Nintendo doesn't really like to work with other companies unless they have full control, especially not a western company.

They were probably like, "pff, we'll make so much money with the Wii U that we won't even need something like this."

For a moment I thought you were serious.

But just in case you were, Nintendo is working with Big Red Button. And there's Next Level Games in Canada that enjoyed working with Nintendo so much they decided to become 2nd party.

I think Greezo is also a Western developer that was in charge of porting popular and critically acclaimed games like Ocarina to Time and DK Country Returns to the 3DS.

Given the fact we're on a sales site, you'd hope people would have at least a minor interest in a multi-million selling franchise.

@ bold, are they?  All the information I've seen about the game seems to suggest that SEGA contracted Big Red Button & Sanzaru in to make the game.  All Nintendo did was paid SEGA for the exclusivity to WiiU/3DS.

@ underlined - Grezzo are Japanese.

I think you bolded the wrong part.  I'm also talking about partnerships, not contracted services.  

Even then, I would assume that Big Red Button is contracted by Sega.

Edit:  Ninja'd.

I care.  I spends lots of money on them for my kids.  

I remember when my friend, who works for Vicarious Visions, first told me about Skylanders. I thought it was a really cool idea, but didn't grasp the phenomenon it would become.

Maybe Nintendo executives couldn't see the big picture either. Or maybe the terms of the partnership were too toxic for Nintendo.

Anyway, I think this worked out well for all involved. Activision and Vicarious Visions get more creative freedom; Nintendo gets, arguably, the best versions of the games; and fans of all platforms get to experience Skylanders.

I don't think Skylanders is the ripest example for third-party failure on Nintendo's end though. They still aggressively co-market it with Activision.

It's not an accident that Skylanders sells best on both last and next Wii platforms.

I agree, this is so obvious it's mindblowing this wasn't being done the second the first Skylanders hit.

I always thought that was more to do with the Wii audience being younger, and closer to the target market for Skylanders.

Interestingly though, the last game, SWAP Force, sold more on PS3 + 360 (1.58 mil) than Wii (1.57 mil).  The same holds true for PS3 + PS4 + 360 + XBOne (1.85 mil) than Wii + WiiU (1.82 mil).