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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Which third party company is simply going to miss the Wii boat?

SE



What are you looking at, nerd?
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windbane said:
Girl Gamer Elite said:
This all just points to how really clueless developers are now-a-days. Without Sony as the dominating force on the market, they're completely lost as what to do.


The developers are still doing a great job.  Have you noticed the ridiculous amount of great third party games released the last few months?  2008 looks to be a fantastic year as well.

It's fairly clear that most companies are putting their top projects on PS3/360/PC and then their more casual games on the Wii.  If the game doesn't do a lot processing-wise and doesn't rely on graphics, it appears on the Wii as well (like Guitar Hero).


That sounds like hopeful thinking. It would be a pity if Wii started gobbling up their top projects too. :)



Updated with new developers:

Square Enix: 2 Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles games, Chocobo's Dungeon, and Dragon Quest Swords. So 3 games in 2 minor franchises and one spin-off. Not a stellar step yet, but certainly showing willingness to experiment with success on the Wii, and they have acheived success on their first game (DQ:S) with .5 million in Japan alone.

Konami: Dewy's Adventure, DDR Hottest Party, Elebits, MLB Power Pros, and Wii Fitness (their attempt to clone Wii Fit). Again, nothing particularly impressive in there except MLB Power Pros. That's actually the best Baseball game released in years and is around 85.4% on Gamerankings. So, not AAA quality, but not bad. There is certainly hope for them in the future.

Capcom: No question of Wii support at all. Their largest franchise in Japan, Monster Hunter, was moved to a Wii exclusive. Zack & Wiki may not have been expensive to make but it's very high quality, and they were kind enough to price it at $40. Resident Evil 4 Wii upgraded everything in the PS2 version including the graphics (albiet to the GC standard) implemented a control scheme perfectly, and then to top it off was priced at a great budget price of $30. The same is being done with Okami. You can complain that these are ports, but they are ports of 2 of the best games of the last generation, and they are being priced reasonably, and will be successful for that reason.

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles is a spinoff, but it's not cheap or crappy. There is a massive amount of content in it. We Love Golf is their attempt to make an "Everybody's Golf" for the Wii, and again they have clearly put some effort into it. Clearly they are willing to shift some effort to Wii development. They already have in a reasonable amount.

Namco Bandai: Their investment isn't really in question either. With Tales of Symphonia: KoR, Sword of Legendia, Fragile, and Space Station Tycoon they are giving it a good shot with one of their biggest franchises (Tales) and making a new (non cash-in) franchise with Fragile.

Marvelous: Harvest Moon goes pretty much everywhere usually, but this generation it appears to only be on the Wii. They also have the new IP in King Story, which represents a very large and ambitious undertaking with many developers. Oboro Muramasa Youtouden is the sequel to the incredible PS2 game Odin Sphere. There are rumors of a Rune Factory hitting Wii too. Marvelous seems more commited to the Wii than any developer as the vast majority of their big games are on the system. Shouldn't be any issues with this developer.

Tecmo: If you asked me what Tecmo's biggest franchise is after Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden I would tell you Fatal Frame. Fatal Frame 4 is a very big deal from Tecmo. Not only is it one of their bigger franchises, but the PS3 and 360 versions were canceled for a Wii version instead. Add to that the fact that they hired Grasshopper Studios for this (not cheap!), and you are looking at a major project from them. A couple crappy golf games don't mean much, but there is certainly hope for this developer on the Wii. Especially when they are willing to put a game like Ninja Gaiden on the DS.

Sega: Their first big game was Sonic and the Secret Rings, which was very successful and was certainly not a cash-in. The graphics are still among the best on the Wii. Super Monkey Ball was decent too and is one of their bigger franchises. NiGHTS 2, a new Samba de Amigo, and Mario & Sonic all represent decent development efforts as well. The future of their games is unclear, but there are certainly positive signs of them spending development effort on the system.

Atlus: Trauma Center Second Opinion and New Blood were hardly big budget projects, but they were also high quality. Atlus isn't a huge player in the development field, but they still come up with some interesting concepts. Draglade is comming to the Wii (don't know how much it will be like the DS game), as is Baroque. Baroque is a big PS2 RPG that was released this year in Japan but will have a Wii version for its American release as well. Apparently Trauma Center: Second Opinion is the best selling Atlus game ever. Guess we know where their money is going.

Level 5: Ah now this is a very interesting developer. Level 5 is a major developer. Especially in Japan. They are well known for their quality, and they supported the PS2 very strongly; creating some of its best games (Dark Cloud 2 and Dragon Quest IX). Their only announced next generation game is White Knight Story on home consoles, but in the handheld market they have made more DS games in 3 years than they made PS2 games in 7. They have also mentioned that they have interest in Wii development. Perhaps a Professor Layton game on the console? An RPG? Who knows, but I think it's very likely we will see something from them.

Atari:  While not a major player in the industry anymore, Atari certainly seems to be making a large amount of Wii games.  They ported the DBZ games over to the Wii, but added extra features like exclusive online play to DBZ:BT3.   They are making Alone in the Dark 5 on all platforms, a Godzilla game, and they moved the Backyard Sports series to the Wii.  You may say this doesn't look like much, but it's pretty much all Atari has...

Eidos: Tomb Raider Anniversary is a port of the PS2 game. Monster Lab does look like it could be interesting though. It's from the ground up and it wasn't given a release date 6 months after its announcement (implying it's not a cash-in). This seems like a test for them, and if the game does well I could see them giving the Wii signifficant support in the future.

