Sunday, July 22, 2007

Wii gets massive third-party support



Wii has started to receive massive support from third-party publishers over the last month. Gaming Target has accounted for a significant jump in announced exclusive titles for the platform.

In the same timespan in which five and three more exclusive titles have been announced for Xbox360 and PS3 respectively, 37 new exclusives have been announced for Wii. This is what it looks like:


Xbox360: 96 (+5 from last count: 47 released, 49 announced)

PS3: 47 (+3 from last count: 8 released, 39 announced)

Wii: 113 (+37 from last count: 23 released, 90 announced)


I previously looked at the figures in May and June. The site seems to be highly reliable, although they do count a few titles that will never make it to retail, I believe. Please read the commentary to the former entry for details.



Of course, it is important to see things in perspective. Quantity does not rule over quality. But, nevertheless, this development shows an interesting trend in publishers allocating their resources towards Nintendo, as Gaming Target puts very well.

The Wii has proven to be the new king of the exclusive. Now, it would be dishonest to somehow imply that Wii exclusives like Ultimate Duck Hunting, Furu Furu Park, Hannah Montana: Spotlight World Tour and Action Girlz Racing match up with some of the games that dot the Xbox 360 and PS3 lists.

It’s also wrong not to acknowledge that many non-exclusive third-party games that are coming to both the 360 and the PS3 will never make it to the Wii in any form, so the Wii loses out. But it’s not hard to connect the dots and see that publishers have flipped their perceptions of the three consoles and their console identities are beginning to take shape.

Source: Gaming Target

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looking at the figures Wii has done (10.million) in such a short time, it doesnt surprise me that third parties want to bring there resources onto Wii. Wii is a console where you can create software at a significant lower cost compared to Sony and Microsoft's consoles. Which means you only have to sell somewhere around 300,000 copies to get into profit compared to 600,000. Of course these numbers can fluxuate depending on the type of software you creating.

Falafelkid said...

Hi Touch-Gen.

Yeah, Wii is simply a very attractive platform at the moment, on all counts. The development costs and Nintendo´s license fees are low, the installed hardware base is very high and rising fast and the tie ratio is very high.

Just one thing I should clarify about my post. I am, of course, well aware that Gaming Target lists not just third party titles under exclusives, but first and second party titles too.

However, seeing that the number of first party titles is constrained by each company´s limited studio resources, these figures are a good indicator of third party support. Should have said that in the post itself, but there you go.

Anonymous said...

@ Falafelkid

Thats a good point. Id think that most companies are just getting onboard with Wii in the last few months due to its increased install base rising FASTER than anyone expected, so am sure we wont see bigger titles until next year from third parties. Although we may still get a few surprises like Table Tennis. Even though you reported it(months ago!), its still nice to get it confirmed.

RGB said...

I still stand by my comments in relation to MS developing another console. Regardless of how poorly it has been, I am sure the plan initially was a long term 10-15 year plan.

I also think due to the poor performance of PS3 (thus far) and vunerability will also keep that long term plan going without cancellation.

It is great that Wii will get more and more support. I need some games to play because I mostly just see Nintendo games on the system for me. Not that it matters as I dont have much time to play anyway, but for Nintendo's sake and everyone else its all good.

Anonymous said...

hey....

some interesting news!!!

look at:



http://sebastians-world.blogspot.com !!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

nice try sebastian, but you're about 18 months late to catch the hype train.

-"superfan" tactics.

Anonymous said...

plus your a dousch

RGB said...

I kind of smell Tanaka with his postings.

Anonymous said...

Dear falafelkid,

Bethesda could have two Wii games coming:

http://gonintendo.com/?p=21771

What do you make of this?

Metaldave said...

What do you make of this quote from the latest Nintendo Power falafelkid?:

“One of the big highlights from the first Rayman Ravubg Rabbids was the up-tempo rail-shooter levels that served as the final challenges of some stages. They’re back in a big way - the new cinematic look to the levels is revolutionary. The game’s producers can barely contain their excitement: “This is a totally new technique; it just didn’t exist before. It took about six months to develop before we were sure we could actually do it.”" - Chris Shepperd, Nintendo Power editor


http://gonintendo.com/?p=21821

"The new cinematic look to the levels is revolutionary"

Did Ubisoft actually try to make the graphics look good? I can't remember for sure the name of the tech we were talking about before that the Wii would be able to do (Cube Mapping and making CG graphics move in real-time I think) but any chace Ubisoft discovered this short cut to make the graphics look Next-Gen with mimimal effort? I know its grasping for straws but I thought I'd ask you because its a interesting quote.

Metaldave said...

Sorry for a couple typos, I didn't have time to spell check.

Anonymous said...

"This is a totally new technique; it just didn’t exist before. It took about six months to develop before we were sure we could actually do it."

Hhmmm, maybe they created the next JADE-Engine...

Anonymous said...

@ MetalDave

I think there talking about Gameplay. I doubt Wii is capable of what you call graphics that look next-gen. Besides, Wii is all about having fun.