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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Are 3rd party publishers sealing their own demise?

Gamerace on 10 December 2008
Legend11 said:

Funny that the original poster should mention THQ and EA of all companies. EA which is the biggest third-party on the Wii and is blaming it for their current problems. THQ which has put significant resources into Wii games and is now losing more money than last year. Sorry folks but when it comes to third party software the Wii has serious obstacles for third-parties to overcome.  Very diverse userbase, Nintendo domination of software sales, etc.

On a side note THQ is pouring a significant amount of money into Deadly Creatures (Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Hopper are now involved with the project). As well you'll see significant advertising. So when this game bombs (and yes I'm calling it right now, sales will be disappointing, well maybe not as far as Wii third-party games are concerned) I'll look forward to seeing what creative excuses people will come up with for the game's sales.

 

 Neither is blaming Wii nor their 'casual' games since they are all profitable but not huge moneymakers for them.   THQ especially relies on Wii/DS for their kiddie/licensed games.  Nor do those games need to be huge moneymakers since they are not expensive either.  It's the HD games focused on the core market take do poorly that cost them huge revenue.   But instead of making more profitable mass market games they are focusing on even bigger budget HD games and hoping to have a huge hit - with a huge risk involved.

But your missing the point.  Deadly Creatures is not casual, neither is De Blob.  De Blob is selling fine.  Personally I have no idea who DC's is going to be marketed for and I expect it too bomb too.   Casual games should be pick-up and play and playable for short durations to accomodate people's busy lives.  Neither of those games caters to that.  Furthermore I'm talking brands not individual titles.  Ubisoft gives a lot of credit to it's various casual brands (Imagine, Petz, etc) for keeping it in the black.  WoW and GH are huge casual brands for Activision.  Mario and Wii are huge brands for Nintendo.   EA only has Sims (old) and THQ has none. 



 

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Esa-Petteri on 10 December 2008
Gamerace said:

 

 Neither is blaming Wii nor their 'casual' games since they are all profitable but not huge moneymakers for them.   THQ especially relies on Wii/DS for their kiddie/licensed games.  Nor do those games need to be huge moneymakers since they are not expensive either.  It's the HD AAA games take do poorly that cost them huge revenue.   But instead of making more profitable mass market games they are focusing on even bigger budget HD games and hoping to have a huge hit - with a huge risk 

 

What are those "HD AAA" games what THQ has made that did so poorly?

 



Groucho on 10 December 2008
Legend11 said:

Funny that the original poster should mention THQ and EA of all companies. EA which is the biggest third-party on the Wii and is blaming it for their current problems. THQ which has put significant resources into Wii games and is now losing more money than last year. Sorry folks but when it comes to third party software the Wii has serious obstacles for third-parties to overcome.  Very diverse userbase, Nintendo domination of software sales, etc.

On a side note THQ is pouring a significant amount of money into Deadly Creatures (Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Hopper are now involved with the project). As well you'll see significant advertising. So when this game bombs (and yes I'm calling it right now, sales will be disappointing, well maybe not as far as Wii third-party games are concerned) I'll look forward to seeing what creative excuses people will come up with for the game's sales.

I have to agree with Legend11.  The profits on Deadly Creatures, and its ilk, for the Wii, will be paper thin, at best.  Being on the Wii won't help them with their over-spending.

3rd party publishers need to focus more on making lighter budget games on the HD consoles AND Wii, imo.  Its their own obsession with "spend the most to make the most" that is killing them.  The X360 and PS3 are perfectly capable of running any Wii-sized game, but at better resolution, framerate, and with better textures (at practically no expense... textures are always reduced from their original resolution, to fit on the platform, so chopping them down *less* isn't exactly a hurdle).

 

 



Gamerace on 10 December 2008
Groucho said:
Legend11 said:

Funny that the original poster should mention THQ and EA of all companies. EA which is the biggest third-party on the Wii and is blaming it for their current problems. THQ which has put significant resources into Wii games and is now losing more money than last year. Sorry folks but when it comes to third party software the Wii has serious obstacles for third-parties to overcome.  Very diverse userbase, Nintendo domination of software sales, etc.

