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[mechphree]

Nintendo is marketing WiiU for a casual audience and it's focus isn't core gamers. That's pretty evident with the types of titles that don't get released on it from third party publishers.

I think that is the main reason why Nintendo has been failing with the WiiU as of late, it's target audience isn't interested in the console anymore. One would think Nintendo will now switch approaches about who they market their console to.

The problem is, the core gamers are more interested in gaming machines that are more powerful and produce more mature titles.

 

[Suzushiiro]

How do you come to this conclusion.

Wii & NDS had 100s of millions of 3rd Party sales, because they got support, from AAA games to licence crap. You can't sell anything if you don't offer anything to begin with.


3rd Party Problem is not just Nintendos fault (it is of course), but the other part of the problem is that 3rd Party Publishers release late ports that noone want's to play and cry about the fact that it doesn't sell and they don't support the platform to create a consumer base for this either. There is a reason why Zombi U sells better than Mass Effect 3 and not by a small amount.

Wii got third-party games because its userbase exploded on the merits of its controller and first-party lineup too much for developers to afford to ignore despite not really being able to port games from other 7th-gen consoles to it. To my recollection at the start they didn't really bother with it much.

You don't make a console in this market and then expect third-party developers to support it out of the goodness of their fucking hearts. You have to either make it able to support ports of the games they're already making or sell enough consoles on your own to tempt them into making exclusive software for it. Wii did the latter, the current and previous Playstation and Xboxes did the former, Wii U has done neither.

 

[koutoru]

The Wii really was an anomaly.

 

[Captain Smoker]

No, more like ever since ever. Even in the NES era, Nintendo forbade depictions of blood or the like on their systems.

That was back in the 80s, we're in 2014, 3rd Parties can publish whatever they wan't.

Wii got third-party games because its userbase exploded on the merits of its controller and first-party lineup too much for developers to afford to ignore despite not really being able to port games from other 7th-gen consoles to it. To my recollection at the start they didn't really bother with it much.

(...)

That's my point, the Wii wouldn't have any sales to boot, if they didn't support it.

No games = No userbase = No sales

 

[outunderthestars]

"Nintendo was dead to us very quickly when they told us we needed to raise our quality in eliminating bugs and glitches for their software"

Nintendo doesn't give a shit about the quality of third party games.

 

[BY2K]

The Wii really was an anomaly

Why exactly leave out the Wii?

 

[dan2026]

Seriously though, can the Wii U even survive without decent 3rd party support?

At what point does it become unsustainable for Nintendo to continue making Wii Us?

 

[ab.aeterno]

It became a kids IP platform...

Assassin’s Creed III
Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Darksiders II
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Wii U Edition
ZombiU

And how well did those games do, compared to more family friendly fare like Sonic ASRT or Rayman?

 

[Yawnier]

The Wii really was an anomaly.

Graph should have the Wii included, just for scale.

 

[Kouriozan]

At this point, what must Nintendo do to get 3rd party support?
Looks like a lost cause, even for their next gen console.

 

[-Horizon-]

Would the trilogy have made a big difference?

Activision released COD: BO2 and Ubisoft with AC3 the same time as other consoles, both with equally terrible sales on the Wii U. The audience just isn't there :-/

At least they would've had a more solid argument for why Mass Effect was a no go considering it's all the games on one platform rather than just game sequels on the new platform.

 

[Jinfash]

"Nintendo was dead to us very quickly when they told us we needed to raise our quality in eliminating bugs and glitches for their software"

The sad thing is that such a request was probably never made by any of the three companies.

 

[dampflokfreund]

Nintendo is marketing WiiU for a casual audience and it's focus isn't core gamers. That's pretty evident with the types of titles that don't get released on it from third party publishers.

I think that is the main reason why Nintendo has been failing with the WiiU as of late, it's target audience isn't interested in the console anymore. One would think Nintendo will now switch approaches about who they market their console to.

The problem is, the core gamers are more interested in gaming machines that are more powerful and produce more mature titles.

^ This.

The only thing Nintendo could do now is to output as many exclusive IPs they can so Wii U would be a nice 2rd console for core gamers.

 

[axisofweevils]

It doesn't surprise me a bit. You know I always thought the reason why GTA never came out on the GameCube was that Nintendo didn't want such a violent game on their system (until I learned it was mostly because of the size of the games, though Vice City could have fit on there).

I mean, just check out that article about censorship during the NES & SNES era. I love Nintendo games, but the general public still see them as kiddy and shallow. It's a hard feeling to shake. But I guess these people won't ever admit to the beauty and magic of a Mario or Zelda game.

I'm always surprised by common this perception is, even though the DS was home to GTA: Chinatown Wars. Heck, the Wii U launched with an exclusive Zombie survival horror title.

 

[moltonasty]

Lord I wonder how Bayonetta 2 is going to do on the Wii U?

That game is going to die a horrible death methinks.

It's going to bomb. Hard. Poor Kamiya.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

Yeah because they supported Wii U with their highest and best selling IPs!

You mean Madden and FIFA?

