Third-Parties Flocking to Wii. Hints at Low PS3 Ship
Development costs attractive or scant Sony numbers?
It looks as though investor-pressure is seeing publishers back away from PlayStation 3 software during the early phases of the machine's launch, preferring instead to back Nintendo's Wii, the latest home console from the Game Boy-famed games giant.
Publishers are all turning in financial reports, no doubt slightly optimistic Q1 offerings with egged projections to investors, that show loss after loss after loss. The highest-profile to date has been that of Electronic Arts, which filed a loss of $81m causing analysts to remove confidence in its stock, a situation almost mirrored in the Activision camp late last month in spite of the company scraping a slight profit.
It is becoming an open secret that publishers are shying away from the compounded risk associated with supporting two 'traditional' next-gen launch platforms within 12 months, namely that of the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. Microsoft remained quiet on its anticipated shipping figures, allowing analysts to make their own predictions, predictions that proved way off the mark.
And because of this lack of information, no doubt encouraged by a Microsoft third-party relations team which has come in for hefty criticism from every supporting publisher (albeit in guarded public words and in off the record mutterings) there was simply too much launch software for the Xbox 360. Publishers readied offerings for a non-existent audience. Those able to buy hardware, opted only for the safest game purchases and everything else was left on the shelf.
It is looking likely that third-parties are shying away from day-one PlayStation 3 support, preferring to back Nintendo's 'new-gen' Wii offering. See, for example, recent comments from Atari CEO Bruno Bonnell suggesting the embattled French company will risk nothing on PlayStation 3 shipping figures, stating in a recent interview, "...we're lacking information about the PS3 at this stage, because we have basically a rough release date and a high retail price point."
Bonnell highlights the potential shift towards Wii development, believed to be an emerging practice amongst a number of major third-party publishers, explaining that Atari is "...accelerating some of the Wii titles, because with the technology being so close to the GameCube, we are able to effectively convert teams faster than on PS3."
SPOnG would predict that right now, third-party publishing strategists are recommending if not demanding a significant shift in resources away from PlayStation 3 development and towards the more cost-effective Nintendo platform. As we have seen, the Xbox 360 has seen losses of its own, with THQ killing (dare we say whacking?) The Sopranos for the Microsoft platform and Vivendi following suit, canning a planned 360 version of Scarface.
Although Nintendo fans may see this as only good news, come Wii launch they may well find themselves bitterly disappointed as publishers cram shelves with gimmicky rushed software claiming to make use of the Wii's unique interface, but in actually offering little more than filler gameplay within heartless software releases.
Let's not forget that early DS software from third-parties was almost universally appalling, with titles from Activision and Electronic Arts, flagged as works of genius by Nintendo of America at the time, representing little more than beefed up GBA code with pointless use of the touch-screen thrown in very much for its own sake.
Indeed, although the Wii may be sapping development resources away from the PlayStation 3, it might be taking only it's dead wood with adopters of the Nintendo platform looking set to be dazzled by huge shiny pile of what might largely be sub-standard crap. To kick off with, of course, the Nintendo first-party games, Zelda, WarioWare, Metroid, will float the machine with some of the best games available anywhere, though what to expect from third-parties is anyone's guess. SPOnG has seen glimmers of what we can expect from some corners, with Sega's Super Monkey Ball for Wii one of several titles worthy of a punt.
Publishers are all turning in financial reports, no doubt slightly optimistic Q1 offerings with egged projections to investors, that show loss after loss after loss. The highest-profile to date has been that of Electronic Arts, which filed a loss of $81m causing analysts to remove confidence in its stock, a situation almost mirrored in the Activision camp late last month in spite of the company scraping a slight profit.
It is becoming an open secret that publishers are shying away from the compounded risk associated with supporting two 'traditional' next-gen launch platforms within 12 months, namely that of the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. Microsoft remained quiet on its anticipated shipping figures, allowing analysts to make their own predictions, predictions that proved way off the mark.
