Associated Press: Wii suffers glut of weak games
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 at 3:44pm by Blake
The world’s largest news wire yesterday voice concerned over the abundance of mindless Wii games.
Some publishers have grumbled that Nintendo hasn’t done enough to support their products. But the real problem is more obvious: Most of the Wii’s third-party software doesn’t measure up. There are a handful of good non-Nintendo Wii games (like Capcom’s remakes of “Okami” and “Resident Evil 4″), but an awful lot of lackluster junk is being shoveled onto the platform. And gamers are the ones getting burned.
Would anyone like to compare life-to-date shovelware quantities of Wii to that of the PS2 for the same period? I’m convinced the results would show if Wii falls within a historical range of poopski or not (read: if there’s really cause for concern).
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:13 pm
You’re right about the PS2 thing but still. The Wii is hurtin’ right now. I haven’t bought a Wii game since Brawl. And before that I hadn’t bought a game since MK: Armaegeddon.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:15 pm
That would be an interesting study. I’m getting tired of all these “Wii has nothing to play” stories. I’ve got plenty of games I’m working through and there are more on the way. Yes there is a lot of junk but the good games are a plenty.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:33 pm
I did some quick calculations. Let’s say anything less than a 5.0 out of 10 is crap. I went on Metacritic and took all of the PS2 scores and all of the Wii scores.
Out of the 1545 PS2 games, 129 of them were ranked a below a 5.0. That gives us about 8.34%. Out of the 187 Wii games, 34 were ranked under 5.0, or 18.18%. So, based on percentages, the Wii has a more than twofold epidemic of crappy games.
It’s not looking good for the Wii right now. It’s not Nintendo’s fault… it’s the 3rd party publishers’ fault. I hope and believe, however, that as the life cycle progresses, we will see this change.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:46 pm
The worst thing these games can do is turn new gamers off from the Wii. Which is pretty bad, but still. I don’t buy a system because of a lack of crap games; I buy it because of the good titles. The Wii’s had plenty to keep me busy, and I’m sure that Nintendo has a lot of awesome secrets lined up for the second half of the year. They’d be crazy not to. And WiiWare looks to do amazing things for indie console gaming, elevating a worthy part of the market (as opposed to mini-game shovelware).
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:54 pm
You know what this is starting to look like? The Atari Crash of 1983. The more crap that comes out, the less chance people are going to actually buy anymore games. I’m sure it’s not as bad as it was with the Atari, but you can definitely see some parallels.
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Why don’t we call it what it is. The industry is trying to black ball the Wii or nintendo once again. It happened with the GC and the xbox yet MS threw money at that problem and it sort of worked.
The GC did worst than it should because of the same industry practices. Every one really does believe the internet boys who say they own it and don’t play it.
If this is the case why even say this? I know no one with a PSP that is a hardcore gamer. Except that one guy who always buys any thing new.
The media tried to kill nintendo once but it did not work. They also tried to kill the PS3 with the help of sony them selves and it still did not work because gamers keep this industry moving whether they are casuals, retros, hardcore, FPS players, l337z,or fanbois.
Seriously nintendo is winning because they listen to none of these guys. Let them print what ever they want it still does not change the fact that the Wii is selling because it is actually useful and fun and affordable.
Only a fanboi pays attention to the mini games and shovel ware. GC owners did the same with the PS2 line up and it did nothing for them. Simple fact people bought this machine and they will buy some thing more for it. If you have a Wii and can’t find any thing to play then you are probable more part of the problem that the HD systems have.
If a game on the HD system does not get a 9 or above every one ignores it. People always say hey I have a Wii but there is nothing to play then they say the Wii owners are mostly casuals. An alarming amount of hardcores own this system and the smash sales show this. Yes they are buying Wii sports too why because they are hardcore and want to try every thing out. These same guy will buy little big planet and try to play with home as long as possible.
The Wii crowd all bought one because they saw what it could do not a spec sheet and a promise. The publisher are really believing the fanbois right now. Maybe because more employees in the game industry in the US come from FPS mod teams than any thing else.
i’d pay for a Wii version of the DS ninja gaiden with Wii mote play. The developers over in japan better get behind the Wii if they want to keep selling games. The hardcore are really not showing up for a lot of their games because these guys are wolves in sheep’s clothing. This is basically the PC crowd turned console gamers. I mean they can’t fight over AMD vs intel any more or ati vs nvidia.
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:22 pm
There are a lot of shit games on the Wii and it’s admittedly a bit frightening to see t his early in the console’s lifecycle.
It wouldn’t be a problem if there was any actual 3rd party support (Sega is the only one REALLY making an effort on the Wii), but there just isn’t still. It would be one thing if it was just Nintendo and their games, a la the Gamecube, but they have to combat against a massive glut of absolute shit. Even with Nintendo’s quality, they can’t withstand that sort of tide from pulling them in by association.
