Study: 4.6 Percent Of Developers Making Wii U Games

Game Developers Conference organizers today released the results of its first annual "State of the Industry" study, revealing a burgeoning independent scene and a hurting Nintendo.

[PSVita]

That's rough but hope they get more support.

[N4g_null]

This proves the game industry is moving to pc development. The ps4 and Xbox next are looking like net books with more graphical power. We are about to see direct ports possibly happen for pc. This is what ms got into gaming for... It's was to keep a stranglehold on pc gaming. We are right at the door now. Ms reveal is going to be way more telling.

Nintendo is going to be forced to go Nes mode like they did with the wii now. I'm really curious to see who will come running back to a real console once they get a glimpse of how pc gamers operate.

Sony is without their trump card... Aka a new format to push and ms has been readying their console. It could very well be a surface like device with a i5 in it running the new game version of win 8?!!

Every one is in wait and see mode. It's a very interesting time to be making games now.

It is so crazy how the wiiu is capable now yet hardly any talent in our industry can use it. Yet this is a UK article and I'm sure indies will enjoy the free market. Nintendo doesn't need to lower the console price they should lower the dev kit price or offer a trade, one game of a certain quality and the kit is free!

Let the others get their crytek on or try and make the next award driven "game" while the new kids on the block get their notch on.

I can just see the ET moment coming...

[Blackdeath_663]

i think it just proves one of the following (or all of the following)
A] that releasing a console in an awkward period of time between previous gen and next gen is a bad idea like the dreamcast for example.
B] releasing a console with unattractive specs makes it less likely that devs will develop for your console or
C] releasing a console with a lacklustre games library and little support after release makes it less likely for people to buy it.

all nintendo can do now is to do what they have been doing for years and provide the nintendo games that the company is famed for like zelda/mario and whatever else it is that nintendo fans play however their attempt at reaching out to the core gamer wasn't as successful as it could have been. not all doom and gloom though, bayonetta to look forward to if you have bought a wiiu

[ElectricKaibutsu]

Erm, this title is a bit misleading.

The article says 4.6% of developers are CURRENTLY developing a Wii U game and 6.4% are planning to release their next game on Wii U. I don't know if those overlap or not. If not, that's 11%. Also 11% of developers said they're next game will be released on the PS4 and 720.

The survey is a little vague, but the Wii U seems to have more support than the title suggests.

[3-4-5]

Nintendo not receiving 3rd Party Support is the reason they have come up with some really cool ideas for games.

They could use the help though.

[psoomah]

Thank heavens they're about to break into the 2x,xxx global weekly sales territory, that'll bring the developers a flocking to the door.

[zeldafreak404]

damn nintendo is a beast despite them being downed by devs snd managing to still make sells i just hope the wiiu starts doing better soon btw i know everone alwats wants a new zelda but i want a sequel to super metroid

[t0mmyb0y]

Where could they have possible pulled this number SMH.

[Thatguy-310]

Folks Nintendo is back to their N64/Gamecube days. I think they'll get to the 40 million mark by the end of this Gen like they did with the n64. Nintendo can't survive well without third party support and even if it has the most recognizable Ip's they could only do so much with them.

[MooseWI]

I guess we will find out.

[MacDonagh]

They haven't had support since the SNES days. And yet here they are. They are still here. If Nintendo ever do decide to cease making consoles; it will be a sad day for gaming.

[zebramocha]

@Mac regardless of specs,games are the reason a person purchases a console and nintendo haven't really produce a new ip in a while.

[chadboban]

@Zebramocha

How long is "a while" to you?

[LAWSON72]

Disagrees! Nintendo has done more for the industry than sony and ms ever have. Nintendo is the essence of innovation in the gaming industry.

[Deku-Johnny]

@LAWSON72, until the day Sony or MS single handedly save the console industry like Nintendo did back in the 80's then Nintendo will have always done more for the industry than those two have.

[brich233]

It would be good if they stop making consoles, they could then go multiplatform and sell triple the amount of games on PC, Next xbox, and ps4, ps3 and xbox 360.