And because of this lack of information, no doubt encouraged by a Microsoft third-party relations team which has come in for hefty criticism from every supporting publisher (albeit in guarded public words and in off the record mutterings) there was simply too much launch software for the Xbox 360. Publishers readied offerings for a non-existent audience. Those able to buy hardware, opted only for the safest game purchases and everything else was left on the shelf.
It is looking likely that third-parties are shying away from day-one PlayStation 3 support, preferring to back Nintendo's 'new-gen' Wii offering. See, for example, recent comments from Atari CEO Bruno Bonnell suggesting the embattled French company will risk nothing on PlayStation 3 shipping figures, stating in a recent interview, "...we're lacking information about the PS3 at this stage, because we have basically a rough release date and a high retail price point."
Bonnell highlights the potential shift towards Wii development, believed to be an emerging practice amongst a number of major third-party publishers, explaining that Atari is "...accelerating some of the Wii titles, because with the technology being so close to the GameCube, we are able to effectively convert teams faster than on PS3."
SPOnG would predict that right now, third-party publishing strategists are recommending if not demanding a significant shift in resources away from PlayStation 3 development and towards the more cost-effective Nintendo platform. As we have seen, the Xbox 360 has seen losses of its own, with THQ killing (dare we say whacking?) The Sopranos for the Microsoft platform and Vivendi following suit, canning a planned 360 version of Scarface.
Although Nintendo fans may see this as only good news, come Wii launch they may well find themselves bitterly disappointed as publishers cram shelves with gimmicky rushed software claiming to make use of the Wii's unique interface, but in actually offering little more than filler gameplay within heartless software releases.
Let's not forget that early DS software from third-parties was almost universally appalling, with titles from Activision and Electronic Arts, flagged as works of genius by Nintendo of America at the time, representing little more than beefed up GBA code with pointless use of the touch-screen thrown in very much for its own sake.
Indeed, although the Wii may be sapping development resources away from the PlayStation 3, it might be taking only it's dead wood with adopters of the Nintendo platform looking set to be dazzled by huge shiny pile of what might largely be sub-standard crap. To kick off with, of course, the Nintendo first-party games, Zelda, WarioWare, Metroid, will float the machine with some of the best games available anywhere, though what to expect from third-parties is anyone's guess. SPOnG has seen glimmers of what we can expect from some corners, with Sega's Super Monkey Ball for Wii one of several titles worthy of a punt.
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Comments
Dreadknux 3 Aug 2006 11:49
1/12
That's all well and good for Nintendo, but the third party publishers, if all clamouring for Wii support on launch, are risking doing exactly the same thing as they did on 360. Early adopters of the Wii are going to be interested in three things first and foremost - Super Mario Galaxy, WarioWare and Twilight Princess (in no particular order). If we get 10 or so third party offerings on launch that are again left on the shelf because everyone spent their money on Nintendo products, they're going to make the same kind of reaction. "Oh, Nintendo Wii is not commercially viable, bla".
Damn, third party publishers can be fickle sometimes.
Damn, third party publishers can be fickle sometimes.
thane_jaw 3 Aug 2006 12:02
2/12
I think that we will see little 3rd party development at all and that which will come along will be multiplatform. The days of exclusives are gone, to be replaced by the limited period exclusivity deals. So far so blah, but even when both the 360 and PS3 are released on the market and even if they both hit their aggressive sales figures both GTA4 and Halo3 are being released next year, potentially destroying xmas for everyone except MS and Take 2 (and its not like they don't have problems).
I'd be scared to take a risk on unproven hardware when I could develop cheaper games for the next year, flog it to the 100 million PS2 owners already out there and start working on 2008's release Winter schedule in Summer 2007.
I'd be scared to take a risk on unproven hardware when I could develop cheaper games for the next year, flog it to the 100 million PS2 owners already out there and start working on 2008's release Winter schedule in Summer 2007.
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I'll Eat Your Soul 3 Aug 2006 14:11
3/12
"Early adopters of the Wii are going to be interested in three things first and foremost - Super Mario Galaxy, WarioWare and Twilight Princess (in no particular order)."
