Wii U Owners Have Scared Off Third Parties With Excuses

Gamewots: "Since buying my Wii U, I’ve been seeing talk of its lack of third party support. Look through any gaming forum and you’ll probably find several topics accusing third parties of orchestrating the situation the Wii U is currently in. Contrary to popular belief, I have come to believe that Wii U owners are actually the reason why the console lacks third party support."

[SimonSmith]

Firstly this is a really well written article, and I actually agree with your points, it is true that the players are at fault with many of them expecting far higher quality and extra things for a game that is possibly not worth it to developers.Though personally I would love for DLC to be released for the Call of Duty games on my Wii U I accept they aren't and for good reason. Positively I feel I do fall out of your points, I do not expect good quality I just want them to at least tie in with the Playstation 3, if I wanted things to be better quality I would buy things for the Playstation 4. Hopefully consumers of the Wii U will start to see logic soon, once again great article, very logical.

[LOL_WUT]

Yes, it has been proven that multiplatform games don't sell well on the Wii U but does that make it right for Nintendo to STOP trying all together? What happened to the promise they made to try and recapture the hardcore? Bayonetta 2 and devils third? Thats not enough considering all the other games currently out that aren't on the WiiU.

Making a movement for just one game (OperationPlatinum) why not for every 3rd party title? Overall I blame both the company and its user base.

Also I find it pretty hypocritical when some Wii U owners take a jab at 3rd party games calling them rushed or incomplete but, are fine when Nintendo sells unfinished hardware by not having an ethernet port in the WiiU or by not including a charger for the "NEW" 3DS. ;)

[Metallox]

You blame the user base? I should remind you that people buy whatever they want, they have NOTHING to do with Wii U's situation.

Nintendo (mainly Nintendo) and the publishers are the ones to blame here.

[bouzebbal]

what are you talking about? just check Nintendo consoles history and you'll realize that it have never been about those 3rd party games. If you buy Nintendo console it's primarily for 1st party games.

"Also I find it pretty hypocritical when some Wii U owners take a jab at 3rd party games calling them rushed or incomplete but, are fine when Nintendo sells unfinished hardware by not having an ethernet port in the WiiU or by not including a charger for the "NEW" 3DS. ;)"

Wow! how about 360 with no Wifi? keep quiet next time when you only have foolishness to say.

[Chrischi1988]

Yeah, damn that user base for expecting a full game, when charged full price, damn them.

[AJBACK2FRAG]

Third partys can't compete with Nintendo triple A software. Period the end. It's been that wway for a long long time now. If EA or Activision tries to release lazy or unfinished software on a Nintendo home video game console people will not buy it. Plus third parties have pulled support fo the Wii U. How is that Nintendo's fault? I've said this before look at the Xbox One and PS4. They look alike. They both have very similar controler's. The processing power is not exactly the same but very close. Why? Because it makes it easier for third partys to develop for and third partys can depend on the fact that in four or five years the PS5 and the Xbox 2 (?) Will be more powerful but not really a whole lot different. Plus Sony and Microsoft are willing to pay for third party exclusives. Now when you look at the Wii U you'!! see a radically different controller, a radically different architecture and the console itself look's extremely different. Why? Nintendo rely's mostly on their own video game software to propel their business. They don't pay for exclusive's they develop their own exclusive's. Now why doesn't EA develop software for Nintendo? Why did EA lie and say the Wii U can't handle the frostbite engine? It's because they are lazy. They'd rather support two home video game consoles that are roughly the same. Why go to all the trouble of developing software for one system when you can develop for two easier?

Now I believe you and other folks here on the N4G have called the Wii U's game pad a gimmik and have said the Wii remote is a waggly gimmick. Here's yet another question where's Move? Where's Kinect? Exactly in the dumpster.( One last question I swear lol! If Microsft's failed drm policies don't scare you (they do me.) what did they have on the back burner that they didn't share with the public? Human enslavement? A Xbox One microchip hot wired directly in to your brain?) Yet the Wii remote and Wii U gamepad are still in use today by millions of people! Even the Game Cube controller has had a resurgance due to Super Smash Bros.

Oh yeah!!! Nintendo's really into wifi!!! I bougt a twelve dollar lan adapter so I'm all set!!! Take it easy guy!!!!

[ChickeyCantor]

" of them expecting far higher quality and extra things for a game that is possibly not worth it to developers "

Asking for a complete game is " expecting far higher quality and extra things "?

" not worth it to developers"

So Wii U owners can't be upset because the developers don't care?

Are you mental?

Developers have been probing these ideas that Wii U owners dont want games and then insist on releasing broken and incomplete games. Yeah obviously people rather get it on the PS3/Xbox then ( talking early WiiU ).

It's ridiculous.

[joab777]

I agree and disagree. It's a mess. Many hard core gamers that own a WiiU, own it for Nintendo exclusives. Especially this gen, they are not gonna wait for games to be released at a later date, with sub par graphics and no dlc. Even on last gen, those that owned multiple consoles were not gonna wait just to support WiiU 3rd party titles.