[LOL_WUT]

Nintendo needs to drop the Wii Us price but, their pride won't let them. Heres hoping they pull their act together by E3 ;)

[perfectCarbonara]

You're right. But I loved the Cube. Was the last Nintendo console I bought and saw as a serious contender to Sony and MS gameswise.

Remember in the olden days when you were like: Hmm, do I get that game for PS2 or Cube ?

And this was like a real decision you had to make and they both had pro's and cons.

Good days.

[mamotte]

And many games were first released in gamecube, and then ported to PS2, like RE4, Killer 7, Viewtiful joe...

[Drekken]

Nintendo insists on staying a generation behind. They are marching to the beat of their own drum. This does not make it easy for devs. The developers have been complaining about the lack of ram and power with the current gen and they need more to work with. Now that the PS4 and Nextbox are coming soon these developers will be making games for them. Porting to the Wii-U will not be easy being it won't be comparable with power of the two systems. Nintendo really backed themselves into a lonely corner with the Wii-U.

[mcstorm]

That's not true you guys really need to look at the history of gaming before making stuff up.

Just to bring you up to speed the last gen nintendo's console was more powerful than the ps2 and the N64 was more powerful than the psx.

The biggest issue Nintendo had back then is the big name games like fifa, moh, Tekken ect were on the psx and ps2 but not the n64 or we dropped part the way into the gen and when they came onto the next gen the cube did not offer much different to the ps2.

The Wii did it was a console that was a new way to play games and it also opened gaming up to everyone which changed how Sony and Microsoft went with the ps3 and 360 (Kinect and Move)

The Wiiu will be fine this gen. It won't reach the numbers of the Wii but I don't think the next Xbox or ps4 will.

[zeldafreak404]

I sorta agree but the thing is about nintendo is they got bank i mean they couldve easily built a more powerful system but despite them not having uber powerful hardware their devs realy use the whole pallete maybe even more even with outdated hardware

[SerodD]

I hope they're back to those days, so many great games.

[Tei777]

Their n64/Gamecube days are my favourite, so I'm excited. Assumably nintendo will fight their corner by releasing the best titles they can, alongside working with 3rd parties to create new IPs!

Financial wise they will be fine, I can't remember the last time one of their games flopped, the worst selling AAA title was metroid prime 3 but that still sold 1.5 which is still pretty decent. Also I imagine the system itself will be selling at a profit by years end.

[Thatguy-310]

@lawson
When you mention the essence of innovative do you mean turning it's long running Ip's into a yarn game?

[maddfoxx]

Was a big Kirby fan until they did that. They are killing their Ip's with this "innovative" mess.

[AWBrawler]

@Maddfoxx They did a "normal" kirby after that. so you should still be a fan, just don't play that one. I'm a Star Fox fan, but I don't play Starfox Adventure, because its not star fox how i know it

[BullyMangler]

If nintendo is back to its n64 gamecube days, that means we will see the BESt games to ever to hit this earth for the wiiU. . cooL

[fatstarr]

honestly speaking the wiiu has no games out right now.

threes 1 hardcore original game out and that's zombi-u.

once the content comes through it will be a different story. theres no console sellers on the wiiu right now that will make someone want to buy a wiiu asap. its pretty much ports and 3rd party so far.

one the Triple AAA and Original/New IPs start rolling it will be a different story.

Never Judge consoles based on Q1 and Q2 because Q3 and Q4 sales shit on the numbers we have right now.

#E3 is when you start judging.

[psoomah]

If 'the end of this gen' = 30 years.

[kunluncat]

It is amazing that more developers support psv than 3ds. It looks vita gets some love from indie developers.

Edit: why disagree? Just show the data in article

PSV: 2% made last, 4.2% are making, and 5% plan to make game for it.
3DS: 2% are currently making and 2.8% plan to make game for it.

[bicfitness]

People disagree with logic around here. Certainly this isn't your first day here :)

PSV is probably getting more support because of the ease of its development environment too.

[ConstipatedGorilla]

I just disagreed with both of you only because you each mentioned disagrees. I'm a typical N4G user.

[TongkatAli]

Nintendo fanboys, denial isn't just a river in Egypt.

[CouldHaveYelledUiiW]

RETRO has got to deliver an in-depth Next Gen game with "Core" pleasing Visuals and Presentation.

