| padib said: Of course Nintendo won't refuse licensing revenue, but Nintendo didn't do anything to attract those Wii 3rd parties. Again all Nintendo did was ensure the success of its own games, and the sheepish 3rd parties simply piggyback. In other words, given that this piggybacking is the kind of behavior you expect from 3rd parties, we both agree on Nintendo's step to take one way or the other: make sure their games sell well. After that, whether 3rd parties are on board changes really nothing for Nintendo since they've already succeeded, the rest is icing on the cake. However, I would take the argument further and argue that 3rd parties are losing opportunity on Nintendo's consoles by simply piggybacking. Of course it would be more risky, but it could potentially be also more lucrative. I'm not saying that's the case on the U, but again my argument is that that is the 3rd party's job, not Nintendo's. |
No. What I'm getting at is that they can't be successful without appealing to a broader market. Appealing to the same Nintendo fans with Mario and Zelda isn't going to do anything to widen your userbase or attract 3rd parties, as they primarily develop for a different audience. And without them, it's pointless being a platform holder.
That's the reason why I mentioned the Wii. Nintendo aggressively targeted a different, larger, more-casual audience which found them (and third parties) tremendous success. It works in tandem.
Again, third parties are not losing anything if there are no signs of a potential audience. Them developing a single title and releasing it is going to do nothing to attract a market that's currently not on it. Those resources used would be much better spent developing for a platform the audience is on. It's up to the platform holder to design, market, and cultivate an audience because they control the most powerful message. Just for an example: Ubisoft could release AC, Activision could release COD on a Nintendo system in November- but if Nintendo's primary games on the system are Mario this and Mario that, and the main marketing they've chosen is aimed directly at kids with Nintendo games, Amiibo, and Disney Infinity, those games are going to sell next to nothing. There is a clear audience mismatch and the third parties can do nothing about it. Nintendo controls the message of the system.