Free Radical: Ah the Timesplitters developers. Well, they have been very secretive about their plans for this generation and for their big franchise. It's worth noting that they have repeatedly complimented the Wii and its design. They have also dropped some "hints" that could suggest the game will be on the Wii, but at this time it's really tough to tell what it will end up being.

Ubisoft: Their 2 first games were Red Steel and Rayman Raving Rabbids. They may not have been the best games ever, but they weren't cheap, and they were both very successful. Red Steel 2 was confirmed (basically) in a Nintendo Power a while back with online play, and Ubisoft recently promised they were going to be making "Nintendo quality" games on the Wii in 2008. Even admitting that their first year games were not up to that standard. That certainly sounds like a commited developer.

Midway: Nothing but crap, but their recent financials (before the flops of Stranglehold and Blacksite) showed them to be near going under. UT3 sales are reportedly crappy too. They won't survive the generation.

EA: Well, EA is EA and a lot of their games will be crappy, but that doesn't mean they aren't willing to invest in the Wii. Spore on Wii is a very big deal. So is Stephen Spielburg's game Blocks. These represent signifficant investments in the little white box. Of course the Wii will continue to recieve Madden and other sports games. Medal of Honor Heroes 2 was decent, and the Wii continues to get all the standard milked franchises from EA. Overall support in relation to the 360 and PS3 remains to be seen.

Activision: There wasn't going to be a Wii version of GH3 initially. Deciding to make one was obviously them giving up and throwing in their cards, and it achieved great results! The Wii version has the potential to outsell even the 360 version with the legs it's had. Just like EA the Wii is getting all their milked franchises. Activision's commitment remains to be seen, but they are off to a decent start.

Rockstar: Table Tennis was crap, but Manhunt 2 showed some interest in the console. It's also interesting that their Bully remake is going to be on the 360 and the Wii but not the PS3. There is certainly opportunity here for some major titles.

Bioware: Now part of EA, and it's very likely that their games will be much less exclusive than they were before the merger (expect Mass Effect on PC). They have shown the desire to branch out into family games with their development of Sonic RPG on the DS. The Wii is certainly a possible avenue for them.

Blizzard: It's not out of the question that they would try a console game this generation, but with the kind of revenue they are generating from their PC ventures it's doubtful.

Epic: Mark Rein has repeatedly attacked the Wii and the chances are slim to none. The company lives off graphics anyway.

Valve: This may come as a surprise, but I think it's very possible for Valve to create a major Wii game. Gabe Newell has made a point of saying the Wii is the only next gen system, and also pointed out that it interests him greatly and he loves his own Wii, saying he uses it more than his 360 and PS3 combined. I really think Valve could end up putting out a big Wii game at some point.



Maybe you want to add Atari/Infogrames as well, although I don't know if they have any game worth talking about.



Currently Playing: Skies of Arcadia Legends (GC), Dragon Quest IV (DS)

Last Game beaten: The Rub Rabbits(DS)

solracbrit said:
Bungie :)

Bungie is crap.



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naznatips said:




Ubisoft: Their 2 first games were Red Steel and Rayman Raving Rabbids. They may not have been the best games ever, but they weren't cheap, and they were both very successful. Red Steel 2 was confirmed (basically) in a Nintendo Power a while back with online play, and Ubisoft recently promised they were going to be making "Nintendo quality" games on the Wii in 2008. Even admitting that their first year games were not up to that standard. That certainly sounds like a commited developer.


Actually there's a lot more to this than people think. They were working on Red Steel 2 and some high up in the company came and looked at it. 

In true Miyamoto fashion, the entire project was scrapped and started all over again from scratch because it was not good.  

If this is any indication, Red Steel 2 is going to be frickin amazing.  



Bungie...i put money on them



 

naznatips said:

Level 5: Ah now this is a very interesting developer. Level 5 is a major developer. Especially in Japan. They are well known for their quality, and they supported the PS2 very strongly; creating some of its best games (Dark Cloud 2 and Dragon Quest IX). Their only announced next generation game is White Knight Story on home consoles, but in the handheld market they have made more DS games in 3 years than they made PS2 games in 7. They have also mentioned that they have interest in Wii development. Perhaps a Professor Layton game on the console? An RPG? Who knows, but I think it's very likely we will see something from them.


 Personally, I'd love to see anything from Level 5. I'd especially love to see a RPG fully utilize the Wii's controls, and of all the potential developers, I'd trust them to do it best.



cAPSLOCK said:
 

Actually there's a lot more to this than people think. They were working on Red Steel 2 and some high up in the company came and looked at it.

In true Miyamoto fashion, the entire project was scrapped and started all over again from scratch because it was not good.

If this is any indication, Red Steel 2 is going to be frickin amazing.


Can you provide a source for this? I never cared for the first one, but suddenly the second one is looking very interesting.



Bodhesatva said:

Sonic for Wii sold considerably better than either the 360 or PS3 version:

http://vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=2104
http://vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=2113
http://vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=5712

Yeah, I bet Sega is really pissed that the spinoff (Sonic and the Secret Rings) sold almost twice as much as the "main" game on the PS3 and 360 combined (which was intended to revive sonic as a major character, yes?)

 


Don't remind me about STH 2006. I remember Yuji Naka talking about how awesome the 360/PS3 would be because they could simulate "5 kg brick vs 20 kg brick phsyics." And this game was supposed to revive the franchise? I cried that night.

 

Checking the stats, it looks like Sonic & Secret Rings outsold STH on both platforms combined. (.76 vs .39 + .18) lol. 



There is no such thing as a console war. This is the first step to game design.