Nintendo keen to make Wii U “The Console That Every Developer Wants To Publish On”

Wii U is still getting some high-profile third-party titles, but there’s still a notable absence of a few high-rollers. Still, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales & marketing Scott Moffitt has underlined the company’s “strong” relationship with third-parties, and hopes to make the format more attractive to developers moving forward.

[Austin48]

It would be nice if all publishers did that but i highly dought it

[iamnsuperman]

They need to sell more. It doesn't matter what policies Nintendo adopt (unless it is throwing money at developers) these other develops will not want to put a game on it as the install base is very low for a console that has been out for a year. Problem is if developers do not want to develop for it consumers will be less likely to buy it as their favourite games will not be on it (vicious cycle)

I am glad I am not in a Nintendo senior position as this is a vicious cycle and quite difficult to get out of. This is why the first year of any device is so important. If you hit start great these issues are fairly non existent. Similar situation is happening to the Vita. Sony's approach seems to be using other devices (Vita TV and PS4) and paying for indie timed exclusivity to get people to buy a Vita. I am not sure what Nintendo could do (except drop the price to make it ultra cheap for anyone to pass up and get their finger out of their arses when it comes to Zelda. Could sell more that way and hope for a resurgence later on in its life which could get more developers on board as the install base will be sufficient)

[Thepcz]

they should have thought about that before making it so feeble in the specs department.

[R00bot]

Third party has never had anything to do with graphics.
PS2 was least powerful, but had the best 3rd party.
360 was less powerful, but had more 3rd party than the PS3 (at least early on).

[deafdani]

Sorry dude, but those examples you mentioned are extremely poor. The PS2 was weaker than Cube and the original Xbox, yes, but it was still roughly in the same level, meaning it was still capable of running pretty much any game that ran on its more powerful counterparts with little compromise.

Same goes for the Xbox 360... and I LOVE how you used that as an example instead of the Wii, which was much weaker than the 360 and PS3, and therefore, it was simply uncapable of running a lot of games that did appear in the other two consoles.

I don't know for a fact if we will see a repeat of the Wii scenario with the Wii U. For all we know, the power difference could be much smaller this time around than it was in the Wii vs 360/PS3 case.

I guess we'll have to wait a bit and see, but to say that "third party has never had anything to do with graphics" is just plain ignorant. It actually does.

[R00bot]

There were some 3rd party Wii games that sold better on it than other consoles, but the Wii was targeted at an audience that only bought a specific type of game.

The Wii U isn't any less "on the same level" than the PS2 was to it's competitors, either. It can actually compete quite well if programmed correctly and it has been shown that the on-paper specs don't tell the full story with it's CPU outperforming anything that it should be able to do, and the GPU is quite close to the PS4 and ONE's GPU's anyway. The Wii U will be capable of running pretty much any game that runs on its more powerful counterparts with little (maybe a bit more than with the PS2 situation) compromise.
The power difference is much, much smaller than it was last generation (also note how many games are running in 1080p on the Wii U, as opposed to the many ONE and PS4 games that have had 1080p stripped from them since their reveal).

I think we probably will see a repeat of the Wii scenario for third parties, but not AS bad as with the Wii (ok, the Wii scenario may have been about power, but if a dev wanted they could still get their game onto the console (COD)).

Third party has never, and never will be, about graphical power. There are many more examples such as the dreamcast, which was much more powerful than it's competitors and failed miserably in the 3rd party department, or the Sega Master System, which had over 8 times the graphical power of the NES but still stalled when it came to quality 3rd party games.

You were very quick to judge me as ignorant because of a post based solely on fact.

I would call you ignorant or a troll, but your comment history says otherwise.

Good day sir.

[Thepcz]

it has everything to do with power now. nintendo underestimated the importance of HD last gen and the wii went to an early grave as a result.

nintendo pitched the wiiu as the answer to all the problems the wii had, therefore, one would expect a nintendo console that was future proof, technology wise. but instead, what we got was another 'half-step' by nintendo, this inbetween 'thing' that can give us quasi next gen experiences, but not the real deal.

again, nintendo will suffer greatly for this mistake. dont believe me, check the sales figures. look at the charts. go to a store and look at the wiiu section- it either doesnt exist, or has very little meaningful presence on market. so, you can disagree until you are blue in the face, but the facts and figures speak for themselves.

one might turn blind eye to the fact the wiiu is barely more powerful than a ps3, if nintendo offered highly original and qulity titles, as it did with the wii. but wait, none of the aforementioned experiences can be enjoyed on wiiu, only rehashes of decade old games (wind waker) and pointless games like game and wario.

add to that the lack of convincing third party support and you have a console that nobody really wants to buy, and as a result, no devs will publish.