1. Super Mario Galaxy wasn't a launch title last I checked.
2. Sure, WarioWare is going to get a lot of interest, but given the style of gameplay, people WILL be looking for a second title to snap up alongside it.
I share the fear that we're going to see the launch line-up crammed with Wii-mote enable wii-hashes, but overall it's still positive. Publishers are going to need to sell far fewer units to break even on a title, and if they're successful with even a few games, it'll encourage them to keep at it with the system.
I really want Nintendo to turn their fortunes around this generation to stop the industry moving down this path of massively increasing prices for everything with little more than a graphical boost to show for it.
1. Super Mario Galaxy wasn't a launch title last I checked.
2. Sure, WarioWare is going to get a lot of interest, but given the style of gameplay, people WILL be looking for a second title to snap up alongside it.
I share the fear that we're going to see the launch line-up crammed with Wii-mote enable wii-hashes, but overall it's still positive. Publishers are going to need to sell far fewer units to break even on a title, and if they're successful with even a few games, it'll encourage them to keep at it with the system.
I really want Nintendo to turn their fortunes around this generation to stop the industry moving down this path of massively increasing prices for everything with little more than a graphical boost to show for it.
crs117 3 Aug 2006 14:39
4/12
So now its bad news that Nintendo is getting all the attention from 3rd party developers. What kind of crap reporting is this. This is incredible news...even if the software is crap. Why??? Well because 6 months from now somebody will publish the number of titles available for wii, vs ps3, vs x360 and how many publishers are supporting each next gen system and at that point a shipping title is simply a shipping title and it will win over folks on the fence to purchase the system that has the most support (even if that is a dumb reason to purchase a console).
Okay so if 3rd parties ship 15 crap games for the wii...does it really matter. How many folks here will purchase a questionable game without game sites doing a review of it. I will be excited to see what the 3rd parties offer on launch day, but i would not even think of purchasing something not nintendo till i read a review of said software. Besides we will get the reviews before the system launches.
So if a majority of those titles are pure crap, lets say 2/3rds of the software (10/15) are pure crap, that means at least we get 5 great titles that no other system can likely support.
Either way its a win win.
By the way part of the reason why there was too much software on the shelves was because there where too few consoles to accompany them. Crap software will still sell, even on launch day, if enough gamers can get there hands on the hardware.
Also...if some software gets bargin binned quickly...thats good for gamers and publishers because it shows that consumers wont buy crap and hopefully they will learn to properly support a new gaming system.
Okay so if 3rd parties ship 15 crap games for the wii...does it really matter. How many folks here will purchase a questionable game without game sites doing a review of it. I will be excited to see what the 3rd parties offer on launch day, but i would not even think of purchasing something not nintendo till i read a review of said software. Besides we will get the reviews before the system launches.
So if a majority of those titles are pure crap, lets say 2/3rds of the software (10/15) are pure crap, that means at least we get 5 great titles that no other system can likely support.
Either way its a win win.
By the way part of the reason why there was too much software on the shelves was because there where too few consoles to accompany them. Crap software will still sell, even on launch day, if enough gamers can get there hands on the hardware.
Also...if some software gets bargin binned quickly...thats good for gamers and publishers because it shows that consumers wont buy crap and hopefully they will learn to properly support a new gaming system.
Dreadknux 3 Aug 2006 15:22
5/12
Looks like one of us can't take objective reporting.
I believe SPOnG has always been on the side of 'platform awash with publishers = many a crap title', it's nothing to do with having a grudge against Nintendo, as you insinuated.
If you read the article at all actually, it was perhaps more of a commentary on the XBOX 360's launch period and the money gamble that publishers took by making games for a brand new, at the time non-existent audience. Now we hear they're all cutting back and looking towards Wii - a console due to launch in as little as two or three months time - there _should_ be significant worry that we'll get nothing but rush jobs.