The Wii *REALLY* needs some major 3rd party announcements at E3 or Nintendo really risks losing this new audience because they become turned off by all the shitty Wii games.
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:31 pm
cronotrigger913 actually the Wii is doing some thing counter to that. HD gaming is in more true. The sales tell you this. The xbox 360 is dead in the water and even though the PS3 is supose to catch the xbox it’s still not even close yet. New hyped games sell 20-100k on launch. Even the gaming media thinks the hardcore are just dripping with money yet no one is buying games expect xbox and Wii owners.
If the hardcore are the guys getting the HD stuff only when will they loose faith in those boxes or even end up bored. Seriously their numbers are shrinking because they grow older and they think nintendo is kiddy and for some reason gaming isn’t till it clicks… gaming IS kiddy also and even nerdy… Adults will still watch them play gear of war and get label as potiential killers while the Wii makes them join right in or they ether get a girl friend who thinks the same thing. Yet the Wii stop them all….LOL if any thing the Wii makes it ok to be a gamer again.
Nintendo is not killing gaming these type of gamers are. Suddenly your expected to pay $300-$500 for a console that you can not upgrade and has limited functionality and is more likely to break. This type of gaming is seriously for the elite or rich. Which are incredibly picky even if they are poor. They have AC, and even gears yet they too are bored of those games too. I don’t remember when gamers use to be this way. during the arcade days every one played games and then one day arcades died… the same will happen to the HD machine for the same reasons. Just look at how street fight4 is not welcomed with open arms on those systems.
This is not nintendo’s fault because kids will alway play games yet adults have to be tricked into doing it because it is still seen as such a juvenile past time. These guys are acting just like jocks not wanting other people to attend the same party as them. Eventually their won’t be a party.
The whole cool things has it’s trapping and it’s playing out before our eyes right now.
Nintendo will be nintendo unlike epic or any other game company out there they know what the gamer wants because every one is a non gamer once.
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:33 pm
“Would anyone like to compare life-to-date shovelware quantities of Wii to that of the PS2 for the same period?”
The big problem with this statement is the huge amount of games that ARE PS2 shovelware, which hasn’t really happend before. It’s not like the PS2 was getting a ton of ports from the PS1, or the Gamecube from the N64. The “slap waggle on a last-gen game” mentality could doom the Wii, especially once the PS3 and 360 start to catch up.
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:40 pm
samfish the only people hurt by this are 3rd parties. The only way I could see a fix for some of them is if nintendo puts some kid of seal on certain games again.
I don’t even care what comes out as long as the games I want to play come out. Nintendo has not suffered from this… people still bought brawl and they have bought MK also.
Only 3rd parties will suffer. Like the Bioware guys said they will only release some thing that is quality.
Some thing like this takes tools. developers love pre-made tools!
But really why does it matter what comes out as long as good games come out too? I think most gamers rely on the rating system way to much and are getting frustrated. It’s like a book club not endorsing a book and you not reading it because of that reason. Thats not what gaming is about… Just look at people list of games they claim to play on the Wii and even on other systems. It’s pretty sad all around.
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:17 pm
WOW you think the press is bad check this out to think nintendo dodge this!
http://www.n4g.com/ps3/NewsCom-137763.aspx?CT=1&Page=6&Page2=1#Comments
Man SONY is getting dragged all over the net. Suddenly things went from just wait this is the PS3’s year to F sony and their promises! WOW! Some guys even admit they left PC game for this and this has been the worst! So many hardcore gamers have openly admit that they have nothing to do on this system… WOW and they need home to come out… WOW… I see what HD gets you… angry I guess… or either RROD.
So really the press can say what they want i’d rather have people buying a system with no games rather than your sole consumer base saying F U. WOW…
It’s funny too because the supporters are saying stuff like it’s free…LOL well so is Wii online…LOL but that wasn’t ok then! WOW just WOW! I mean metal gear better come out or thing will get ugly and FF13 or what ever has been pushed waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back! WOW…
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:51 pm
As a lot of people realize, this is just plain ridiculous.
AP is only a funnel for all the crap that people blabber about - they have no researchers whatever.
Sure, AP is like the biggest news distributor, but I would think they should do a bit of research before plastering false news all over newspapers everywhere.
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:35 pm
I agree with cronotrigger913, this definitely makes me think back to Atari, not to PS2. With the shelves flooded with crappy games, a lot of times it’s the parents (and the kids who rely on their parents to buy their games) who suffer.
