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[Bluemercury]

Viewtiful Joe = multiplatform.

I seriously doubt we'll be seeing Okami on Wii. Like I said, Inaba's comments are not those of someone who wants to be putting games on the system.

Link?

 

[soundwave05]

I'm not sure if I'd read that much into Inaba's comments. Mr. Mikami seemed some what ambivalent about the GC early on too and I think even called it a kids machine IIRC. Remember way back on GAF when Mikami was working on some "incredible" looking title and everyone assumed it was for the XBox because of his comments. The game in actuality turned out to be RE Remake for the GC.

The Wii is not a good fit for franchises like Grand Theft Auto and DOOM or even Onimusha. I think we can agree with that.

But stuff like Viewtiful Joe, Okami, Powerstone, Cannonspike, Metal Slug, Contra, Castlevania, etc. if franchises like these are to continue on consoles, I think Wii is probably their best bet.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

I don't know if I see the Wii working in the same way as the DS in this sense. The DS can get away with things like Brain Training, English Training, etc. because of the touchscreen/PDA type functionality that's inherint to that.

The Wii is still basically a game machine, all the controller really is doing is making it an easier device for a person to pick up and play.

I think it's more like the original idea behind the Famicom, rebooted.

I'm going mostly on Nintendo's comments about reaching out to new users, which they've stated in regards to both the Wii and DS. I agree that the correlation isn't actually that easy. The Wiimote and the touch screen may be different than regular control methods but that doesn't mean they are intrinsically the same, and that the Brain Training appeal is probably impossible to replicate on the Wii, so they are going to have to find new games and applications to do that.

 

[Bluemercury]

What inaba said?

 

[soundwave05]

I'm going mostly on Nintendo's comments about reaching out to new users, which they've stated in regards to both the Wii and DS. I agree that the correlation isn't actually that easy. The Wiimote and the touch screen may be different than regular control methods but that doesn't mean they are intrinsically the same, and that the Brain Training appeal is probably impossible to replicate on the Wii, so they are going to have to find new games and applications to do that.

I would agree pretty much.

I think things like "party" games are going to be a driving force on the Wii, rather than "edutainment" for the non-gamer crowd anyway. Like the concept of passing one controller around in a group, stuff like that.

Horror games is another genre I could see taking off on the Wii. Everyone loves a good scare, but not everyone can play survival horror games. A game where the Wiimote is simply just a flashlight ... you could build an entire game around that, and that's something a person could then play with their girlfriend/sister/etc.

Women for some reason tend to like games like Phantasmagoria and The 7th Guest, sort of a mix of mystery/horror.

 

[ethelred]

Since apparently no one else is able to use Search, here are Inaba's remarks:

"One of the most difficult things about fantasy games is that they require a lot of imagination on the part of developers. Since the nextgeneration consoles are so new, I think that the imaginative power of developers has yet to kick in. In the future, once they come to grips with the hardware and don't necessarily have to worry about how to use the hardware but are simply creating worlds within the hardware, then we'll see more and more creative and original-style games. So if you look at a game like Metal Gear Solid 4, the characters have an incredible sense of being and history to them. They're almost like living people. Even though the game has very realistic graphics, you still have the idea that this game has a world for the player to exist in. A lot of games look very realistic, and as people come to understand the hardware, the more it will open up the creative possibilities of hardware.

"The Wii controller was something that was known, and people were already starting to imagine of what you could do with that controller. The PlayStation conference--seeing that controller and not knowing about it beforehand was just a shock and made me rethink what I thought about the PlayStation 3 and what's possible on the PlayStation 3. It was a jolt to the system. I got the chance to try Warhawk, but my own personal opinion of it is that it's just a tech test showing what can be done with the PlayStation 3 controller. It's not really connected to what's going to make it fun or interesting.

"The most intriguing part of the PlayStation 3, to me, is the power. Sony seems to have built a racing machine with Blu-ray, Cell, and all of these things that are incredibly powerful. But even though it's powerful, there are games that will work well with the machine and games that won't. And going forward, that's something we have to think about-- what game works best for each system."