[deafdani]

"There were some 3rd party Wii games that sold better on it than other consoles, but the Wii was targeted at an audience that only bought a specific type of game."

And they were the exception rather than the rule. And you said it yourself, they were third party games made with a different audience on mind.

As for your second paragraph, I said it already: we'll have to wait and see. I hope the disparity in power isn't as big this time around, for the sake of the Wii U regarding third party multiplatform titles. That, in itself, is an admittance of the importance of power parity if you want these kind of games to appear in your platform. Again, this is why the Wii missed out on the vast majority of multiplatform titles.

"The power difference is much, much smaller than it was last generation (also note how many games are running in 1080p on the Wii U, as opposed to the many ONE and PS4 games that have had 1080p stripped from them since their reveal)."

Er, resolution isn't an argument here. If the Wii U can run a game in 1080p, you can bet that the PS4 and Xbox One can do run the same game at that resolution, too. They're more powerful, after all. Like I said, we won't be able to judge how big this difference actually is until all three next gen consoles are out, plain and simple. Numbers on paper aren't the same as real life results. Again: I hope it's not that big of a difference this time.

"I think we probably will see a repeat of the Wii scenario for third parties, but not AS bad as with the Wii (ok, the Wii scenario may have been about power, but if a dev wanted they could still get their game onto the console (COD))."

Call of Duty was an exception. The Wii was simply incapable of running games on Unreal Engine 3, so things like Mass Effect, or the Batman games, were out of the question. Same goes for Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption, and other big multiplat games that the Wii simply didn't have the power to run.

"Third party has never, and never will be, about graphical power. There are many more examples such as the dreamcast, which was much more powerful than it's competitors and failed miserably in the 3rd party department, or the Sega Master System, which had over 8 times the graphical power of the NES but still stalled when it came to quality 3rd party games."

Considering everything I said above, yes, power matters for third party. The Dreamcast was the first console of its generation, and it was considerably weaker than the PS2, Gamecube and original Xbox. And the Sega Master System was indeed more powerful than the NES, but at that time, there were practically only two major competitors, Sega and Nintendo, because everyone else was of very little relevance. On MODERN TIMES, now there are THREE major players: Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, both with similar market shares... and if any one of the big three makes a console considerably less powerful than the other two, then that console will receive the least third party support. Last generation was a clear proof of that, and using 25 year old consoles to try to prove your argument is falacious, because today's circumstances are very different than they were decades ago.

So, I stand by what I said. Your post wasn't based on facts, but opinion. A fact is, the Wii missed out on tons of third party games because it wasn't on par with the other two consoles, power-wise. So, again, stating that third party isn't about power means IGNORING the actual state of things in the gaming industry.

In the end, I personally don't care too much if the Wii U is underpowered compared to Xbox One and PS4. As long as it has fun games, I'll keep playing it. :)

[lilbroRx]

Its a fools errand. When the Wii U launched last year, it was the strongest console on the market and still will be until next month. Made no difference to devs.

We've entered the age of developer terrotiralism and bought exclusivity. Devs go to the console of the manufacturer that wipes their anus with the most money more often then not.

The PS3 was the hardest console to develop for last gen but devs still flocked to it(ignoring all of the bankrupcties is brought).

It was never about the hardware. Its about the devs prerfence.

You can't make a console that "every" dev wants to publish on. Devs want money, and that is what its all about.

[krazykombatant]

"The PS3 was the hardest console to develop for last gen but devs still flocked to it"

LOL yeah they flocked to it and released poor ports, which were riddled with problems in comparison to the 360 comparison.

The easier it is to develop for and the one that can capture the biggest audience is what the devs and more importantly their bosses (the publishers) will flock to and support.

You're confusing devs with publishers.

[ThePsychoGamer]

That is pure fanboy conspiracy theory BS.

1: Yes Microsoft and SOny will pay for third party exclusives, but guess what, Nintendo douse the same thing. It really pathetic that you are not only trying to spin this into a bad thing, but trying to paint this narrative where Nintendo is innocent of it.

2: You try to paint a picture where developers only ever lost money because of the PS3, but we know that isn't true, developers worked on the PS3 because there games sold, especially the niche games.

[LOL_WUT]

"It really pathetic that you are not only trying to spin this into a bad thing, but trying to paint this narrative where Nintendo is innocent of it."