Now, those that own only a WiiU and cried for 3rd party games and then didn't buy them, they are definitely to blame.

But Nintendo is mostly to blame. Either it's one thing or its another. And they chose to basically be a console for their own titles. They had a 1 yr jump when ppl were clamoring for new systems. They could have made a mchine akin to the PS4 a yr ahead and got the kind of jump the 360 got on the PS3. Imagine how that would have benefited them in the race.

Now that we are next gen. There aren't many reasons for anyone to buy a WiiU for 3rd party titles. That being said, it's nice to have for exclusives if you can afford it. I prefer investing in their 3ds for my mobile gaming.

[FarEastOrient]

I agree about WiiU users not supporting games that do find their way to the console. Look at the sales of ZombieU and Bayonetta. If they can't make good attach rates, especially when one was bankrolled by Nintendo. Why would 3rd party put themselves out there for WiiU?

[GordonKnight]

I agree with your logic. Video games is not a race. 20 years from now more Nintendo games will be remembered then 3rd party games. I'm not saying there are no amazing 3rd party games, but there are tons of shovelware 3rd party games. (like the Wii library)

[N4g_null]

The only thing you can blame on wiiu owners for bad 3rd party sales is the simple fact the most of us will buy your copy and paste games on another system or pc.

Ethier 3rd parties will have to create a new reason to buy or simply not try. They have chosen the latter

No one buys a apple product to get an ms experience. No one expects to rebuy stuff just because of a different platform. 3rd parties knew this during the nes days and even snes to ps2.

What we have now is a convergence of the pc model.

Nintendo countered this problem in the past by releasing competitive copies of popular game types which is why they are good at game design. They currently counter by releasing disruptive games and ideas gamers are resisting. Nintendo is forgetting we are all not hardcore and wow factors are needed. This has to be done in hardware or software. The wii was basically what devs asked for the ngc...except it would have costed $400 back then lol. Yet the wow came from the wii mote. I'm guessing nintendo thought the wow was going to be hd. The game pad is great but not wow yet. Maybe a rear facing camera and a new 3ds internals would help? If you know tech you know what I'm hinting at.

3rd parties are focused on 3d fidelity now. It may bankrupt the industry but it is actually selling mediocre games really well.

This gen is not about gameplay. You came blame everyone involved in buying all consoles for that because the majority has spoken they want pretty not pretty fun. They will even prebuy just because it looks good.

The effects of phone buying pr is finally having an impact on gamers. Even the old wii looks better than the wiiu casing. A redesign is in order. Cross buy and make one game a releasing on home and handheld needs to happen.

Nintendo should stay the course and extend the wiiu out and work out all of these solutions before a new console is released. The next console gen will need some serious power yet budget gamers still need a platform and this family of consoles needs to happen to unify their fanbase.

Sony just got a bunch of new customers they don't understand due to ms and Nintendo bad pr. Hololens is not a sony product and Nintendo game play is not a sony product. If these two things gain traction then 3rd parties will leave since they have already made their money off sonys gamble.

This gen is about shock and awe right now. You can blame that on all of gaming right now.

Yet blame gets you no where. Nintendo has to cater to the new gamers some how or view what is holding back traditional gamers right now.

Redesign and new ip could fix so much. All of these consoles are weak sauce compared to what is possible right now but that is another topic.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Sorry, but if you're not expecting third parties to at least make their multiplats on par in content quantity with all their other versions when they release one on the Wii U, then you're being an apologist who is letting way too much slide with third parties just due to their popularity and ease-of-sale on other systems.

Third parties shouldn't be given a free pass for not bringing out games that are on par with the rest of the versions, and the fan base should not be blamed for losing all faith in third parties and refusing to buy their multiplats based on that.

For the sake of not further alienating a potential source of profits, content parity should be an industry STANDARD practice across all versions of a multiplat, except in the case where said content is using assets that either belong to another individual company and thus cannot appear on a certain version due to copywrite, or the case where the content is bought and paid for by a specific console manufacturer.

There is not a "good reason" for the content in games like CoD to not be on par with all other versions.
When they cut content, that's the same as a "f*** you" to the fanbase they're trying to sell.
It's an indication that they're not putting forth any actual effort to appeal to the audience.
It's lazy.
It's wrong.
And it's retarded to support such a practice regardless of excuses.

[FarEastOrient]

How can companies make WiiU games on parity with others. There are so many problems with the hardware to match the others. For example look at the hard drive space available for WiiU retail.

[ChickeyCantor]

" How can companies make WiiU games on parity with others. "

Are you implying the PS3/Xbox360 didn't get the full treatment?

[gedden7]

"Firstly this is a really well written article"

Umm Firstly NO! Its up to the 3rd party companies to make and sell compelling titles for the system. All those complaints written in the article are actually valid complaints.

All this article has done was show that Wii U owners "arent" a bunch of drones who buy half baked games at full price...

[StarLord_Who]

No, the article is wrong and the writer is blind to the real point of the Wii U's struggle.

