DeaconKnowledge
Member
Segata Sanshiro said:
To be fair this was largely in contrast to the "The Wii is doomed!" sentiment that was spiralling out of control on GAF at the time. Not to excuse it, just for perspective.
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Media Create Sales 12/31 - 1/6 2008
- Thread starter Cheesemeister
- Start date
To be fair this was largely in contrast to the "The Wii is doomed!" sentiment that was spiralling out of control on GAF at the time. Not to excuse it, just for perspective.
Segata Sanshiro
Member
Yeah, but he wasn't the only one optimistic on Wii (though he acted as though he was), and he didn't seem all that interested in conversation. He just wanted people to gather 'round and hear his dulcet tones as he spake of what he just read in Marketing class.DeaconKnowledge said:
Vinnk said:
I've always felt that people have unrealistic expectations from the Wii. A lot of the "core" gamers want pretty games or traditional games, and it just doesn't really do that or do it well. It doesn't do HD games, either. I doubt it'll be many big budget games, and it's not the version most people would choose in the case of multi-platform ports. The fact that it has survived this long and is headed towards being the market leader is something, but like the Gamecube, I doubt it can sustain it over the long haul. As a Wii owner with many games, I've recently come to this conclusion and have been moving towards other systems. I doubt I'm the only one in this boat. It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out in the next couple of years, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the gaming landscape changed by the end of the generation.
ethelred said:
DS had a very similar problem when it came to third party stuff. Basically it was FF III announced right before launch and then very little else...until the system exploded. That's why it's having such a big third party rush since mid '07 that will last until god knows when.
Wii still needs to have that one big third party game in Japan to really open eyes. Will it ever get it? Time will tell. I will tell you this though, the Wii already has more western support than the DS ever had, with actual effort being put into some, but nowhere near all games.
Stumpokapow said:
I don't think where they went is as important to the Wii's current situation as they went. The presumption is that a significant part of the early core gamers who own a console also owned the previous iteration. Since GameCube lost most of its previous generation of core gamers, the Wii had less of a pool to draw from. This is not an excuse for third-party/core game sales, as they're bad. It's an attempt to understand why they're bad, and in so doing, possibly see a path to improve them.
Stumpokapow said:
My focus was to look at the Wii situation and see how the GameCube's problems could have had something to do with it. Hopefully you see by my above statement that I wasn't saying they disappeared into thin air.
Stumpokapow said:
I don't think I've said otherwise. :/ I've even extended it to core games, including first-party ones.
Stumpokapow said:
That is false. We don't see them as much outside of the current data sets because the current data sets are so much more complete than what we have for previous years. However, they definitely were there.
Random Example:
20030119 PS2 Evolution Snowboarding 2789 / NEW
Stumpokapow said:
We can talk about the PS2 all you want. I'd probably enjoy talking about the PS2, seeing as we have the data for it. However using the PS2 as a measuring stick for third-party sales to any current system automatically makes every current system a distinct failure.
Stumpokapow said:
Does it matter what I expected any of those games to do?
The only one I cared about off the top of my head is We Love Golf. I would've thought something approaching Mario Golf levels would've been good for that (GCN - 63K (176K)).
JoshuaJSlone said:
Could be. It's telling that Nintendo put out a whole new series of ads weeks after launch just to describe to people what kind of game it was, though. I doubt they would've had to do that with Kirby's Squeak Squad.
_Alkaline_
Member
Lobster said:
Interestingly, the Wii Mario Strikers performed much better in Europe and America than Gamecube Strikers did.
charlequin
Banned
donny2112 said:
Throwing things out is what got both the DS and the Wii to where they are now instead of dead in the cold, cold ground. If they choose to aggressively avoid spending any money to woo third-party developers, it will bite them in the ass down the road -- if only in the form of stunting the Wii's growth at some level of profitability less than what a system with actual third-party games could achieve.
