The Secret that Nintendo Tries to Ignore

Nintendo’s latest entrant into the console war has no doubt been the company’s most successful entry since the original Nintendo Entertainment System in the 80s. The Wii has managed to continually sell out in stores since its release in November of 2006. In just a meager year and half, its already managed to outsell its predecessor, the Gamecube. It shattered the PS2’s record of selling 10 million consoles in the US by a near 4 months. It currently holds the most market share out of the next gen systems. Nintendo, without a doubt, must be extremely proud of Miyamoto’s latest brain child.

That being said, there is something seriously wrong with the Nintendo Wii. No, its not that it doesn’t have the graphical capabilities of the 360/PS3. Nor is it the lackluster online service Nintendo provides either. It isn’t the paltry amount of hard drive space, sometimes unresponsive accelerometers of the nunchuck, or even the chuckle-inspiring name of the console. Its the software library.

BY COMPARISON

Since its release in 2005, there have been some 374 games released for the XBox 360. Of the 374, 86 titles have received a ‘good’ rating(an average ranking of 80% or higher, as per GameRankings). 92 have received ‘poor’ ratings(an average of lower than 60%). That means about 26% of the games for the 360 are ‘good’, and about 24% are considered trash. The PS3 has seen 122 games released, with 40(33%) good games and 20(17%) poor games(ironic considering the most common argument against the PS3 is a lack of good games).

The Wii, released alongside the PS3 in November 2006, has seen a considerable 189 games released. Of these titles, a whoping 69, or 37% are complete trash. On the flipside, there are only 20 good games, making up a minuscule 11% - and of those 20, 4 of them are ports of last generation PS2/Gamecube games! What happened?

One word.

Shovelware

WHAT IS SHOVELWARE?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/513az-FZKkL.jpg" width="98" height="130" align="left">Shovelware is a term used to denote software churned out solely to turn a quick buck. Generally, there is very little effort put into these titles, and it shows. When you think of shovelware, titles like movie tie-ins or the latest Hannah Montanna games should immediately come to mind.

So how did this happen? How did so much shovelware infestate the Wii’s library? A multitude of factors have contributed to this situation.

First and foremost is the way in which Nintendo has marketed the Wii. Nintendo has been very vocal on wanting to expand its audience beyond the traditional core gamers. “We want to broaden the definition of what a video game is, to create games for people whether they are 5 or 95, whether they are men or women” Nintendo’s Senior Managing Director Shigeru Miyamoto told Times Online.

As a result, you now have a much broader audience buying games for the Wii. And when this new demographic is shopping for a game, they no longer do the typical research that the core gamers have done in the past. This new demographic are the type that would opt to pick “Pirates of the Carribean: At World’s End”(average review 54%) over “No More Heroes”(average 83%) to satisfy their sword fighting needs. They buy on name brand recognition almost exclusively.

Another factor that has lead to shovelware latching on to the Wii is the low development costs of software for the console. Because the Wii’s technical specs aren’t as advanced as the PS3 and 360, the price of developing a game for the Wii is considerably less. Price is a huge factor in shovelware - these games are meant to make a quick buck, and the less thats spent in development results in more profit. Wii projects are “… easily one fourth, one fifth, even one sixth of some 360, PS3 projects” admits Dan Borth of Red Fly Studios in a recent interview with Gamasutra. On top of this, development for the Wii is also easier, resulting in a smaller time frame for the completion of these games, again meaning more profit.

Finally, the Wii’s excellent sales numbers are the final nail in the coffin. Of course, to make the most money, the game has to be released on the platform with most hardware out there. This was the case with the PS2 last generation, and again is the case this generation. Though, even in comparison to the PS2, the Wii has an extraordinary amount of garbage games. Of the 1500 or so released PS2 games, about 28% were junk shovelware, and 21% were good games - a 10% difference on both sides!

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE?

The fault of this lies both in the hands of Nintendo and the gamers. Nintendo as a corporation should want to protect the image of its console. Right now, Nintendo has to enforce some quality control measures. Sony has a nasty reputation amongst developers for declining projects that didn’t show off the power of the Playstation brand. If Nintendo wants the Wii’s garbage collector reputation to improve, they should take a trip back to the 16 bit era when they were a bit stricter.

The onus also falls on us, the gamers, as well. We put the money into developers hands by purchasing the games. Support developers that put out that extra effort. Demand quality, and don’t settle for less! Hopefully a time will come when every title released for the Wii is truly innovative and fresh.