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Suda 51: Third-party Wii games aren’t selling

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Suda 51: Third-party Wii games aren’t selling

Killer 7 and No More Heroes boss says only Nintendo is profiting from Wii success

Game developer Goichi Suda, the man behind GameCube and PS2 cult classic Killer 7 and upcoming Wii curiosity No More Heroes, has said that Nintendo are the only company making any money out of the Wii.

Upon its release in Japan, No More Heroes generated quite a lot of attention in the specialist press but failed to match this at retail. Speaking to CVG, Suda 51 stated:

"Whilst the sales weren't as high as I hoped, other titles for Wii aren't selling so well either. Only Nintendo titles are doing well. This isn't just because of the current situation in Japan, as this is happening outside Japan.

“I am very surprised about the reality about Wii, because before I was making this game, I wasn't expecting that Wii would be a console targeted only for non-gamers. I expected more games for hardcore gamers. The reality is different to what I expected".

It’s not the first time an industry bigwig has questioned the Wii’s worth to third party publishers, with Sensible Soccer designer Jon Hare raising his concerns earlier this month.

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No More Heroes will be released in the UK on February 29th.

Maybe

posted by Geoff Jan 16, 2008 at 7:27 pm
1
Geoff

Maybe that's because all the third party titles being released on the Wii are rubbish! Ninjabread Man, Action Girl Racer, hmmm maybe that's why they aren't selling?!

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Re: Maybe

posted by Marc Jan 16, 2008 at 8:55 pm
2
Marc

good games will have good sales, ****y games won'**** that simple...

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Re: Maybe

posted by Sharky Jan 16, 2008 at 9:14 pm
3
Sharky

The guy is right, Nintendo are being very selfish.

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Re: Maybe

posted by Mike Jan 16, 2008 at 10:12 pm
4
Mike

Guitar hero 3 would like to have a word with him

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Re: Maybe

posted by Dan Jan 16, 2008 at 10:58 pm
5
Dan

Are you daft? Guitar Hero 3 isn't for the Wii, or did you totally miss what this article is about?

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Re: Maybe

posted by Loup Solitaire Jan 16, 2008 at 11:28 pm
6
Loup Solitaire

If 3rds are not selling well that's just that because their games are bad or because there's not enough marketing behind, or because when there's too much good games gamers choose the ones from their ancestral favorite devs/pubs. But I really don't think they should take it personnaly, just try harder 3rds!

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Re: Maybe

posted by Joe Jan 17, 2008 at 1:04 am
7
Joe

Are you daft? GH3 is for the Wii.

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Re: Maybe

posted by techgamer Jan 17, 2008 at 1:09 am
8

Hey Dan, you can get Guitar hero for the Wii.

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Re: Maybe

posted by Hoai Jan 17, 2008 at 1:26 am
9
Hoai

3rd Party games sucks a lot. I own around 25 games and pretty much all the 3rd party games suck pretty bad. Dear 3rd party, put more time and effort into a game and you will see your product move off shelves. If it doesn't, then you have a right to complain. Until then, please keep your mouth shut.

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Re: Maybe

posted by sixteen Jan 17, 2008 at 3:10 am
10
sixteen

I think that Guitar Hero 3 is a terrible example to show 3rd party games can sell. Guitar Hero 3 is its own monster, and has become a cultural phenomenon. Goichi is entirely right about the Wii's situation, this whole era of non gamer games is screwing us out of real games.

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Re: Maybe

posted by dan in real life Jan 17, 2008 at 3:23 am
11
dan in real life

""Only" Nintendo titles are doing well. "

GH3 and Sonic & mario olympics, RE4, Red Steel, Rayman, all 3rd party, all doing well, and all selling better then any 3rd party PS3 game (and almost all PS3 1st party games too. Don't be so quick without the facts.

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Re: outselling most PS3 games

posted by scy Jan 17, 2008 at 7:38 am
12
scy

Not very hard to outsell PS3 games is it? lol. So thats not really a test for if anything sells or not.
The main problem with Wii is that most consoles are bought for and by non- gamers as a novelty. Thats why it sells so well. The games bought with the machine are either heavily promoted or included in the package. After this, not many other purchases are made as the Wii is not really a machine for playing on your own. Its for parties/get togethers. So a couple of games are enough. Quite a few of my friends have Wii's. They all think they are brilliant, but the main cincensus is this. I use the Wii for social gatherings as fun. Its great.But I would never buy a proper game on it- I buy all the 'proper games' to play on my 360.

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Re: outselling most PS3 games

posted by holdmykidney Jan 17, 2008 at 8:59 am
13
holdmykidney

to be fair, suda's games are a bit leftfield and will suffer at retail on any console. Killer7 wasn't exactly a chartbuster. However I hope it finds an audience.

In general I agree with the comments here about 3rd party games being mostly bad. A majority of 3rd party games have been lazy PS2 ports or generic budget action games. Nintendo are the only ones bothering the realise the potential of the machine on a regular basis.

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Re: outselling most PS3 games

posted by Jan 17, 2008 at 10:14 am
14

This isnt about 3rd party games being rubbish, (even though most of them are) its about them not selling as much as the first party ones. As one of the previous comments pointed out, there are plenty of 3rd party games that are doing well, they're just not doing AS well as the likes of Mario Galaxy which lets not forget, has been one the highest scoring/rated games of all time.

