The Wii Took Devs Completey By Shock - Not Many Wii Titles For Holiday Season

[Zeus]

A report by a financial website claims that developers were unprepared for the success of the Wii on the back of E3 and as such many developers had not even begun to work on the platform, meaning that there will be a lack of third party titles over the holiday season for the Wii.


According to James Lin, a longtime industry analyst and a consultant with Simba Group, publishers “weren't expecting anything" to come of the Wii prior to the annual event, which took place in May. As such, many developers had not yet begun projects for the platform, and will not have Wii titles available in time for the holiday season.

The one notable exception to this is of course Ubisoft, which showcased its Wii-exclusive title Red Steel at Nintendo's booth at E3, and will reportedly have the game on store shelves day and date with the launch of the new console. "No one's going to make money on the software except Ubisoft," noted a hedge fund manager in the report. "Everyone got caught flat-footed."

In addition, the report noted that Electronic Arts was "pleasantly surprised" at the Wii's reception, and though it only showcased a single Wii title at E3 – a version of Madden NFL 07 engineered to take advantage of the console's unique controller – the company recently confirmed that its dedicated Wii development team is working on "custom-designed titles" for Wii, including new releases from the Need for Speed, Harry Potter, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, SSX and The Godfather franchises.


News Source: <a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=10126" target="_blank">Gamasutra.com</a>

[bwanac]

Thats not good news... but I dont believe him fully.

[Gehenna]

I think most people are looking forward to first party games more than third.
I know I am.

[chukz]

Yes Nintendo's first party games are usually amazing, but for long term success they will need a wider variety of games, and that's where third parties come in. Frankly I'm not surprised that Wii's 3rd party support isn't as 'ready' as it should be, the last two Nintendo consoles didn't break any kind of sales records. You could see (from a business perspective) why 3rd parties would want to tread lightly when they heard of this new console. After a really strong E3 showing (not sure if Wii was so strong, or that Sony and Microsoft were so weak, but whatever) it seems more companies are taking this seriously. In fact if Wii had a poor E3 showing I would venture to say EA would not have announced all these extra games (maybe 1 or 2, but not 6 in development).

The bad news is that third parties have reacted slowly, and only now that Wii is getting all this positive publicity, have they begun really making games. It will be Ubisoft and EA (and maybe SquareEnix if that Dragon Quest game does well) that will be grinning from ear to ear if the console does sell very well, as they seem to be the only third parties with games at launch.

The good news is that third parties have reacted at all, and even though it might be a while after launch to see some nice third party titles, at least now there is a chance that we will see them. And that, is something GameCube never had.

[daps83777]

its kinda funny, its like EA bashing the Wii, and now all this positve feedback and the responce at E3 and EA and everyone else is scrambling to make games for the Wii. last week i even heard a rumor that said blizzard will revive starcraft ghost as a Wii exclusive, i can't remember where i read it though. EA announcing 6 games for Wii last week. thats what happens when you underestimate the once king of console makers nintendo. hopefully we won't get a bunch of rushed third party games but solid ones. though i expect all the EA games to suck lol.

[darkpaladin]

On the one hand, Nintendo has an advantage here with their first party lineup: Where the Xbox, PS2 and PSP launch titles were rather weak, they were able to make it up with later 3rd party titles (or, at least in the Xbox, with Halo and Halo 2).

With the Wii, Nintendo will probably do fine with the "differentness" at first, and the first party titles of Zelda and Wario Ware will carry them for a few months - just long enough for the 3rd party devs to get their act together. If the Wii initial launch sales are as high as predicted, the 3rd party devs will come as fast as possible.

[peppers]

from what ive seen of the lineup for all 3 systems they all seem weak

[dreary79]

I counted only 26 3rd party game for Wii in 2006. Wow that number sure does hurt. 3 month and only 26 games.

14 Nintendo games for 2006. That ='s 40 games for 2006. Thats not good for Nintendo. With that few of game this year the Wii could have less games than any other system at launch.

I do think that Developers were surprised that the Wii was so huge at E3. Now they want to make games for Wii, but they are getting a late start.

EDIT: I counted them from IGN, take a look yourself if you don't believe me.

[Havok154]

I counted only 26 3rd party game for Wii in 2006. Wow that number sure does hurt. 3 month and only 26 games.

14 Nintendo games for 2006. That ='s 40 games for 2006. Thats not good for Nintendo. With that few of game this year the Wii could have less games than any other system at launch.

I do think that Developers were surprised that the Wii was so huge at E3. Now they want to make games for Wii, but they are getting a late start.