On a side note THQ is pouring a significant amount of money into Deadly Creatures (Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Hopper are now involved with the project). As well you'll see significant advertising. So when this game bombs (and yes I'm calling it right now, sales will be disappointing, well maybe not as far as Wii third-party games are concerned) I'll look forward to seeing what creative excuses people will come up with for the game's sales.

I have to agree with Legend11.  The profits on Deadly Creatures, and its ilk, for the Wii, will be paper thin, at best.  Being on the Wii won't help them with their over-spending.

3rd party publishers need to focus more on making lighter budget games on the HD consoles AND Wii, imo.  Its their own obsession with "spend the most to make the most" that is killing them.  The X360 and PS3 are perfectly capable of running any Wii-sized game, but at better resolution, framerate, and with better textures (at practically no expense... textures are always reduced from their original resolution, to fit on the platform, so chopping them down *less* isn't exactly a hurdle).

 

 

Yes, thank-you, my point exactly.  I'm not suggesting games only be on Wii (but Wii does have a wide audience that's not expensive to cater too), DS/360/PSP/PS2 are all good options as well.   PS3 not so much, at it's price tag it's pretty core right now and casual games havn't done too well.  LBP being somewhat of an exception duly noted.  

 



 

Godot on 10 December 2008

I wonder what will be EA's big blockbuster game.



How many cups of darkness have I drank over the years? Even I don't know...

 

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Gamerace on 10 December 2008
Esa-Petteri said:
Gamerace said:

 

 Neither is blaming Wii nor their 'casual' games since they are all profitable but not huge moneymakers for them.   THQ especially relies on Wii/DS for their kiddie/licensed games.  Nor do those games need to be huge moneymakers since they are not expensive either.  It's the HD AAA games take do poorly that cost them huge revenue.   But instead of making more profitable mass market games they are focusing on even bigger budget HD games and hoping to have a huge hit - with a huge risk 

 

What are those "HD AAA" games what THQ has made that did so poorly?

 

Well... ah... Saint's Row?  Yeah, okay, you got me there.  Poor wording (and edited out).  THQ isn't really an AAA publisher but looks like their going to try to be which could be suicide if they are overreliant on that being a hit.

 



 

Esa-Petteri on 10 December 2008
Gamerace said:
Esa-Petteri said:

What are those "HD AAA" games what THQ has made that did so poorly?

 

Well... ah... Saint's Row?  Yeah, okay, you got me there.  Poor wording (and edited out).  THQ isn't really an AAA publisher but looks like their going to try to be which could be suicide if they are overreliant on that being a hit.

So.. do you think saint's row did poorly? Almost 2 million sold on 360. Saint's row 2 will sell even more. For those other titles they have made, I really doubt that they were too expensive. :p

 



Dgc1808 on 10 December 2008

It does sound like a bit of a bad idea.



4 ≈ One

theRepublic on 10 December 2008

Those quotes from EA and THQ remind me of someone saying, "Screw it, I'm going to the roulette table and betting it all on black."

Fewer, bigger titles is like putting all your eggs into one basket, and that's just not a good idea.



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Gamerace on 10 December 2008
Esa-Petteri said:
Gamerace said:
Esa-Petteri said:
 

What are those "HD AAA" games what THQ has made that did so poorly?

 

Well... ah... Saint's Row?  Yeah, okay, you got me there.  Poor wording (and edited out).  THQ isn't really an AAA publisher but looks like their going to try to be which could be suicide if they are overreliant on that being a hit.

So.. do you think saint's row did poorly? Almost 2 million sold on 360. Saint's row 2 will sell even more. For those other titles they have made, I really doubt that they were too expensive. :p

 

Actually Saint's Row did great (I was kidding btw).  SR2 not as great but I think it'll be profitable but not wildly so.  Otherwise it's hard to tell without THQ providing a complete breakdown to see where the hit and misses are.