The best and worst third-party Wii publishers
Saturday, June 28th, 2008 at 3:23pm by Derek
Third parties, I’d like to apologize.
I have been pretty scathing toward you lately. In fact, Jack and I have both been throwing rotten tomatoes at you vigorously over the last year or so, and although our chuckling behind the bushes may suggest otherwise, I feel pretty bad about it. After all, some of you are releasing really good Wii games, and it would be wrong to not recognize your successes on the same level we have pointed out your failures.
I would like to make it up to you, or at least, to those of you who aren’t infuriating me with Wii ineptitude. We have examined the Wii software library and considered a few preeminent titles on the horizon to chisel down a list of the three best third-party Wii publishers.
Of course, some bitterness remains, and since I’m fresh out of tomatoes, I have also compiled the three worst. So if any readers have rotten tomatoes on hand, stand by for some severe pelting.
03. Konami
Konami had a great start on Wii with Elebits, a sleeper hit impressive not only for its addictive gameplay, fun multiplayer and clever uses of the Wii Remote, but for being the first Wii game to utilize WiiConnect24 online functionality.
Konami hasn’t excited Wii owners on a scale comparable to Elebits since, but the company has published two of Wii’s best sports games, offering the system’s deepest baseball experience with MLB Power Pros and providing one of most innovative examples of Wii Remote usage yet with the outstanding Pro Evolution Soccer 2008.
Unfortunately, the enjoyable Dewy’s Adventure fell just short of expectations, and Deca Sports, Konami’s stab at the Wii Sports market, was universally slammed by critics. But with Castlevania: Judgment and an Elebits sequel on the way, as well as more projects to come, Wii owners should expect good things from Konami.
02. Electronic Arts
I can imagine some of the comments that will be posted to the contrary, but Electronic Arts has been a solid Wii supporter, and by the end of the year, that status will have been secured beyond argument.
The controversial gaming juggernaut already has a sizable portfolio of Wii releases, highlighted by the critically acclaimed Boom Blox and Medal of Honor: Heroes 2, which instantly became the unrivaled standard for first-person shooters on Wii.
Like Konami, Electronic Arts has had some Wii disappointments; games like MySims and Boogie failed to meet critical expectations, but that they were exclusive, original Wii efforts speaks volumes about Electronic Art’s commitment to supporting the platform.
Moving forward, the upcoming new Wii entries in the company’s Madden and Tiger Woods franchises look extremely promising, boasting improved graphics and motion controls. Electronic Arts is also working on more original IP for Wii, according to IGN, something that simply cannot be said for most other developers.
01. Capcom
Complain about ports and rehashes all you want, but the reality is simple; some of the best games available on Wii boast the Capcom logo on the front of the box.
Compared to those of competing third parties, Capcom’s Wii portfolio is a downright star-studded affair led by the charming puzzler Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure, which set the Internet ablaze and earned high marks from just about every credible reviewer in the medium.
Despite being ports, Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition is the best version of one of the greatest video games ever made, and the stylish and epic Okami has been realized on Wii the way it couldn’t be on the PS2.
The years-in-the-making, inevitably delicious Mega Man 9 has been confirmed for WiiWare, and more “secret” projects are sure to be announced at E3. Given that, and the nature of Capcom’s efforts thus far, I imagine we haven’t even seen the beginning of what Capcom has in store for Wii owners. Just wait until they really start trying.
03. Square Enix
Square Enix is unique among the publishers we’re listing in contempt; its Wii efforts haven’t been terrible, by any means. But Square Enix’s Wii performance has been egregious because, quite simply, there hasn’t really been any Wii performance from Square Enix to speak of.
Of course, that’s not literally true. Square Enix released Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors this February and also launched My Life as a King, a SimCity-like game with a Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles facade, as a launch title for Nintendo’s WiiWare service.
You want a literal statement? How about this one; those average titles are the only two games Square Enix has released for Wii.
Square Enix hasn’t really been releasing any Wii games at all, and aside from one or two projects on the horizon, the publisher has chosen to essentially ignore the industry’s leading games platform.
02. Ubisoft
Ah, Ubisoft. Where do we begin?
Our relationship seemed promising at first. You launched two original, exclusive Wii games alongside the system, and even though one was awful and the other was, while enjoyable, a shallow minigame collection, I appreciated the effort.
Maybe it was my late nights at work. Maybe we grew apart somehow, as my attention shifted to a certain galactic platformer and interstellar bounty hunting, but things just haven’t been the same. Maybe it’s not you. Maybe it’s me.
Then again, it could be that you haven’t released a single Wii game worth playing since Rayman Raving Rabbids, meanwhile you’re out showing off sexy lingerie to other consoles. And don’t even try to claim No More Heroes; you may have published it, but you certainly didn’t develop it. We settled that in the divorce, remember?
No, in terms of your own Wii games, you’ve been content to simply release some of the most god-awful stuff available for the system. So consider our relationship terminated, effective immediately.
And no, you won’t be allowed to see the kids…z.