40 games in a 2-3 month span is damn good if you ask me. Especially since that's what GC saw in the last 2 years.

[put4558350]

Well I already know that Wii have 95+ title now

At less

This holiday we got : Red Steel , Monkey Ball , Dragon Ball , Sonic , Rayman

Also : Zelda , Disaster , Wario Ware , Project H.A.M.M.E.R. , 5 Wii sport (I think ... in mini dvd for low price)

Also if 20+ Titles form lunch date isn't enough. well thay also have visual console.
.................................................. ....

Nintendo already know that first party games too good. so thay got less 3rd party support.

then nintendo desing to make timeing for first party games much of it at lunch date and some game for backup when no 3rd party games.
(Well DS using same tactics. Nintendo lunch smb that time thare isn't new&hot title on ds. when rockman and FF3 coming thay keep zedla and pokemon.)

And Remember this Wii don't have that king of graphic so it will really quick to make wii games.
.................................................. ....

this is 95 Wii game form neogaf (it's kind of old)

Activision
-Tony Hawk Downhill Jam
-Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
-Call of Duty 3
-Spiderman

AGFRAG
-Bob Ross: The Joy of Painting

AQ Interactive
-Untitled Boxing Action Game
-Untitled Comic License Game

Atari
-Dragon Ball Z Budokai: Tenkaichi 2

Atlus
-Trauma Center: Second Opinion

Banpresto
-Family Action Game

Buena Vista Games
-Disney Chicken Little: Ace in Action
-Disney Meet the Robinsons

Capcom
-Resident Evil

Cellien Studios
-Untitled Game

D3Publisher
-SIMPLE series
-Untitled Acton Game

Eidos
-Untitled Game

Electronic Arts
-Madden NFL 07
-Medal of Honor Airborne
-NCAA Football 07
-NBA Live
-Tiger Woods PGA Tour
-FIFA Soccer
-NASCAR 07

Epoch
-Untitled Game

From Software
-Untitled Action Game

Genki
-Untitled Game

Hudson Soft
-Bombermanland
-Flight Game

Jaleco
-Untitled Game

Koei
-Sengoku Action

Konami Digital Entertainment
-Elebits
-Untitled Soccer Game
-Untitled Kojima Productions Game

Majesco
-Bust-A-Move Revolution

Marvelous Interactive
-Bokujo Monogatari ("Ranch Story")
-Heroes (Grasshopper Manufacture)
-Kawa no Nushitsuri
-Untitled Original Simulation Game

Mastiff
-Mr. D. Goes to Town

Midway Games
-The Ant Bully
-Happy Feet
-Blitz: The League

Milestone
-Untitled Vertical Scrolling Shooter
-Untitled Action Game

MTO
-Character Action Game
-SAN-X All-Star Revolution

Namco Bandai Games
-Final Furlong
-Mobile Suit Gundam
-SD Gundam G Breaker
-Digimon
-One Piece Unlimited Adventure
-Untitled Action Game
-Untitled RPG
-Tamagotchi
-Untitled Game

Natsume
-Harvest Moon

Nintendo
-Super Mario Galaxy
-Animal Crossing Wii
-Super Smash Bros. Brawl
-Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Retro Studios)
-Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
-Disaster: Day of Crisis (Monolith Software)
-Fire Emblem (Intelligent Systems)
-Project H.A.M.M.E.R. (NST)
-Wario Ware: Smooth Moves
-Mario Kart Wii
-Wii Sports
-Wii Music
-ExciteTruck
-Donkey Kong
-Untitled Camelot RPG (Camelot Software Planning)

Sega
-Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz
-Sonic Wild Fire
-Untitled Game

SNK
-Metal Slug Anthology

Spike
-Necro-Nesia
-Jawa

Square Enix
-Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
-Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors
-Motto! Mawasundaa!! (Taito)
-Densha de GO! (Taito)
-Cooking Mama: Cooking with International Friends (Taito)

Tecmo
-Super Swing Golf PANGYA

The Game Factory
-Untitled Game

THQ
-Avatar: the Last Airbender
-SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab
-Disney/Pixar Cars

Tomy
-Untitled Action Game
-Battle Action

Ubisoft
-Open Season
-Rayman: Raving Rabbids
-Red Steel

Vivendi Universal Games
-Untitled Game

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
-Untitled Game

[dreary79]

But none of the good games are on the list... like GT, MGS, Tekken, Halo, a real FF game. Who wants a system without those?

[Phil2000]

Everyone taste in game is different. For example, GT and MGS in my opinion is crappy. Let wait and play those games first before you judge them.

