I've previously spoke about the origins of the stigma of Third parties not being successful on Nintendo's systems. I don't think it is any surprise that many third parties missed the Wii train the first time around. The cinderella story that is The Wii (and Nintendo) has been called "the single biggest coup in gaming history" I recently read articles from 2006, before Wii's success was so certain. Sony and M$ both applauded Nintendo with an heir of dismissiveness (they've still tried such tactics but it looks sort of ridiculous when the company they're dismissing is is destroying them in sales yr in and yr out) Bottomline is, no one and I mean NO ONE saw this coming. I don't even think Nintendo knew just how huge the Wii would become. The name being revealed left many forums laughing at Nintendo's seemingly moronic decision. Iwata himself recently spoke about how Wii's success must have been most shocking to the Third parties.

This is where the Wii's dominance has been unprecedented. Many people still refuse to understand the heft of "betting on the wrong horse" and the time needed to shift resources, some may even believe that it is too late to change course (I disagree with that). There has never been a situation where the market leader was so unexpected.

Which brings me to the topic at hand: Is Motion Plus the Wii train's attempt to pick up stranded passengers? Is there anyone who believes many of the third parties are going to want to miss out on the Wii's money tree, again? I can understand the first time being caught with your pants down, but now that the Wii seemingly has a foothold on 1st place is it smart on any level for these companies to treat the system as a step child?

There can be another discussion of "chicken or the egg" when it comes to third parties, but two years in and the biggest third party effort was a port of a last gen gem (Re4 I'm really generalizing here)). Things are looking up, and I believe WM+ will allow third parties to get a grapple on the Wii audience as long as they treat it like the marketleader and not some throw away system. From the looks of financial forecasts it seems like they may be in a much more humble mood this time around.

In my opinion, it was actually the terrible controls of Red Steel and Call of Duty 3 that put a lot of originally-interested core gamers off, which meant that it put a lot of third parties off. Fittingly, Red Steel 2and Call of Duty 6 (it'll likely come to Wii, admit it) have the chance to help the Wii ride back into the general gamer's good graces.

As the recession deepens, and the Wii continues to make massive profits for Nintendo, many third parties will be forced to the Wii in order to stay afloat

I agree with you actually..But I also think the shitty ports contributed to that concensus.

I know at least one person that it happened to.  Guy I know from online that I sometimes game with on Xbox Live.  He's also got a Wii, but currently refuses to try any FPS on it simply because he didn't like CoD3.

I really hope Fatal Frame 4, MadWorld, Oboro Muramasa, Tales of 10, Monster Hunter 3, The Conduit, Fragile, Dragon Quest X, The Crystal Bearers, Cursed Mountain, Dead Space Extraction or Little King Story help to change 3rd party image on Wii.

Yeah, I can see that. Luckily for me the first game I played on the Wii (besides Wii sports) was Metroid Prime 3.

I'm not seeing it. In some certain cases yes. Red Steel 2 should do okay but will it have a real online multiplayer? And splitscreen? Co-op mode? Don't know and without those this might just be a curiousity to 'core' gamers. Not a purchase and certainly not a system seller.

Now I real Jedi Knight game with real online and excellent light-saber battles, that WOULD be a system seller. Except I fear Lucasarts would have to get someone else to make the game to make it the calibur of game all the fans want.

Sports titles, particularly TigerWoods, Tennis and Baseball could steal fans away from the HD systems thanks for WM+.

But besides sword fighting and swinging a bat, tennis racket, golf club what would WM+ add to any traditional game title? Not much.

The problem is to use WM+ correctly in all other cases developers will need to make new types of gameplay (like a FP Sports game - say Ultimate (freesbie team sport)) but traditional gamers generally avoid new innovation and stick to the tried and true. So publishers will have to be savvy enough to both know a good new game concept and understand A) They need to market it to the people not currently playing 'core' games and B) How to.

I fear most 3rd parties are too big and too set in their ways to adapt. They will only ever half-ass it and only ever get half-ass results. But if any 3rd party publisher can stomach taking the risks (the same risk Nintendo took making the Wii), the rewards will be equally great as Nintendo's

David; Those games Will definitely have an impact. Like Avinash said, the recession is almost forcing third parties to support the Wii, business wise it is too enticing.

Gamerace: You may be correct, but one thing companies hate is missing out on opportunites for more money. Like you said though they give half assed efforts and get pist that they get half assed results, that's the chicken or the egg theory I was putting forth.

We'll see what happens.