id Boss: 3rd-Party Wii Development "Not Really Justified"

[mike_intellivision]

Pristine20 said:
It's funny how Valve's boss gets props for condemning the ps3 but iD's boss gets bashed for condemning the wii. I guess it depends on the number of fans on x console.

About his logic, he really has a point from iD's perspective. I don't see their sort of games making any headways on wii. The second problem 3rd parties seem to have is deciding exactly what kind of wii game to release. Is it more profitable to churn out multiple "party" games or a game like Gears?

Another thing that has me curious is the purported "cheapness" of wii games. Games are made with computers using technology the studio already possess. This is a fixed cost thats already covered except the studio gets additional resources just to make game X. Aside from that, won't the greater cost of develpment be the maintenance of the studio itself? By this, I mean the personnel cost i.e employee wages. Therefore, from my understanding game X would cost around 20 million (add a few extra in case of a borrowed technology and marketing) if 50 employees making $100K/year were working on it for 4 years.

In that case, if you switch the people who were making ps360 games to wii games, how would there be a significant decrease in cost if these guys don't take a pay cut? Also, since wii games apparently take less time to develop, would these guys always be working on something to justify their paychecks or would they be fired and rehired or are we just going to have lots of studio downsizing as part of the paradigm shift to wii game production?

Someone please correct me if I'm off because I still don't understand exactly why wii games are relatively much cheaper.

The savings is in the amount of personnel needed on a Wii game vs. the amount needed on a PS3 or XBox 360 game. The generation of HD graphics is thought to be quite expensive. And there is a raft of statisical and anecedotal evidence which support the supposition that Wii games are less expensive to make.

And don't take my statement as bashing id, per se. Given id's market and emphasis, at least in the short run, I think it is taking the more prudent course.

Mike from Morgantown