[Havok154]

But none of the good games are on the list... like GT, MGS, Tekken, Halo, a real FF game. Who wants a system without those?

Sign me up, I have a 360 already and honestly I could care less about those games, they're over-hyped and over-rated.

[LaNcom]

But none of the good games are on the list... like GT, MGS, Tekken, Halo, a real FF game. Who wants a system without those?
Yeah, and neither the PS3 nor the Xbox360 have any of the really good games... Like Mario Galaxy, Metroid, Smash Bros or Zelda. Who wants a system without those?

Got my point...? ;)

BTW, all the games I mentioned were million-sellers last gen, even though Nintendo had such a small installed base. Smash Bros for example sold better than MGS or Tekken. So I think you really overestimate those great Sony and Microsoft franchises. Not to mention that Tekken, MGS and FF don't belong to Sony and could (and might) appear on any system.

[dreary79]

I like to play devils advocate against the Wii sometimes... =)

[Azariel Z]

Another GT? where MGS is going now? saving G. Bushybushy's mama ? :D Alos I can't believe people consider Tekken actually a fighting game ..I would go for anotehr SF revamp..oh no, I almost forgot anotehr crap..Virtua Fighter Revamp!! :eek: But Rumble Roses is good :) .
Taste in games are different , anyway. And I think those Third party "unbelievers" should work more, slash those btichs..work work work !!:D

[MadonnaProject]

They also took me by shock at how godawful theyre going to be.

seriously....has anyone EVER expected a NINTENDO console to have a lot of games? SERIOUSLY....n64 never had a lot of games, the gamecube didnt either. what makes you think the wii is going to have any more than usual.

besides this is the same with every console. before it comes out it is reluctantly trusted by a few companies, then it is HYPED TO THE CLOUDS, and everyone starts to believe its going to be a little piece of heaven.

then it comes out and into the first year the novelty wears off in a really big way and what youre left with is just nintendo and its first party titles and one or two games at the MAX worth owning.

the worst part with this one is that before they had multiplatform third party games to help them. with the wii thats not going to be possible, and considering nintendos in-house development circle its going to be years before they come out with a next zelda or mario. PLUS can u imagine being able to look at ps2 type graphics for the next few years? in 2008?

NO WAY!

[msaraiva]

They also took me by shock at how godawful theyre going to be.

seriously....has anyone EVER expected a NINTENDO console to have a lot of games? SERIOUSLY....n64 never had a lot of games, the gamecube didnt either. what makes you think the wii is going to have any more than usual.

besides this is the same with every console. before it comes out it is reluctantly trusted by a few companies, then it is HYPED TO THE CLOUDS, and everyone starts to believe its going to be a little piece of heaven.

then it comes out and into the first year the novelty wears off in a really big way and what youre left with is just nintendo and its first party titles and one or two games at the MAX worth owning.

the worst part with this one is that before they had multiplatform third party games to help them. with the wii thats not going to be possible, and considering nintendos in-house development circle its going to be years before they come out with a next zelda or mario. PLUS can u imagine being able to look at ps2 type graphics for the next few years? in 2008?

NO WAY!

PS2 gfx? are you crazy or something? Gamecube is more powerful than the ps2...wii will be 2 to 3 times more powerful than the cube, so how do you expect it to output ps2 type gfx? just because it'll be 480p?? oh, c'mon...

Does Quake3 at 480p (720x480) look the same as Doom3 at 480p??

[thomkai]

seriously....has anyone EVER expected a NINTENDO console to have a lot of games? SERIOUSLY....n64 never had a lot of games, the gamecube didnt either. what makes you think the wii is going to have any more than usual.

besides this is the same with every console. before it comes out it is reluctantly trusted by a few companies, then it is HYPED TO THE CLOUDS, and everyone starts to believe its going to be a little piece of heaven.
From what I understand, the gamecube was sort of doomed to begin with. Developers were not on board right from the start. I hear with Wii, it's a different story; developers are actually deloping.

then it comes out and into the first year the novelty wears off in a really big way and what youre left with is just nintendo and its first party titles and one or two games at the MAX worth owning.
While I do agree the GCN had very few games I thought were worth my money, one or two isn't, to me, an accurate count. Maybe twenty. Not much, I know, but I feel about the same with PS2. It happens to have a LOT more games, but most are fighting, racing, or sports, and I don't like those genres much. They have the RPG market hands down, but it's not as though every game on the system is gold. And Xbox, to me, was very much worse; they literally had about 5 exclusive games I thought were worth owning.
And the controller as a novelty? I thought that the DS was gimmicky, and Nintendo proved me VERY wrong. I think Wii will do the same thing.