>Nintendo has got to show the way by stealing thunder away from the "HardCore" franchises on other systems.

Again, I will buy it regardless- I can't image anything that Retro makes sucking.

[lilbroRx]

Number of devs really doesn't matter. Those number only matter to fanboys for bragging/bashing purposes. Just like specs.

What matters is the number of good games. The last time I looked at the Wii U's lineup, it had plenty of those on the horizon.

I actually kind of like this scenario. While the Wii U isn't getting the volume of games that the Wii got, almost every game it is getting is high quality. I'll take a few good titles over a lot of bad ones any day. The devs should take their time and make sure they give Nintendo fans optimal games.

[PopRocks359]

Funny you say. It said only around two to three percent of developers are making 3DS games and the 3DS is selling like hotcakes at present. So presently there are MORE games being developed for Wii U than the 3DS, if only a little more. Food for thought.

[G20WLY]

Let's hope that's true, but it's not right to say more developers equals more games, so it really is just guesswork at this stage.

[Trenta27]

Give it time. Someone out there just needs to make a good game for it. When that happens, others will follow. The thing just launched not too long ago.

[Qrphe]

Although 3rd party devs are vital for well-being of the system overall, I didn't get a Wii U for multiplats or expecting 3rd party exclusives. As long as the Nintendo games I want come along I won't care about sales.

[Shnazzyone]

Can we get info of who those developers are? Because if the 4.6% of developers are EA, activision, capcom, Sega, and Konami. Than what's the problem?

I mean 55% said they are developing for tablets and smartphones. Which immediately rules out 55% as developers we even care about.

[Cyrax4]

I haven't owned a Nintendo console since the N64.

A big reason are the controllers. Aside from the NES & SNES, Nintendo makes awful controllers for their consoles.

[Sucitta]

Cube controllers we're amazing.. N64 controllers redefined how we play shooters.. WiiU pro controllers aren't that bad really..

not a big fan of the wiimote or wii tablet to be honest. I love the tablet screen for games but the sticks and set up just doesn't feel right for intense action games/shooters.

[maddfoxx]

The wavebird says hello

[Ninja_G_Aidan]

Good because you don't have my support and I'm glad I sold my Wii U the other day!

[Sucitta]

selling before smash bros or mariokart? dumb move.. You must be starving.

next time use a foodbank and keep your hardware.

[Sizzon]

Nintendo will rely on their amazing first party, such as Smash Bros, Mario Kart and Zelda's.

[D_RoyJenkins]

Because that worked so well on the Game cube...

[Thepcz]

all that matters is nintendo have the devs that count.

its just getting those devs to make the games that count.

such as grand theft auto.

i have said it before and i will say it again, if no port of the latest gta isnt announced for wiiu at e3, nintendo will once again be seen as a failure by the 'hardcore'

we need metal gear solid and final fantasy too.

[madjedi]

"we need metal gear solid and final fantasy too" Even though se has fallen off a cliff this gen, the wiiu doesn't have the specs for a next gen mgs and ff.

Why would kojima settle for current gen, when the next gens are about to hit, if they didn't even port rising for the wii u, why would they port ground zero over.

[Deku-Johnny]

4.6% sounds bad on it's own but then you read the other consoles have about 11% and it doesn't actually sound so bad, I'm sure that number will grow over the next few years.

The biggest problems with the statistics are that this was only 2500 North American developers meaning there are other NA devs who weren't part of the poll who might be developing for the Wii U and then there's the rest of the world to consider. I'm sure a lot more Japanese developers are working on the Wii U than Western devs as Nintendo's consoles are usually more popular in their home country.

The article should be named according to what the article is, a report on the percentage of devs working on each console rather than turning it into a Nintendo doom article for no reason other than to generate hits.

[krazykombatant]

So many fanboys on this site just trying to fight back the mouth watering thought of playing Ninty games on their MSony consoles.

[MasterCornholio]

Meh not everyone enjoys Nintendo games so even if Nintendo goes 3rd party and releases Mario on the PS4 i would never buy it.

Im not saying that Nintendo makes poor games its just that they dont appeal to everyone.

[madjedi]

@krazy Lol no not really, at least if it was on a ms or sony platform, people wouldn't have to hype the average gameplay to the second coming of christ.

