Reggie: Third parties don't "get" the Wii, more

[yushire]

donathos said:

It seems like a lot of times, when a publisher releases a game on Wii and it fails to sell like we'd hoped, we blame the Wii's userbase for failing to buy.

That's not how it works. These companies, it's their job to figure out what the Wii's market wants, and then to provide it to them. There's money to be made there -- the most popular Wii titles are going gangbusters, and the Wii's marketshare continues to increase. Wii owners have proven that they're willing to buy certain titles... but not others, and it might not work in the exact same way as it does on the PS3 or 360. It would be a good idea for any third party to do some sincere and thorough reflection about what it is that makes a Wii game a success.

I believe that, when Reggie speaks about third parties putting their best content onto the Wii, he's not talking necessarily about FFXIII or RE5. Instead, he's talking about devoting their best market researchers and game designers to create products specifically geared to the goal of pleasing Wii's audience, wherever that might lead them. Now, that might well include FFXIII or RE5, but right now it isn't even a calculation. Most third parties are tied into making sequels to the franchises that have historically succeeded, or games that mirror the successes of others. They're not really trying to engage the expanded market, except a sop or two in terms of control, or simplified design. But the proof is in the sales numbers. If the new CoD fails on the Wii, the lesson isn't "well, Wii owners have to eat their veggies to get dessert," i.e. the Wii might not get CoD 18... the lesson ought to be questioning whether CoD 18 is the best use of their A-squad or not.

In the market, the customer is king. If CoD, or whatever else, fails to please, then change the damn design.

QFT I Think the problem was not if Wii have 3rd party support or not, its how third parties cater to the Wii crowd. If third parties cant sell PS360 titles on the Wii, then 3rd parties should develop a game only for the Wii and not just port PS360 games. I still want to buy COD WAW though, and I think Activision can make a COD 4 port if the wii version sells well.