Publishers Fleeing "Hardcore" Wii Development?

Gamervision:

Last week, Gamervision had a talk with Jools Watsham, owner and game director for Renegade Kid. For those who don't know, Renegade Kid is one of the few developers known for their "hardcore" Nintendo games, the most recent of which were Dementium and Moon on the Nintendo DS. When asked about their first Wii title, Son of the Dragon, Jools's answer was interesting to us, though not all that surprising. Here's an excerpt:

"GV: Whatever happened with Son of the Dragon?

JW: The original project was slatted [sic] as a Wii / DS combo, but due to the sales of "hardcore" games on the Wii it was cancelled by the publisher."

That's right, it appears that at least one publisher is canceling any "hardcore" Wii games, and, to be honest, who could blame them?

[N4g_null]

Seriously who is Renegade Kid when they make a NMH2 or a red steel let me know their opinion. Another thing if your game is good then ubi/sega will be happy to publish it.

There simply are no more free money days left. Just saying hardcore game is not good enough it has to be a hardcore game.

[SpoonyRedMage]

Renegade Kid are the developers of Moon and Dementium on the DS. Both are which are better than the first red steel and sold quite well. They're cool guys.

I think the publisher cancelled the Wii version partially because no one has any idea who Renegade Kid are...

[dominicm]

It's not their opinion, it's their business model. If it isn't in their best interest to develop a hardcore game for the Wii then they shouldn't.

[N4g_null]

Moon and Dementium are not hardcore enough which was the problem. Yes he is a cool guy but seriously why would you want to keep playing those games? Dementium was ok though.. but really more FPS stuff with nothing to add to FPSing... what guys like this don't remember is quake 1 is still better than their games game play wise in most cases.

Gaming does not give freebies you have to earn the sales. On top of this he must find pubs out their willing to front the money are raise it him selfs this is what we all must do at some point. If we want to make what we want to make rather than a game that will attract the hardcore audience with addictive game play rather than mee too look what I can do development.

Not a dis just a wake up call... 7,000+ are unemployed in the gaming industry right now.

It is not the Wiis fault that publisher are not backing projects its the HD games that are not doing the number than the fanbase claim it will. Some thing is wrong with the hardcore base right now. Either they are unemployeed or they just don't like what you guys are making.

Another thing is Halo sold to new comers not harder FPS players on the PC. They are the casual gamers of hardcore right now and before that a similar thing happened with the PS2 and not we are seeing the effects of it.

If you can not keep making new customers soon your stand by fans will leave also, just ask sega or atari or id software or even midway.

[Smacktard]

That's kind of crumby. But, uh, do Wii gamers really want to play a DS game on their Wii?

[SpoonyRedMage]

Well Echoes of Time sold over 100K on the Wii and that was a ported up DS game but I think they were referring to a set up more like Need for Speed Nitro which has both a DS and Wii version.

[N4g_null]

Their games are great on the DS but these guys have shown me nothing that says they will be ready to compete with NMH2, red steel 2 or metorid M which would all but make this guys games forgotten.

The better question is why can he not make these games for the HD console since they are more hardcore? Right? Because they have to be as good as all the hyped filled games coming.

[n4f]

yeah i think he doesnt know team ninja x nintendo = other m

[Shnazzyone]

all this hate on the wii is a self fulfilling prophecy. It is the fault of every whining fanboy that wii titles aimed at the skilled adult gamer are not selling. They need to stop being such doubters and start picking these titles up. Because before long all consoles will be supporting the casual crowd and what is to stop developers from making the jump from core titles not being worth developing for wii and core titles are just not worth developing for anything?

[N4g_null]

This is so true and is what happened to the atari. If you truely believe all games are equal then you don't understand gaming. People may call resort casual but it is pretty hardcore. Those games are not easy to master and they are very addictive two things that gaming is missing in general. Along with imagination of course.