Vinnk said:
This is also why the "devs will have no choice but to develop for Wii" concept is flawed. There are at least two other viable routes for software development -- the 70/30 Square-Enix style DS/PSP split and the Capcom-style "develop cross-platform X360/PS3 titles and recoup in the West" strategy. Without something to sweeten the pot, Japanese developers really could choose to just never actually switch over to Wii as their primary target system, no matter how much time it spends as the best-selling system.
Pureauthor
Member
Man God said:
In terms of support, perhaps I might agree. But then the DS is the successor to the GBA, whatever gibberish Nintendo might have spouted about third pillars, and so it automatically inherited the GBA support and base.
Furthermore - of course the Wii has more Western support. It's a console. The West don't support handhelds. They never have.
charlequin said:
$250K in marketing for a game that Capcom itself didn't even know how to market? That doesn't seem like money well-spent to me.
Sony didn't aid the marketing for every Tom, Dick, and Harry third-party game that came along, so I don't see why Nintendo should (as I inferred from Stumpokapow). My understanding is that Sony helped on the games that would have big impacts on its own bottom line. Final Fantasy VII, EA games, etc. I see no problem for Nintendo to help games that are already helping themselves. That's a far different situation than being a "loss leader" to help recoup development costs for third-party companies.
Pureauthor
Member
donny2112 said:
Well, if someone doesn't pull up the slack, we're either going to see more Z&W style bombs, or we're not going to see more Z&W style bombs simply because those games won't be made.
Neither seems too appealing.
I think the Minna No Nintendo Channel is a good start for Nintendo helping third parties get at least a bit of notice. The in store kiosks only show a few trailers and they are almost always for first party games. With the MNN channel smaller games can have their footage seen and get their details announced. Still, if I remember correctly, there is a smaller percentatge of online Wii systems in Japan. But, it's a start. Now if only they would offer demos like the other guys...
Pureauthor
Member
I don't place the blame for Z&W bombing solely at Nintendo's feet.
First, let's establish where I'm coming from - Z&W is a niche franchise, that is very true. However, a niche game is a niche game precisely because there is a niche to sell these games to in the first place.
Was Z&W ever expected to light up the charts? No, I don't think so. But was Z&W expected to crash like it did? No, I don't think so either. There is a base for people who like adventure games - look at the DS and Hotel Dusk, Phoenix Wright, etc (and for clarity's sake, I'm talking WW here, since Z&W bombed all over the globe). Capcom failed to appeal to that base, either through marketing or demographic issues.
If it's a demographic issue, then marketing can't save the game - the adventure game player might find Z&W intriguing but not worth picking up a Wii for. In which case I suppose the 'fault' lies with Nintendo appealing to the 'wrong' demographic.
If, however, it's a marketing issue, then both sides dropped the ball. The game can be marketed, and I make this claim based on precedent of relatively similar games. The problem is that it wasn't marketed well enough. In fact, regardless of the demographic issue, all reports led me to think that the marketing for Z&W was flat-out not there.
First, let's establish where I'm coming from - Z&W is a niche franchise, that is very true. However, a niche game is a niche game precisely because there is a niche to sell these games to in the first place.
Was Z&W ever expected to light up the charts? No, I don't think so. But was Z&W expected to crash like it did? No, I don't think so either. There is a base for people who like adventure games - look at the DS and Hotel Dusk, Phoenix Wright, etc (and for clarity's sake, I'm talking WW here, since Z&W bombed all over the globe). Capcom failed to appeal to that base, either through marketing or demographic issues.
If it's a demographic issue, then marketing can't save the game - the adventure game player might find Z&W intriguing but not worth picking up a Wii for. In which case I suppose the 'fault' lies with Nintendo appealing to the 'wrong' demographic.
If, however, it's a marketing issue, then both sides dropped the ball. The game can be marketed, and I make this claim based on precedent of relatively similar games. The problem is that it wasn't marketed well enough. In fact, regardless of the demographic issue, all reports led me to think that the marketing for Z&W was flat-out not there.
