36 replies to this topic

[Penguin101]

While I admit there is a lack of effort on third parties providing lackluster efforts to the Wii U, there is evidence creeping in that despite its low install base Nintendo Wii U owners simply don't care for third party games at all or supporting the Wii U if they can afford to buy a Wii U or buy third party games.

 

I point the finger at all of us for failing the Wii U just as much as the corporations that either provide ports of games several years old at a full price or just don't provide enough effort separating the Wii U version out from the crowd.

 

My game collection mainly contains third party games such as Tekken Tag 2, Trine 2, ZombiU, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Need for Speed: Most Wanted U, deus Ex: Human Revolution: Directors Cut, Assassin's Creed III, and Batman: Arkham City: Armoured Edition. With only a small fraction such as Wind Waker HD, Nintendoland, and Super Mario 3D World coming from Nintendo itself.

 

I feel sometimes that I'm part of a small breed of Nintendo fans that truly put their money where their mouth is, despite me only being able to afford £40 most months. Seeing the statistics of third part multiplats on other "next generation" (they're current gen now!) consoles such as COD: Ghosts sales on PS4 and XBO compared to Wii U sales especially when back then PS4 and XBO (XBO still does) had far less sales than the Wii U is horrid. Maybe it's the marketing, but I blame the majority of Wii U owners that say "we don't want a generic FPS on our console" these people are the snobs DESTROYING Nintendo's chances at gaining third party multiplat support. 

 

Again the publishers themselves aren't blameless, far from it. They are lazy, and wont even try risking a PS4/XBO game on the Wii U, but I do also accuse the (seeming) majority of Nintendo fans for doing as much damage, if not more.

 

Yes Nintendo themselves could moneyhat publishers into providing ports, but to what advantage if the money is better spent in heightening the quality of their own products if the console ends up a first party only machine? Moneyhatting only provides temporary solutions at best for the majority of cases, and really Nintendo have to concentrate their efforts on gaining non-nintendo fans and the fickle general public with better advertising geared at gaining new Nintendo console fans or making their first party games better rather than temporarily gaining a third party game through essentially bribing other companies.

 

I also accuse a lot of fans who can afford a Wii U but wont invest a measly £180 - £250 (compared to PS4 and XBO) on the console itself, despite plenty of games and a brilliant future lineup!

 

What do you guys think, are the majority of Nintendo fans (who can afford it) to blame equally if not more than third part publishers? Or am I just being a meany? 

Edited by Penguin101, 06 March 2014 - 02:51 AM.

[Auzzie Wingman]

I'm one of those rational people who believe the reason why third parties are having a hard time on the Wii U is because of more than one factor. Nintendo, the Wii U itself, Third Parties, the Consumer, Retailers and Expectations are all part of it.

 

Third parties are definitely not 100% to blame for what has happened with Wii U support. People need to stop saying that.

[Mewbot]

I have a few third party games (NFS, AC3, Rayman), and I know I'm part of the problem. I'm only buying ports that are good, but I should probably buy bad ports as well, just to encourage the third parties a bit. Although, third parties are definitely not trying as hard on the Wii U as they are on other consoles, if they were then they'd be seeing better sales (not saying they'd be equal to other consoles, but at least comparable).

[3Dude]

90% of what you listed I already owned and played months to years before they were released on wii u. Why would I buy them again for 60 bucks?

The rest I either own, or is worthless garbage unworthy of my money and time on wii u.

Im GLAD were destroying the chances of crappy generic 3rd party shooters from showing up on wii u. We already have 4 consoles full of the homogenous crap.

Also, you are a bad person for not having tw101.

[Penguin101]

If you don't want 3rd party stuff they'll gladly save their money and leave the Wii U alone and cater to people who do want their stuff. I myself do want games such as Thief 4 Arkham Knight, Watch_Dogs (on time), Metal Gear Solid 5, The Division and a port of GTA V (I've not purchased that yet and would prefer a PC or Wii U version) to name a few games that we will be missing out on completely or versions delayed due to being de-prioritised. And it's the lack of faith these third party publishers have due to other companies lack of success and success of the PS3 and Xbox 360 had in third party sales, alongside the lack of sales from Nintendo fans who own a Wii U. Most of Wii U owners shave made it very clear that they want a first party only machine sprinkled with a few third party exclusives rather than an all in one inclusive machine that has exclusives and multiplats - which I prefer personally  

Edited by Penguin101, 06 March 2014 - 04:46 AM.

[Hunter]

I agree with you and Auzzie, there are a number of factors which effect third party support on Wii U.

 

But talking specifically about your point, I really struggle to understand why most people wont buy third party games on Wii U. Yes there are some poor efforts like you said but there are also some fine efforts. 