I went in to my local gGame shop yesterday, do you know how many Wii u games they had?

6

In the entire shop, they had 6 games while both the left and right walls were plastered in the usual roya blue and green colours of Ps4 and Xbox One.

The shops are going to the consoles that are successful after a short amount of time.

[Metallox]

I think I have better "excuses".

Let's suppose there are 8.3-8.5 million Wii U units in homes all around the world.

1. There are 2 million Wii U consoles in Japan: How many units did Black Ops II sell on PS3 in Japan? About 600K apparently. You might say that's a lot, and it is, but trying to replicate those numbers on Nintendo's machine it's simply impossible. Try to tell me a non-Nintendo game that has surpassed the 100K barrier in Japan; I'm pretty sure you will come here again with two or three, and all of them will be very Japanese titles. Western titles don't sell on Nintendo's consoles there. So 2 million consoles less. Third party publishers have to be lucky if they want to sell 6.5 million units of their games on Wii U

2. Not all consoles are active today: Do you think everybody are still playing their Wii U? Nope. I'm not sure why neither Smash or Kart 8 have bigger numbers. I mean, they should have if there are many people still playing the thing. 250-500K consoles less?

3. Not all parents are interested on Assassin's Creed or ZombiU for their kids: Think about it, do you really think all Wii U owners are "strong Nintendo fans"? I don't think so; indeed, there are many parents that only want to buy these consoles just to keep entertained their children. They know Nintendo produces the machine, so what games do they buy? Nintendo titles starring their popular characters.

The number of Wii Us under these conditions I think is very high. 3 million, what do you think? I mean, apparently Hyrule Warriors IS THE ONLY third party game that has surpassed the million mark, and it has Zelda themes everywhere.

4. What do I win if I buy Black Flag on Wii U? Lower frame rates?: https://www.youtube.com/wat... Where's also the incentive for buying this game on Wii U? I see better stuff for it on Xbox Live... Where is Nintendo's strong online infrastructure? I don't see it. So again, why should I buy this game on Wii U? What do Ubisoft and Nintendo offer to me? Nothing in my opinion, but funny enough, I still bought the game on Wii U and I regret it completely. Thank you Mario and Rayman. 2 million consoles less?

5. Do not generalize, Wii U owners also play on other platforms, belive it or not: I play on PC and Xbox 360, I bought many third party games for Wii U but I stopped with Black Flag because, number 1, there wasn't anything in 2014 aside from Watch Dogs, and number 2, I just did not like Ghosts and Black Flag, those games made me stop from trying to purchase any other third party game for Nintendo's thing. Then one year later you could see me buying AC Rogue for Xbox 360. 1 million less?

6. Yes, there are people that simply don't want to buy third games on Wii U because of your reasons, author, why not? 1 million less?

So, in the end, with all things considered, what is the possible number of sales for any third party game on Wii U? 500K? 300K? 200K? Publishers are right about abandoning the console, but they still did their madness with ugly ports, and that's not acceptable either.

But I blame Nintendo completely.

[MasterCornholio]

"But I blame Nintendo completely"

Hopefully Nintendo will see that they need 3rd party support and do a much better job with 3rd parties on their next system. At least make the system powerful enough to handle ports of next gen console games.

[joab777]

And that's it. They wasted the opportunity they had. Many can say, no they didnt, they make their own great games. Why not steal from Sony's playbook, create a cheap powerful machine, and couple it with great exclusives. Poof...Nintendo back!!!!!

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

No amount of power is going to make up for the fact that they've lost consumer trust with their ports this gen.

If Nintendo comes out with a powerhouse system next gen, and third parties don't do something to make their games more attractive, people STILL won't buy the Nintendo system for multiplats.
They'll stick to getting multiplats for the other two systems that they're USED TO buying multiplats on, and Nintendo will once again be on their own.

Nintendo cannot fix this situation on their own.
That's the cold, hard truth.

[MasterCornholio]

@Monkey

"Nintendo cannot fix this situation on their own.
That's the cold, hard truth."

But if you dont give 3rd parties the right tools how are they going to make good ports for the system?

3rd parties can't do anything unless Nintendo makes the changes first. Nintendo are the ones who design the system and its policies. They just have to design something that's attractive to both consumers and 3rd party developers. Similar to what Sony has done with the PS4.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Have you not seen how good some of the in-house games look and play on the Wii U?
For Christ's sake, Xenoblade X is going to be 10X LARGER THAN SKYRIM.
If a system that can create land-masses of that size on both the vertical and horizontal scale, populate them with tons and tons of things to do, find, and fight, then connect it to a large overarching story with multiple factions, is not enough for these third parties to make a good game on, then there's something seriously wrong with the developers.
They're either focusing on ultra-high-fidelity graphics way too much, or they're just not trying.
The power excuses need to die.
The system is powerful enough to generate fantastic-looking games with loads of content.
These third parties are more than capable of creating fantastic games.

Stuff like Skyrim, The Last of Us, and so many others, PROVE that these third parties can make good games regardless of the visual fidelity they aim for.

