. But then again.

This really depends on how many Wii-only households pick up a Wii U. If there are enough, Wii U sales of existing PS360 series could be pretty significant.

 

[Terrell]

Maybe I should say "How many people are interested in games with series established on 360/PS3 and will only own a Wii U?"

I suppose it's entirely speculative, so maybe this conversation won't go anywhere. But then again.

There are probably many people interested in them. But being Wii-only owners, their option to play it was to pay $300+ to play said 360/PS3 game or just enjoy the games available on the Wii. And a lot of people chose the latter.

This time, that's not that much of an issue, and those consumers having more and better options is all for the better for EVERYONE.

 

[PairOfFilthySocks]

I'm starting to think a seeming lack of interest on the part of a great many devs in the Wii-U could be a result of them trying to avoid consumers perceiving the Wii-U version of a game the 'best game'. Assuming the hardware is superior to the 360 an PS3, they may want to be trying to avoid making their current fans feel as if they've got an 'inferior version'. Note that I'm talking about the average Joe here, the type of guy who may not give a flying shit about PC gaming.

I can't really think of any other reason for devs to be so apparently sceptic towards the system, unless they're just not very fond of Nintendo, which I suppose could very well be the case, too.