Ten simple rules to make a successful Wii game

[psrock]

RolStoppable said:

okr said:

RolStoppable said:

 

 

Now that this is done, I want to say something about the last rule (something serious). Nintendo isn't in a different world and their games don't automatically sell because they are Nintendo games. If their games are second rate and/or not what people expected, customers will notice it and respond negatively. The proof for that are Animal Crossing and Wii Music which are in no way, shape and form up to the quality of the likes of Super Mario Galaxy, Wii Fit, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Wii Sports Resort and Mario Kart Wii. And it's not just that these two games themselves underperformed, they damaged the reputation and momentum of the Wii itself. The lesson learned is that success should never be taken for granted and even Nintendo isn't immune to that, although it seemed like they believed they are (considering what happened in the last twelve months).

This last paragraph seems contradictory to me.

According to VGChartz data Animal Crossing: City Folk sold 3.37 million, Wii Music 2.66 million copies.

If - according to you - these two games lack quality compared to other Nintendo games and damaged the reputation of the Wii, but at the same time sold million copies, aren't these two games according to your logic the proof that Nintendo games sell automatically because they are Nintendo games?

Those were Nintendo's holiday games and by Nintendo's standards three and two million in sales respectively aren't exactly a lot (*EDIT: Those two games also didn't show any big legs which shows that gamers aren't really recommending these titles to other people*). Also, if a company builds a reputation of delivering quality, it's possible to get good initial sales for not that great products due to hype and people trusting the brand. This happens all the time. However, people become wary afterwards and a company shouldn't disappoint another time. A comparable example would be Blizzard and Starcraft 2. Incredible reputation, I have no doubts that Starcraft 2 will sell millions even if it isn't that great. Just like Nintendo, Blizzard earned their reputation over the years, but it's not eternal and shouldn't be taken for granted.

The big difference between Nintendo and third parties is that Nintendo had the reputation while many third parties actually build negative reputation with their early games and even some of their big franchises have a harder time selling now because of lazy efforts early on. Basically Nintendo has indeed an advantage over third parties, but they rightfully earned it.

I agree with you there Rol, history has shown us the better the wii game the more they sell.