famousringo on 01 February 2009
But it's more complicated than that. The distributors and retailers have become pickier. They don't want to carry good games that sell 50,000 units; they want only the 250,000 unit hits. This has created a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy with respect to games. If the big distributors and retailers decide to carry a title, it is guaranteed good sales. If not, it dies. This phenomenon has accelerated the separation of games into big hits and losers. It also gives distributors and retailers a surprisingly large voice in game design.
One of the most interesting segments to me.
Retailers seems to be a major factor inhibiting the success of third parties on Wii. How many times have we experienced or read of difficulties in obtaining a third-party title within a week of launch? Some of them don't seem to show up until a week after launch day. They're present at some retailers, but not at others. They get ordered in small numbers and sell out quickly.
These issues rarely arise in the case of Nintendo titles, with the exception of mega-hits like Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit. Lots of supply is available and retailers promptly stock it in confidence that it will sell excellently.
Third party Wii games, with their modest production and marketing budgets, inspire far less confidence, and their distribution suffers because of it.
"The worst part about these reviews is they are [subjective]--and their scores often depend on how drunk you got the media at a Street Fighter event." — Mona Hamilton, Capcom Senior VP of Marketing
*Image indefinitely borrowed from BrainBoxLtd without his consent.