Because the game's graphics would be at a respectable level, that you don't have to hype up every other average aspect of the game.

But by all means continue to preach about the incredible gameplay from 2+ generations ago that has not evolved significantly.

If i want to play a nintendo game, i'll get a nintendo console, it's that simple. Especially since the walmart by me, is always stocked up on both wii u skus.

I love the elite nintendo club membership, you guys imagine you belong to.

With nintendo fans you typically get that snobby, high society i am superior attitude to everyone else attitude.

I wouldn't be swinging the f stick around at others.

[krazykombatant]

Lol what are you talking about?? I havent said anything about gameplay, the few games the wiiu have are good, not ultra amazing revolutionary things just good.
However seen sooooo many damn doom and gloom posts of the wiiu followed up by the ninty should become third party news its too damn funny seeing people hoping one of the oldest and primary driving sources in the gamind industry hoping to see it bust.

The quality games are on their way, Nintendo made a massive mistake releasing with such droughts between games. However once the games come in, the system will sell.

[josephayal]

This has been the same for every console in history, no console has launch with 20 most have games

[Theyellowflash30]

Yeah, it just needs time. More developers will hop on board when the Wii U's numbers are better.

[gamingzen]

The problem with nintendo they spend to much time and effort in trying to reinvent the way we play games theve had a few major flops (powerglove,virtual boy etc) but they are still here and i believe sony will go before nintendo does what nintendo needs to do is concentrate more on making more games and bring back some of there old gaming characters after all nintendo is the disney of the gaming world and disney is still going strong.COME ON NINTENDO STRIKE BACK SOON

[Thepcz]

its because they realise some of us want to play in new ways. not just play the same way again only with updated graphics *coughPS4cough*

nintendo is a genuinely innovative company. that should be applauded

[maddfoxx]

Mario Kart, Smash, Super mario etc. have played the exact same since the Snes-N64-gamecube days. The only thing that changed is the controller. If Nintendo is so concerned with innovation, then why are most of the games for the WiiU ports of 360/PS3 games that were released years ago. And I wouldn't call copying the 360 controller innovative.

[Deku-Johnny]

It's good that they try to reinvent gaming and have real innovation each generation. If Nintendo did the exact same thing that Sony and Microsoft do then the gaming industry would be such a boring place.

Three consoles all capable of the same thing with the same controller releasing the same versions of the same games. What would be the point in owning more than one console? What would be the point in more than one console existing?

[mamotte]

4,5% from a sample of 2500 developers = 115 developers.

I dint think that's bad at all.

[megamanX2]

"It is amazing that more developers support psv than 3ds. It looks vita gets some love from indie developers."

lol you must be joking and what games are those? vita has no games that's why its dead.

[Gratisfaction]

I absolutely love that line at the end. Excellent script writing.

[Kevlar009]

The WiiU is a major hit with the Indie Devs, too bad they make up the PC consumer base, and not consoles.

[ISNeko]

Honestly, I thin they'll be fine. Nintendo has kind of made themselves into what the old days were like, where you had a console for a specific game. Like Sega guys love Sonic, Nintendo guys love Mario, Xbox guys for Halo, Sony for God of War and stuff. Now that the platform is at least up to HD graphics they'll get a decent amount of third party. They'll by no means tank, and besides its not like the thing has even been out for a long ass time. Remember the phrase "ps3 has no games"?

[Jamaicangmr]

I feel for Nintendo but if they build consoles 3rd party developers actually want they will support them better.

Nintendo stop designing ur consoles by only considering Mr Miyamoto look what others outside of Nintendo want to work on, i mean come on its not rocket science.

[worldwidegaming]

They have a lot of friends in Japan.
They sadly have no need to sell big in america. The crappy 3ds is doing fine.(own the xl version)
(graphics are nothng to write home about.)
Once pokemon comes out its a wrap.

[worldwidegaming]

And another thing. There will be games made just for the wii u and eventually they will do a rayman legends on it. That controller pad set up is just too cool.
Yeah, sony has the vita (gotta buy one first) and microsoft might do something similar.
(windows rt/8 tablet/phone) who knows.