 

[cyberheater]

You know, for all the flack Nintendo receives about not handeling third parties right, how in the world can they fight these horrible shortsighted views.

Well I think the savvy publishers out there realised quite soon after the launch of WiiU that there was no money to made on that platform due to WiiU bombing and have pulled out.
If WiiU was doing gangbuster. I'm sure we would have seen a lot of EA game on there.

 

[antronoid]

Why exactly leave out the Wii?

My thoughts too.

 

[Dion Blaster]

This partnership was literally doomed from the start. It's hilarious how little effort was made by either side to make it happen.

 

[Captain Smoker]

And how well did those games do, compared to more family friendly fare like Sonic ASRT or Rayman?

You already got an answer: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=98073098&postcount=183

 

[ElTorro]

Nintendo is marketing WiiU for a casual audience and it's focus isn't core gamers.

Actually, one of the main communicated goals with the Wii U was to win back the "hardcore gamer". That's part of the reason why the "U" is in the name and why the main controller has the same button and stick layout as the competitor's controllers [/edit: Removed wrong statement. Sticks are clickable].

That intention makes the Wii U's design even more sad.

 

[Dunlop]

At this point, what must Nintendo do to get 3rd party support?
Looks like a lost cause, even for their next gen console.

Now that the focus will be shifting to PS4/XB1 I see it as a total lost cause

 

[akidnamededdy]

Why exactly leave out the Wii?

Because then the graph wouldn't make a point, lol.

 

[Aostia]

There are so many reasons to shit on the wiiu that that the examplf of mass effect screwjob edition and the inclusion of activision, considering their kiddy skylander IP, are really silly

 

[BY2K]

Well I think the savvy publishers out there realised quite soon after the launch of WiiU that there was no money to made on that platform due to WiiU bombing and have pulled out.
If WiiU was doing gangbuster. I'm sure we would have seen a lot of EA game on there.

Announcing a better deal on other platforms helped sooooooooo much.

 

[ClearData]

I think the whole article is deserving of discussion. The misguided EA quote is just one of the talking points in the article.

 

[Seik]

Even the Mass Effect title on Wii U, which was a solid effort

Yeah right, EA, and something like a week after Mass Effect Trilogy came out on PS3\360.

Shit effort.

 

[Jinfash]

Why exactly leave out the Wii?

Probably to prove it was the outlier/anomaly.

 

[RMS Gigantic]

Yeah, I can agree with that. I guess Nintendo just failed to grow with their user base.

And not growing with a particular user base also means that they will not die with that user base, which means that Nintendo could live as a company for another 125 years.

 

[10k]

No, Nintendo died to you when you saw the specs of their hardware compared to Sony and microsofts dev kits and you knew the system would sell like shit.

I don't blame them for skipping the Wii U but don't use the kiddy excuse.

 

[Jonm1010]

I guess it needs to be said in every thread....

It's Nintendo's job to entice potential publishers and developers to commit to their platform not the other way around.

Whatever you think of EA's excuse the outcome resulted in a loss of confidence from EA and apparently other publishers in believing their properties could be successful on Nintendo.

 

[zma1013]

It's going to be like that with nearly every third party game though.

Take Call of Duty for example - if people want the cheapest way to play CoD, they'll get it on 360/PS3. If they want to play with all of their friends online, they'll get it on Xbox or Playstation. If they want the version with the best graphics they'll get it on PS4/Xbox One.

In most cases, there's no good reason to pick up a third party game on the Wii U.

Correct. The majority of 3rd party multiplats just aren't going to sell on the Wii U because of the number of people that already own PS3/360. Regardless, it's pretty hypocritical of EA to say that Mass Effect 3 was a solid effort on Wii U. Technically, yes, it was, but from a market standpoint they killed it's chances before it even released. Don't say you gave a solid effort to sell it if you didn't give a solid effort sell it.

 

[maxcriden]

I got 3 sparkly stars on my NSMB DS save file, does that count?

And yeah, I was just messing anyway

Very impressive, but I'm going to need to see more

I'll settle for a 200% complete DKCR 3D file, since you have a 3DS!

 

[Mlatador]

The Wii really was an anomaly.

What is that supposed to mean? The generation has barely started (not even 1/1/2 of 5 to 6 years).

 

[EatinOlives]

No one cares about EA anyway. Console is better off without them.

Because the WiiU is doing amazingly and doesn't need anyone's help flying off the shelves.

 

[LiquidSolid]

Why exactly leave out the Wii?

Because he's saying the Wii was an anomaly and that there's a trend with Nintendo's hardware sales once it's taken out of the equation.

 

[Mariah Carey]

...is there something wrong about making games for kids? I've honestly been creeped out how the target audience for videogame systems has shifted to late twenty something single men, like if the folks behind My Little Pony actually decided to go after the 'bronies' as their target demographic.

 

[shinobi602]

Why exactly leave out the Wii?

My thoughts too.

In the article, he was trying to point out that the Wii was an anomaly because, according to a Nintendo spokesman, they were fighting a losing battle with 3 competitors in the race after the Gamecube, so they targeted a completely different audience. It specifically abandoned their strategy from previous generations.