Capcom/Clover's Atsushi Inaba, director of Okami, Viewtiful Joe, and the Phoenix Wright games, says that "this upcoming console race is far different from any console race before it." He says that the differences in the consoles might push gamers to wonder if they even really want a game console at all, if they have any room for it in their life. He claims to be fully aware that most people will only purchase one of the three systems. He says he will have to continue to think very hard about "this industry."

I'm not expecting a lot of Wii support from Inaba, and therefore from Clover.

Practically every PS2/GC title Capcom made sold better on the GC. And iirc, RE4 on GC alone sold more than the best selling Onimusha (someone can correct, if I'm wrong).

Nah, Onimusha outsold RE4. That's not to say, though, that Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil Remake, and Resident Evil 0 didn't sell very well (they all did). So did Viewtiful Joe... and these games did, for the most part, sell fairly comparably to much of Capcom's PS2 stuff. It wasn't like their GameCube games were bombing left and right.

 

[HyperZone<3]

The last decade of Capcom shareholder meetings, summarized:

"The Saturn is the system to beat! And by Saturn, we mean Dreamcast. Dreamcast? Haha, just kidding: GameCube is where it's at! By which of course we mean that the PSP is the future of gaming. Okay, maybe we don't know what the future is, but it's definitely not Wii. Wait: what happened at E3? Oh, god fucking damn it."

I seriously LOLed.

Even if the Wii becomes a breakout hit and makes Nintendo a big-time player in the console realm again, would it matter to third parties? Nintendo games sell on Nintendo systems, 3rd parties fight for the scraps that are left over. Its how its been for the last decade and no matter how successful the Wii is, I'd bet it will be like that again.

Heck, Ninty has already got a substantial advantage over every 3rd party game in terms of mastery of its hardware. Its a tough sell for a company to invest their money into before they know for certain that this thing will fly or not. By the time its a confirmed success they may have already missed the boat on the easy money. Catch-22 abounds here.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

Practically every PS2/GC title Capcom made sold better on the GC. And iirc, RE4 on GC alone sold more than the best selling Onimusha (someone can correct, if I'm wrong).

RE4 GC is at about 1.4/1.5 million WW (that's the last number I remember seeing)? If so then I think you might be wrong about the Onimusha thing. I have no numbers, but the first one did very well in all territories, the second did very well in Japan, not so much elsewhere, the third one was down in Japan, about the same in the US, but slightly up in Europe (yah Jean Reno), and the fourth was pretty much a non-event everywhere.

 

[Bluemercury]

Inaba doesnt say anything specific....

 

[thestopsign]

RE4 GC is at about 1.4/1.5 million WW (that's the last number I remember seeing)? If so then I think you might be wrong about the Onimusha thing. I have no numbers, but the first one did very well in all territories, the second did very well in Japan, not so much elsewhere, the third one was down in Japan, about the same in the US, but slightly up in Europe (yah Jean Reno), and the fourth was pretty much a non-event everywhere.

Resident Evil 4 should be around 1.6-1.8 million on the Gamecube, and the PS2 version is around 1.5 million. So the game did almost as well as the previous games in the series (around 3 million). I'm pretty sure that RE4 was Capcom's best selling game this generation.

 

[Oblivion]

Nah, Onimusha outsold RE4. That's not to say, though, that Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil Remake, and Resident Evil 0 didn't sell very well (they all did). So did Viewtiful Joe... and these games did, for the most part, sell fairly comparably to much of Capcom's PS2 stuff. It wasn't like their GameCube games were bombing left and right.

Oh, really? That's interesting then. Do you know how much it sold?

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

I seriously LOL.

Even if the Wii becomes a breakout hit and makes Nintendo a big-time player in the console realm again, would it matter to third parties? Nintendo games sell on Nintendo systems, 3rd parties fight for the scraps that are left over. Its how its been for the last decade and no matter how successful the Wii is, I'd bet it will be like that again.

Heck, Ninty has already got a substantial advantage over every 3rd party game in terms of mastery of its hardware. Its a tough sell for a company to invest their money into before they know for certain that this thing will fly or not. By the time its a confirmed success they may have already missed the boat on the easy money. Catch-22 abounds here.