 

A perfect example would be ACIV. It is a great game and a great port from Ubisoft but still no one buys it. More copies were sold on xbox one and has an install base of around half of wii u. And thanks to no one buying it we probably wont get the next assassins creed or the pirate game ubisoft are making.

 

It's especially upsetting for people like myself who only own a Wii U.

[3Dude]

If you don't want 3rd party stuff they'll gladly save their money and leave the Wii U alone and cater to people who do want their stuff. I myself do want games such as Thief 4 Arkham Knight, Watch_Dogs (on time), Metal Gear Solid 5, The Division and a port of GTA V (I've not purchased that yet and would prefer a PC or Wii U version) to name a few games that we will be missing out on completely or versions delayed due to being de-prioritised. And it's the lack of faith these third party publishers have due to other companies lack of success and success of the PS3 and Xbox 360 had in third party sales, alongside the lack of sales from Nintendo fans who own a Wii U. Most of Wii U owners shave made it very clear that they want a first party only machine sprinkled with a few third party exclusives rather than an all in one inclusive machine that has exclusives and multiplats - which I prefer personally

Nintendo gamers have made it clear that they expect a level of quality 3rd party publishers have no intention of attempting to meet, because they can crap on a plate and sell it by the ton on 4 other platforms.

[Tibetan Monk]

To be honest, on the PS3 I bought loads of third party titles. Usually 2 games each month. On the Wii U, I don't at all. For example, I really wanted Assassin's Creed IV (Fan of the series), but ever since I got a Wii U, that game and other third party titles are definitely the last ones on the list. I just find Nintendo exclusives more fun, and more worth my money. The only third party game I got for the Wii U is ZombiU, and that will be the only one for quite a while.

 

ETA: I want this console to prosper, but I also want games worth my money.

Edited by Tibetan Monk, 06 March 2014 - 04:58 AM.

[dark_rabbid]

To be honest, on the PS3 I bought loads of third party titles. Usually 2 games each month. On the Wii U, I don't at all. For example, I really wanted Assassin's Creed IV (Fan of the series), but ever since I got a Wii U, that game and other third party titles are definitely the last ones on the list. I just find Nintendo exclusives more fun, and more worth my money. The only third party game I got for the Wii U is ZombiU, and that will be the only one for quite a while.
 
ETA: I want this console to prosper, but I also want games worth my money.

Though not nearly as good as ac4, 3 just lowered its e shop price to 19.99$

[Penguin101]

I still feel the best outcome is a console that has excellent exclusive (especially first party because they are awesome), but I still want people to have the opportunity to play Call of Duty: Alien Warfare (or whatever the next one is going to be called), or Resident Evil 12, or Final Fantasy 200 etc too. That way you have a console that not only has great first party and third party exclusive titles BUT has a library of third party multiplats that may or may not be of quality. People still have the opportunity to purchase. However we aren't going to have that opportunity because according to the current data, barely anyone who owns a Wii U wants that, and it's a shame because there's about 30 million Nintendo home console IP fans and about 70 million fans of third party multiplatform games 

[Tibetan Monk]

Though not nearly as good as ac4, 3 just lowered its e shop price to 19.99$

 

I already have that game for PS3, and yeah, it wasn't that good. I still like 2 the best.

[Kokirii]

Just recently ordered new copies (another important factor - not buying used) of TW101 and Lego City: Undercover!  Thanks to Amazon Prime they should arrive today.  I've also enjoyed downloadable titles like Toki Tori 2, Mighty Switch Force HD, Trine 2, and Edge.  As for other 3rd party offerings, I'm looking forward to getting Rayman Legends, Deus Ex, and Watch_Dogs.  

 

 

Buying new is not always easy because the lower used prices are so tempting, but I use it as an opportunity to budget more effectively and focus more on one or two games at a time rather than trying to juggle many.  

Edited by kokirii, 06 March 2014 - 07:05 AM.

[Nollog]

Third party Wii U games sold amazingly well.
If they were selling on other consoles, they'd have a much lower attach rate.

[Happy Monk]

The vast majority of my personal Wii U library is 3rd Party - 14 out of 16.

 

I don't tend to get caught up in supposedly bad ports, I just buy and enjoy games. Everyone is so self-righteous when it comes to buying games, then they complain that they aren't getting the ones they want - despite the fact that they aren't buying them. I wonder why I even get involved in online discussions on such a matter, I'm just too neutral and complacent when it comes to games, who made them and what it is like compared to other versions. I'm just happy that I get to play games at all - I consider myself lucky.

[lucario23]

Nintendo is also to blame in many respects as well. They didn't go with the same x86 architecture that the others consoles went with. granted, this makes the Wii U the only console that can truly be called a console instead of a box with PC parts in it, but still, if they  were able to get ports without rewriting a larger portion of the game I'm sure we would be seeing more support.