Deku said:
That's really not true. Perhaps it wouldn't have been too lauded on the PS2, either (though I think it still would have been), but it definitely would've gotten quite a few looks even on the DS. Look at all the attention paid to Professor Layton, another game combining puzzle solving and adventure game elements. Treasure Island Z was a high quality game from a talented team within an acclaimed publisher, a new franchise with an appealing aesthetic and a lot of humor. The attention was hardly due strictly to its platform.
Mariah Carey
Member
Haven't been to one of these in a while, and I see people are still squabbling over the same old, same old. Wii has plenty of great games and plenty of hits, does it really matter what company they're coming from?
Pureauthor
Member
If you don't care about whether a hit comes from a third or a first party, then obviously this discussion holds no interest for you, and you are free not to participate, or alternatively to try starting your own thread of discussion.
charlequin said:
This is speculative, but it seems like Nintendo couldn't count on 3rd party support as they developed their market strategy for the Wii. Thus, Nintendo innovated away from what 3rd parties would want (stronger graphics, traditional control scheme) and towards a model that they felt they could survive with. It's only AFTER the Wii's success has eclipsed everyone's expectations (including Nintendo's own) that the question of 3rd parties even enters the discussion. But I'm still not convinced that Nintendo really wants to move in that direction.
Also, I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the hardware market adoption curve. I'm not an expert like JJS or Donny, but it seems like a linear cumulative adoption curve (looking at PS2) implies something weird about the video game hardware market. Either the market segments are different (don't follow a standard bell distribution) or the network effect is negligible (more people owning the system makes the system more valuable). Am I missing something?
Shin Johnpv
Member
Pureauthor said:
Neither are appealing but is it Nintendo's job to make sure every game sells? Do we blame Sony for Okami failing? Do we blame Sony for every game on the PSP that failed to sell?
At some point 3rd Parties do have to take the fate of the games they make into their own hands. If Capcom didn't put enough effort forward to market the game to stores, resulting in a small order for the game, who else is to blame for that but Capcom.
There's a lot of lets blame other people for our failures now adays, I'm sorry but I think 3rd parties need to step up and take responsibility when their stuff fails to sell.
ethelred said:
It's a matter of how you frame it I suppose. Hindsight is 20/20 and comparing it to Layton with hindsight of that title's massive success may not be quite genuine either. Prof. Layton was only considered a major title after its success in Japan. That's a very good way of selling and creating awareness in youth markets but it's not an argument. Dragon Quest IX would it be a major game, of course, but even titles like Final Fantasy IVr would have the requisite branding and marketing power Prof. Layton didn't have when it was released.
I'm sure Capcom might have done better if it was on the DS, but that's besides the point. Had Layton bombed, and no one here gave it much of a chance when it was first revealed , we would have moved on as there were bigger titles to track.
To address the more general logical crutch that fairly or unfairly pepper discussions about 3rd party games on Nintendo and Sony platforms being crowded out by strong 1st party sales, Prof. Layton entered a platform dominated by Nintendo, BUT it entered it on its 3rd year which undoubtedly helped its sales. And if we subscribe to this idea that its 'non-game' elements appealed to the non traditional DS users, then it was also attacking a genre absolutely dominated by Nintendo. That impeaches the general thrust of what was being said.
Zack and Wiki was simply a good game with a design that didn't catch on on an immature platform that is largely a one trick pony. I found its design subpar to what Layton had to offer. There's was no catchy look that stands out because its cel-shading style has been so overused in the past generation. The game didn't feel high production and the characters in Z&W weren't all that appealing. That's just my opinion of course, but I can see why, objectively, it simply didn't inspire much sales from the people who should be buying this game.
vanguardian1
poor, homeless and tasteless
IIRC didn't Professor Layton also have some decent marketing?
Deku said:
Respectfully, that is complete historical revisionism. When Professor Layton was announced, it was considered major. It was the first self-published game from a major developer (having experienced popular and critical success developing titles for Sony and, most importantly, Dragon Quest VIII) and one that the company clearly considered key to its future. It was also considered something of a major coup for the DS given that this particular popular developer had been, prior to that point, a Sony-exclusive company (despite their flirtation with MS, they had only developed games on Sony machines).
