Will a Surge in Wii U Sales Result in Third-Party Attention?

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that the Wii U's sales are incredibly slow and that many third-parties are either completely dissing it or just outright ignoring it.

Some third-parties say the system is too weak, others claims that they don't know how to use it, while others say that it's too big of a risk right now. All-in-all, the Wii U is in a very tight spot. After a rather decent launch, the system tanked due to a bare-bones release schedule. A major title "Rayman Legends" - was due to release in late February, with the hope of causing sales of the system to spike. Unfortunately, the developers - Ubisoft - delayed the game and is now releasing it on the PS3 & 360. In March, the releases of "Monster Hunter 3: Ultimate" and "Lego City: UNDERCOVER" spiked sales, but the buzz has now subsided.

The next major titles to hit the system will be "Game & Wario" and "Pikmin 3" - both of which are expected to draw some attention. By the end of the year, a new 3D Mario and Mario Kart U are also expected to be released, along with Wind Waker HD. These titles can (and most likely will) lift the Wii U up to higher pastures. If all goes well, is it possible that third-parties will start to take notice of the system?

The economy is in bad-shape, and games aren't getting any cheaper to make. So naturally, when there's a system with a small install-base that isn't growing very quickly, developers will be quicker to release on more popular systems. That's the problem that the Wii U faces now. So, with the major titles set to release on the system from the summer on-ward, can they create enough buzz for some third-party developers to take notice?

Sound off in the comments below . . .

[PopRocks359]

It can result in some, I'd think. The 3DS didn't exactly start with a great deal of third party support and it wound up getting Metal Gear, Resident Evil, Kingdom Hearts, Tales of, a lot of stuff but only after its sales picked up following the two big Mario titles and price drop.

[darthv72]

but it wasnt the sole reason the sales picked up.

Before the price drop, there were several good 3ds games on the market but nintendo was competing with themselves for that same market of handheld gaming. The DS was king and many didnt give the 3ds even a thought because there were so many more games available on the ds.

But the 3ds could play those ds games just as well. Nintendo did a poor job of making that point known. And the price difference was a significant gap that people didnt want to look at. so when they decided to cut the price, it opened people up to the option of either sticking to buying a ds or getting a better ds in the form of the 3ds for just a bit more $.

That shift in public awareness lead to the 3rd parties in bringing to market the games they (most likely) were sitting on. HW sales picked up, 3ds games were selling as well as ds games and the 3rd parties had no excuses anymore.

Nintendo is in the same boat with the wii-u. It is a better wii than the wii and nintendo needs to make that known. it plays all the same games and more. If nintendo can generate the same shift in public awareness, the 3rd parties will have no excuses in finishing their projects and releasing them. But it up to nintendo to make the public more aware of the wii-u.

Cutting the price will help for new buyers. There are millions of existing users that need convincing as well.

[Qrphe]

It can, but Nintendo has always dominated 3rd party support in the handheld market so it's off to believe the Wii U and 3DS could be parallel scenarios. Specially taking into consideration that the market the Wii U is in is one where Nintendo hasn't had a strong developer support in the last 20 years.

[wishingW3L]

Wii had more than 100 millions sold and the 3rd party's still ignored it because the only thing that sells on Nintendo consoles are Mario and their other ist party games.

I feel like a scratched disc repeating myself there.

[JonahNL]

The Wii had poor third party support due to the lack of power, preventing most multi platform titles from coming over, and its casual target audience. The "hardcore" (I hate using the term) games didn't sell that well, with the only exception being those from Nintendo and maybe a handful of others, like Monster Hunter.

The Wii U has to face an entirely different problem. It might be a part of the next generation of consoles, but it's actually competing with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 at the moment, two consoles that already have an established user base. Most developers won't bother bringing over their games to the Wii U. It simply isn't profitable yet.

Now, the appeal of the Wii U is of course its controller, but that simply isn't enough anymore to convince developers nor consumers. People are looking for power - that next step. It's the reason the PlayStation 4 is so popular right now. Sony's doing what the consumers and developers have been wanting for years now.

I'm a huge fan of Nintendo, but I'll be honest here, I lost my interest in the Wii U completely. For now I'm sticking with my 3DS XL and that's more than enough for me.

[fsfsxii]

Maybe, but i think 3rd party developers asked for power, and they got the Gamepad, also, if you'd look at the Wii, its the highest selling console this gen, and has missed on so many games.

[arbitor365]

not when the attach rate is so terrible.

nitnendo needed hardware to stand out from current gen consoles, to attract both players and third party developers. they dropped the ball.

[RTheRebel]

Vita's doing a great job slaying the 3DS ey?

[arbitor365]

lol no one is talking about the vita or 3DS. the handheld and console markets have totally different dynamics. the wii u is not comparable to the 3DS in any way shape or form. saying

"the 3ds sold more therefore the wii u will sell more"

is downright laughable. nintendo's ability to sell the GBA (90 million units) did not help the gamecube (21 million units).

this goes to show that most nintendo fanboys have nothing to contribute to the discussion except for shockingly inept analogies

[DarkZane]

The problem with the WiiU is that it's far weaker than the unreleased PS4 and nextbox.

In the end, it might get a little third party support, but the problem is that in devs are gonna be attracted to PS4 and nextbox. The WiiU is barely above a PS3. The difference between the WiiU and PS3 is less than the difference between PS3 and 360. They already did games of WiiU levels on PS3 and 360, what they want is to push it further, not release more PS3/360 quality games.

The WiiU will get the same fate as the Wii, where its third party support will be laughable. This is the price they pay for having an inferior console. The Wii is vastly inferior to the PS3 and 360 and the WiiU is the same quality as the ps3/360, but vastly inferior to the PS4/Nextbox. By the time Nintendo catch up and release a new console as powerful as the PS4/Nextbox, Sony and Microsoft will already be releasing something that trumps that new Nintendo console by a lot.

From now on, Nintendo is always gonna be behind and third party support will always be laughable.

[zalanis]

SCREW THAT. IF A SURGE IN WIIU SALES HAPPENS WITHOUT 3RD PARTY SUPPORT, WHY THEN WOULD NINTY NEED THE 3RD PARTY SUPPORT AFTERWARDS. SCREW EVERYBODY BUT UBISOFT,ACTIVISION,WARNER BROS.,AND CAPCOM AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO, DESPITE POOR SALES IS STILL SUPPORTING NINTY NOW. SCREW THEM!! THEM NON-SUPPORTERS ARE THE ONES WHO'LL BE LEFT ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN BEGGING NINTY TO LET THEM AT LEAST PUBLISH ONE GAME JUST ONE. CANT WAIT FOR TOMORROW'S NINTY DIRECT.

[mamotte]

Will a Third-Party Attention Surge Result in Wii U Sales ?