I agree that Nintendo's own success is one of the biggest hurdles to third parties on Ninendo systems as anything, but it's not impossible for third parties to stamp their mark on the system with the right game at the right time. Look at how well Sonic has settled onto the GC, and Super Monkey Ball. Even with Sonic going multiplatform, the series maintained a sizeable userbase on the GC. Super Monkey Ball is probably more of a marquee GC series than first party stuff like Fire Emblem and Battlalion Wars. RE4, also multiplatform, but a decent hit nonetheless. It's not impossible to rise above Nintendo's first party lineup, it just takes the right game.

 

[soundwave05]

I think oddly enough Square-Enix is going to be the biggest Japanese backer of the Wii. At least early on.

I can forsee a Nintendo-Square-Enix RPG collaboration coming, and maybe even Dragon Quest IX exclusivity. It's kind of a funny full circle their relationship has done in the past 9-10 years.

 

[ethelred]

I think oddly enough Square-Enix is going to be the biggest Japanese backer of the Wii. At least early on.

I agree... It's seemed that way for a good while now. Namcai Bando's got a lot of Wii stuff announced, too (though not as major as their other console stuff), but it does seem like Square Enix will be a very big supporter of the system, much moreso (in terms of big titles and overall importance) than any other Japanese third party so far.

Square Enix and Ubisoft seem like the only publishers really, solidly on board the system so far.

 

[AniHawk]

I agree... It's seemed that way for a good while now. Namcai Bando's got a lot of Wii stuff announced, too (though not as major as their other console stuff), but it does seem like Square Enix will be a very big supporter of the system, much moreso (in terms of big titles and overall importance) than any other Japanese third party so far.

Square Enix and Ubisoft seem like the only publishers really, solidly on board the system so far.

Well, those two and Nintendo.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

I think oddly enough Square-Enix is going to be the biggest Japanese backer of the Wii. At least early on.

I can forsee a Nintendo-Square-Enix RPG collaboration coming, and maybe even Dragon Quest IX exclusivity. It's kind of a funny full circle their relationship has done in the past 9-10 years.

I'm not convinced that the DQIX exclusivity rumours isn't just wishful fanboy thinking. I just don't see S-E splitting the splitting the main FF and DQ games onto different platforms like that.

What's been confirmed so far from S-E? All I know off is FFCC and DQS (which is already more support than they gave the GC). I know a lot of people have been clambering after a KH style collaboration, and I've sure that's a matter of when rather than if (the S-E characters in Mario Basketball thingy is surely the biggest giveaway).

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

Well, those two and Nintendo.

Sega seem pretty on board, with an exclusive Sonic and Monkey Ball. Knowing Sega though, when those two become successful their Wii support will dry up.

 

[AniHawk]

Sega seem pretty on board, with an exclusive Sonic and Monkey Ball. Knowing Sega though, when those two become successful their Wii support will dry up.

They can't release anything that would make them profit, or they might lose their image.

Spoiler

I can't believe we'll never get a Wii version of NiGHTS. Ever.

 

[thestopsign]

The Gamecube did have over 10 3rd Party Million sellers I believe: Resident Evil 0,1, and 4, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Sonic Mega Collection, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Sonic Heroes?, Soul Caliber 2, Super Monkey Ball 2, and Tales of Symphonia are all up there I think. Also, Super Monkey Ball and Sonic Adventure DX are also pretty high up there.

Note: 8 out of 12 of those games start with the letter "S".

 

[ethelred]

Well, those two and Nintendo.

If Nintendo were really solidly on board the system, Twilight Princess would be Wii-exclusive. The fact that it's multiconsole and Super Paper Mario is GameCube exclusive says that Nintendo has a serious lack of faith in their new direction and whether or not the system will succeed.

I'm not convinced that the DQIX exclusivity rumours isn't just wishful fanboy thinking. I just don't see S-E splitting the splitting the main FF and DQ games onto different platforms like that.

What's been confirmed so far from S-E? All I know off is FFCC and DQS (which is already more support than they gave the GC). I know a lot of people have been clambering after a KH style collaboration, and I've sure that's a matter of when rather than if (the S-E characters in Mario Basketball thingy is surely the biggest giveaway).

Dragon Quest Swords as a launch title (pretty major, particularly given that it's the first DQ spinoff to ever have Horii in his main series role of game design/scenario) and Crystal Chronicles 2 out in Japan (most likely, based off Nintendo's financials report) by March 2007. That's pretty huge support for a console early on.