01. Conspiracy Entertainment
Each time I walk into my local games boutique, I notice a shiny new piece of obvious shovelware. To humor myself, I almost always pick up the box and assess the situation.
Once it was Ninjabread Man. Anubis II came a little later, an apparent sequel to a game I’ve never known to actually exist. I laughed at both, then I noticed they were the same game with different aesthetics, and I laughed even harder.
And the beat has gone uninterrupted since. Monster Trux Arenas was the subject of my ridicule last week, not to be confused with Monster Trux Offroad. I’m sure that one is much better, after all.
The only “conspiracy” afoot here seems to be that this company’s logo adorns the boxes of each of these petrified pieces of dinosaur vomit. I wonder if the alien in said logo is using some extraterrestrial body language to tell Earthling consumers to piss off and die.
I may throw rotten tomatoes, but at least I don’t sell them. And for that…nanu nanu, Conspiracy Entertainment. You win this list. And sadly, I seriously cannot wait to see what you come out with next.
Agree? Disagree? Share your own list in the comments.
June 28th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Agreed. Although i think UbiSoft belongs at the top of the ‘worst’ list, just because they are a HUGE developer/publisher which is not putting resources into Wii games. Conspiracy probably just doesn’t have the resources to begin with.
And yeah, Capcom has shown a lot of love for the Wii. the 2 third party games i do own were published by Capcom. I do hope that at some point they get RE5 and SF4 onto the Wii.
Cheers
June 28th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
I’d be willing to forgive Square Enix if they’d be willing to release some of their earlier classics for the VC. A dose of Final Fantasy 3 or Ogre Battle would go a long, long way in keeping them in my good graces.
June 28th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
i don’t usually defend Ubisoft, but i’m looking at the cover of my box for No More Heroes and Ubisoft published it. in my opinion it’s one of the best Wii games released so far and they should get their credit for that. Haven’t released anything worth playing since that Rayman spinoff? I think not.
June 28th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
I’d put Sega in a top of best 5.
I’d like to put Activision in a worst, since they really haven’t done much aside from Guitar Hero 3 (which they shipped in mono). Only now are they getting a bit better(GHIV, presumable CoD5), but only with their multiplatform releases.
And the shovelware companies shouldn’t be considered, since shovelware is their business model, considering they are usually very small companies.
June 28th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Call me cynical, but I’d actually use Capcom as an example of one of the worst.
They’ve certainly been successful, and they definitely have the best 3rd party titles for the system – but there’s no shaking the feeling they commit as little development or marketing effort as they can get away with. RE4, RE:UC, Zak and Wiki and Okami all spring to mind… especially Okami.
Just look at how they shirked titles like No More Heroes which, hilariously, was published by Ubisoft in the West. Until Spyborgs comes out I reckon Capcom will have collectively spent less money developing Wii games that Ubisoft did on Red Steel alone. In fact, I reckon less than it cost to port Lost Planet to PS3.
And having single handedly kept Capcom in the black over the last year, what goodies are there on the horizon? The condescending looking Spyborgs? How about a Wiiware Megaman with NES level production values. I suppose we should be impressed by MH:3. All it took was a 3:1 install base dominance in Japan huh? Thanks a bunch Capcom. There was no way I wanted to point my Wiimote at the screen and swing my way around like in the Bionic Commando games. As a committed Nintendo fan there’s no way I’d be interested in a Street Fighter game harkening back to the SNES classics would there?
June 28th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
I don’t know how you can say that Square Enix is ignoring the Wii. Square Enix’s number of titles for the Wii are comparable to those for the Xbox 360, and the only exclusive PS3 titles they’re working on are Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy vs XIII. Granted, the Wii isn’t getting the AAA titles, but it’s much better than their support for the Gamecube.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Square_Enix_games
June 29th, 2008 at 12:29 am
I have to disagree with your listings of Konami and Capcom. Konami hasn’t really released much besides Elebits which, while solid, is still only one game. Simply paltry when compared to other consoles like the DS getting Castlevania, Contra and the PS3 getting games like Metal Gear Solid 4. Konami is not a very good 3rd party company.
And Capcom… Where do I begin? We get ports of Okam and RE4 along with a forgettable adventure title and a promise of MM9 on Wii while others get Dead Rising, Lost Planet, Street Fighter IV, and numerous digi-download releases of the original arcade versions of Street Fighter and other arcade classics.
June 29th, 2008 at 12:33 am
Oh and I forgot to mention Resident Evil 5. Why the hell arent we getting that? RE4 wii and REUC both went above sales expectations…
Fuck Capcom.
June 29th, 2008 at 12:37 am
Ooh and I should mention that EA isnt very good, either. As you can see with Skate It and their sports re-hashes.
EA just isnt good in general. The only wicked game they made (for any platform, not just Wii) was SSX Blur. That game was brilliant.
