| NJ5 said: They Know: A) Most 'core' gamers with Wii also own a PS3/360 and will buy core games on the HD systems first. B) Most other Wii owners are non-traditional console owners and not interested in traditional console games How and when did they/we find this out? |
Any large company uses market research firms to study the likes and dislikes of it's intended audience. EA / Ubisoft / Capcom even Nintendo have had 2 years now to establish what the audience on Wii looks like.
My point is EA isn't just guessing and tossing stuff out blindly - their choices (and Ubisoft's and Sega's etc) are based (at this point in the game) on market research and proven parallels in the industry. So they know Kart racers and party games sell well (if made with quality and/or well branded) - based on sales of similar games - so their making more of those. Stuff like Dead Space being an onrails shooter prequel or Wii getting a Silent Hills remake (while the HD systems get sequels) is because market research shows a large portion or possibly even a majority of Wii owners are not traditional game players so they don't know the franchises nor want to engage in the more complex controls that people on this site just take for granted because they grew up with it.
Can I give a link or proof? No. Companies never release that info. They pay for it to give themselves a competitive advantage and they are sure not going to share it. But it's common practise for all industries and especially when companies are dealing with a product or audience they are unfamilair with (like Wii's).
EA is putting 50% of their games developed on Wii but don't expect it too look anything like the 50% that's going on the HD systems. It won't. Wii can't compete directly on multi-system core releases (look at Tomb Raider or CoDWaW - Wii sales are always well behind - even if profittably anyway) but it does have a huge and very diverse audience and while Ubisoft and Sega are targetting niches of that audience (girls and older males respectively) EA is trying to throw out as wide a net as possible with their games to catch as many different demographics as possible.
