Another Analyst Suggests Wii 1.5 On the Way

[Dr.A.Peter.Nintendo]

jarrod said:

Carl2291 said:

jarrod said:

Mr Puggsly said:

jarrod said:

Mr Puggsly said:

Ultimately, if the Wii did a better job moving core 3rd party games it would get more. I think MH3 is the only core game that had genuinely good sales this year. But it still sold significantly less than the PSP games.

What you're arguing is essentially a chicken / egg scenario.  Wii doesn't get AAA core games because it can't sell core games / Wii can't sell core games because it doesn't get AAA core games.  MH3's about the only real one so far, and it's an exception to both rules...

Well I think its proof that the Wii can get respectable sales on already mega popular series. For example, CoD and Resident Evil also has had sold sales. Less popular core games tend to struggle.

These days, less popular core titles tend to struggle regardless of platform.  I'm not seeing much intrinsically unique to Wii in that regard, I can name plenty of low tier core games that struggled on the HD twins, even from the companies behind COD (Activision) and RE (Capcom)... just recently Lost Planet 2, Dark Void, Singularity or Blur come to mind.  Maybe both companies should consider moving core titles away from those platforms?

If anything, the gulf between success and failure seems even more pronounced on the HD twins for 3rd parties, it's arguably a worse choice for the low tier franchises considering the costs and competition.

Not necessarily. You point out some very poorly reviewed games... What about if we look at new core games (This gen) with good reviews?

Bayonetta.
Red Dead (Okay, not really new... But already massively outsold the little known last gen game).
BlazBlue.
UFC Undisputed.
Assassin's Creed. 
BioShock.
Batman: AA.
Dead Space.
Heavy Rain.
Gears of War.
Mass Effect.

That's off of the top of my head, and without going into 1st party Sony efforts. Which would add a LOT to the list.

Now if we do the same for the Wii...? Well, I can't even think of any really. Can you?

If a publisher/developer makes a good quality game on the HD consoles, it generally has great sales. If it is reviewed poorly... It rarely gets good sales. Even some games that ARE reviewed poorly can do slightly well. Haze being proof of this.

Heavy Rain isn't even a 'core' game, and according to it's producer it's not a game at all, plus it's a spiritual sequel.  And since when are Batman or UFC new IPs, both are licensed titles and UFC in particular sold off both the strength of it's license and developer pedigree (Yukes, of WWE fame).  UFC also tanked this year comparably, despite glowing reviews.

Bayonetta shipped over a million, but badly underperformed in western markets.  The PS3 version even undersold Madworld according to NPD, and it was off the few EU charts (and no top tens iirc) it appeared on within a week.

Dead Space also underperformed upfront, though it eventually crawled to respectable figures off word of mouth in the bargain bins.  Actually, it followed a very Wii like sales curve; low but consistent sales over a long stretch.

The only really applicable games here are Bioshock (again, a spiritual sequel that sold mainly off developer pedigree, and really only on 360, it bombed on PS3), BlazBlue (ditto to being a spiritual sequel that sold because of who made it), Mass Effect (ditto again), Gears of War (though it was MS funded, and hugely promoted) and Assassin's Creed (likely the best example, though it's promotional budget was also staggering compared to basically every core Wii game).  A better example imo would be something like Borderlands, which wasn't pushed like a AAA game, wasn't hugely hyped up by the press, wasn't from an all-star studio, wasn't a spiritual sequel to anything, it was just the right game at the right time and did really damn well.  Or Demon's Souls (in America), which was very much a cult hit that crossed over into some mainstream success.  Both were lower tier hits too (Borderlands more on 360 though), something 360 and PS3 aren't exactly known for usually.

Also, Blur and Singularity didn't get terrible reviews. Neither have plenty of other HD underperformers this year, like Alan Wake, POP (which also bombed on Wii/handhelds), Tiger 2011 (again, bombed everywhere) or Split/Second... trying to draw a line between quality and sales has always been a tough sell.  It's a factor certainly, but not the definitive one.

Wii will get AAA core games soon: Call of Duty Black Ops, Golden 007...