June 29th, 2008 at 7:07 am
I most certainly would not consider Konami to be one of the best 3rd party publishers on the Wii. Outside of Elebits and PES, Konami has continued it lackadaisical approach to Nintendo platforms that has been characteristic of the company since the N64. It is almost criminal that a machine made for what could easily be the most engrossing Castlevania since SOTN gets a beat ‘em up over a proper game. Meanwhile, Konami literally throws good money after bad on the PS3, with Kojima making occasional lip service to the Wii.
Capcom haven’t been great, but they haven’t been terrible either. That said, it is inexcusable that the company hasn’t even CONSIDERED a proper follow up to Resi on, again a platform most suited to such a game by virtue of its setup, something which also applies to Bionic Commando.
I also think you’re being way too hard on SquareEnix, and saying it’s “ignoring the Wii” whilst acknowledging that is has produced games on the platform is a contradiction.
I’d also personally list Sega as one of the worst, but they’ve produced very few decent games on any platform since the death of the Dreamcast (RIP).
I’d also list Namco as one of the worst as it really hasn’t contributed anything of worth to the Wii at all and Ubisoft’s efforts have been so legendarily bad that there’s little more to be said that has not been already.
Activision also deserve a special mention, not only for having such disrespect for the platform that they originally shipped GH with mono sound, but also for the fact that they’d rather develop a balance board peripheral to accompany a 360 and PS3 only Tony Hawks game than make a Wii game that already has the peripheral, now THAT is what I call ignoring the Wii.
Overall though, I don’t think any 3rd party deserves accolade for its Wii showings as ALL 3rd parties have treated the market leading console as an afterthought at best and a dumping ground for dross at the very worst.
June 29th, 2008 at 9:38 am
I’m with others about Capcom. It’s a love hate relation ship with them. RE4 Wii is absolutely one of my all time favorite console games, but it wasn’t exactly a challenge for them to bring it to the Wii.
elmer’s comment about them doing as little as possible, seems to be dead on. Everything we’ve got from them has been a cost cutter, or no brainer. I’m pretty sure we’ll see “Killer 7 Wii” fairly soon. I’m kind of surprised we haven’t already seen it, given the Wii’s controls are perfect for that “Cube” game.
Their 2008 lineup shows exactly what they think about the Wii. This image says it all;
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3258/2549260663_d4e5cdabf4.jpg
Out of all the games, the Wii has 3 slated from Cacpom and all of them are geared towards a younger audience:
SpyBorgs – (I’ll buy this game, but I’m not too happy about it containing Mini Games. Maybe they didn’t get the memo last year?)
(Developer Bionic Games)
Neopets – (Don’t blow your budget Capcom.)
(Developer Neopets Inc.)
WeLoveGolf – (I was excited about this game last year, but now that I’ve seen it with the rest of their line up, it has become another let down.)
(Developer Camelot)
Notice that all of the games are being developed by outside sources. Capcom isn’t doing anything in house for the Wii that I know of?
IMO, Mega Man 9 Wii Ware is a sorry example of a new game. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love retro pixel art and old games, but in contrast to games like SF2 HD, in my eyes it’s a pile of crap. Capcom has a serious problem right now if they can only manage to create a NES game in a 40 meg space.
Not bringing SF4 to the Wii has really pissed me off and I honestly hope Capcom takes a loss for the first few years on it. I won’t buy this game for my PC. I really don’t know what they’re thinking. Are they expecting me to use my mouse and keyboard? I’ve never bought an arcade stick for my PCs over the years, only for my consoles. I didn’t even pick up a stick for MAME. Am I alone on this?
Thanks, but no thanks Capcom!
UbiSoftz needs to be shot, it’s that simple.
I have no quarrels with Sqare Enix right now, of course I’m not really interested in their games.
I love Castlevania, especially the DS games, but a fighter for the Wii? Really? I’ll pass, just like I passed on Soul Calibur Wii, an adventure game — this made sense… Lazy bastards!
June 29th, 2008 at 10:01 am
I think that it is too much of a mix bag to crown any of the companies as being the worse on the consoles. Is it worth incluidng Square Enix and Ubisoft when other publishers have contributed nothing at all. At least those two have had a couple of significant titles under their belts already.
June 29th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Deca Sports, really isn’t a konami game. It’s developed by Hudson and I think only co-published by Konami, so that’s not fair to hang it on their neck.
Also, Konami deserve props for releasing a proper DDR game on Wii. I loved DDR Mario mix, but the cube was sadly lacking a true DDR entry. It looks like the game has been selling fantastically, regulary on Amazons top 10 Wii list. Also, I understand they’ve recently announced a sequel. I can’t wait.
June 29th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
@ Ady.
Funnily enough with your Activision example, Namco did the exact same thing. They made a whole infra-red sensing gun just to put the game on PS3 rather than grace us with its presence.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
SSX blur missed another chance to shine, there’s no mention.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
I agree with Tyler somewhat. No More Heroes is definitely a great game that Ubi put out. However, I don’t think they had much, if anything to do with the development of it. Does this represent games that were made and published by these companies, or just published by them?
July 1st, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Tylor and Scott, read the article. He mentioned NMH.
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:58 am
I personally don’t like Elebits,good thing I was borrowing it!