It's time they started DOING SO, if they want sales on the Wii U.

The tools are there, and they're good enough.

Especially for developers that still insist on making games that are limited enough to fit on last-gen systems alongside the new-gen systems.

To make this simple:

If Monolith can make a AAA game as good as Xenoblade Chronicles X is looking to become, then third parties are out of excuses for not at least attempting to do the same, if they are at all serious about winning over a whole new fanbase's worth of gamers.

They're doing just that for every other console except for the Wii U.
If they try making new AAA content for Wii U that is as good as what Monolith is attempting[or heck, even on par with stuff like Bayonetta 2 and other great titles], then they'll have a MUCH better chance at seeing big profits, and big appreciation, from gamers on the system.

[N4g_null]

Monkey it may be time for nintendo to create these games. Think of the uncharted and the last of us...I didn't like them but it made people believe in the power of ps. It had more to do with art direction than power but gamers can't grasp that for some reason. Nintendo needs to find the talent that wants to compete with these games and then teach them about polish and gameplay.

Some times you just have to shut your critics down by just competing with their favorite game types.

I think nintendo is heading in this direction. Slaptoon looks great but they will need a realistic show pony that out does other fps or sandbox games some how.

3rd parties only respond to threats other games out doing them.

Maybe a pretty metroid can do this or maybe starfox can? Even the announcement of a new engine can help. They need another golden eye effect.

Also the article is only enabling entitlment. The same entitlment that produced all of those bad games that where so hyped that sold well that no one liked in the end.

Nintendo just needs a full frontal assault in classic nintendo form. In the end the cryis effect starts to appear then gamers regret being graphics wwhores. The is if these figure out what gameplay is AGAIN!

[madjedi]

You can make excuses till the cows come home, that will chamge absolutely nothing about Nintendo's virtually dead third party support for this or future generations.

God I love when Nintendo fans bemoan ugly/lazy ports, look back to many launch cross gen 360 games or even early ps3 games.

Those weren't exactly god tier quality games either dark kingdom, gun ect either an nba or a madden was missing features that the previous generation version had.

Not exactly sure why Nintendo fans should be exempt from said bad ports.

3rd parties didn't design their games to utilize the ps3 to it's fullest potential at the expense of other platforms.

So why should Nintendo deserve to get any special treatment that neither sony or ms got last gen.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Oh, I dunno.
Maybe it's because they've been stiffed for 3 generations, and when things finally start looking up, they don't even get a continuous stream of good games to outweigh the bad ones from said third parties, like the PS3 and 360 did last gen?

Or how about the fact that three years of broken trust and virtual non-existence from third party multiplats cannot be resolved with half-done ports that people have already played on last-gen systems?

Don't even bother pretending that Sony and Microsoft had it as bad last gen, with bad ports, as Nintendo has this gen.
Even when third parties failed to do good ports last gen, at least they stuck with it until some good games were made to counter-balance the bad.
Wii U hasn't gotten that benefit.
All it's gotten, is excuses from devs and apologists defending said devs.

[N4g_null]

They should not get special treatment. Nether does 3rd parties. You ethier make a product the beats your last product or release at the same time or cater to that market . otherwise you don't deserve the sales. Anything else would be entitlment and greed along with lazy arrogance.

on the other hand Nintendo has to make the games to compete with these new ideas. People wasted tons of money on games that where broken all nintendo had to do is make better competing games. Movie gaming isn't going anywhere and hd art is getting cheaper to make. Console gaming has become pc like. If sega was there to push nintendo they could see what was happening I believe. The next jump will be dizzying tech wise and Nintendo should hedge their bets. Embrace the high end and cater to the low end by scaling and platform building in the os.

There is way to much scapegoating and not much critical thinking. Yet it isn't up to the consumer to fix corporation problems.

[gerbwmu]

So you're saying XB360 and PS3 owners purchased a bunch of crappy games last gen and because they were willing to buy crap they eventually got something good from 3rd parties? And it is owners of Nintendo products who are to blame because if they just bought a bunch of crap then 3rd parties would reward them with some good games eventually?

[randomass171]

"So why should Nintendo deserve to get any special treatment that neither sony or ms got last gen."

Probably because no one is shortsighted enough to blame Microsoft or Sony when a third party developer makes a bad game or a bad port for a good game. :/

[Metallox]

"You can make excuses till the cows come home, that will chamge absolutely nothing about Nintendo's virtually dead third party support for this or future generations."

I don't point excuses, I'm commenting why third party games don't sell on Nintendo's console.

[GordonKnight]

3rd party companies gave up on Nintendo before the Wii U was released. It's all about the politics in the gaming industry. That's what I like about Nintendo they are not giving in to the 3rd party companies to rape the consumers. MS & Sony have no problems with that at all. Just look at the difference between 3rd party DLC and Nintendo DLC. The only problem I have with Nintendo is the availability of the LE releases & Amiibos.

I do support MS, Sony & Nintendo. Now EA & Ubi is a different story.

[Jdoki]

This comes down to one thing... Profit.

