Does Nintendo even need third parties anymore?
Monday, December 15th, 2008 at 9:52pm by Jack
For the first couple of years in the Wii life cycle, the “Wii needs third parties to survive” argument had some merit. That’s the way things always worked, from the NES days to the current king of consoles, the PlayStation 2.
But taking a look at what Blake found this evening got me thinking. Your personal feelings on Nintendo and its non-traditional games aside, does Nintendo really need the third parties anymore–or is it the other way around?
As Blake’s post showed, only 20% of the top selling Wii titles to date were non-Nintendo. And yet, Nintendo’s consoles are the most popular consoles to grace this fine earth in a long time, in spite of the fact that third parties continue to struggle for traction. You can call that biased fanboy opinion all you want, but the facts are pretty clear: Even during a serious recession, Nintendo’s consoles actually sold MORE this Black Friday than they did in the same period in 2007.
Also a fact is that the industry, particularly significant players like EA, are losing money on franchise games and on new games meant to reinvent their brand (Mirror’s Edge, for example). Several other smaller developers weren’t so lucky, and folded in 2008. Some of the survivors will consolidate in 2009 to remain afloat.
But so far, Nintendo could care less. Not only are their titles the ones that sell the best on the Wii, their titles are also some of the ones that dominate top 10 lists for months at a time (e.g. Mario Kart Wii). For an industry that, for the most part, foolishly considers a one week reign at the top a “success,” that’s a pretty amazing feat indeed. It would seem, at least to me anyway, that it’s actually the fledgling third parties that need the Wii and it’s huge install base right now, more than the Wii needing third parties. This is year three for the system, and it’s not slowing down, it’s speeding up. The numbers speak for themselves.
December 15th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Nintendo, start caring about your 3rd party support. It counts.
Gamers are growing up. My generation represents a larger part of the gaming whole, and that part is looking for a more mature experience. By mature, I dont mean prostitutes, drugs, blood, and swearing… I mean games like Oblivion. Open ended, harder variety games that draw thinking people in. As it stands, we Wii owners dont have many to choose from in this category.
I love Mario Kart like everyone else, but I need a little more from my Wii. And 360 owners are getting it.
)
December 15th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
If I were the head of EA or Activision or any of the other software companies I would send out a company wide memo stating that effective immediately the majority of upcoming titles would be Wii based titles. Sure I would still produce an occasional Sony or XBOX game, but I would make the Wii my priority. And I wouldn’t settle for any of the shovel ware that is being pushed out the doors. I would start creating a variety of really good, well made games for the Wii.
It really makes no sense for a company to keep ignoring the system that is selling the most units, and has the largest fan base.
December 15th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
With just reading the headline, uh, yes. Specifically, Nintendo needs third parties to step the hell up. Wiis aren’t going to keep selling with just Wii Fit and Mario Kart forever. Sooner or later people are going to realize that unless they buy some regular games, the Wii is basically a 250 dollar sports toy.
December 15th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
well, 3rd parties gambled on the 360 and ps3 this gen. they lost the gamble. and i’m sure many are sore that they lost their bet. which is why devs are still reluctant to support nintendo. they are sore. yet, they are being forced to support nintendo because they have taken over the gaming universe. its where the money is made. its the best and most popular system, and they couldn’t forsee it. so now they have to scramble and support the system or risk losing money in the game business. they’re forced to not focus on graphics (which is their expertise), but instead try and learn how to program for a new user interface very late in the game. what a tough dilemna they are in…….
December 15th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
NONONNO!
you sure… 20% of the top 10..
but what about the top 15?
20?
and so on…
im sure it increases dramatically.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:13 am
Nintendo becomes even more powerful with third parties backing them. The more power they have over the other two consoles, the better.
Though what I would like to know is why can’t any other company besides Nintendo produce the elusive “evergreen” titles?
December 16th, 2008 at 12:47 am
Yes Nintendo still needs third party support, unless they are going to come up with many new franchises, (say 4 a year) but I doubt that will happen.
Third parties need to get their butts in gear more than Nintendo needs new franchises. Which one will happen?
December 16th, 2008 at 2:19 am
Nintendo used to rely on third party to unit gamers under its mighty power during the golden(NES, SNES) age. Now days, for me at least, the reason to own a Wii is the rare opportunities to play the great Nintendo first party games. Because I got a killer PC (that’s right, not Mac, you uneducated Mac buyers) for any games that may interest me, that’s why.
Finally, let’s be real here. Unless you are under 16, and got no life, do you really run out games to play? Seriously? How many people on this site actually finished WarioLand 3 100%, or complete all the Zelda greats with all difficulties, or figured out how to do the moon walk with Mewtwo in SSBM? My mean, come on, Nintendo is enough for you. Let me put this way: do you really want to play Raving Rabbid Tv parties, when you got games like Wariowares that costs 5$ in you local game store? Go finish your copy of Twilight Princess first.
