Publishers Scrambling for Wii Titles 328
Bloomberg is reporting on the publisher scramble for Wii titles, prompted by the console's explosive popularity since its launch late last year. Though the article focuses on EA's initial coolness on the console, they certainly weren't the only company that initially missed the bus. "Electronic Arts wasn't the only publisher slow to see Wii's appeal. New York-based Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., maker of Grand Theft Auto games, had no Wii titles when the player was released and now plans to have three this year, said spokesman Jim Ankner. Activision Inc., based in Santa Monica, California, plans to release six Wii games this year, giving the second-largest publisher a total of 11, said spokeswoman Maryanne Lataif." Though that's great news for Wii gamers, the question is: how many of these titles are going to be 'shovelware'?
shovelware (Score:4, Interesting)
But if the big publishers rush Wii tiles out the door, the Wii could get a reputation for having nothing but crap ports, and lose some of its appeal. On the other hand, with the lag time involved in video games, market share might be cemented before that could happen.
I'm bored with my Wii (Score:3, Interesting)
At first it was a lot of fun however I soon found that lack of decent single player games and no online made the console a total bore for me. I tried to convince my wife that it was fun to play and while she did enjoy it the first couple of times she said it was "too robotic" which I do agree with.
I don't have people round the house all that often as we tend to go out. When we do have people round it is more to chat than play games. When I first got it and people came round we played but after an hour most people found the games too repetitive.
So basically it now sits under my TV doing nothing. I am a single player gamer and the Wii really doesn't work well for me. I had (still have but it is modded) an Xbox and used to really like Live however canceled my subscription after 2 years as I didn't feel I used it enough. I have thought about getting a 360 however it is too noisy for me so until they put in a quieter drive I won't be picking one up.
I really wanted to like the Wii however it just doesn't excite me, after the initial novelty wears off it does feel rather gimmicky and it doesn't really revolutionise gaming, it is just another form of input, it doesn't really add any additional depth to a game.
Re:shovelware (Score:2, Interesting)
Probably not, though. No major system has ever failed for having too many games, even if most aren't "A" quality titles.
What's on tap? (Score:2, Interesting)
And now, my time is taken up by work, bills, etc. However, the Wii is really starting to appeal to me, as it seems like a console you can just play periodically without being a die-hard. And the (more) physical nature of it is appealing.
However, I really would enjoy a 3D D&D type of game, where you use the wiimote as a sword and nunchuck to control a shield, switch to pulling the two apart like cocking a bow, even moving your arms like you're running and having that get picked up and move you along like you're running/walking, etc., etc. But, sadly, it doesn't seem like anything like this is in development.
Regarding the shovelware note, I do note that Eye of the Beholder is being made for the Wii, but it may turn out to be shovelware - just like the original, pseudo-3D game. That would suck.
Re:Are there any good driving simulators in Wii? (Score:4, Interesting)
If you want a bit of advice, don't waste your money on GT Pro [wikipedia.org]. The Steering Wheel attachment might make it tempting, but I guarantee that you'll regret the purchase. Try one of Ubisoft's better games, like Rayman. I have not heard anything about Monster 4x4 World Circuit [wikipedia.org], but I recommend that you be wary of it. Nintendo really had to strain the quality in order to round out the Wii launch titles.
Re:shovelware (Score:4, Interesting)
I bought a wii at launch time, and so far have been pretty disappointed. Wii Sports is nice, but every title I've picked up since then has been something of a disappointment - cooking mama is terrible, Monkeyball is nice but the minigames are hideously bad (and reviews of Sonic say it's more of the same), and the Metroid title promises to be singleplayer. I've yet to see a multiplayer title for the Wii where the multiplayer gaming is anything but hacked-up minigames.
I'm worried that the Wii will end up collecting dust the same way my DS does.
Where is Wii Media Centre? (Score:1, Interesting)
But I don't get it. The Wii has networking and a CPU that is capable of decoding MPEG4 video. That sounds like a perfect replacement for my media PC! But the Wii only appears to be able to play videos from CDs. In this era of XBMC and AppleTV, why isn't there even a simple media centre program available for the Wii with network streaming?
Re:The more the better (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Silly question (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Silly question (Score:2, Interesting)
Are "crap ports" such a bad thing? (Score:5, Interesting)
It's pretty apparent that a significant part of the Wii's appeal is coming from casual or even "non gamers". These are not the players that get excited about a new Zelda game, or Metroid Prime, or Mario Galaxy, etc. Rather, they are comfortable with games with much more massive appeal (Wii Sports, Wii Play, various party games, etc.).
Sometimes that also includes licensed games (based off movies, TV shows, etc.), which are often regarded to as "shovelware" by hardcore gaming enthusiasts. Believe it or not, one of the better selling DS games in Feburary was Hannah Montana [gamespot.com], based off the popular Disney TV show.