the worst part with this one is that before they had multiplatform third party games to help them. with the wii thats not going to be possible, and considering nintendos in-house development circle its going to be years before they come out with a next zelda or mario.
Can't agrue with that. That controller will make it difficult to bring over ports from other systems. But, at the same time, you could say the same of the PS3: How many games will have more detail or changes to them if they are simultanously on the 360? I don't think developers will spend that much more time making the ports different between the two systems, thus making the PS3's capabilities not much different than the 360. Of course, with Wii, it's an entirely different scenario, so... who knows.
PLUS can u imagine being able to look at ps2 type graphics for the next few years? in 2008?

NO WAY! Poster above me hit the nail on the head (while I was writing :P) I find the current gen graphics definitly capable of bringing me exciting, interactive and fun games. I still love Super Nintendo games. Pixel art sidescrollers are a lot better than the crappy 3d shoot-em-ups we have nowadays (IMHO, of course). Graphics are not everything, despite what game makers have led us to believe.

[Retroboy]

PS2 gfx? are you crazy or something? Gamecube is more powerful than the ps2...wii will be 2 to 3 times more powerful than the cube, so how do you expect it to output ps2 type gfx? just because it'll be 480p?? oh, c'mon...

Yes GC is more powerfull than the PS2 but please name a game that has proven it???????????????

[Azariel Z]

N64 emulators :D

[Havok154]

Yes GC is more powerfull than the PS2 but please name a game that has proven it???????????????

RE4, Metroid Prime, any game that isn't full of annoying jagged edges and blurry textures.

[Retroboy]

RE4, Metroid Prime, any game that isn't full of annoying jagged edges and blurry textures.

LOL

i knew RE4 would get mentioned

Hello

PS2 RE4 plays exactly the same ohh and look 10/10 rating, why?????because it had more content than the GC, it had more extra levels, weapons so on.

this proves my point exactly thos people say the GC is powerfuller, where are the games to prove it.

The problem is nintendo nor any other company have made a game that actually pushed the GC's Power, where as the PS2 is.

and as for the gagged edges/blurry textures, mate you must have a crap TV.

So i think nintendo should take advantage of the GC (which can easily be pushed further) before talking about pushing Wii games further.

[Azariel Z]

GC have indeed a better antialiasing on Depth, than PS2, and Xbox has too. Is not about TV .... And Ps2 RE4 have features included, because cam AFTER... obviously, you just put more cheese on the sandwich to sell more.
But on anotehr example, not so much successfull:
Tales of Symphonia was ported from GC to PS2, and Namco was on the need to included some new game features to compensate the graphic quality loss, and increased Loading times (oh my ). ToS was originally exclussive title for GC, and one fo the Best ToS RPG by namco Tales Studio.
Tales of Legendia, ( a title after ) on the other side, is exclussive to Ps2 and feature "good enough graphics", but poor compared to the ToS on GC, also they gave up on the gorgeous battle system on TOS, to something more compact and simple on PS2.
Any doubts, here http://ps2.ign.com/articles/553/553745p1.html

[Retroboy]

kinda even but say MGS TS for GC was ok, but even MGS 2 SoL looked better than that.

Re4 everyone goes wow best GC game ever, but thinking of it the PS2 has it, runs the same, looks the same but has more features than PS2.

so if PS2 can handle this why cant GC goe further.

Kinda like Xbox have done, we all know halo 2 is impossible to run exactly the same on the PS2 this is because Bungie have used the power of the console like like Capcom have with RE4 for PS2.

so i cant think of another GC game that looks miles better than PS2, theyre mainly ports

[Havok154]

kinda even but say MGS TS for GC was ok, but even MGS 2 SoL looked better than that.

Re4 everyone goes wow best GC game ever, but thinking of it the PS2 has it, runs the same, looks the same but has more features than PS2.

so if PS2 can handle this why cant GC goe further.

Kinda like Xbox have done, we all know halo 2 is impossible to run exactly the same on the PS2 this is because Bungie have used the power of the console like like Capcom have with RE4 for PS2.

so i cant think of another GC game that looks miles better than PS2, theyre mainly ports

Well like I said in the other thread, RE4 did look very good on PS2 but it was running with 1/2 the player polygons and lower res textures.

[Azariel Z]

Anyway, if people can play the game on their console, where is the problem? Everyone is happy, sun stills rises up in the morning, no worries...