December 16th, 2008 at 8:26 am
50% of the top 30 are 3rd party. Hell, Guitar Hero World Tour just debuted at number 28 with all of a million copies sold . . . and that game isn’t cheap. The Wii outsells the PS3 by a good margin (no surprise), but the 360 tends to sell more across the board. Yes, the 360 had a full year on everyone, but the top of their sales are mostly newer games.
Oh, and WiiPlay should be removed from anyone’s top selling lists. That’s a bit unfair, imho.
“Even during a serious recession, Nintendo’s consoles actually sold MORE this Black Friday than they did in the same period in 2007.”
There were also more Wii’s available.
Regardless, generally the best games on Wii are Nintendo’s . . . even if most of them are light retreads of previous games (Kart, SSBB), but the formula still works.
December 16th, 2008 at 9:12 am
If we want the Wii to be the perfect console, yes, we need third parties.
Also, remember the “long tail” effect. Outside the top 10 or 20, things get very different. I remember I recently read on gamasutra that most of the Wii software sales in 2007 were third party, if you look at the entire picture, not just the top 10.
December 16th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Actually, Nintendo DOES need 3rd parties. First off Nintendo does a great job publishing games, and most of what they do release becomes a hit, therefore I understand why the majority of the best selling Wii games are from Nintendo. There is another reason however for that, namely lackluster 3rd party effort. Yes we do have some exceptions but most of the Wii’s 3rd party games, for want of a better term, stink. Yes, I know that 2009 looks to be a very promising year for Nintendo fans, but as a whole, I think that 3rd parties working on Wii games need to get thier act together. For every Okami or No More Heroes we get about 20+ poorly coded Wii sports ripoffs and Nintendogs wannabees. Should developers be putting their big guns behind the Wii instead of delegating Wii games to a 4th string group of programmers, I think that the Wii would be a much more enjoyable system to play on. To clarify, I am NOT asking for a bunch of M rated FPS’s. A good game is not synonymous with a game with mature content. (Though, I do enjoy a good FPS myself.) The Wii has been established as a system for the family, and I do not see Nintendo trying to say otherwise. I do think that many developers could do a better job of creating games that are fun, yet accessible for the Wii. This would also be beneficial to the developers as well. If Game Companies stop churning out a new Bratz/Babyz/Dogz/Barbie/etc. game every week, then they could put those resources towards making a single GOOD game that would sell better than their mountains of shovelware. They don’t even have to make a new IP! I am certain that if, say Neko Entertainment for example, were to put a large amount of effort into making a GOOD Bratz game, then they would be making a nice profit. You get the girls that beg for it just because it has a their favorite toy on it, but you ALSO get the girls that actually care about the quality of the games that they own. Should they do that, they would be able to leave that game on the market longer to collect more profit, instead of immediately shipping a new one out the next week. These are my thoughts on 3rd party support, please feel free to agree/disagree with me and share your thoughts in the comments section.
December 16th, 2008 at 11:38 am
I don’t think Nintendo actively hates third parties. The article is structured to be a bit of agitprop. Does Nintendo need third parties? Technically right now no, their bottom lines are doing fine. Do they want them to become nonexistent, no they like licensing money.
Everyone responding to the article has not really thought about Nintendo as themselves. We do want quality third party games, but I put the responsibility for that on the third parties. Nintendo can’t make their game for them. Maybe the could help out more in the promotion aspect. In the end the whole point is moot as there are several third party games I own and more that I am looking forward to next year.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
i don’t think NINTENDO NEEDS the third party support (they’re doing just fine), i think we as the gamers want better third party support for ourselves because we deserve it. it’s not the big n’s fault ANYMORE 3rd parties still ignore the system and port crap instead of build from the ground up. the system’s graphics aside 3rd parties could put forth better efforts.
December 16th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Doesn’t anyone remember what Reggie’s recent comment was about?
Basically it broke down into a message toward third-party developers stating they need to get their asses in gear and focus on making quality titles, not POS games with minimal effort or even development with a third-string development group.
As a Nintendo purist, I echo the same message. Focus, all 3rd-party developers.
Commit yourselves to absolute quality games if you want to bask in the glory that is Nintendo.
I want you to take a look at the games MadWorld and Conduit.
Sega has been working extremely hard on these two titles for the last two years, and the quality of these games are going to shine in 2009.
December 16th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
“Does Nintendo even need third parties anymore?”
Financially? No.
If they want to expand a dismally small and woefully homogeneous library of games? Absolutely.
December 16th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I think it’s accurate to say that Nintendo has had lackluster 3rd party support this console generation, and that Nintendo will do fine for the rest of the generation without it. The real concern is future generations, where Nintendo’s novel approach may have a lot more direct competition, and where the some new gamers this gen may need a strong reason to buy a game system if their wii still works.