Lilbro always does this he tries to masquerade as a PC fan and on the side damage controls for Nintendo.

Anyway, regardless of what the fanboys might say Nintendo needs 3rd party more than they need them. If they weren't too busy with the Wii catering to the all casuals and soccer moms then they would've had a nice footing in the HD scene instead of being left behind by publishers and the competition.

I hope with this nice little boost in their hardware sales things turn around for them but as far as publishers developing for the Wii U I don't see much changing unless they pay up. ;)

[MEsoJD]

Devs care about sales and the Wii U at the moment is a bad investment. Not just that, but the majority of Nintendo console owners haven't been as consistent in buying software compared to owners of 360/PS3.

[Knushwood Butt]

Devs go to whichever publisher is giving them a gig.

You know, like Platinum developing games for Nintendo...

Considering how the majority of games these days are multiplat, your post is close to being nonsensical.

[ReesesPuffs]

I hope that the Wii U will one day be that console. It would be awesome if all the next gen consoles were like this aswell. In the end only time will tell. We'll see.

[GamerRising]

Wii U is just a big disaster. Nintendos in a bigh whole reasons why im afraid to buy their products

[maniacmayhem]

Nintendo needs to go the Sega route. And not the Sega road of software I mean the Sega road of creating more appealing 1st party titles.

I know I posted this elsewhere but i'll post it here too.

When Nintendo was sucking up all the 3rd party devs Sega was forced to make their own versions of the very popular games at that time.

SNES had Final Fight, Sega's answer was Streets of Rage, SNES had Final Fantasy, Sega's answer was Phantasy Star, EA was killing it with their sports games, Sega came out with the 2k series, and so on and so forth.

If the devs won't port their games then Nintendo needs to make more appealing games in the same nature as the ones they are denied.

No GTA? Nintendo should make their own, no Final Fantasy, Nintendo should make their own. With the talent of Nintendo there is no doubt they could make these existing games even better. They need to take the bull by the horns and not only get these devs to develop for them but start pumping out more themselves to make their system more appealing.

[iamnsuperman]

The only issue with that is trying to avoid being the poor man's GTA box. Creating versions of a certain popular games comes with its risks as it will always be compared and you better make sure it is better than the original game otherwise it will be slammed. Dante comes to mind. It didn't think it was a bad game but it didn't destroy GOW and so was always compared to it. Also the public saw it that way just because it was similar. I think Nintendo need to diverse and go away from their typical first party game (promise shown with Bayonetta 2) rather than make their own version

[DejectedJeff]

Devil may cry came before god of war.
Also bayonetta 2 is third party, nintendo's just funding the game.

[lilbroRx]

I will never understand this logic.

Why is the first thing people attack the most successful part of Nintendo? They have the highest grocing game franchises on the planet.

Their first part games are the most appealing.

[Nerdmaster]

@maniacmayhem
It's actually a very good idea. I always preferred SEGA's consoles, but I never really thought about this idea of "if they won't make a version of this game to my console, I'll make a similar game to compete with them". Sometimes it worked great (Streets of Rage is so much better than Final Fight), sometimes not so much, but even when it didn't work that great, at least it was an alternative.

[DejectedJeff]

Yeah look at how sega reacted to eas refusal to put madden games on dreamcast, they made their own sports series. Then they opened loads of studios and pumped out tons of games in just a few years. THAT is what needs to happen.
I think history will look back on wii u similarly to the dreamcast personally.

[Deku-Johnny]

Isn't that the aim for every console?

[TomahawkX]

I hope they can get their act together and get some more support. I plan on getting a wiiU when X comes out and I hope the system is alive and well by then.

[Ac7iVe]

I'm glad u want the Wii U buy ur also adding to the problem waiting to buy it until x comes out. Everyone should just support it early to secure that great games like X make it to release. The more we support it now the more we will get later.

[AKR]

Well, in all fairness, the Wii U (and 3DS, for that matter), are so far having better third-party support than their predecessors.

But yet; I agree, more needs to be done. Devs claim to be waiting on better sales - but it really makes me wonder, are they actually going to follow through? It seems like no matter what - they always find SOME excuse to skip N consoles.

[BOLO]

Damnit Ninty...I can't say I'm not upset. You have around the same market value of $20 billion as Sony who operates on more fronts than gaming and you still didn't push the tech in Wii U like you did with the N64 and GC. regardless of whether the most powerful console "loses". You could've made a beast but instead thought you can strike gold twice like you did with the Wii. Don't head to a path of "irrelevance" the bitter Atari founder is hoping to see happen in his life time.