Feel free to read the announcement thread, if you like. It certainly wasn't considered a minor announcement here on GAF, and it wasn't considered a minor announcement in the Japanese press where Famitsu and other magazines considered it quite a weighty reveal with heavy coverage of the entire event Level-5 put on for the game.
Certainly the game going on to sell so wildly successfully raised its stock even further, but to suggest it was minor before that isn't accurate at all. It was always a major game (and this is no doubt why Nintendo engaged in a strong marketing push on the game's behalf).
Deku said:
I agree; it almost certainly would've done better on the DS. I'd like to see Capcom take a crack at the franchise on that platform.
One problem with withapanese market and indeed all markets is that a quick turnaround of used games makes grassroots marketing hard. To use Z&W as an example, I recommended this game to many of my friends because, well, it's great. But they wanted to take a wait and see approach and waited until one of thier friends had it to try it out. As expected, they loved it. However by that time there were plenty of used copies available, so that is what they bought(if they bought it at all).
Thats one of the reasons why WiiSports stays so high on the charts. You almost never see a used copy. People don't buy it to beat it and return it. They buy it to have when friends come over.
But getting back to the point, if a game dosn't start out really strong it dosn't matter how good the reviews are or how cool it is, there won't be sales. This makes Wii games an even harder sell because many times you can't understand the innovative control scheme until you actually try it for yourself. And by that time the game is available used or the price has collapsed.
I think a demo could have helped this title a lot. Watching the video I was not excited for it. I bought it because of the reviews but had no excitement for it until I actually played. Same is true for a lot of Wii games.
Thats one of the reasons why WiiSports stays so high on the charts. You almost never see a used copy. People don't buy it to beat it and return it. They buy it to have when friends come over.
But getting back to the point, if a game dosn't start out really strong it dosn't matter how good the reviews are or how cool it is, there won't be sales. This makes Wii games an even harder sell because many times you can't understand the innovative control scheme until you actually try it for yourself. And by that time the game is available used or the price has collapsed.
I think a demo could have helped this title a lot. Watching the video I was not excited for it. I bought it because of the reviews but had no excitement for it until I actually played. Same is true for a lot of Wii games.
ethelred said:
I just browsed through the thread and aside from the usual 'looks nice, will buy' (something Z&W didn't have going for it) 'PSP am cry' chest thumping, there's also also quite a strong undercurrent of cynicism about it's one part Brain Training and one part Adventure game motif.
In anycase, I overstated my point. What I want to say is that though the prospect of Level 5 making a self published DS game was huge, no one expected it to be a major anchor to the DS library. A high quality project that we will want to buy, sure. Z&W is viewed in exactly this light. The scale of the comparison though is not very congruent. Layton is one game is a sea of good prospects, Z&W is not in the same situation. And I resent the 'eggs in a basket' attitude some people take with this game and they go crying when the results aren't good. Do these people have anything else to play? (probably no). A lot of good DS game didn't make a huge splash either. Wishroom/Hotel Dusk come to mind so I don't see Z&W's failure, in light of say, UC's relatively good sales, as a theory of anything other any overactive brains trying to find patterns and reasons.
I hope they do too.
Third parties.
*shrug*
The platform is there, the userbase is there, the rest is up to them.
Let's face it, third parties were not going to support Wii out of the gate.
Nintendo had to sell it, and they have done a remarkable job.
What else is needed?
I think third parties are just having difficulties adjusting to the new realities. PS3 was in everyone's major plans when it was a mere idea, now they have to be asking if it makes sense to shift resources.
Some third parties probably liked Nintendo having a respectable, minority userbase as with N64 and GCN. But it's difficult to ignore something as niche when it constitutes the majority of the marketshare of gamers. Combine that with the flawed perception that third party Nintendo games have to be Nintendo-ey (was not the case on NES or SNES) and you have a recipe for indecision and confusion about the new industry landscape.
