Ten simple rules to make a successful Wii game

[psrock]

RolStoppable said:

psrock said:

RolStoppable said:

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.

I know you are being sarcastic, but still, what you said holds mostly true. The better a game is, the more people who are interested in that kind of game it can sell to.

Evaluate how big the market for a game like MadWorld is. Are women interested in that kind of game? Most likely not, there goes a large chunk of the market. How about kids? Oh nevermind. Men? Mostly male teenagers. How many of them like stylistic black and white graphics? It's definitely a minority. So that means that the number of gamers who could actually be interested in the game is already very limited. Add a short game length and repetition and you lose some more customers. Suddenly MadWorld's sales start to look impressive. I am the master of spin.

Now evaluate the possible size of Mario Kart Wii's market. Notice a difference?

I am disapointed in MARIO kart's sale, I predicted 50 Million.

Seriously, I can never compare a mature game to a Mario game whic i agree with you appeals to everyone. But, my point still stands, it's more about appeal, connecting to the right market and knowing what their fans want that has given Nintendo such great advantage. It doesnt mean their games are better than the third party, it just so well placed and attractive to the buyer.

As a gamer though, I care more for the quality instead of appeal, fortunatly Nintendo make both.