Nintendo and 3rd parties *Formerly; Nintendo is f*cking up big times with 3rd parties*

[DanneSandin]

RolStoppable said:

DanneSandin said:

I simply can't understand why a WHOLE industry could be so biased. Is it because they don't think their games will sell? Because I'd think that Just Dance and Skylanders would have disproven that...

Because their belief is that they could make more money with Nintendo being gone.

Do you think third parties are happy to make games for six (PC, three home consoles, two handhelds) or more platforms (legacy systems from the previous generation)? Money spent on hardware can be seen as being equal to money that can't be spent on software. Just like money spent on first party software can be seen as money that can't be spent on third party software. The more different pieces of hardware that are out there, the more money it is that won't be spent on software.

Ergo, it is in third parties' best interest, if the number of platforms gets reduced as much as possible. PCs, laptops, smartphones and tablets won't go away, because they are multipurpose devices, so it's really only dedicated gaming machines that can be pushed out of the market. The belief is that gamers of dying platforms will move to other platforms, like it happened with the remaining Sega fans after the Dreamcast was discontinued. However, it's also in third parties' best interest to keep at least two console manufacturers alive that are relatively even in marketshare. This way third parties can put pressure on each manufacturer to get favorable deals on things like royalty fees and marketing, because it's in the console manufacturers' best interest to sell more consoles. Out of the current three manufacturers, it definitely makes the most sense to push Nintendo out. They aren't needed; rather they are more of an obstacle. Just like Sega was when they refused to can their own sports games to grant EA a monopoly on the Dreamcast.

That's pretty much how many Western publishers operate and also the reason why they won't really bother with the 3DS and see no problem with letting the PSV die. They are unneeded platforms, especially now that smartphone gaming is the sole future. There's the occassional support for Nintendo systems, because if Nintendo doesn't go away, then third parties might as well make the best out of it by cashing in (profits that are then funneled into the development of games for their prefered platforms).

Seems logical enough.. And 3rd parties would rather see Nintendo go so that they don't have to compete against Nintendo's 1st party line up? But what would happen if they went 3rd party then? They'd be EVERYWHERE!

The Japanese mindset is a bit different, but they have been toxicated with endless accusations that they have been falling behind the times which led them to imitating the West. But if their decisions aren't driven by greed, they keep doing what they've done in the past and that is making exclusive games that take advantage of the platform the game is on. Japanese publishers might not post as high sales numbers for their games as Western publishers, but they still compete in profits. This highlights how flawed the Western game development process is.

I underlined something I think makes a lot of sense! And that's why Just Dance is a much bigger franchise than Gears ^^ imo at least. So, do you think it would make sense for 3rd parties to make multiplats for PS360/720 and make exclusive games for Wii U that takes advantage of the HW?

One characteristic of confirmation bias is that people are unwilling to admit when they are wrong (and this includes people in the highest positions). Instead they will look even harder to justify their stance. If you sell as many games as EA, yet still fail to turn profits as a company, it would be time to reconsider your worldview. There are two ways to view the video game business:

1) First and third party software help each other, thus everyone who makes honest efforts benefits from it as the installed base keeps increasing and overall software sales with it.
2) Everyone is on his own. The crab mentality. Instead of lifting each other up, others will be dragged down to the same level.

I guess this ties in with the point made above; games taking advantage of the HW will perform better and boost 1st and 3rd party games. Or, would you say that I am wrong in that assumption?

Too many publishers look at it in the second way, that's why the industry rejected a console that could grow the medium as a whole and thus increase profits for everyone. Companies are run by people; and people don't always make rational decisions. That's also the reason for Nintendo's own collapse. They abandoned a successful strategy and now they aren't doing well.

Seriously Rol, what's up with the wall of text? It took me like 2 days to read it all ^^ better late than never I guess