The Wii generation. History will judge the 3rd parties

[kylohk]

Procrastinato said:

The 3rd parties have, much to their detriment, responded to consumer demands -- the loud consumers, anyway. "RPGs!" "Shooters!" "Sports!" yell the noisy few. Looking at the "top 40", I'm going to have to say that those genres just aren't the big moneymakers on the Wii. They cost too much. They make too little.

Time to move on -- if EA makes a horror rail shooter, and you only own a Wii, you should be happy they are sticking their necks out for you, despite overwhelming evidence that they should be making fitness, casual, and kids gaming products. Since horror games seem to be about the only "mature" genre capable of doing decently on the Wii, I imagine 3rd parties will continue to experiment with them. Action Adventure, Shooters, RPGs, etc... just aren't gonna fly, unless they are not mature-themed, or in the case of RPGs, catered to the Japanese audience.

"History will show" that the 3rd parties gravitate toward the money. The Wii is not a hardcore gamer console, despite the fact that 3rd parties experiment when there's a vacuum in a particular mature genre (e.g. CoD:WaW in the Wii's nearly empty shooter genre). Why would anyone buy a Wii without checking the software library first? They bought it for the great games -- Mario, Zelda, WiiFit, Mario Kart, WiiSports, WiiPlay, Mario & Sonic @ the Olympics, Carnival Games, etc. They didn't buy it for would be hardcore games that aren't out yet, or may never see the light of day.

Why again should The Discovery Channel start showing John Woo flicks?

Choosing games to make isn't based on relative popularity, but whether a "pass mark" has been reached. Just because those games have "won" doesn't mean the losers should not exist. Just like WAW, yes, it sold much less than Wii Music but it exceeded the expectations of the developer. Hence the continued release of more COD titles is justified.

The only thing the games should compete against is themselves. Set a sales target and see if it is met. If it is met, it is a success and probably made enough money. Who cares how much more Wii Music sold? It's not like your ego is hurt because it sold less than that casual game.