Browsing through some of the recent software sales pretty much confirmed my thoughts on Wii 3rd party sales and why they do or don't sell well on the system...
Lego Indiana Jones is a good example of a third party/multiplatform game done right on Wii, and it also pretty much sums up what your typical average Wii owner looks for when it comes to purchasing software... name/brand recognition and if its based on a proven game type... in this case we have Indiana Jones (strong recognition) and a game based off the Lego series of games (Lego Star Wars also did very well on Wii).
The majority of successful third-party Wii software is based on an existing license or brand (see: Guitar Hero 3, RE:4 and UC, Lego games, Mario and Sonic Olympics, etc.) with the exceptions to the rule being games that specifically cater to the casual/minigame audience like Carnival Games and the Raving Rabbids series.
So if a third party game doesn't have that going for it right off the bat, it's pretty much doomed to mediocre sales regardless of quality unless theres a huge advertising campaign behind it. That of course is hardly ever the case because most publishers can't be bothered or dont want to risk investing in advertising their games that much, just get them out there and hope they sell enough to break even or make a little quick profit for them. Great games like No More Heroes, Boom Blox, and Zack and Wiki have to rely SOLELY on word of mouth in order to have any chance of success, because the average Wii owner takes one look at the box and can't tell the difference between games like that and the countless amounts of shovelware on the system, so they play it safe and go with something they know and trust.
So yeah I know i've gone down the same roads and re-beaten a dead horse till its mince meat, but hopefully everyone will stop whining about the state of 3rd party Wii sales now, cuz the only way the situation mentioned above is gonna change is if..
A: 3rd partys start taking Wii development seriously, which has been happening for some time now and is starting to show, but more importantly...
B: Publishers need to push quality games and advertise more. And don't expect Nintendo to crack down on shovelware anytime soon either cuz they're too busy counting their money to care... so 3rd parties are on their own for now in faring against the neverending onslaught of total crappage that makes up a good chuck of the Wii software pie.
On 2/24/13, MB1025 said:
You know I was always wondering why no one ever used the dollar sign for $ony, but then I realized they have no money so it would be pointless.