Now they're trying to grab both casual and core again, it shows a trend in the constant decrease of console sales over the years when they do that.

 

[tuffy]

Wii got third-party games because its userbase exploded on the merits of its controller and first-party lineup too much for developers to afford to ignore despite not really being able to port games from other 7th-gen consoles to it. To my recollection at the start they didn't really bother with it much.

The Wii was just too big to ignore, but third parties still barely knew what to do with it. We wound up with a lot of minigame collections and "test" games from developers whose strongest efforts were released elsewhere. Though as I recall, the Plastic Instrument genre did quite well on the Wii right up until the market for music games imploded.

 

[BlackJace]

I don't understand why the Wii is always taken out of those graphs.

"See? If we take out the company's most successful console, and one of the most successful consoles in the industry, they've been on a downward trend!"

 

[RMS Gigantic]

Because the WiiU is doing amazingly and doesn't need anyone's help flying off the shelves.

Because EA's impeccable reputation in recent years would ensure that WiiUs would fly off the shelves.

 

[Wickerbasket]

What is that supposed to mean? The generation has barely started (not even 1/1/2 of 5 to 6 years).

The Wii U is not going to outsell the GC at the rate it's selling now.

The graph just shows the downward trend of Nintendo's home console business when you leave out the anomaly that was the Wii.

 

[tronic307]

Nintendo fans don't buy EA games, at least not for Nintendo consoles. Boom Blox 3, maybe?

 

[Grizzo]

I'm always surprised by common this perception is, even though the DS was home to GTA: Chinatown Wars. Heck, the Wii U launched with an exclusive Zombie survival horror title.

Yeah I know, don't forget this one (I bought it and I thought it was good) :

Even the Game Boy Color got one !

But I don't know, I was pretty young at the time of the Gamecube, so I was only reading what video games magazines and message boards had to say on the matter of GTA not getting released on it. To me it felt like Nintendo's disapproval was the only reason for this, even though games like Carmageddon or True Crime were released on their home system before.

But I can see where EA is coming from with this standpoint.

 

[ElTorro]

No, Nintendo died to you when you saw the specs of their hardware compared to Sony and microsofts dev kits and you knew the system would sell like shit.

Pretty much.

People who dismiss specs with the "Graphics don't matter"-argument miss the point. Developers already moved their development processes and tools from current-gen to next-gen (and probably mobile). Long-term support for another current-gen system like the Wii U would disrupt this organizational situation and introduce unproportional costs. Entire games had to be redesigned from scratch to be implementable on the Wii U, since even core gameplay of next-gen games will rely on the processing power and memory capacity of those systems. Why would any developer do that?

 

[jroc74]

Kinda confused at the hate at what EA said.

Lets look at the Wii and Wii U and see what multi platform games have been released. Now lets look at the sales of those games vs the PS3 and 360.

Now lets look at the sales of the Mario's, Zelda's, Wii Sports, ect.

Did Rockstar purposely leave the Wii U out for GTA V or did Nintendo say no thanks to that very mature themed game? Manhunt 2 is available on the Wii.... or did sales of other multi plat games and specs play a part?

Maybe sales of other games not named Mario, Zelda, Wii Fit, ect do play a part in supporting the platform.

Ppl mention the Wii winning last gen with console sales....but I would like to know the overall game sales of the 3 consoles and see who did better in that regard. That might tell a better story.

 

[EatinOlives]

The Wii was just too big to ignore, but third parties still barely knew what to do with it. We wound up with a lot of minigame collections and "test" games from developers whose strongest efforts were released elsewhere. Though as I recall, the Plastic Instrument genre did quite well on the Wii right up until the market for music games imploded.

To be fair, even Nintendo seemed to have lost interest with motion gaming. With the obvious exception of Skyward Sword, the latter half of their titles were littered with 2D platformers that used rudimentary waggle mapped to a button. In terms of motion gaming their efforts were pretty underwhelming at that time.

 

[Kazuma Kiryu]

I don't understand why the Wii is always taken out of those graphs.

"See? If we take out the company's most successful console, and one of the most successful consoles in the industry, they've been on a downward trend!"

Even if you put the Wii in the graph, the overall trend is pretty clear.

 

[MDX]

The argument made is that none of those sold well enough to sustain their interest in the platform and release their core franchises. There are many variables to consider, but the premise isn't that outlandish or unexpected.

So why did the WiiU get the next iterations of
CoD, Batman, A-Creed?

The problem is games like
Batman and A-Creed were never on the Wii. So there was no audience there from the start. CoD came at the end of Wii's life cycle, but was never marketed.

So yeah, third party publishers have their worked cut out for them to foster the confidence that these series will continue on the platform. Its their fault for killing their own games on Nintendo consoles.

Where is Red Steel 3? Zack & Wiki 2, ZombiU 2?
The CoD series sold better on each new iteration.

3rd parties on the WiiU are dumbasses.

 

[outunderthestars]

Because EA's impeccable reputation in recent years would ensure that WiiUs would fly off the shelves.

2 of the top 5 selling games last year were EA Games.