As hardcore gamers (and yes, I am one), I think we often forget about the massive number of other gamers there are, that buy and enjoy these types of games (otherwise they wouldn't continue to sell the way they do). As much as I hate to think it, Nintendo could probably do quite well business-wise focusing on just the casual audience entirely. Sure, they'll lose much of the hardcore fanbase, but more than make up for it in other ways. In the meantime, they'll always have the Nintendo faithful on board no matter what they do (these are the ones that need their Mario/Zelda/Metroid-fix).
EA has done pretty well (Score:5, Interesting)
If they keep up that quality level, I'm very happy. I doubt the Wii is going to be another Cube.
Also, if you have a Wii and only own Wii Sports, Cooking Mama and Super Monkey Ball, you have no right to complain about the games. At least get Zelda, Excite Truck, Wario Ware and Rayman, in addition to the EA games mentioned above. There are quite a bit of great games for the Wii available right now.
Re:Just one question (Score:4, Interesting)
Hey, I can dream
the future of the wii (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:EA has done pretty well (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't know about you, but I find Tiger Woods 07 DAMN addictive on the Wii. Even now I want to run home and play. Tiger, and Madden are much more 'Simulation oriented' (and addictive) than they ever were. Madden is simulating backyard 'double touch' football in an NFL setting and Tiger is simulating golf real nicely... I can't wait for Fight Night...
Re:Aren't most of the titles "shovelware"? (Score:3, Interesting)
SMB3 is not the best selling game ever (Score:4, Interesting)
Sorry, you are wrong [wikipedia.org]. SMB3 was the best selling console game at 18 million. Want to know how much Tetris sold for the original GameBoy? 30 million. And that's only on that portable. There are countless Tetris games and clones available on the PC, web, mobile phone, PDA, etc. Yes, I'm aware that Tetris was a bundled game, and that skews the numbers considerably. But I'm more interested in the influence and mass popularity of games. Being bundled helped it tremendously, just like how Wii Sports is gaining mass popularity from being a pack-in for the Wii. (And on a small note, the original Super Mario game sold even better, since it was also a pack-in game. That has far more influence than its predecessor.)
Want to know another mass appeal game that has sold like crazy, and was released less than a decade ago? The Sims, at 16 million (and that number is probably out of date by now). Most hardcore gamers, myself included, thought it was a fun game, but quickly got bored of it and moved onto newer things. However, the vast majority of gamers (who are not hardcore, don't read gaming sites every day, etc.), keep buying expansion pack after expansion pack. I don't think those numbers even include the Sims 2 sequel either.
I am not saying that the Mario brand is insignificant. In fact, it is the most influential franchise out there. That said, I still disagree that a Mario game is going to be the pinnacle of a "mass appeal video game". The numbers are actually quite telling, if you take a look at the sales numbers of Mario games after SMB3. It's going down, not up.
Again, try going to your non-gamer friends and family, and ask them if they have ever played or heard of SMB 3, or if they look forward to the next Mario game. The answer will probably be no. That said, those same folks are probably giddy about American Idol, or Lost, or the next James Bond movie.
I think you've fallen into the trap that most hardcore gamers fall into. That may be how we got into gaming. But why do you make the assumption that they're "going to want more"? The typical grandmother who has picked up a Wii because it's fun to play with her grandkids and maybe her friends from time to time, is not going to change her lifestyle and suddenly be into games like Zelda or Metroid, just because they happen to be on the same console.
... is rather absurd. We just don't see it, and I've been in the business for a while now.
As some who's in the casual games industry, I can tell you that most of the women that play our games adapt them to their lifestyle, not the other way around. Bejeweled gamers seek out similar puzzle games, and "bite size" games. They might try marginally more complicated games (such as Diner Dash, etc.), but there is such a huge leap to more "traditional" games, that your idea that they will eventually become fans of Starcraft, Call of Duty, Zelda, Metroid, Halo
Anyway, I'm not saying that short pick-up games are the only answer t
Re:Silver Lining (Score:5, Interesting)
What I'm suggesting is that the nuncuck's motion sensors be used for turning, not for movement. The analog control is great for movement, and should still be used... although side to side on the a-stick would strafe side to side, the way left/right arrow keys (or A/D keys, more likely) are used on a keyboard. Tilting the nuncuck to the left would turn you to the left, tilting it to the right would turn you right. Tiliting it downward would look down, tilting it up would look up. This way, all movement and positioning are controlled with the left hand, and then the Wiimote is used exclusively for aiming, shooting, and switching weapons (via the d-pad, which would work wonderfully).
Actually (Score:3, Interesting)