Hello everyone, I'm new to the forums but I have been reading them constantly since last year. Finally I decided to post, because I feel bad about my console.
I'm going to go through the major 3rd party developers.
The situation with Wii's 3rd party is concerning as of now. Most of the devs are shifting their resources to the HD consoles. Quality titles are being developed majorly on the HD's, and devs say it's because hardcore gamers know the difference and they will only play quality. That's very sad from the developers to think Wii's audience is stupid.
All good 3rd party support will be mostly coming from Japanese devs.
Look at this stats all from gamerankings, avrg scores for games on the Wii from the following companies, all big 3rd party devs, and not listing the shovelware companies like Data Design, Phoenix games, etc:
Ubisoft: 60% (Missing reviews for a lot of games, most of them shovelware, that and more reviews for the games with score would have brought down the score considerably, maybe below 50%)
Comment: Most of the games on this list are shovelware, the games set for a future release also look likley to be shovelware. The most dissapointing 3rd party dev so far, future looks worse than it already is.
| No More Heroes | 1/22/2008 | WII | 8.6 | 83.3% |
| Pippa Funnell: Ranch Rescue | 11/16/2007 | WII | 80.0% | |
| Rayman Raving Rabbids | 11/14/2006 | WII | 8.2 | 76.9% |
| Prince of Persia Rival Swords | 4/3/2007 | WII | 8.4 | 71.2% |
| My Word Coach | 11/6/2007 | WII | 69.1% | |
| Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 | 11/15/2007 | WII | 1.0 | 67.5% |
| Surf's Up | 5/30/2007 | WII | 9.0 | 66.8% |
| The Dog Island | 5/6/2008 | WII | 9.0 | 66.5% |
| Red Steel | 11/19/2006 | WII | 7.4 | 65.8% |
| Cranium Kabookii | 12/4/2007 | WII | 65.3% | |
| TMNT | 3/20/2007 | WII | 8.4 | 61.5% |
| Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent | 11/28/2006 | WII | 7.6 | 61.3% |
| Petz: Catz 2 | 11/14/2007 | WII | 60.0% | |
| Driver: Parallel Lines | 6/26/2007 | WII | 9.0 | 59.8% |
| Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII | 3/20/2007 | WII | 7.4 | 57.4% |
| Cosmic Family | 9/18/2007 | WII | 8.0 | 55.0% |
| Emergency Heroes | 5/27/2008 | WII | 55.0% | |
| Monster 4X4: World Circuit | 11/19/2006 | WII | 6.2 | 53.8% |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Hard Evidence | 1/15/2008 | WII | 52.6% | |
| Nitrobike | 1/15/2008 | WII | 50.5% | |
| Open Season | 11/30/2006 | WII | 5.1 | 45.8% |
| Who Wants to be a Millionaire | 12/31/2008 | WII | 40.0% | |
| GT Pro Series | 11/14/2006 | WII | 5.9 | 37.7% |
| Far Cry Vengeance | 12/12/2006 | WII | 5.5 | 37.0% |
| Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 | 12/31/2007 | WII | -- | |
| Petz: Horsez 2 | 11/14/2007 | WII | -- | |
| Petz: Dogz 2 | 11/14/2007 | WII | -- | |
| Telly Addicts | 2/15/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Top Trumps Adventures | 12/7/2007 | WII | -- | |
| My Spanish Coach | 11/30/2007 | WII | -- | |
| Totally Spies! Totally Party | 2/15/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 | 12/31/2008 | WII | -- | |
| My French Coach | 11/30/2007 | WII | -- | |
| Shaun White Snowboarding | 12/31/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party | 12/31/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Dogz 2008 (working title) | 12/31/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Babyz Party (working title) | 12/31/2008 | WII | -- |
Activision: 57.3% (Missing reviews for some shovelware too, % might go down if they were actually reviewed)
Comment: Similar to Ubisoft, most of their games are shovelware, but the quality looks to be going up a bit in the future mainly because of GH, the rest of the games are shovelware/quick bucks.
