Ail said:
The GC wasn't first last gen but it still got its port of the following : - Need for Speed - Lord of the rings ( Two towers and Return of the King) - Prince of Persia ( all 3 titles) - The previous titles in the Call of Duty serie - The previous titles in the Burnout serie - The James bond games. - The Tom Clancy Splinter Cell serie. ... This gen so far the only big cross platforms titles that were ported to the Wii are : - GH3, Rock Band and Madden.... 2 developers that supported the GC with every of their big titles last gen haven't done so this gen ( Activision and Ubisoft).... |
Sorry Ail, but I'm afraid I have to take exception with almost everything you've written in this thread so far. Let us begin with your assertion that unlike the previous generation, the front-runner's sales are roughly being matched by the other two. I've included links to two charts to represent the previous generations.
http://vgchartz.com/hwlaunch.php?cons1=PS2®1=All&cons2=GC®2=All&cons3=XB®3=All&weeks=100
http://vgchartz.com/hwlaunch.php?cons1=Wii®1=All&cons2=PS3®2=All&cons3=X360®3=All&weeks=100
The first link shows the previous generation's performance a hundred weeks after launch, while the second one shows the same time period for this generation. You'll notice that the gap between the front-runner and the other two consoles widens over time in both of these charts, with the major difference being that the Wii pulled ahead of the competition from the get-go, while the PS2 took over half a year before it started to streak away. In fact, if you start the chart at week 39, when the PS2 started its ascent, you'll notice that the two charts mesh almost perfectly, with each of the competing consoles experiencing a slight bump here and there before fading, while the front-runner's sales continue to rise steadily.
I'd also like to point out that almost every successful console has had its second and third year sales be better than its first year sales, so the fact that the PS3 and 360 still see more money now than they have before doesn't really tell us anything of value. More to the point, I'd like to point out that the PS3 and 360 have already seen different console colors, price cuts, special bundles, and all the other traditional methods of bringing in more sales. The Wii has not done any of these, and remains supply-constrained in America, the biggest market. It kind of makes me wonder how much more wide that gap would be if none of those things were true... Far from having this generation be different than any other, the data show that much of this generation is tracking similar to the last one, with the only exception being how long it took to establish a clear leader.
Your second assertion, that cross-platform titles are more rare for the Wii than the Gamecube, also rings hollow. For starters, much of the list of examples of Gamecube ports you've given us weren't released until later in the Gamecube's lifetime, while the Wii is only a year and a half old. But that discrepancy ultimately turns out to be irrelevant, because the Wii is getting a lot of ports that the 360 and PS3 are. You yourself cite Rock Band, Guitar Hero (a franchise never seen on the Gamecube, by the by), and Madden. You missed out on The Force Unleashed, the newest Sonic, Alone in the Dark, Crash Bandicoot, and many many more. In fact, the last example I just gave has the Wii as its lead platform, in spite of the fact that it's also coming out for the PS3 and 360. I'd also like to point out that the Gamecube lacked many of the cross-platform games that the PS2 and X-Box had, and that it was just as common to hear that a game was skipping the Gamecube as it is to hear that one is not coming to the Wii.
I'll concede that many of the big-budget titles do not have a version coming out for the Wii. But I'd like to point out that they're now starting to develop IPs for the Wii that are probably not coming out for the PS3 and 360. You mentioned Ubisoft as an example of a publisher that is not supporting the Wii with its big budget titles. You're wrong. Leaving aside the fact that Red Steel was a big-budget game that was also Wii-exclusive (and arguably not what it should have been), you ignore the repeated rumors that Red Steel 2 is already being developed for the system, and that the project was allegedly rebooted, a la Resident Evil 2 and 4, because the developers were dissatisfied with it and want it to be much better. You also ignore the fact that Michael Ancel, Ubisoft's biggest developer, has so far only worked on the Wii this generation, and that his next game is heavily rumored to be released solely for that platform.
You also ignore the fact that the Wii is a lot of third parties that skipped out on the 64 and the Gamecube. Rockstar has already published three Wii games for the system, which is three more than they published on any other Nintendo console. EA has jumped on board by making the Wii-exclusive Boom Blox, the game that has Steven Spielberg's name plastered all over it. They're also only planning one console version of what looks like their biggest game of this year, Spore, and that console is the Wii. And of course, they've created an entire division devoted soley to Wii development. If you wish, I can give you more examples of third party developers that are creating games for the Wii, as I've already written three or four essays on the matter on this site, but suffice it to say that the Wii is not getting anywhere near as ignored by third parties are you're making it out to be.
Finally, I'd like to take issue with your concluding thoughts, "is it possible that despite being 2nd and 3rd Sony and Microsoft... might end up moving more software than Nintendo..." I'm afraid 2007 ending a while ago, my friend. Since December, the Wii has consistently been moving the most software of all three systems. In fact, March saw a single Wii game sell almost half-again as many copies as the entire PS3 library combined. You can't even argue that third party-sales are lagging on the system, as the gap has been narrowing there for the past six months, and the Wii was poised to overtake even the 360 in that area. (The release of GTA IV will, of course, widen the gap for the next two months, and perhaps Metal Gear Solid 4 will do the same in June. But after that? Especially with the Wii outselling the other two consoles almost 2-1? And especially since this completely ignores Nintendo's own sales?) No, I'm afraid I'm going to have to say that the data don't support you on any of your arguments, save one. Unlike last generation, there has been one clear "winner" in the "console wars" from the get-go, and from what we've seen so far I'm pretty sure that the lead will only continue to widen as time marches on.
Edit: And my lack of typing speed strikes again...
