With the release of Metroid Prime 3 and the fantastic reviews it's been getting - one of the commonly shared thoughts (as I'm from UK I haven't played it yet) is that it sets the standard for all FPS to come. I cant help but feel it would be such as shame if this perfectly defined control scheme was a one-off, with XB360, PC, PS3 having the unreal engine etc to assist developers - shouldn't Nintendo build an engine for the Wii to help other developers get the same tightly controlled FPs out for the Wii? Also with the Indianopilis game coming out shortly - reading the IGN hands-on comments they say that the wii has split screen multiplayer as does the DS, we all know the Wii can talkk to the Ds - I'm sure nintendo could have made tools available so the DS user can race a wii user across cross platforms. With the DS having 48,000,000 audience if gameplay options like this made 1% of Ds userbase minds up to purchase a Wii then surely these tools costs would be paid off. Just my thoughts but it seems to me the standards of Nintendo games for the Wii are gonna be / have been amazing but with every launch they should be thinking "how can we pass whatever we've used in this game down to third party developers" for every release. Surely then would we see more 1st choice dev teams for wii third party support and the Wii could replace the PS2 long term. What do you think?

Nintendo will shame 3rd parties into improving their controls, graphics, and gameplay

They should also offer help to 3rd parties

I just feel the best way forward is to say "use this to do it like this" rather than "these are the standards which should be met". Scenario: if the Wii had a dozen FPS all with fantastic controls 12 months down the line then maybe even PC gamers may get a Wii to play some of these games on but a one-off taster wouldn't do it in the long run.

 I'm not sure if you are a GoNintendo fan or not but if you are you might remember RMC posting a news article about Nintendo offering extra assistance to old time and new found Devs.  They are sending out professional Nintendo programmers and producers to help 3rd parties get their act together.  Also, Nintendo has dev tools 3rd parties can use. The MP3 controls and the Furr shaders in Mario Galaxy are a part of their new dev toolkit.

Yeah Nintendo is actually known to be pretty helpful to third party developers ever since Iwata took over the company. Outside of sending one of their own teams out to develop the third parties game for them, ala Silicon Knights and MGS:TS for GC, I don't know what else they can do.

if the MP3 controls are part of their dev kit then fantastic!! to me personally I cant help but get the impression even though the Wii is getting a lot of third party support in terms of hours that seem to be spent on Wii development they're still not putting a lot of effort in.

EA - everything they product has this dum down mode to it which isn't so bad but it seems to be at the expense of expanding the modes / functionality that hardcore users get.

Konami - well they've just produced garbage so far, in relation to what they produce for other platforms.

Capcom - a lot could be learned from them, I really hope they sell a lot as only if they get rewarded will others take from their example, even their RE4 port showed how it should be done.

On the bright side though the 2nd wave of third party releases does look a higher level of crap than the initial third party support where ubisoft spout on about their effort but it's only cos they had no competiton at launch.

The way 3rd parties are treated on the Wii is BECAUSE of how the 3rd parties treated Nintendo from 1996-2004...

Nintendo has now developed enough 1st/2nd party intellectual property to survive without any 3rd party support at all. If 3rd parties want to also make a profit, then they need to try a little harder.

#1 I don't think "MP3 controls" is something that is included in development kits. "Development kits are typically a set of development tools that allows a software engineer to create applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, video game console, operating system, or similar.It may be something as simple as an application programming interface in the form of some files to interface to a particular programming language or include sophisticated hardware to communicate with a certain embedded system. Common tools include debugging aids and other utilities often presented in an IDE. SDKs also frequently include sample code and supporting technical notes or other supporting documentation to help clarify points from the primary reference material." Wikipedia.

They are comprised of basic codes used to program games onto a system.

#2 Konami. Produce Garbage. Hell no. Elebits? Dewey's Adventure? Both great games. You have no idea what you are talking about

#3 2nd wave? Most third-party are just starting their first wave of games on the Wii.

As Darc Requiem said, once Iwata got in control, Nintendo third party relations have greatly improved. IF what you want is for Miyamoto to make games for third parties, fat chance.

theres always key devs that outshine others on any format, its just that nintendo are a software house aswell as designing the hardware. Its only logical that the designers of the hardware can produce the most impressive results.

Not many devs can produce a racer in the same calibre as gran turismo, not many devs can produce an FPS as good as halo (although that is arguable)

If you look at squaresoft and their input into the formats they publish for, they almost always blow the standard through the roof, the level of graphics in FFX was absolutely head and shoulders above anything we had seen on the PS2 at that time but devs cought up eventually, They did the same again with FFXII. It make syou wonder why SE dont make their own console really, but thats another story.

I think somthing like metroid may not be matched, but it sets the bar higher for respectable developers, if nobody ever pushes a concept further then development comes to a standstill, anyone making a space FPS knows that its going to be compared to MP3 so they better not be lazy or their game wont get a look in, just as anyone making a racer for the PS3 knows it will be compared to GT5 and so on.