If third parties never gave the Wii serious support it only makes sense we don't see huge successes on the Wii either. As far as the size of teams goes, they could just make 2 big games on Wii to employ all of them instead of 1 big game on the HD systems. But by now they're too late to change this.

Here is an article about his definition:

http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2009/07/18/what-is-good-for-gaming-is-good-for-the-game-industry/

"What struck me about the Wii back in 2005, 2006, as well as the DS, was that it reminded me when gaming was a movement. The movement, of course, was to EXPAND and EXPLORE gaming as much as possible. Game developer and gamer all wanted gaming to expand as far as possible, to as many people as possible. Both the game developer and the gamer wanted to explore new types of gaming.

This sense of gaming as a ‘movement’ ended in the 16-bit generation (but appeared to continue somewhat with PC gaming a little shortly after). Then, gaming became an ‘industry’.

In the ‘Industry’ mindset, the gaming world is seen as finite. The market is seen as a Risk board in which consoles or games ‘conquer’ territories or demographics. In the ‘Industry’ mindset, revenue is the most important number while with the ‘Movement’ mindset, the number of customers are the most important number.

Once upon a time, game developers were really excited about making new types of games and eager to make new content. Today with the ‘industry’ mindset, all I hear game developers talk about are demographics and business models. Alas.

The constant references of the “Games Industry” to mean “gaming” and that what is good for the ‘industry’ is good for ‘gaming’, I find ridiculous and self-destructive. Customers must be made at the center of things. I am sure these “Industry” talkers believe they are talking about customers, but they really aren’t."

I dont see a conspiracy on the part of the big developers, I simply see that so far the types of games that typically come from those devs dont do that well on the Wii in comparison to the HD consoles, yet to create games for the platform requires a nearly complete separate development cycle, for many its just not financially worth it. If say COD or Dead Space actually sold somewhere close to the level of their HD counterparts devs would likely be falling over themselves to make a Wii version in fact based on the size of the user base they would likely make it the lead platform. I know the popular argument is that its cheaper to do wii development and it doesn't take as many sales to make a profit but I highly doubt its a cheap to do a port from the 360 or PS3 to the Wii as it is to do simultaneous development for the 360 and PS3 when many game element have to be completely redesigned from textures to input.

From a business perspective its alot easier decision to put a little effort into making a lot of money than it is to put a lot of effort into making a little money. With the Gamecube devs complained about lack of 3rd party sales, Nintendo's anti-competitive release policies and hardware limitations (last gen it was capacity...this time around its processing power), look at the complaints this time around and its the same old song and dance. I'm not saying Nintendo should go for sameness...simply that the challenges they are facing with 3rd party devs are part of being "different". Different has paid off for Nintendo though so I dont see much need to complain, yea it sucks that many games never make it to the Wii, but there are plenty of good ones out there, and if people actually bought them there would be alot more.

official!
Malstrom: Gaming industry = lalilulelo

Right as always. I hope this Game industry gets destroyed so it can reborn like in the 80s.

We the real gamers need it.

If gaming goes back to what it was in the 80s I will stop gaming.

80s games were all based on tv shows, movies, and sports.

Well he is right, why else are so many people in the games industry pushing for a Wii HD? Or expect Nintendo to launch a new console in the next two years? Why do so many people whine about Nintendo creating what they call "nongames"? Why do companies put halfassed games and ports on the Wii and then whine about Wii customers and how Nintendo didn't hep them when the game flops?

Thanks for the link!

From these posts, I get the feeling that Malstrom's first languange is not english.

Underpowered systems can still have visually impressive games. Some of the late Super Nintendo and MegaDrive games look incredible even today, like DKC and Comix Zone. I find it more impressive to do wonders with limited hardware, th... well not to do wonders with powerful hardware.

I think that to make a Wii came that really pushes the hardware beyond what it is considered capable of, it would take just as large a team as it takes to make a regular game for the PC/PS360.

As mentioned earlier companies could also just split up their teams or have big teams make multiple games wich would mean much more surprice hits and a broader market.

I can understand how the companies think, but I just don't think that they are thinking deep enough. I would not use the same logic that they are using.

This can't get any clearer for gamers and the industry that are too blind to see whats currently happening to the market. I keep telling this to my brother, who is a PS3 fan; but he wont believe me. Hes saying that im the one (as well as all wii owners) whos brainwashed.