If the 3rd party publishers have crunched the numbers and they don't see a game making X% of profit - they won't bother making it or porting it.

Did Wonderful 101 make money? Did Rayman? Did Assassins Creed or Watch Dogs?
If they didn't make the money (or make enough profit) then there's little reason to continued developing games for the WiiU.

No one is at fault - it's just business.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

Wonderful 101 is a Nintendo game

[Jdoki]

It's published by Nintendo, but I thought it was developed by Platinum, so it's not a 1st party title?

I have no idea if Nintendo paid for the development, or if it was also part a bigger deal that included Bayonetta 2, or if they just liked the look of it and no one else wanted it!

[madjedi]

Why should large third party devs bring games to the wii u, if the user base doesn't buy them.

Third parties are there to make money, not to prop up an unappealing console and bleed themselves dry in the process.

[MSBAUSTX]

Almost 10 million people would disagree with your opinion of it being "unappealing". If third party developers start making games on par with Nintendo Exclusives they would sell. Hyrule Warriors is almost at a million and Zombi U is really close to a million, with a much smaller install base too. Zombi U is proof that developers can make good games.

However Ubisoft crapped out on Nintendo and said Wii U gamers were to blame for it. When instead it was the fact that AC 3 and 4 were so crappy and Wonderful 101 was better as was DK Tropical Freeze and Mario 3D world. Nintendo gamers expect a certain level of quality and completeness from their game purchases and most third party developers want to rush the game and then have 10 gig downloads launch day to make them better.

Nintendo doesnt believe in that and thus the issue stays the same. Nintendo games are polished works of art when finally released. Mario Kart 8 was worked on for over 3 years! Ubisoft releases a new AC every year. Would you buy the car that has been through all the road tests, crash tests, and safety protocols and took several years to perfect or would you rather buy the car that was thrown together quickly and stuck on a show room floor without proper testing?

Nintendo does need to make their systems a little more compatible with the technology of the rest of the big 3. But that will not fix this issue. Thurd party games pale in comparison to Nintendo Exclusives. Lately that can not be said on PS4 and XB exclusives. Driveclub, Killzone, Bound by Flame, the MCC issues, and Ryse have all been major complaints from gamers who played them. I own all 3 consoles and have played some of these games and the lack of attention is terrible. Even Dragon Age Inquisition Is glitchy and loves to pop error messages all the time on my PS4.

All Nintendo Exclusives so far on Wii U have been Stellar with out any credible launch issues what so ever. That is the reason Wii U owners dont buy them and the reason that Third Parties stay away. Criminals dont hang out in police stations and when it comes to quality games that arent broken Nintendo is the law.

[acekaze]

To be very honest i dont miss multiplataform titles on the Wii U, I bought a Wii U for the party games, for exclusives like Smash, mario kart, xenoblade and bayonetta 2, its a terrific console for homes in wich you have more than 1 gamer to join in.

I am happy with the pace that games release for the Wii U, because i simply dont have the time or the money to play every single game that releases and the ones i really want have mostly been coming to the Wii u, and on the dead times left by Third partys nintendo has been pushing it nicely with eshop indies, vc games and now the wonderfull Wii games like mario galaxy 2 and metroid triology for only 9.99€.

With all this said, i spend has much time on my wii has possible, just in smash alone i should have around 200 hours alredy, so... this console is totally worth it in my opinion, if you buy it for the games that it alredy has or the ones you know that are coming, if you are coming after the Wii to play every game that releases and to pille up games you will buy and probably not look at them after 2 or 3 trys, the wii u is not for you.

[WitWolfy]

I bought a Wii U expecting it to blow me away. Looking back I still regret buying it... Should've done more research before going out and buying it day one like I did...

At least the wife plays with it... Some times...

[higgins78]

Yeah, likewise. Games such as Bayonetta 2, Pikmin 3, Tropical Freeze, Smash, Mario Kart 8, SM3DW, Captain Toad, W101 and Hyrule Warriors (for example) have been such disappointments. Neither of which 'blew me away'. My PS4 on the other hand. Drive Club, insert remaster here, insert mult-platform here, insert chav fodder here (for example). So, so much better. I've not once since picking my PS4 at launch at top RRP regretted it for one moment.

Oh, in case you can't tell, I'm being SARCASTIC. Don't kid yourself for a moment in believing - as a games machine - either PS4 or XB1 has the edge over the Wii U...it simply doesn't.

[Fishermenofwar]

But only the first parties sold well...

Do you get the point of the article....They are talking about sales and 3rd party interest is directly affected by that..

[rawrock]

Well since buying an Xbox One, my Wii U does not get used very much. I will pick up Zelda, Star Fox, Xenoblade, and Splatoon. And I did enjoy Mario 3D World. But there have been great 3rd party games on Wii U like Need For Speed which had much better graphics than the 360/PS3 version, ZombieU, and WatchDogs. Problem is none of these games sold well. The reason you saw hal hearted ports from EA and other publishers is because they knew the games would not sell well on Wii and Wii U. This started basically on the N64, when the Playstation came on the ssene. Before that the NES and SNES had all the great third party games.