Capcom: 80.7%(Most of their games are great, even though there are some ports)
Comment: Best 3rd party support so far for the Wii, though recent announcements werent what most expected, Spyborgs looks at least promising, nothing more though compared to HD consoles 1 decent title will not be enough.
| Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition | 6/19/2007 | WII | 8.8 | 90.9% |
| Okami | 4/15/2008 | WII | 10.0 | 90.2% |
| Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure | 10/23/2007 | WII | 9.0 | 85.9% |
| We Love Golf! | 7/15/2008 | WII | 80.0% | |
| Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles | 11/13/2007 | WII | 8.9 | 75.7% |
| Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law | 1/8/2008 | WII | 61.8% | |
| MotoGP 08 | 12/31/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Neopets Puzzle Adventure | 12/31/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Spyborgs | 9/30/2008 | WII | -- |
Sega: 61.6% (A lot of low budget games, lots of low budget games)
Comment: Sega has developed a lot of shovelware, lots of mediocre games, a lot of old ports and some decent games. Now future looks more promising, this is a plus for them, although they havent announced much at all.
| Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz | 11/14/2006 | WII | 7.7 | 73.5% |
| Sega Superstars Tennis | 3/18/2008 | WII | 10.0 | 72.0% |
| Ghost Squad | 11/20/2007 | WII | 70.7% | |
| Sonic and the Secret Rings | 2/20/2007 | WII | 8.2 | 69.8% |
| NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams | 12/18/2007 | WII | 68.4% | |
| Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games | 11/6/2007 | WII | 66.9% | |
| The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return | 3/11/2008 | WII | 66.0% | |
| Sega Bass Fishing | 2/26/2008 | WII | 62.2% | |
| Bleach: Shattered Blade | 10/9/2007 | WII | 59.9% | |
| Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity | 1/8/2008 | WII | 57.5% | |
| Alien Syndrome | 7/24/2007 | WII | 8.4 | 51.3% |
| Iron Man | 5/2/2008 | WII | 47.3% | |
| The Golden Compass | 12/4/2007 | WII | 10.0 | 35.7% |
| Vectorman | 2/27/2007 | WII | -- | |
| Samba de Amigo | 8/19/2008 | WII | -- | |
| The Incredible Hulk | 6/5/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Sonic Unleashed | 11/4/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Madworld | 2/24/2009 | WII | -- |
Konami: 65.2%(Mixed bag)
Comments: Konami released the same amount of shovelware compared to good games, this is good actually, as the company at least cares abou their customers. Future doesnt look good at all, and if Castlevania gets announced thats only 1 title for the future, not good at all.
| Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 | 3/18/2008 | WII | 10.0 | 84.4% |
| Elebits | 12/12/2006 | WII | 7.7 | 75.3% |
| Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party | 9/25/2007 | WII | 8.0 | 71.8% |
| Critter Round-Up | 5/19/2008 | WII | 71.0% | |
| Kororinpa: Marble Mania | 3/20/2007 | WII | 8.2 | 70.5% |
| Dewy's Adventure | 9/25/2007 | WII | 9.3 | 68.6% |
| Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore | 2/5/2008 | WII | 67.5% | |
| Fishing Master | 9/18/2007 | WII | 62.9% | |
| Deca Sports | 5/13/2008 | WII | 53.1% | |
| Wing Island | 3/20/2007 | WII | 6.4 | 48.6% |
| Target: Terror | 4/22/2008 | WII | 43.8% | |
| Rock Revolution | 12/31/2008 | WII | -- | |
| DanceDanceRevolution Hottest Party 2 | 12/31/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Lost in Blue (working title) | 12/31/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Indoor Sports | 6/30/2008 | WII | -- |
Namco Bandai: avrg cant be figured out since most of the games dont appear, so far would be around 55%~
Comments: A lot of casual games and some shovelware, but the future looks very good, this is one company that will bring gems to the Wii. Fragile, Tales of Symphonia, Swords of Legendia, Taiko Drum Master, Sky Crawlers. Best support so far judging by future releases. Of course they have some low budget games in the works too.
| Soulcalibur Legends | 11/20/2007 | WII | 10.0 | 55.6% |
| Tamagotchi Party On! | 5/29/2007 | WII | 6.0 | 42.8% |
| Space Station Tycoon | 6/30/2008 | WII | 10.0 | -- |
| Active Life: Athletic World (working title) | 12/31/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Active Life Outdoor Challenge | 9/9/2008 | WII | -- |
| One Piece: Unlimited Adventure | 1/22/2008 | WII | 6.1 | 69.3% |
| We Ski | 5/13/2008 | WII | 66.0% | |
| Namco Museum Remix | 10/23/2007 | WII | 54.8% | |
| Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World | 12/31/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Final Furlong | 6/30/2008 | WII | 5.4 | -- |
| Digimon | 12/31/2007 | WII | 8.5 | -- |
| We Cheer | 9/16/2008 | WII | -- |
THQ:63.7%
Comments: So far Wii has seen low budget games from this company, and quite some shovelware. Future seems brighter after the announcement of DeBlob and Deadly Creatures, WWe Smackdown vs Raw 2009, Wall-E although the rest of the announced games doesnt seem to be quite good.
