I never understood that argument when developers (EA, Activision, THQ, Konami, etc.) were more than happy to continue porting games to PS2 through 2010.  If it's not a hassle to "redesign" a game and port it to PS2, why would it be a waste of time port to "an overclocked Gamecube" when the latter of the 2 is the one with the current consumer base?

Wii did not receive Call of Duty 4, which is the title that blew up into the Call of Duty franchise up into the phenomenom we have today.  What Wii got was Modern Warfare:  Reflex Edition a full 2 years later, which still sold respectably despite not being part of the explosion of the franchise two years earlier.  Who knows what Call of Duty 4 would have sold on Wii if it had been part of that wave.  I can't say it would have been 10 million units anymore than you could prove it would be less than the 3 million plus Call of Duty 3 sold.

There were only a handfull of games ported to ps2 that late and from what i know these were sports games wich also released on Wii. In fact the ps2 and Wii version of these games were very similair. They did not have to make a whole new version solely for Wii. What always surprises me is that some people fully understand that big multi platform games stop being released for the older generation of consoles to push the new ones to their limits, but don't get why there isn't a Wii version. Just like PS2 or Gamecube the Wii couldn't handle these games, and the system did not have enough power to deliver the experience the developrs where aiming for.

It's a piece of each thing, that runined Wii. Even if the game sold good. That didn't mean the system would get the big games. Capcom is a perfect example of this. All Nintendo got was a port of RE4, and two Light Gun games. No one wanted to bother downgrading their games to Wii. They were gonna be dammed either way. From fans yelling at not getting the game. To fans yelling at why the game looks like crap. So companies just took the way that saved them money. Not bring them. Even when their games sold good. So in return, people had nothing to buy. Or didn't buy, due to QA issues. Or under hate.

This does cause the chicken and the egg problem with both Wii and Wii U now. The consumer and game makers both don't want to move on the games. So they end up not exsisting. More and more people go "Screw this BS. I'll buy it somewhere else." And than, this errodes Nintendo game sales too. Wii was in a buffer zone. Where a lot of die hard's (I'm one of them) still wanted to support them. And deal with the stupid decisions. When Wii U basically repeated these issues. More people felt confortable in skipping the system. I've decided to not buy the next Nintendo system. Till I see it actually do what I want. Two times I've gotten fed up with the bad decisions. Yeah, I'll lose out on Zelda and a few other things. If Nintendo bothers with Metroid next system... But I'll have 20-30 games that I do want over 8 that I usually buy on Nintendo.

I don't get why people get mad or insulted about this part of Wii. Yes, Wii made a lot of money. But, also had major problems. Those people weren't gamers. They saw something cool, and bought it. That's it. Once they got their fix, they stopped playing the system and moved on to other distractions. Everyone here has all bought something that they normally wouldn't have. But did, 'cause of hype. I remember buying Spice Girl lolipops because that was the thing. But I hated the taste of them. You can sugar coat it all you want. "It introduced new people to gaming." "It got lasped people back to gaming." "It sold a ton of party games." Nintendo is a busniess. They can't live off short bursts of money. You need loyalty. These people aren't that.

Ultimatly Nintendo is the culprit with their current issues. Both sides of the argument. Weather just doing what the other two is the right thing, or not. Or keep trying "blue ocean", seem equally bad. Long term image damage is what Nintendo needs to fix. And Nintendo needs those games. I keep seeing people scream; Nintendo can't just copy the competition! Unless someone can figure out a way to not just copy & paste the Sony and MS way, in order to get 3rd parties. Nintendo has really no other course of action. If they want to get sales back from the majority.

Take this with a grain of salt, but I found it interesting:

Metacritic ratings by system:

Xbox 360:  79
PS3:            78
Wii:             76
PS2:            64

Ghostbusters:  The Video Game released on all 7th gen consoles and also PS2 in 2009.  The Wii version actually sold the best among all platforms.  The metascore of the Wii version as you can see is very close to its fellow 7th gen consoles, and far ahead of its previous gen counterpart.  Same scenario holds true for Star Wars:  The Force Unleashed. 

Metacritic ratings by system:

XBox 360:  73
Wii:             71
PS3:             71
PS2:             68

The Wii version sold comparably well to the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, and it's metascore was equal to that of the PS3 version, while the PS2 port rated in the 60's again.

 I think it's because those same people tend to also ignore that the vast majority of Wii's success can be attributed to the fact that motion controllers back in 2006 were the billion dollar gimmick. Nintendo having Ellen and Oprah advertising it to hell, causing every kid and their grandma to want one. If only core Nintendo fans bought Wii, then it would've been what the Wii-U is right now.

Wii sold a lot of hardware and software, both 1st and 3rd party. 400 million nintendo published titles and 500 million full 3rd party titles. considering it's third party support consisted of tons of shovelware + a few good exclusives + a few ps2 ports, those are fantastic numbers.

For comparison's sake with ps360, ps3 sold 750 million 3rd party games while x360 sold 850 million 3rd party titles.

Had the wii 3rd party library consisted of more decent exclusives and actual multiplats, it's obvious it would sell as much or better than the competitors. It's simply not possible to deny that.

Well the wii versions of those gAmes were actually completely different to the PS360 versions so while they did provide titles for wii, making them would have cost more than not making them at all and just sticking with the other 2s versions. 

Obviously the ps2 versions had such bad meta because they could barely handle the wii version, which no doubt was also being held back so they could port it to ps2

i love the wall of shame. As a thing and as an argument. What some people want to ignore is some of those horrible shovelware games. actually sold. and sold well considering just how cheap they are to make. Carnival games, Just dance, zumba, Jillian Micheals, deca sports, etc. Hell i think bachelor made its money back

if you are going to make these kinds of comparisons, why cherry pick? you might as well go throught the ENTIRE life span instead of stopping at 2009. There was a Force Unleashed 2 why not compare those numbers? I suspect you wont because it will not favor comparably