[Chard]

Do people actually think this? I must have become way out of touch with this place.

[Realplaya]

I cannot believe someone is blaming the person that has to open their wallets.

Would you by a Mercedes if it had crank windows and no power steering. Neither would I.
It's time for developers to except responsibility.

If You live on your own and don't have the disposable cash to toss around are you buying a Buggy game that includes, glitches bad frame rates and horrible graphics, released years later with no DLC? People and especially developers should realize that the reason Nintendo has prospered for so long and their games endure the test of time is not because it's Mario or Pokemon, Or Zelda.

It's due to the fact each new game is evolved from the last game.

[saposaposapo]

Nintendo fans only like the kiddy side of the wiiu. Just look at watch dogs, only sold about 60k copies while sonic boom, a trashy game, sold twice of that and probably more as we speak.

[Concertoine]

Sonic boom is an exclusive. A bad one, but that alone gives it more potential than watch dogs.

Watch dogs was out on 6 platforms, hitting the wii u last in its worst state with no DLC for 60 dollars.

[MSBAUSTX]

Zombi U 820k sold

Bayonetta 2 620k sold

Hyrule Warriors 850k sold

I am a huge Nintendo Fan and yet I own these three games along with Mass Effect 3, Deus Ex Human revolution, AC 3, AC 4, Ninja Gaiden, Ikari Warriors, Injustice Gods Among Us, Cabellas Real Hunts, and Resident Evil Revelations.

I will agree that these do not sell as well as the more family friendly games that Nintendo makes but Nintendo doesnt only make kiddie games. The issues is the level of quality that the Nintebdo third parties get compared to Nintendo exclusives.

This is partly Nintendos fault for making a system with radically different architecture than other consoles. The rest of the blame lands on the developers of third party games not putting the proper time and effort to understand and learn to make quality ganes that utilize Nintendos hardware properly. Bayonetta 2, MK8, and coming soon Xenoblade X are all proof of what this system is capable of doing. The new LOZ is going to show it too.

Third parties need to churn games out in order to make money and can not dedicate the resources needed to get the results Nintendo can out of the Wii U. Thus both Nintendo and the developer are to blame. One wont make it easier and the other wont put forth the effort. If Nintendo makes a system similar to what XB and PS4 are then developers would have it easier but Nintendo wont be the novelty they are.

It is a matter of pride for Nintebdo and a matter of principle for the third party developers. It is why manufactoring of many products no longer takes place in America. Cheaper labor and material costs of other countries makes the bottom line go down but the selling price stay the same. This increases the profit margin greatly.

More time in to a game equals more money spent and less profit when the game sells. I understand the reasoning behind the third parties staying away from my Wii U but do not blame it on the gamers. That will only further alienate you from the people you are supposed to be winning over. I bought the third party games. Most sucked, but I bought them because of a sense of loyalty and my idealistic nature. In the end I enjoy playing Nintendo games much more than my third party games because of how bad they were ported. But some were really good. It is everyones fault accept for the gamer.

[higgins78]

I hope you are kidding. "Kiddie side"? That is in comparison to both Sony and Microsoft's 'mature' side I suppose. Watch Dogs sold like rubbish on the Wii U because it was a gimped port of a terrible game which arrived late.

[ZainreFang]

It's not necessarily the Wii U owners' faults. It's Nintendo owners in general. It all started in the N64 gen when Sony stole Nintendo's third party support with superior policies and paying off developers.

Even the original Xbox had far superior third party sales, with an install base of practically the same size. Not only that, that was Microsoft's first generation!

Splinter Cell Xbox - 3,000,000
Splinter Cell GC - 200,000

Maddon 06 Xbox 1,900,000
Madden 06 GC - 510,000

Ghost Recon Xbox - 1,750,000
Ghost Recon GC - 25,000

Hitman 2 Xbox - 1,200,000
Hitman 2 GC - 152,000

Third parties this generation just plain did not meet expectations with their Wii U ports, because they create these games with the reasonable expectation that no one is going to buy them. People buy the console for Nintendo games, and it would take a whole lot of money to change that.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

Tales of Symphonia - 1.10m on a 21m install base
Tales of Symphonia PS3 - 0.47m on a 80m install base

Mind you Nintendo Fans are 90% inclined to buy Japanese Publishers games not Western.

[Lennoxb63]

This is why I can't buy Nintendo products anymore. Haven't had a Nintendo platform since the Gamecube. Wii and Wii U don't grab me like the Gamecube and previous consoles. I can no longer stand the simplicity of their games anymore. Nintendo fans want to bash 3rd parties for releasing games that are a bit buggy. Then say they should take notes from Nintendo. I'm sorry I don't want to look at or play games with 100 polygons for every object. Which is why Nintendo games have no little to no problems. It's nowhere near as complex as what 3rd parties are bringing to the table.