You also have to make the publishers believe in whatever gimmick or feature your console has. That's why so many add-ons for consoles fail. Not enough support. And as SPOnG say, the first lot of DS titles from third parties were s**te. Now it's all well and good if it happens on a handheld where Nintendo has had a huge reputation in the market. Little risk. But the Wii is a home console, up against PS2 and 360. Even though it is smaller risk in terms of budget compared, I'd imagine the Wii would still be a significant risk to determine whether or not a publisher would support the console after making launch flops. Look at the Gamecube after all.
Crap third party titles are a way of life. Doesn't mean we can't moan about it though.
I believe SPOnG has always been on the side of 'platform awash with publishers = many a crap title', it's nothing to do with having a grudge against Nintendo, as you insinuated.
If you read the article at all actually, it was perhaps more of a commentary on the XBOX 360's launch period and the money gamble that publishers took by making games for a brand new, at the time non-existent audience. Now we hear they're all cutting back and looking towards Wii - a console due to launch in as little as two or three months time - there _should_ be significant worry that we'll get nothing but rush jobs.
You also have to make the publishers believe in whatever gimmick or feature your console has. That's why so many add-ons for consoles fail. Not enough support. And as SPOnG say, the first lot of DS titles from third parties were s**te. Now it's all well and good if it happens on a handheld where Nintendo has had a huge reputation in the market. Little risk. But the Wii is a home console, up against PS2 and 360. Even though it is smaller risk in terms of budget compared, I'd imagine the Wii would still be a significant risk to determine whether or not a publisher would support the console after making launch flops. Look at the Gamecube after all.
Crap third party titles are a way of life. Doesn't mean we can't moan about it though.
I'll Eat Your Soul 3 Aug 2006 17:35
6/12
If there's one thing all this shows, it's that it's really hard to blub for Johnny Publisher when he constantly OK's the budget for Currently Popular Cartoon License: The Generic 3D Platformer and Popular Sports Franchise 27.
crs117 3 Aug 2006 17:45
7/12
How am in not taking this objectively. I am sick and tired of critics talking about how the n64 and gc sucked mainly because of lack of 3rd party support. If you have any kind of memory of nintendo gaming for the past 2 consoles that was really the biggest complaint. Lack of third party support for popular titles. Folks never saw that the titles that were released for the gc or n64 where mostly consistanly better games, so you had a lower chance of purchasing crap regardless of what you purchased.
So now nintendo is getting much needed 3rd party support and the first thing that gets reported on it is that it automatically is bad because most of the 3rd party titles will suck or be gimicky. That my friend...while it could well be speculated...should not be reported as the way it is. Besides many third party publishers may not intend on using the new functionality of the wiimote and could opt instead to simply use basic gamecube controllers for their games.
Besides if you read my post at all you would see that 5 good titles out of 15 is better than not having 15 titles worth of gaming reviews. How many people any more simply purchase a game based on the cover or advertisement. The games that suck will definately get a bad rep from reviews and wont sell nearly as well as the good titles which is fine. The publishers need to learn not to publish crap.
This is nothing but good news for Nintendo. No direct negative spin needs to be put on it.
So now nintendo is getting much needed 3rd party support and the first thing that gets reported on it is that it automatically is bad because most of the 3rd party titles will suck or be gimicky. That my friend...while it could well be speculated...should not be reported as the way it is. Besides many third party publishers may not intend on using the new functionality of the wiimote and could opt instead to simply use basic gamecube controllers for their games.
Besides if you read my post at all you would see that 5 good titles out of 15 is better than not having 15 titles worth of gaming reviews. How many people any more simply purchase a game based on the cover or advertisement. The games that suck will definately get a bad rep from reviews and wont sell nearly as well as the good titles which is fine. The publishers need to learn not to publish crap.
This is nothing but good news for Nintendo. No direct negative spin needs to be put on it.
Dreadknux 3 Aug 2006 21:20
8/12
This is nothing but good news for Nintendo. No direct negative spin needs to be put on it.
Of course not. Nobody's saying it's bad news for Nintendo in any way, shape or form.