[Azure-Edge]

I just put down a huge reply to another thread about third parties. I'm not going to bother copying and pasting it. Cliff notes version is that third parties have sabotaged themselves repeatedly on Nintendo systems for no reason other than laziness, and it's gotten to the point that people don't trust third parties on Nintendo systems because of that. 

 

However a majority of the time when third parties actually DO put for the effort, they do pretty well. 

[Rockodoodle]

I've got 31 retail games- and while the Wii U might not be the best edition for all of them (tho in some cases it is- Rayman, Need for Speed, Deus Ex), I can say that I've enjoyed all my third party games.

 

to the OP- I have bought a few games that I normally wouldn't get for this very reason.  I got Deus Ex, not at release but a few weeks after.  Then picked up Splinter Cell in Jan. got it on sale on Amazon.  I can't afford to pay full price for everything but try to every now and then to support the system.

 

 

 

The vast majority of my personal Wii U library is 3rd Party - 14 out of 16.

 

I don't tend to get caught up in supposedly bad ports, I just buy and enjoy games. Everyone is so self-righteous when it comes to buying games, then they complain that they aren't getting the ones they want - despite the fact that they aren't buying them. I wonder why I even get involved in online discussions on such a matter, I'm just too neutral and complacent when it comes to games, who made them and what it is like compared to other versions. I'm just happy that I get to play games at all - I consider myself lucky.

[SailtheSeas]

 

The reason there is no third party support on the Wii U is down to Nintendo and it's fan base.

 

Nintendo for the past two decades hasn't really bothered with third party developers, Nintendo systems have always been made for Nintendo games and developers could either like it or lump it. Sega had the same attitude as Nintendo. Things changed when Sony entered the console market and actually catered to what those developers wanted with the exception of the PS3 where the founding Father of the Playstation developed a weird obsession with a cell processor. So third party developers finally had a platform to put their games on, they finally had a console manufacturer that valued them and built their hardware with them in mind and then Microsoft followed suit, though now have a weird obsession with being a multimedia hub.

 

Nintendo used to say that gamers might not like their systems but eventually would buy their systems to play their software and that was true but with the exception of the Wii, Nintendo home consoles have plummeted since the days of NES. Go and check the figures for yourself, the proof is there.

 

Third party developers really started abandoning Nintendo during the days of the N64, but it didn't matter with the N64 or the Gamecube because these two systems had rock solid, innovative games which sold systems. Hell the Wii didn't need third party support because many bought that system for Wii sports and Wii Fit. 

 

Nintendo have papered over the cracks of a lack of third party support with great games of their own but ever since the transition to HD and rushed release of the Wii U, Nintendo's lack of third party support has become a problem.

 

The problem with the Wii U would not be so bad if there was third party support, but Nintendo don't have that luxury. They isolated themselves from the rest of the industry over the years and add the fact that Nintendo gamers don't tend to buy third party games in great numbers, add the fact that the Wii U isn't anywhere near as powerful as the other consoles of its generation and add the fact that developers probably see the Wii U Gamepad as a useless mandatory accessory and you can see why third party developers aren't prepared to work with Nintendo or release their games on the Wii U.

 

Nintendo needs to change drastically because I think they'll become irrelevant in the home console market if they do not.

Edited by SailtheSeas, 06 March 2014 - 12:50 PM.

[Lightning_Ninja]

Long story short:

Diehard Nintendo faithful consider Nintendo god and and have trained themselves to not like 3rd party multiplats on instinct

3rd party games don't sell as well on Nintendo platforms and devs use that to justify bad ports/not porting at all

Nintendo themselves had bad relations with 3rd parties in the past and aren't throwing money at them like Sony/Miscrosoft are to entice devs to make proper ports

 

Its a vicious cycle and everyone is partially at fault.  Hooray!!  Good team effort, guys!  The only group that seems to be doing anything is Nintendo themselves in that they are codeveloping some games.

 

I believe Penguin's point is that if the average multiplat doesn't get sales, devs will consider the wii u a waste of time and start to drop it completely.  They'll see those well made one's that get decent sales as outliers and dismiss them.  Additionally, they might decide that if their game isn't specifically made for and exclusive to the wii u, then it won't sell.  Make a game exclusive to wii u and get decent sales, or produce for PS4, XB1, and PC and get much better sales.  I think we had a thread around here where a 3rd party dev basically said that was their thought process.

[Auzzie Wingman]

The problem with the Wii U

 

You know, for every time you've posted this and had something different at the end of it, I could have enough dollars to buy myself a Mad Mex burrito.

 

I've been really into the burritos lately.