[gerbwmu]

The truth is, it is the 3rd party publishers that are to blame. You can support the Wii U and Nintendo products without fully supporting them and you can make a profit. EA made a Madden & FIFA already. So come out and say based on expected sales we will not make a yearly sport franchise for Nintendo products but we will have updated rosters as paid DLC and we will release a new Madden in 2 years.

If you're Ubi, no we are not releasing some of our annual franchises on Wii U based on sales but we are making X specifically for it as well as the next Raymond, Rabbids, and Just Dance.

These companies made a lot of money of Wii.....especially Ubisoft....they can make noney off Wii U but be smart about it. Instead they basically abandoned the platform and gave excuses as to why they couldn't make it work instead of explaining that the profit isn't there but we will continue to support our fans with exclusives, versions made just for Wii U or even eShop only releases.

Again there is a fan base and money to be made but you don't treat everyone the same and expect it to work. That is just lazy business

[superchiller]

Wii U owners certainly share responsibility for the failure of 3rd party games on the system.

But the main reason for poor sales of these games, is that Nintendo did a very poor job on the design of the Wii U itself.

They completely gimped the base console, to accommodate the high cost of the gamepad.

Look at the anemic hardware:

- Only 2gb RAM (with only 1gb available for games)
- Weak CPU
- Weak GPU
- No internal HD DVD (or even a bay for one)
- No ethernet port
- No DVD or bluray support
- No analog triggers on any controllers
- Ancient USB 2.0 ports, when USB 3.0 has been out for over 6 years (and Wii U relies heavily on these ports for external storage, since the system has almost no internal storage)

The list goes on.

If Nintendo expected solid 3rd party support, they should have designed a much stronger system, one able to compete with the other two this generation. The fault really lies mostly with Nintendo itself.

[Concertoine]

Hd dvd support? What? Lol
You must mean HDD right?

[superchiller]

Yep, my tablet auto correct changed HDD to HD DVD. I meant "internal HDD". Sorry.

[marloc_x]

HD DVD? ..lol..

*smh*

[marloc_x]

Actually a relief, I was beginning to think you're a spambot ;)

[Moonman]

We want Third-party not Turd-party. :)

[Spotie]

The support might be a bit better if they were being treated a bit better by Nintendo.

It's been many generations since they alienated third parties. Why do you Nintendo fans think third party devs should give their all on Nintendo consoles when that company couldn't care less about how the games do? There won't be any development support, no advertising support, almost nothing from Nintendo to help make the game even a moderate success; why would any third party give their all to produce a product for a device that's not likely to sell well?

And it doesn't help things that all the Nintendo fans have no intention of holding their favorite company accountable for their role in the current situation.

[gangsta_red]

"when that company couldn't care less about how the games do?"

What in the heck are you talking about? It's up to Nintendo to make sure a third party game does well? What other company does this, certainly not Sony or MS...so why should Nintendo take the responsibility of making sure a third party game is successful on their system?

"There won't be any development support, no advertising support, almost nothing from Nintendo to help make the game even a moderate success;"

Where are you getting this from? Nintendo has been more than helpful to a few developers. Have we forgot already how they pulled the EXCELLENT Bayonetta 2 out of development limbo, or Devil's Third? Not to mention the many indie games and an article stating Nintendo is very helpful with indie development and process for their system.

http://n4g.com/news/1662034...

"Nintendo fans have no intention of holding their favorite company accountable for their role in the current situation."

Just like Sony fans(MAINLY YOU) constantly and always turn a blind eye to all the flaws or situations that may come up with your company.

"ALL THE NINTENDO" fans you say? You are so full of yourself, do you have proof of any of these claims or are you just writing down whatever spills out of that head of yours?

Again, I welcome a PM from you. Let's see if you just talk the talk.

[maniacmayhem]

@Hicken

What a load of nonsense. Instead of worrying what the fans are asking of Nintendo maybe you should be holding your favorite company accountable of a lot of things.

Last I checked Nintendo had free online, the highest rated exclusives, just as many indies plus friendly policies towards them, a huge focus on their portable device, games that release working, and a network that till this day has not gone down due to some attack.

Can your precious Sony say the same Hicken? Do you hold Sony accountable for charging for multiplayer that you swore you would never pay for and even claimed that's what was holding you back from getting a 360 last gen, how about the Vita which is getting next to no attention from Sony and they are even dropping some of it's service now, how about games that release broken or missing features, and an online that is constantly down or under attack.

Amazing that you can sit there and type what Nintendo fans should be doing when all you do is give Sony a free pass on everything.

"There won't be any development support, no advertising support, almost nothing from Nintendo to help make the game even a moderate success;"

*super facepalm* Exactly where are you getting this insane information from? You are way overboard and are reaching high for the stars, just amazing. That osmosis is truly working if you believe what you just wrote.

[theizzzeee]

Actually this issue is a little more complicated than it appears. I think this goes way back to the NES and SNES days the last time 3rd party games were complete. You see back during those times Nintendo had a complete stranglehold on the market. Third parties had to meet their seal of quality as well as make deals more tilted to Nintendo's favor than today's time to get on their console.