[daps83777]

its common knowledge they had to lower the graphics quality of RE4 to port it to the PS2. metroid prime 2 also looked amazing, twilight princess looks better than most 360 games i have seen and it will be on the Wii and gamecube and looks to have the same graphics on both consoles. Metal Gear twin snakes also looked amazing. the rogue squadron games looked really good, so did the prince of persia games which were ports that were on other consoles. i think that the cel shaded games looked amazing as well. i didn't really care for Windwaker but i thought the game was sweet looking from an artisctic point of view. the tales game also had sweet cel shaded graphics. ok i am going to stop talking now. the gamecube wasn't perfect but had its share of good looking fun games.

[Retroboy]

its common knowledge they had to lower the graphics quality of RE4 to port it to the PS2.

they didnt have to decrese the quality of the textures, if you take a proper look the game is exactly identical.

diffrence is distant textures.

if you use your sniper rifle you will see that anything in the distance is blocky, but the game loads it as your getting closer, this isnt lower quality textures, just done because the ps2 cant load it all at once.

where as the GC (i think) doesnt do this.

to prove it if you like i will take 2 pics, PS2 vs GC of the exact same part and you will see no diffrence.

again why i think nintendo shouldnt promise taking the Wii games to the console full power as they havent with the GC.

dont forget too that the Metroid 2 only runs at 60hz which is to give sharper/better image quality than the PS2 50hz.

[dreary79]

dont forget too that the Metroid 2 only runs at 60hz which is to give sharper/better image quality than the PS2 50hz.

Maybe the same thing will be said about 480p and 1080i.

"Its not fare, the Wii looks better because it only has to render 480p resolution games. The 360 and PS3 versions have slow frame rates and less textures because they have to display graphics at 1080i. The Wii graphics look much better, but we should compare the same game at different resolutions."

[Retroboy]

Maybe the same thing will be said about 480p and 1080i.

"Its not fare, the Wii looks better because it only has to render 480p resolution games. The 360 and PS3 versions have slow frame rates and less textures because they have to display graphics at 1080i. The Wii graphics look much better, but we should compare the same game at different resolutions."

i think your joking right:confused:

[Havok154]

they didnt have to decrese the quality of the textures, if you take a proper look the game is exactly identical.

From IGN's head-to-head:

GameCube Advantages
Stronger framerate-- Only during boss battles and areas within the frozen lab.
Higher resolution for environmental textures
Stronger lighting effects

GameCube Disadvantages
No true widescreen--Letterboxed

PlayStation 2 Advantages
True 16:9 Widescreen-- though not much is added to what you see on screen

PlayStation 2 Disadvantages
Less detail in textures-- On environments and characters
Minor Aliasing
Framerate--Minor slowdown during boss battles and tight-spaces
Weaker visual atmosphere--less contrast between light and dark
Less polygons
Subdued or completely missing particle effects

[Retroboy]

From IGN's head-to-head:

yes but comeone thats IGN, the main site who allways post fake news of games, GameSpot never.

Like ive said, and you musnt have played both GC and PS2 versions, if you had you will notice theyre exactly the same.

only difrence being, like i said BACKGROUND TEXTURES, they load as you come closer to them.

still the point if the GC is so powerfull then the PS2 shouldnt be able to handle any of its BEST games.

Look at Halo 2, no chance on earth the PS2 could run that, thats because the xbox is using its power, the GC on the other hand isnt.

Why do you think Nintendo state the sales of the GC was bad, and the profit was bad, because its games didnt interest the audience, well mainly due to the game genra being the same all the time.

[dreary79]

yes but comeone thats IGN, the main site who allways post fake news of games, GameSpot never.

Retroboy, your argument stinks. Since when does IGN post fake reviews? RE on Gamecube was better because the Gamecube was the better system. You can say all that you want that the power of the GC was never used. I'll say that it was used, you that it wasn't. It doesn't really matter.

Everyone knows why Gamecube wasn't more successful. It was because not enough 3rd part developers made games for it. Right now thats not the case for the Wii. It has a ton of 3rd party support. The only question is if it will keep it.

EDIT: I've played RE4 on both systems. IGN's review is right.

[daps83777]

actually alot of games i played on ps2 and on GC, looked better for some reason on GC. i don't know if it was the gpu or what, but stuff looked like it had smoother looking graphics, and the graphics seemed to just be a a little cleaner. which is the way i like graphics. from what i understood is that the gpu in the ps2 actually was bottlenecked and couldn't run at full speed because they put restrictions on it to keep it from running at full power. alot of people say the ps3 is going to have the same thing happen, so the specs will be amazing but it won't run at the full specs potential. at least thats what i've heard.