The parents want to buy games for their kids but go into the store having not read game magazines or game reviews online, and don’t know which games to pick. They pick some off the shelf because they’re a decent price, or look catchy, or have a license they’ve heard of, but in all likelihood the game they pick up will be terrible.
It’s the same for the DS too, I rang up someone buying “Deal or No Deal” for the DS and I just wanted to scream NOOOOOO!! Don’t do it!
I really think it hurts the Wii a bit to have all these bad games available on their system, the developers need to step it up or the system is going to get a bad reputation.
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:03 pm
Joyful Ann LOL ok the problem with the aari was no one was buying it and every one went to arcades LOL… this is just like the PS2 the games sucked and every one was buying it… till metal gear came out like 2 years later… hell the dreamcast was still alive during that time and soul cal still rocked!
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:25 pm
The thing is, a lot of these games with low Metacritic scores are rated low because most of the gamer press is the infamous “hardcore gamer” audience, but a lot of Wii buyers are not hardcore gamers and the games they want are not the ones that hardcore gamers would rate highly.
Case in point: Carnival Games. I’ve seen it get reviewed at 4 out of 10, and as someone who’s played a lot of games I know it’s shallow garbage with a painful (not to mention racist) character generator.
To my nieces and their parents, it’s an 11 out of 10. And a couple million other people felt the same way.
This isn’t to say there isn’t a shovelware problem on the Wii, because there is. But just going by ratings makes the Wii look worse than the PS2, and I don’t think ratings from the existing gamer press can tell the whole story with the Wii.
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:00 am
Yeah, so there is a lot of crap of Wii.
There’s a simple solution. Don’t buy it. I own a bunch of Wii games, and all of them are winners. That’s what critics are for. If you go out and buy poorly reviewed games, you’re going to experience this problem. If you actually respect/trust BOTH word of mouth from friends and the critical consensus, you won’t have any troubles experiencing great things on Wii.
I can never understand why people trust movie critics, food critics, book critics…but not gaming critics. Kind of off topic, I suppose…but not really. Just don’t buy bad games, guys/gals.
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:50 am
I have 18 Wii games, and have been thrilled with each and every one of them… well, maybe not Red Steel… There are easily another dozen or so more games out right now that I would love to buy, but I’m sadly afflicted by the college budget curse. My list probably has another twenty to thirty titles yet to be released that I can’t wait for either, and who knows how many games are still to be announced this year too. I haven’t even mentioned the Virtual console or upcomming WiiWare titles either. Thusfar the Wii has been more than I can keep up with, and don’t even get me started with the DS!
I remember a time when people didn’t need a new game every single week. I suppose it’s partly the fault of an emphasis on more cinematic games that play out like movies and end almost just as quick. Add to it a lack of decent replayability in so many games now days too. Still, miss the old days when a console didn’t need a blockbuster every few days in order to not suck!
April 23rd, 2008 at 4:49 am
I totally totally agree with gojiguy
I haven’t bought anything since soul calibur and umbrella chronicles and I really purely hate what’s going on. I mean I’m trying to save money for a wii title and end up finding nothing to spend my money on. I’m waiting for the wiiware FF title but yet, nothing promising coming up on the shelves. I don’t mind FPS titles on the wii, but we need something branded, its all about the titles man in this biz. I wanna buy points, but then end up browsing through something which I already might have on a catridge cart hidden somewhere in my closet. Nintendo needs to keep releasing unreleased imported games to get the needed attention. we need saturn/dreamcast titles.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:46 am
@ Nayef
So does that mean you bought Baroque? That was a Saturn game. More on point, I’m tired of this meme. There are plenty of good games for the Wii, just like there are good games for the 360. There is a LOT of crap on the 360 too, where are the reports on those games? Different strokes for different folks, I think Halo is a generic shooter, but that Metroid Corruption rocked. Wii and Nintendo will be fine, it’s only people like us the vocal minority that even read this stuff. I know people that don’t game as much as me with Wii’s and they’re really happy with the game selection.
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I’m more concerned about the replay value of the games, even the good ones… I can’t make myself play a Wii game for more than a couple of weeks!
That is not the case with the DS, by the way: there is a lot of shovelware there, but the quality titles, even when scored low, are a-plenty and I keep playing them months after purchasing them.
If there are too many “bad” games on the Wii, it is both the fault of 3rd party developers AND consumers: the few good Wii 3rd party titles that have come out had paltry sales, while the bad, generic, TV-show-based titles sell really well. What’s a publisher to do??
April 24th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
@HelixRocker
dude, when I knew that Atlus was releasing this game on wii, I was going to get it, except I was met with a higer price where I live and I was waiting for it cool down a bit. I’m still playing with metroid, actually as a matter of fact: I never played any metroid game before the DS version, never liked metroid in anyway, but corruption just corrupted me to the core!!