But also, as another comment pointed out, the difference with the Wii is that most of the people who own it arent PROPER gamers and have bought the machine for its novelty aspects or the quick dip in and out experience of Wii sports etc.

These arent the type of people that are going to go out every other two weeks and buy the likes of RE4, NiGHTS, Ghost Squad or Zak & Wiki. However, the proper gamers will but dont make up a big enough percentage of the Wii install base, hence why a majority of the 3rd party games arent doing AS well.

When Nintendo sort out their stock issues and perhaps implement a price drop and more PROPER gamers get their hands on the machine, this trend SHOULD change.

Should......

I'm a PROPER gamer but do not yet own a Wii because I dont want to **** about trying to track one down and dont want to get shafted by a retailer forcing me to buy a bundle just shy of £400.

When I can get a Wii for the asking price with the game of my choice then I'll be one more person out there who will be investing in those 3rd party games.

Such as RE4 and No more heroes etc.

I'm not sure how many people out there feel the same way?!

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Re: outselling most PS3 games

posted by Jan 17, 2008 at 10:26 am
15

Well here is the Wii chart data: http://www.elspa.com/?c=/charts/uk.jsp&ct=39" onclick="window.open ( this.href ); return false;" class="comment_url" >http://www.elspa.c...ct=39

and here:

http://www.top10gamescharts.co.uk/nintendo/wii_revolution/index.php

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Re: outselling most PS3 games

posted by MrJolly Jan 17, 2008 at 11:38 am
16

It's not a suprise really, have 3rd party titles EVER done well on a Ninty machine? People buy ninty machines to buy 1st party software (they like their sequels and franchises as much as any other group they just like their "originality" to wear a 6ft think venear of familiarity) , maybe they'll buy some Japanese software (Street fighter on the Snes, Res evil 4 currently) and maybe EA games for that Fifa, Madden and licensed warmth but after that they just don't go for it. It doesn't help that most of it is seriously poor, made because the machines sold well and cheap to write for.

It's got an attachment rate o***ames, one of which is bundled. There are 4-5 must haves on the console from Ninty and this leaves VERY little left for even a decent 3rd party let alone some the rubbish that's out on it.

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Re: Maybe

posted by dan in real life Jan 17, 2008 at 12:03 pm
17
dan in real life

""Only" Nintendo titles are doing well. "

GH3 and Sonic & mario olympics, RE4, Red Steel, Rayman, all 3rd party, all doing well, and all selling better then any 3rd party PS3 game (and almost all PS3 1st party games too. Don't be so quick without the facts.

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Re: Maybe

posted by Dom Jan 17, 2008 at 1:22 pm
18
Dom

I must admit from what I see in the shop I work in 3rd party titles do sell badly on the ii next to their 1st party counterparts. This is for one simple reason the 3rd party titles just are not very good. I don't know how well nintendo treat their 3rd party partners these days, however in the past I understand they used to charge very high rolayties and didnt provide much in the way of development support. I don't think there is much incentive for the 3rd parties to spend the bug bucks on developing quality titles.

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Re: Maybe

posted by Leroy Jan 17, 2008 at 11:29 pm
19
Leroy

Who cares really? As long as I get good games such as Mario Galaxy, Brawl etc. from Nintendo I would care less about bad 3rd party games. I like Suda but I dont respect him just because he censored No More Heroes in PAL. I was going to get it but wont do it now.

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Re: Maybe

posted by me Jan 18, 2008 at 2:56 am
20
me

Uhhhh, Guitar Hero 3 is for the Wii..... I own it. Quite fun too. Probably one of the best third party titles available.

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Re: Maybe

posted by choxyno.1 Jan 18, 2008 at 6:17 pm
21
choxyno.1

Watch PDC Darts fly off the shelf for Wii this quarter - I am sure this will put a dent in the whole thread of this conversation.

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Re: Maybe

posted by choxyno.1 Jan 18, 2008 at 6:23 pm
22
choxyno.1

Watch PDC Darts fly off the shelf for Wii this quarter - I am sure this will put a dent in the whole thread of this conversation.

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Re: Maybe

posted by Jim Robinson Feb 01, 2008 at 3:58 pm
23
Jim Robinson

Well Suda51... That's what you get if you a trying to kid gamers. Japanese gamers don't like that... And they won't buy your censored No More Heroes. You wanna know why? Some months ago, you promised that No More Heroes would be even more violent than Manhunt 2. Do you remember that statement? And now? Well, your company chose to release a censored version in Japan and Europe. Your decision! Many fans of your work won't buy that title now. Our decision! Next time maybe it would be better to think twice about keeping the promises you made... I hope you will learn from your wrong decision.

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Re: Re: Maybe

posted by Dragonfly62987 Dec 18, 2008 at 8:33 am
24
Dragonfly62987

The reason third party games aren't selling on wii is because third party developers don't put much effort into making quality games for the wii. Most Nintendo gamers are afraid to play third party games because most of them are shovelware. The quality games will sell. If the third party developers made some quality wii games people would buy them. It's as simple as that.

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