You're just assuming SPOnG are putting negative spin on Nintendo. In fact, you're assuming its using negative spin at all (which, even if it was, it's their perogative). That's why you're not looking at this objectively, and that's why you're getting it wrong.
The publishers need to learn not to publish crap.
I believe that was pretty much the point of the whole news story SPOnG wrote. That, and publishers need to pace themselves if they're going to see a significant return on investing in platforms. It doesn't matter whether you're pro or anti-Nintendo (and that was never the issue in the first place). If publishers all jump on board a console, that's great. Nintendo's finally getting that.
But if they all just put their eggs into one basket (specifically, making games for launch and nothing else) then it will account for nothing. Better to have loads of games, good or crap, to slowly trickle out in groups of two or three every week or two after launch then have 20-odd launch titles wherein every game except 3 or 4 first party titles are going to be ignored.
Then when no new games are coming out because they've already been released, consumers like you and I are going to think the manufacturer concerned hasn't got much of a release list plan. This is what happened with Microsoft. If nothing else, SPOnG want to make sure the same thing doesn't happen with Nintendo. To think the editors would put a negative spin on a whimsical fancy after openly supporting the Wii is a bit naive to be frank.
Joji 3 Aug 2006 21:25
9/12
I can understand their plight, but this is kind of what I said would happen. Publishers need to look at the big picture.
My friend purchased a 360 recently but while he was happy with the system, the price of the games totally put him off buying more. I'm sure many 360 owners feel the same, and will hold onto their money or check ebay or play.com, for something cheaper. This happens and stores and publishers loose out (if you add the second hand market to all that, you understand why they are hurting somewhat).
Enter Nintendo with a system where publishers can save money on development. I hope they don't flinch on the ideas just because of this. It should be interesting to see if the most innovations on Wii games come from east or west. Place your bets people.
My friend purchased a 360 recently but while he was happy with the system, the price of the games totally put him off buying more. I'm sure many 360 owners feel the same, and will hold onto their money or check ebay or play.com, for something cheaper. This happens and stores and publishers loose out (if you add the second hand market to all that, you understand why they are hurting somewhat).
Enter Nintendo with a system where publishers can save money on development. I hope they don't flinch on the ideas just because of this. It should be interesting to see if the most innovations on Wii games come from east or west. Place your bets people.
Dreadknux 3 Aug 2006 21:29
10/12
Joji wrote:
Place your bets people.
My money's on Wiisabers. *Vrooom* *Vroooom* "Do or do not, there is no try", etc.
soanso 3 Aug 2006 22:29
11/12
I see a lot of Wii games as being xbox conversions with a funky new control scheme. I hope I'm wrong and I also think it's slightly stupid of companies to promise lots of games all to be released on day one.
I mean if someone brought out and xbox360 game say right now or this time two months ago, what competition would it have? There's nothing else being released. Nothing big anyway.
They may blame increased development costs for their losses. Yeah that's a factor
but just stupid shortsighted business is also a factor.
I mean if someone brought out and xbox360 game say right now or this time two months ago, what competition would it have? There's nothing else being released. Nothing big anyway.
They may blame increased development costs for their losses. Yeah that's a factor
but just stupid shortsighted business is also a factor.
TwoADay 3 Aug 2006 23:04
12/12
On top of that, the companies need to consider that when people go out and buy a console, that tends to be a big "entertainment budget" hit. I don't know many people who will buy more than 2 games within a first month of a console's purchase.
Even if they could afford 3 games and a console on a launch date, would they? I would think that people buy one or two games, play with them for a month or two (or longer, but i'm thinking all the people that buy lots of games) and then buy a new game....preferably the newest "good game." and the cycle continues, of buying new releases. Those launch titles then get lost.
Anyone agree?
Even if they could afford 3 games and a console on a launch date, would they? I would think that people buy one or two games, play with them for a month or two (or longer, but i'm thinking all the people that buy lots of games) and then buy a new game....preferably the newest "good game." and the cycle continues, of buying new releases. Those launch titles then get lost.
Anyone agree?