After Sony and Nintendo's console partnership ended their joint attempt at bringing CD-ROM's to console gaming. Sony did it own it's own first. With the lower costs of producing CD-ROM's as well as more freedom many game publishers jumped ship even If, only partly. Then PS One and N64 came to the market soon after.

PlayStation came to the market and caught fire like never seen before. Hence third parties needed Nintendo less.

Skip to the following gen this is where the third party problem was more apparent. Some multiplatform games lacked additional content and online play for the GameCube. Skip to the Wii similar story with the graphics and online content lacking.

So you have over a decade of Nintendo multiplatform games lacking. Because of that in the mind of many Nintendo console third party games= inferior. Continued

[theizzzeee]

Now here comes the Wii U which is supposed to solve previous issues, but you have a bit of a chicken and egg dilemma. When the Wii U first came out it had decent third party support. Here are some important things to note. Remember EA's "unprecedented partnership" with Nintendo? Many think the straw that broke the camel's back in that relationship when Nintendo refused to go with Origin. I think the real issue was soon after Sony and Microsoft let them in on them going the X86 route and it wouldn't surprise me if, they had $$$ other incentives to be persuaded. Remember EA's complimentary bashing of Nintendo? Would you do this to your # partner unless... Unless you had a new partner(s). Like how a guy with 5 friends talks big and bad against one guy, but wouldn't be that mouthy if, he was by himself. That or how a husband treats his wife like crap because he knows he has a mistress to run to. Soon after EA had downgraded versions of FIFA and Madden and released Mass Effect 3 for the Wii U the same time it released the trilogy for the previous gen. Repeat the same type thing with a few other publishers.

Here are a few other things to consider about Wii U console sales which factor into things. I suspect one reason Nintendo did not release many of the big first party games is to give third parties a chance to shine more at launch. That coupled with the earthquake in Japan, plus many devs being taking off Wii U projects to focus on 3DS projects, in addition to the learning curve of HD. The way it is now though Nintendo games sell Nintendo products. Although it's not the full picture higher install bases are an attractive feature it helps with relations.

One important thing to note is just like last gen many homes are multi console households. So Wii U owners do buy third party games just on another console. So when the Wii U launched without many first party games it didn't sell well after the launch period because people just bought third party system seller games for systems they already owned. This coupled with constant bashing by devs and other system fans kept many of those still on the fence about buying a Wii U from purchasing one. When one publisher comes out we with a game with all the bells and whistles two more doesn't. So I say the main problem is uncertainty. Let's say if, 3 million people bought a Wii U tomorrow and s million of the top 10 multiplatform Wii U games they have no assurance the quality and dlc situation would improve. A Wii U can't magically become a PS4 or XBOX ONE so single console third party and Nintendo lovers that love third party more pass on the Wii U.

It is the simple Wii U owners want games at the quality (ie frame rates) at a minimum of last gen, some improvent on the visuals and dlc,no major delays,plus competively priced.

It's like delicious cake fixed on two plates. One has a worm on it one doesn't. If, you had a choice which one you gonna pick?

[desolationstorm]

This isn't anything new and is a product of many years and systems. Nintendo was not the nicest company to deal with back in the NES days. Many people didn't like their my way or the highway attitude.

The N64 started the major decline because they choose to use expensive cartriages instead of CDs which while being cheaper also offered additional benefits.

Eventually a good portion of the Nintendo crowed opted to purchase a different or additional system. The ones that stayed are either Nintendo fans and tend to buy their systems for their software or are multiple system owners.

The Wii was really the final straw for a lot of developers. Dealing with smaller media sizes or inability to incorporate all features of a game being ported is one thing. Now it was an under powered system which couldn't just be a port like back in the ps2, xbox and GameCube day.

All parties involved have blame to pass around. At this point you just won't get the same experience you could get on a different system. Better worth a 3rd parties time to create something new and different. Though this is where consumers have spoken, time and time again a lot of these games don't sell so why bother?

[gamerdad316]

i have purchased a majority of wii u games. i have never been disappointed by any of them, no matter who published it, nor have i ever felt i didnt have enough games to play. i have simply passed on some only because of later releases than other systems and no wanting to support a sequel a publisher said was never coming to my system(watchdogs). ill probably still get it when it sub $20. i dont care so much about graphical parity, but release parity is crucial. same with project cars, i was really into it when they pulled the same crap.

[Kumomeme]

there lot more reason than these...some of it due nintendo lack 3rd party support during first bacth of wii u game,some of it due to 3rd party itself arrogantly doesnt want to support nintendo,another reason bad relationship like between EA and Nintendo

and another reason is 3rd party publisher itself doesnt want their game to be overtaken by nintendo 1st party game itself...

well,recently few publisher had been acting like shit,broken promise,unomptimized product,overhype stuff...compare to nintendo 1st party itself that always deliver their product flawlessly without lying and broken promise to fans

[DivineAssault]

ya ya yeah... Bayo 2 was fantasic but with such little support, devs will lose more money than they gain with such a low install base