Every time one points out to Wii fans that certain games like No More Heroes, Madworld, and Okami have sold in ridiculously low amounts on Wii in comparison to other games on the Wii that are considered to be inferior to these games by most critics, and that have sold many times more copies than the aforementioned core games, Wii fans always respond that Suda 51, Platinum Studios, and Clover are incredibly content that their games have only sold 500,000 copies at most on Wii.

     Well, today I picked up the latest issue of Play Magazine the June 2009 Bayonetta issue.  And certain comments from Kamiya, lead developer of Bayonetta (also developed Devil May Cry One and Okami) make me think these developers aren't all that happy with the recent sales of their games.

"

Question from Play Magazine:  Let me ask you a game philosophy question.  How important is fan feedback to you?  Does it inform or alter your work?

"Kamiya:  Well, to be honest, I don't analyze fan opinions in great detail.  I just don't think a game made after extensive feedback analysis will be the game fans want.  I guess I trust myself above anyone else  .  .  .  I mean, I was brought up with games, I was a game kid, I'm a gamer.  I make my games -- with the attitude, "You know why this is good, right?  You're a gamer too!"  I say this often -- it's just the way I am -- but I haven't consciously thought about making top-selling hugely profitable games.  I know I'll have to think about it from now on  .  .  .  it's my job, as a creator of products.  I do want lots of people to play my games.  In that respect, I think, my personal interests and interests of the company (Platinum) match up.  I really believe that you need to think about creating a game that's fun to play before considering whether or not it will sell  .  .   .  eventually a flower's going to bloom.  I hope I always get to make games that way.  Of course, I say this even though Joe and Okami were retail failures  .  .  .  This time, seriously folks, I'm begging you (laughs).  Please buy Bayonetta!

"Play Magazine:  I have a feeling Bayonetta's going to sell well.

"Kamiya:  I always think they'll sell well!  And they never do.  I'm just as nervous about Bayonetta as I was about Okami.

"Hashimoto (I think he's head of Platinum studios):  What if it doesn't sell?

"Kamiya:  I'm retiring (laughs).

"Hashimoto:  If you're going to say that, why not just go back home to Shinshu already? (laughs)

"Kamiya:  Maybe I will (laughs)."

From Play Magazine Volume Eight Issue 6, June 2009 Bayonetta cover story pg.31 Interview by Casey Loe and Nick Des Barres

Well, I don't know about that, butin the case of NMH, the fact that there's going to be a sequel indicates that its sales were at the very least acceptable.

Okami didn't sell much better on the PS2 so I don't know why anyone would expect it to do better on the Wii.

As for Mad World, it was Sega who said they were happy with the sales so far. Platinum may be disappointed, who knows?

EDIT: And I would add that I wouldn't have expected much more from a black and white game that lasts about 6 hours and is priced at $50.

But that's the entire point, isn't it?

Wii game developers are happy with smaller sales, because they cost less money to produce. Bayonetta is a big budget HD game, and will need to sell over a million to make back it's investment.

Okami and Viewtiful Joe were PS2 games also....

Software sells hardware.

And you think that Capcom is not happy with the RE sales (1 on rails and a remake of an old game selling over 1 million)? You think that EA is not happy with the Boom Blox sales? You think that Takara Tommy is not happy with the Naruto sales? 

Why people just want to know about the bad examples and forget about the good examples? Aahhh of course, they want to say bad things of the Wii.

Okami- PS2 (old game, and did better than the original)

What about that quote has anything to do with the Wii?

He was talking about Okami he was talking about the PS2.

He had nothing to do with the Wii port.  He wasn't even part of Capcom when Okami released on Wii....

Other then that he's talking about how he realizes that he's had a flaw in his thinking about creating the games he would want to play and not games that other people would care about... making games for himself... so to speak... and that he needs to focus more on making games that will sell to other people.

Really in that interview he's trying to get across the exact opposite of what you inferred.

He's saying he and Platnium would be happy just making small profits on the games they make so long as they can stay true to the kind of games they've made in the past... because he and the company want to make games there way even though they know it doesn't make sense financially.  Which is why they continue to make games like Madworld and Bayonetta.

Even a generation ago, most devs would have been ecstatic to sell 400,000 copies: such a game isn't a runaway hit, to be sure, but that's a very respectable number, and -more importantly- it's profitable as long as you don't go completely off the deep end with your development costs. Most games never even sell that many, so why wouldn't developers be happy when their games do?

This is a troll thread

No. It's not a troll thr ead and it raises a very specifiic point. Core games on the Wii don't sell.
It's a fact. All three of those games have higher aggregate review scores than Wii Sports, Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii, and Wii Play. And similar games to those games (even some with lower aggregate review scores have sold much better on 360 and PS3). The reason for poor sales for these games on Wii is because the new gamers that Nintendo has attracted with the blue ocean strategy don't know what the review scores are or what games are supposed to be high quality games. And, it is something that could lead to a glut of Wii _____ type games being made on Wii instead of core games in traditional genres.