What DS and especially Wii have done is the equivalent of a videogame Blitzkreig.
It'll probably take time for the dust to settle and for adjustments to be made.
*shrug*
The platform is there, the userbase is there, the rest is up to them.
Let's face it, third parties were not going to support Wii out of the gate.
Nintendo had to sell it, and they have done a remarkable job.
What else is needed?
I think third parties are just having difficulties adjusting to the new realities. PS3 was in everyone's major plans when it was a mere idea, now they have to be asking if it makes sense to shift resources.
Some third parties probably liked Nintendo having a respectable, minority userbase as with N64 and GCN. But it's difficult to ignore something as niche when it constitutes the majority of the marketshare of gamers. Combine that with the flawed perception that third party Nintendo games have to be Nintendo-ey (was not the case on NES or SNES) and you have a recipe for indecision and confusion about the new industry landscape.
What DS and especially Wii have done is the equivalent of a videogame Blitzkreig.
It'll probably take time for the dust to settle and for adjustments to be made.
Deku said:
Perhaps. I'd still say L5 is one of the strongest third parties on the system, irrespective of sales; they've put a major focus on it and an emphasis on delivering high calibre original content befitting its status as the market leading platform -- which is good for gamers and good for the company, allowing it to grow and do new things. Quite a few of the more established and supposedly smarter third parties could learn from Akihiro Hino.
Deku said:
Again, perhaps. I have plenty of other games to play myself, and had plenty of other things to play even in the time period when Treasure Island Z came out. But I find its failure disappointing in that I think it's a quality and very creative game and that it's a new franchise in a genre that appeals to me; more importantly, though, it's a data point in a trend that's even more disappointing. And as was noted before, I think a lot of people are justifying and mitigating each data point in that trend line and they're going to ignore it until it reaches through their monitors and smacks them in their self-blinded faces.
Deku said:
I'm not sure in what sense Hotel Dusk was comparable to Treasure Island Z. When last we saw Treasure Island Z, it was toiling away at 20,000 in sales -- Hotel Dusk easily broke ten times that amount amount, charting at 206,262. It's performed less than, say, Professor Layton... but by pretty much any standard, it's a huge success, especially given the supposedly niche appeal of the genre.
Diffense said:
Man, this has been debated back and forth so many times. Round and round we go. I don't feel like thrashing through the talking points again so suffice to say you're wrong, and if you really want that to be substantiated further, feel free to do the legwork of digging up the earlier arguments made by myself, Stumpy, or Charlie -- or, if you're feeling particularly lazy, just look at the post Donny made on the last freaking page.
Golden Darkness
Member
On a different subject, Brawl was delayed for a week to 1/31/2008 in Japan, so this is its competition for that week
Devil May Cry 4
Sega Rally Revo
A Suzumiya Haruhi PS2 game
Tales of Destiny Directors Cut
Disgaea 3
Software numbers for that week will be very very interesting.
Devil May Cry 4
Sega Rally Revo
A Suzumiya Haruhi PS2 game
Tales of Destiny Directors Cut
Disgaea 3
Software numbers for that week will be very very interesting.
It's hard to guage in hindsight how GAF perceived a game. I think it's fair to say expectations weren't high that it would do very well. People were psyched because it was Level 5 and possibly more RPGs were on the way (or they thought it would be an RPG).ethelred said:
Fair point. BTW, my (no games to play) wasn't aimed at you personally.
You're right. Hotel Dusk also did very well in Europe too. The point was the great games don't always make the splash they should and may not get the attention they deserve. The comparative scale is somewhat less relevant to the point that the world isn't fair and the market is what it is.
In anycase, I want to wrap this up. The fundamental difference I have with the post I initially responded to is that I don't see this title as a bellwether for a particular argument or trend. It's just a poorly positioned release saddled with the fact that some of the content (such as its visual style, title and character designs) did not work in the game's favour.