Then there's Ishii's praise of the Wii + the Friends of Mana trademark + EGM's rumor of a Mana MMO. Also pretty big. And Wada has repeatedly been very positive about the Wii's online service. We'll see what Square Enix does about the Virtual Console, though, as that'll be a big hint about how deep their support will go. I think DQIX is very, very plausible, but that'll be based on how well DQS sells to see if there's potential for the fanbase there.

Sega seem pretty on board, with an exclusive Sonic and Monkey Ball. Knowing Sega though, when those two become successful their Wii support will dry up.

I'd say Sega's support is fairly meh so far, overall, even if it is more than they gave the GameCube early on.

The Gamecube did have over 10 3rd Party Million sellers I believe: Resident Evil 0,1, and 4, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Sonic Mega Collection, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Sonic Heroes?, Soul Caliber 2, Super Monkey Ball 2, and Tales of Symphonia are all up there I think. Also, Super Monkey Ball and Sonic Adventure DX are also pretty high up there.

Crystal Chronicles.

 

[Terrell]

If Capcom ain't supporting Nintendo that much, what makes you think SEGA of all people will?

Sega made more money on its GameCube releases than any other 3rd party publisher. Not to mention that the largest majority of their 3rd-party game sales came from GameCube. Hell, Virtua Fighter 4, their top-tier franchise on PS2, was outsold by 2 GameCube Sonic titles.

 

[Oblivion]

Sega made more money on its GameCube releases than any other 3rd party publisher. Not to mention that the largest majority of their 3rd-party game sales came from GameCube. Hell, Virtua Fighter 4, their top-tier franchise on PS2, was outsold by 2 GameCube Sonic titles.

....and that's EXACTLY why Sega won't support Nintendo. They have a reputation to maintain afterall.

 

[Reave]

Most Capcom stories have horrible dialogue and pretty lame storylines. I don't know if that irks anyone else as much as it irks me, but I always find it hard to get into many of Capcom's games. There are some exceptions, though.

 

[thestopsign]

Crystal Chronicles.

Nintendo published that.

 

[ethelred]

Nintendo published that.

Yeah, so? It doesn't really matter. It's still a Square Enix Final Fantasy game. It's not a first party game.

 

[Chris Remo]

Yeah, so? It doesn't really matter. It's still a Square Enix Final Fantasy game. It's not a first party game.

No, it is first party, it's just not internally developed.

 

[AndoCalrissian]

Practically every PS2/GC title Capcom made sold better on the GC. And iirc, RE4 on GC alone sold more than the best selling Onimusha (someone can correct, if I'm wrong).

I think 3rd parties need to realize that exclusive games for a Nintendo console are more likely to sell a lot than multi-console titles, which kind of explains this I guess. Or at least good, exclusive additions, such as Link in Soul Calibur II. I think Nintendo basically went out of their way to create a system where exclusives and specialized versions of games would be far more common.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

Didn't Nintendo pay for CC themselves? Or co-funded or something?

Already they're a massive step up if they've got S-E paying for their own development.

 

[Terrell]

....and that's EXACTLY why Sega won't support Nintendo. They have a reputation to maintain afterall.

Sega's rep involves making money on games people don't seem to care about and treating their amazing franchises like utter crap by mismatching them to the incorrect audiences.

 

[Chris Michael]

I think that the fiasco of the Capcom Five is a good enough reason for them...

GC bombed in the first place. Capcom = Japanese company, DS = most succesful system in Japan ATM, yet they're supporting the rival system like 5x more. There's no logic or reason in that. It's looking to be the same with the Wii.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

I think 3rd parties need to realize that exclusive games for a Nintendo console are more likely to sell a lot than multi-console titles, which kind of explains this I guess. Or at least good, exclusive additions, such as Link in Soul Calibur II. I think Nintendo basically went out of their way to create a system where exclusives and specialized versions of games would be far more common.

Which is why I'd expect Wii releases to be fewer and further between. But the tradeoff should be more unique games you can't get anywhere else.

