Grampy said:
Where did you get that ? Every serious trade paper and every interview I've ever heard from a developer has indicated that developing for the Wii costs about half as much. |
To make a new game on a new engine would cost half as much. To make a sequel on an engine that has already been paid for in a previous game? I would say that the costs are much lower, maybe not exactly equal but they are much lower than the figures quoted for the first games in series. - programming time, art assets, design work has already been half fleshed out. For example Lord of the Rings would have been expensive as one movie, but it was quite cheaply made as three.
You also have to consider that considerable money can be paid if you have the right IP to make exclusive for one console or another, this can divest a lot of the risks involved. You also have to consider that it is much less risky to develop a sequel than a new IP.
Kojima said he wanted to make a Wii game, so did Valve and so did EA. Between XNA, Wiiware, the PC markets smaller developers and other up and comers you would probably have your best bets for good games. Why would the larger developers change when their business model is working successfully. In such a situation, a wait and see approach would probably make the most sense strategicly. This is about chicken and egg for the big developers and publishers and the egg hasn't hatched yet. When the games sell well then they will make more. I think on the biggest games for Wii thread most of the developers were names I wasn't familiar with, so they are probably small agile studios which are the ones you want since they can be the most innovative.
Tease.