Mr. Pointy
Member
I feel terribly sorry for DMC4.Golden Darkness said:
Based on some logical conclusions people think the lack of "3rd party support/AAA titles/quality/can't compete with Nintendo" on the Wii will hinder it in some way (i.e., keep it from reaching PS2 levels of dominance). Probably, but maybe, maybe not. But realistically, yeah.
Another line of reasoning that falls in with this is "Nintendo needs to do more to help 3rd parties". And then the argument eventually leads down to Nintendo's bottom line. I'm sure they are doing the math.
After dismissing Nintendo's bottom line and turning to the 3rd parties bottom line the question of "3rd party support/AAA titles/quality/can't compete with Nintendo" comes up again.
Ethelred's auteristic skepticism is sharp enough to prick holes in many arguments and keep people from trampling on his worldview. It's nice having smart people around. :lol
Another line of reasoning that falls in with this is "Nintendo needs to do more to help 3rd parties". And then the argument eventually leads down to Nintendo's bottom line. I'm sure they are doing the math.
After dismissing Nintendo's bottom line and turning to the 3rd parties bottom line the question of "3rd party support/AAA titles/quality/can't compete with Nintendo" comes up again.
Ethelred's auteristic skepticism is sharp enough to prick holes in many arguments and keep people from trampling on his worldview. It's nice having smart people around. :lol
In my opinion, not immediately. The demographic problem is a temporary one. I guess Nintendo is just way too successful with their games for casuals this time, therefore several projects got delayed, especially core gamers games. We can assume the delays aren't made solely because of quality improvements.Vinnk said:
Nintende still needs to gather the core gamers, on the other hand the world wide demand for Wii is horribly high. Therefore core gamers games are going delayed one after another, not only the well-known ones but especially several unannounced ones.
charlequin
Banned
Shin Johnpv said:
In order, no, no, and yes. If your system does not have a demonstrated history of successful third-party games, it's your responsibility as the hardware maker to make the decision to develop for it easier by either partially funding select titles or providing marketing support. Once your platform is well-established you can pull back and focus on the specific titles that are most relevant to your platform, but in the beginning (or if you're trailing your competitor) you need to do more.
Sony seems to have pulled support from this pretty quickly on PSP, which has contributed to its relative dearth of software and its increasingl abysmal software sales.
On the other hand, Nintendo seems to have never provided it in the first place for Wii, despite already having both the "Nintendo reputation" and the oddity of developing for the Wii stacked against them. There doesn't seem to be much reason to risk developing a high-budget game for Wii when Nintendo seem visibly disinterested in supporting your efforts.
Deku said:
I disagree. Identifying that Layton would successfully hit the DS "non-game" market and/or the well-established DS point-and-click market was not a stretch in any way; at very least I don't think anyone with even a modicum of Sales-Age knowledge expected it to do below, say, 150-300k -- numbers that still would have been extremely successful for L5's first publishing outing.
The frustration I repeatedly feel in this thread is that the discussion of this trend gets sidetracked into debate about individual titles, despite the number of different data points we have to work with. There are individual excuses for the failure of SCL, NiGHTS, Z&W, Chocobo, WLG, etc. but taken together they present a pretty clear picture of a negative trend -- third party games underperform even low expectations on Wii.
Kurosaki Ichigo
Member
Why the hell does Sony release new PSP colors in weeks without major software? I still remember the Red one and now...
2/7 Ghiren no Yabou (LE PSP with this game though)
2/21 Musou Orochi
2/28 PSP SLIM GREEN
3/19 Tales of Rebirth
3/27 Monster Hunter Portable 2 G and Code Geass
(Yes MHP2G has been delayed)
EDIT: Wait, there is only 1 release on 2/28. SCE's MyStylist:
http://www.jp.playstation.com/scej/title/mystylist/
No comments.