 

[wsippel]

SEGA announced three titles, one to be released at or shortly after launch (Bleach), the other two during the first six months if I remember correctly. That's pretty good I think. Capcom announced "Resident Evil Series", which seems to hint at more than one title from the series. I'm quite sure they'll announce at least one more game for Wii at TGS. I'm mostly worried about Konami right now, with only one (strange) confirmed title, and probably Winning Eleven...

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

Konami were never that behind the GC so I'm not expecting much from them on Wii. Have they done much on the DS for that matter? Lunar Knights is the only thing that comes to mind. Yu-Gi-Oh is Konami as well isn't it?

 

[wsippel]

Konami were never that behind the GC so I'm not expecting much from them on Wii. Have they done much on the DS for that matter? Lunar Knights is the only thing that comes to mind. Yu-Gi-Oh is Konami as well isn't it?

Hm, you're right. So one and a half confirmed titles from Konami this early are probably good news, in some way...

 

[The Friendly Monster]

Konami were never that behind the GC so I'm not expecting much from them on Wii. Have they done much on the DS for that matter? Lunar Knights is the only thing that comes to mind. Yu-Gi-Oh is Konami as well isn't it?

Castlevania...oh wait that's Capcom now isn't it?

 

[Oblivion]

Sega's rep involves making money on games people don't seem to care about and treating their amazing franchises like utter crap by mismatching them to the incorrect audiences.

So they'll give us crap that'll sell, but not be good games? Is that what's important?

Konami were never that behind the GC so I'm not expecting much from them on Wii. Have they done much on the DS for that matter? Lunar Knights is the only thing that comes to mind. Yu-Gi-Oh is Konami as well isn't it?

Kojima had better give Nintendo a **** awesome game in return for giving Snake the honor to be in SSB: Brawl.

 

[ethelred]

Konami were never that behind the GC so I'm not expecting much from them on Wii. Have they done much on the DS for that matter? Lunar Knights is the only thing that comes to mind. Yu-Gi-Oh is Konami as well isn't it?

DS stuff... Lunar Knights, Castlevania: DoS, Portrait of Ruin, Marheaven, Lost in Blue, Tao, Winning Eleven DS, Iron Feather... not too many standouts, but they've been putting a lot of content there. Lots of kid stuff / anime stuff.

So they'll give us crap that'll sell, but not be good games? Is that what's important?

Yeah, that's pretty much the case. They'll get a ton of money from Sonic Wild Fire and Monkey Ball, and both should be good games. But it's clear that so far most of their hardcore-appealing games are going on 360 or PS3... so it looks like a repeat of the GameCube from Sega.

And still none of Sega's awesome RPGs for the Wii. GameCube at least got a few of those.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

Castlevania...oh wait that's Capcom now isn't it?

It's always the thing that's staring you right in the face that you miss.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

DS stuff... Lunar Knights, Castlevania: DoS, Portrait of Ruin, Marheaven, Lost in Blue, Tao, Winning Eleven DS, Iron Feather... not too many standouts, but they've been putting a lot of content there. Lots of kid stuff / anime stuff.

There's two types of Konami content though. More than most companies they seem to be a publisher of two polar extremes quality wise.

 

[ethelred]

No, it is first party, it's just not internally developed.

Yes, yes. I understand all that. And I'm aware of who published the game. Not my point.

Within the context of this discussion (whether or not games made by big third parties can sell on a Nintendo console in high numbers), Crystal Chronicles (which was developed by a Square Enix team at a Square Enix subsidiary under a Square Enix IP, distinguishing it from Namco and Starfox) is quite obviously a relevant game when it sells over a million.

Let's not lose track of what the point of the tangent was, just for the sake of being technically correct.

 

[ThirdEye]

Megaman, Ghouls 'n Ghosts

 

[Furoba]

Hey Capcom 5 was only revealed 6 months after the GameCube launch, the Resident Evil exclusivity deal just a few months before launch. They might as well announce extra titles soon.

 

[ZeoVGM]

GameCube has proven Nintendo is not good to be partner with.
hope Capcom will learn a lesson.

your constant nintendo trolls are getting tiring.

not to mention that what you just said was never proven, as it's not true. just stop.

love capcom, they know where gaming is truly at.

the wii, apparently, going by the creator of mega man saying wii would probably be the best system to move the franchise too.