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Mifely on 08 June 2008
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LordTheNightKnight said:
Mifely said:
There was a study a while back stating that only a very small % of console owners owned more than one of the 3 current-gen systems.

If:

(A) The software available sells the console

and

(B) the AAA 3rd party titles are available on the X360/PS3 and not the Wii.

then

(C) there's an implication that the demographic interested in the majority of AAA titles (which tend to be targeted at a very specific demographic) own a X360 or PS3, and NOT a Wii. As such, The number of available buyers, for your typical AAA title, and in the Wii's demographic set, is likely lower than it is for X360/PS3 -- especially if you combine the latter two platforms' owners as a potential audience.

That alone explains why there are no AAA "gamer" titles available on the Wii, and even if the Wii hits 50% market share, then by nature of there being no AAA titles for it (other than Nintendo stuff), there are going to be far fewer current Wii owners interested in those kinds of titles.

You buy a console for its software. Some may find it hard to believe that Wii owners *want* billiards, poker, etc., or Nintendo titles only, but... The Wii is selling like crazy, and there's supposedly not much system overlap. I find it hard to believe that a whole bunch of would-be Wii gamers went and purchased a Wii in *hopes* of getting some AAA titles. If they wanted typical-demographic, AAA titles, it seems likely that they went out and bought a X360 or PS3, and *not* a Wii.  Because the Wii sells alot says nothing about its demographics.  I would say that, because (A) above is pretty well accepted as true, that Wii owners are actually, as a majority, *not* interested in AAA games, but instead are more interested in Nintendo games and license titles from movies, etc.

Thus the publishers aren't "dumb" for not spending AAA title money on the Wii. They're targeting the intended audience, on the intended platform. Anyone who thinks otherwise, apparently believes themselves a lot brighter than an awful lot of well-educated busniess folks who run those companies... any failings those companies are currently undergoing probably has way more to do with the bad recession in the US than the publishers being "dumb".

You can't use sales of a constantly sold out console to dertermine what games people will buy. The Wii has sold AAA games.


 

Well, its entirely possible that Wii Madden '09 or '10 and beyond might be pretty dang good, for the Wii.  I suppose if you qualify big sports franchises as "AAA"-gamer type titles, the Wii might someday get some.  I can't really think of any serious AAA titles, beyond those published (and many developed) by Nintendo themselves, that have done really well, given the number of Wiis in households at this point.  The only ones that stand out (I exclude Mario + Sonic at the Olympics, because... its basically a pseudo-Nintendo title) are basically exactly the kind of casual gamer type game I was talking about, with possibly the sole exception of the Wii version of RE4.

Anything that fits the "mass market appeal" prereq may someday have decent graphics.  At this time, that pretty much amounts to Cards, Puzzles, Nintendo stuff, Sims/Tycoon stuff, and Sports titles (including racing).  You can't deny that those genres have some appeal to the stock "gamer" that might be interested in "AAA" RPGs, Action Adventure, Shooter, etc. genres (they have appeal to all, of course), but... except for the Sports and Nintendo 1st party titles, they don't tend to be big-budget.

Even in the Sports dept., Madden '08 X360 kicks Madden '08 Wii to the moon in sales, despite the huge numerical advantage of the Wii (yes, I know, its a sport that's really only popular in America, but even in America, the X360 version of Madden slays the Wii version in sales).  Remember that, supposedly, most console owners *don't* own more than one of the 3 current-gen consoles, and so despite having no choice of platform, Wii owners didn't buy Madden '08 in America, or anywhere else.  I'd say that this strongly suggests that, for the most part, they didn't want it -- they are casual gamers.  Sports devs also don't tend to branch out -- so the chances of the Wii ever really getting some other cool AAA titles in its lineup is... not as pleasant as many "gamer" Wii owners are hoping, I think.  I think if you can call yourself a fan of most of the genres that tend to qualify for "AAA" expenditures (Shooters, Action, RPG, etc.), you're going to have a deep desire for a X360 or PS3 not too far in the future.  Mario is awesome... but Nintendo games are only gonna hold you over for so long.