2/7 Ghiren no Yabou (LE PSP with this game though)
2/21 Musou Orochi
2/28 PSP SLIM GREEN
3/19 Tales of Rebirth
3/27 Monster Hunter Portable 2 G and Code Geass
(Yes MHP2G has been delayed)
EDIT: Wait, there is only 1 release on 2/28. SCE's MyStylist:
http://www.jp.playstation.com/scej/title/mystylist/
No comments.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
I don't imagine MyStylist doing epic numbers. The new color PSP will obviously sell out the 50k-100k that they ship, but I don't see MyStylist doing all that great. It's just not a system seller.
Nintendo did it right. Roll out the casual big guns (Brain Training, English Training, BT2) first. Then allow an ecosystem of second tier casual titles to develop in order to keep casuals buying. If Nintendo and third parties had started the DS off with Housekeeping Diary and 1000 Awesome Political Quiz Questions, it wouldn't have really captured the casual market.
SCE needs a casual killer app. While I'm highly skeptical of Home as an XBL-style online gaming interface (to me it smacks of a lot of bullshit just to do what is currently done quite well with a clean, quick, and minimal interface), I think as a second life competitor it could be great. We know Sony is interested in convergence, and I sincerely hope they expand the Home concept to PSP. It could sell millions.
Even better if they partner with a major telco to expand Wifi access in critical urban areas. We've seen Google tackle municipal Wifi, and we're seeing Apple work to make use of the cellular band. We've also seen NTT work in conjunction with Nintendo. I think Sony could really build a brand if they emphasized the PSP's Wifi ability with Home or something like it an aggressive tech support / municipal wifi program. Of course, the actual cost/benefit analysis here is obviously beyond anyone's purview, but I don't think it's completely outlandish to expect that if Home PSP was a BT-level success or brand-builder that this would be a good investment.
Nintendo did it right. Roll out the casual big guns (Brain Training, English Training, BT2) first. Then allow an ecosystem of second tier casual titles to develop in order to keep casuals buying. If Nintendo and third parties had started the DS off with Housekeeping Diary and 1000 Awesome Political Quiz Questions, it wouldn't have really captured the casual market.
SCE needs a casual killer app. While I'm highly skeptical of Home as an XBL-style online gaming interface (to me it smacks of a lot of bullshit just to do what is currently done quite well with a clean, quick, and minimal interface), I think as a second life competitor it could be great. We know Sony is interested in convergence, and I sincerely hope they expand the Home concept to PSP. It could sell millions.
Even better if they partner with a major telco to expand Wifi access in critical urban areas. We've seen Google tackle municipal Wifi, and we're seeing Apple work to make use of the cellular band. We've also seen NTT work in conjunction with Nintendo. I think Sony could really build a brand if they emphasized the PSP's Wifi ability with Home or something like it an aggressive tech support / municipal wifi program. Of course, the actual cost/benefit analysis here is obviously beyond anyone's purview, but I don't think it's completely outlandish to expect that if Home PSP was a BT-level success or brand-builder that this would be a good investment.
Captain Smoker
Member
Does anyone know how many % of the japanese market Media Create is covering and Famitsu?
I only know that Famitsu gets data from 34.200 stores.
I only know that Famitsu gets data from 34.200 stores.
charlequin
Banned
Diffense said:
Well, having facts (or more to work with than a specific system bias) would probably help. Ethelred, donny, Stumpokapow and I have all laid out the basics of why at the moment it's not actually proving worthwhile for third parties to invest in the Wii; similarly, the ways in which one can largely eschew the Wii for DS/PSP development (a la Square-Enix) or Western-focused X360/PS3 development (a la Capcom) are well established.
There's very little evidence at all at the moment to suggest that developers will learn "hard lessons" for undersupporting the Wii; at best, Nintendo will stunt the Wii's sales potential by insufficiently courting third parties and they'll learn a "hard lesson," while at worst Nintendo will support the Wii well enough that it's profitable for them, and the ones learning a "hard lesson" will be the Wii purchasers who thought "market leader" would actually trasnlate to third-party games.