Japanese developers moan about a “Wiicession”
In the mood for a moan? Then you ain’t alone. The Nikkei Business Daily has approached a number of Japanese developers to ask for their thoughts on the Wii’s long-term prospects, and they unleashed a veritable torrent of whining and moaning. Like lifting a brick in the garden and finding some wriggly worms, the paper discovered that developers are nursing quite a few grievances over the world’s favourite console.
Some are complaining that “Nintendo has been the only beneficiary of Wii’s success as it was able to predict demand for the console”, whereas others are claiming that “the Wii is only a fad and its popularity will fade”. Still more point to the recent slowdown in Japanese hardware sales as proof of an impending “Wiicession”.
This may or may not be the case in Japan, but around the world there’s still a chronic shortage of Wii consoles, and the limited availability has been a major factor in keeping demand high. Speaking for ourselves, we’ve been inundated with emails by parents who are desperate to get ahold of one for their kids. And believe us parents, if we could help you in your quest, we surely would!
Plus, there’s the matter of the games library. Compared to the 360, the Wii’s games library is miniscule, but what it lacks in quantity it sure makes up for in quality. The next few months sees a veritable rash of system-selling software: Mario Galaxy, Smash Bros., Umbrella Chronicles, Mario & Sonic, the list goes on and on. There’s no way we’re going to get bored of the Wii anytime soon!
The real reason why developers are complaining is because they’re missing the good old days when Sony ruled the roost, and things were much looser and freer in terms of profit margins for third party development. Having to go back to a time when Nintendo dominates the market is a bitter pill to swallow, because Ninty’s reliance on third party support is significantly smaller. It’s a situation they don’t like one bit, no sir they don’t.
Still, not all Japanese developers have cause to complain. The value of shares in Capcom have just hit a five-year high, buoyed no doubt by the announcement about Monster Hunter 3 is being developed exclusively for the Wii. It’s extremely unlikely that they had any tales of woe for the Nikkei Business Daily.
Via IGN
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October 12th, 2007 at 8:17 am
Complete and utter rubbish.
The Wii has successfully tapped into the casual gamer market, as well as the family market. As far as I can see, those are markets that can be pretty endless.
Take me for example. I ain’t no gamer. In fact, I wouldn’t even look at any platform (other than to watch some friends kill the hell out of each other. A real turn off) But then the little white box comes out with games that I think are designed just for me. Trauma center and My Sims being a couple of my fav.
This wiicession talk doesn’t count on that fact that parents are more likely to buy their kids a wii where they can see the games aren’t all about blood and gore, nor the fact that Nintendo have carefully limited stock (come on! Everyone knows about the xmas rush. They should have been stock piling ages ago)
Anyway, all this wiicession talk is a load of scaremongering