EA: Cant figure out average since EA is broken down into several smaller divisions (some shovelware (Boogie, Ninja reflex, EA playground, etc) with some good games(Boom Blox, TheSims, Mysims, EA sport games, The godfather, MoHH2, etc.))
Comments: Starting to understand what Wii is capable of, and recently announning some promising games such as Skate it, Spore, SimCity Creator, Facebreaker and all the EA sport games and licensed movie games. Looks like this company is willing to support Nintendo in the future.
Atari: 56.9% (A lot of early shovelware)
Comments: Atari started off pretty bad on the Wii, but the near future at least brings us Alone in the Dark 5, although that game alone will not be enough.
| Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 | 12/3/2007 | WII | 72.7% | |
| Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 | 11/15/2006 | WII | 7.5 | 72.6% |
| Asterix at the Olympic Games | 2/29/2008 | WII | 66.7% | |
| My Horse & Me | 2/5/2008 | WII | 52.1% | |
| Godzilla Unleashed | 12/5/2007 | WII | 9.0 | 46.3% |
| Jenga World Tour | 12/7/2007 | WII | 31.4% | |
| Go West! A Lucky Luke Adventure | 12/31/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Alone in the Dark | 6/24/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Backyard Baseball 2009 | 6/10/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Family Trainer | 9/30/2008 | WII | -- |
Eidos: 62% (Balanced)
Comments: Started of with its left foot, but recently became a good 3rd party supporter. Future looks good.
| Death Jr.: Root of Evil | 5/27/2008 | WII | 80.9% | |
| Tomb Raider: Anniversary | 11/13/2007 | WII | 72.3% | |
| Bionicle Heroes | 4/24/2007 | WII | 5.0 | 56.0% |
| Escape from Bug Island | 7/25/2007 | WII | 6.3 | 38.7% |
| Tomb Raider Underworld | 11/3/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Monster Lab | 9/16/2008 | WII | -- |
Hudson Soft: Cant figure out avrg, most of its games were only released in Japan.
Comments: Most of its games are japanese oriented, and most likely will never see the light in America. A lot of low budget games, future has nothing so far.
| Bomberman Land | 1/29/2008 | WII | 6.8 | 56.5% |
| Star Soldier R | 5/19/2008 | WII | 66.4% |
| Flight Game (working title) | 12/31/2007 | WII | 7.4 | -- |
2K games: 65% (Decent sport games, bad non-sport games (shovelware))
Comments: A lot of Sports titles, mostly decent, their only non-sport games were pretty bad, and they have nothing but Carnival games 2 for the future besides sports games.
| Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer | 6/15/2007 | WII | 6.0 | 42.6% |
| Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution | 12/31/2008 | WII | -- |
| MLB Power Pros | 10/3/2007 | WII | 10.0 | 84.0% |
| Top Spin 3 | 6/23/2008 | WII | 70.0% | |
| The BIGS | 6/25/2007 | WII | 6.5 | 68.3% |
| Major League Baseball 2K8 | 3/3/2008 | WII | 65.7% | |
| Don King Presents: Prizefighter | 9/8/2008 | WII | -- | |
| MLB Power Pros 2008 | 7/31/2008 | WII | -- |
Koei:62% (fair)
Comments: They've released mostly Japanese oriented games, but they scored pretty fair. Nothing announced so far.
| Opoona | 3/25/2008 | WII | 66.5% | |
| G1 Jockey Wii | 3/15/2007 | WII | 66.4% | |
| Samurai Warriors: Katana | 1/15/2008 | WII | 6.7 | 53.2% |
LucasArts:76.1%(good games)
Comments: So far so good, with more games coming.
| Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga | 11/6/2007 | WII | 10.0 | 80.1% |
| Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures | 6/3/2008 | WII | 76.9% | |
| Thrillville: Off the Rails | 10/9/2007 | WII | 71.4% | |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | 12/31/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Star Wars: The Force Unleashed | 9/16/2008 | WII | -- |
Majesco: 63.8% (quite some shovelware)
Comments: Future looks not so good after Blast works just got released, most of what remains is casual or kid friendly, no core games at all, and they look all to be of low quality.
| Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy | 6/10/2008 | WII | 85.8% | |
| Wild Earth: African Safari | 4/22/2008 | WII | 67.5% | |
| Cooking Mama: Cook Off | 3/20/2007 | WII | 7.3 | 62.2% |
| Bust-A-Move Bash! | 4/17/2007 | WII | 8.5 | 55.4% |
| Furu Furu Park | 1/17/2008 | WII | 48.1% | |
| Wonder World Amusement Park | 7/8/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Our House | 12/31/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Cake Mania: In the Mix! | 3/31/2009 | WII | -- | |
| Major Minor's Majestic March | 12/31/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Freddi Fish in Kelp Seed Mystery | 9/30/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Spy Fox in Dry Cereal | 9/30/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Zoo Hospital | 12/31/2008 | WII | -- |
Midway:44.7% (99% shovelware)
Comments: Probably the worst company after Ubisoft and Activision, but not worse IMO since the other 2 developed a massive amount of bad games. This company's future is slim and avrg, not enough to be considered good support, as for now incredibly disgusting.
| Mortal Kombat: Armageddon | 5/29/2007 | WII | 7.8 | 72.7% |
| The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy | 11/16/2006 | WII | 6.7 | 59.8% |
| Rampage: Total Destruction | 11/14/2006 | WII | 6.4 | 47.8% |
| The Ant Bully | 12/5/2006 | WII | 5.9 | 44.9% |
| Cruis'n | 11/27/2007 | WII | 7.5 | 22.5% |
| Game Party | 11/27/2007 | WII | 9.0 | 20.5% |
| TNA iMPACT! | 9/2/2008 | WII | 9.7 | -- |
| Blitz: The League | 1/2/2009 | WII | 7.1 | -- |
Marvelous: Not enough info.
Comments: Future looks quite good. Oboro Muramasa Youtouden, Rune Factory,Harvest Moon, a lot to look after for. Good company so far.
Rockstar:71.9%(decent to good games)
Comments: Future looks empty, so far decent.
| Bully: Scholarship Edition | 3/4/2008 | WII | 83.1% | |
| Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis | 10/16/2007 | WII | 10.0 | 69.2% |
| Manhunt 2 | 10/29/2007 | WII | 8.6 | 63.5% |
Sierra:70% (decent to good games)
Comments: Future looks decent, Ghostbusters and the New Crash game are always accepted.
| Geometry Wars: Galaxies | 11/20/2007 | WII | 80.7% | |
| Crash of the Titans | 10/4/2007 | WII | 71.0% | |
| The Spiderwick Chronicles | 2/5/2008 | WII | 64.7% | |
| The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night | 10/18/2007 | WII | 63.8% | |
| Ghostbusters The Video Game | 10/21/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Crash Bandicoot: Mind Over Mutant | 10/31/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon | 12/31/2008 | WII | -- | |
| The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor | 7/22/2008 | WII | -- |
Tecmo: 71.4% (good games)
Comments: So far good although little support, future looks good. This company isn't about the money with quick bucks.
| Super Swing Golf | 12/12/2006 | WII | 7.5 | 71.6% |
| Super Swing Golf Season 2 | 12/11/2007 | WII | 71.3% | |
| Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff | 12/31/2009 | WII | -- | |
| Rygar: The Battle of Argus | 8/1/2008 | WII | -- | |
| Tecmo Bowl 2008 (working title) | 12/31/2008 | WII | -- |
Square Enix:72.7%(good games)
Comments: Good games so far, future is slim with FFCC:CB and SoulEater. If rumours are true, we might see KH3 and DQX, but so far, nothing concrete for the future.
| Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King | 5/12/2008 | WII | 77.1% | |
| Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon | 7/8/2008 | WII | 75.0% | |
| Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors | 2/19/2008 | WII | 8.1 | 65.9% |
| Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers | 12/31/2008 | WII | 8.1 | -- |
My conclusion: A lot of 3rd party devs are not taking the Wii's userbase seriously, but as I found out, some of them actually are. I think it's a matter of time before 3rd party start shifting resources to the Wii. I can't think but that companies that choose to ignore the Wii right now, will surely come crawling back in the future. At least that is what I hope. The core audience and the "not so stupid casuals" can differentiate between garbage and a game taht has some effort put in it.
Sorry if this is too long, I wanted to make a good entrance to VGChartz ;)
Thanks for reading, please comment.
