In a recent interview with Gamekult, Antoine Seux, the Director General of Capcom’s French division, had some candid comments about the sales performance of mainstream titles on the Nintendo Wii: citing disappointing sales of otherwise popular properties such as Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles on Nintendo’s console.
In the interview Seux concluded: “One feels that there is a problem very clear on this style of game on the Wii, where gamers are obviously moved on.”
Seux continued to point out that many gamers who were Nintendo loyalists two years ago have moved on to a newer generation of consoles (e.g. the PS3 or Xbox 360). The original interview was in French, but can be read through Google’s translation program.
Maybe the sales of RE4 on the Wii were not the standard for games of its type on the platform, but rather were an exception. Combine this with the fact that The Darkside Chronicles is an on-rails shooter rather than a standard Resident Evil style game – which has to account for a big chunk of the difference in sales.
The interview infers that gamers who support the Wii are buying obscure games like Cooking Momma, but not mainstream titles such as Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. From this we could surmise that these purchasing patterns will lead to diminished large publisher support on that system. Of course the comments in the interview could also be construed as hinging heavily on the French market.
On the other hand, much of the trend described by Seux can be observed just by walking in the game aisle at any retailer. Next time you are there, take a look at the large amount of titles from small publishers available – much more vast than the system’s well known licensed properties and publishers. I’d say it’s clear that the Wii is faring better with its low budget games than it is with its licensed, full production, titles.
Yet another interpration is that gamers, in general, have already moved on abandoning the Wii as a platform. The Wii’s Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles sales might be the first quantifiable evidence of a pattern that many gamers have detected for some time now. However, I’d guess that rather than the Wii sinking as a platform, it’s more likely that lower budget titles simply sell better on the Wii than big budget licensed titles do.
What do you think? Can the Wii survive in the hardcore market, or should it just focus on the casual family player who may not support the less “cutesy” titles?
Source: Gamekult via Google Translate
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I love Madworld and No More Heroes, but the average hardcore gamer usually owns a 360 or PS3 and skips out on the Wii because it doesn’t offer them enough of what they want. I know I don’t want to slit some one’s throat while balancing on the WiiFit Balance Board… but that’s just me. I hope Nintendo can find a way to make M-Rated games sell, because they need more variety in their systems and less shovel ware.
I got back into video games by purchasing a Wii – and within two months I was bored out my mind.
I wanted games that I could be immersed in through story and presentation – they just don’t exist on the Wii.
Mhm. Aside from Wii Sports and Wii Fit, it be toast.
The “Hardcore” games such as Mario and Zelda you’ve got to blur your vision and try not to think about how much talent is wasted trying to make the thing “look good” on such a low powered system. What would Nintendo’s game development teams have inspired had they had access modern technology during this console generation?
As a Wii owner I would like to see them get some more of the “Hardcore” titles, but I didn’t buy the new Resident Evil I bought the new Mario Bros and loved it. I would like more options but don’t need them like some gamers do. Now that I have finished Mario Bros I think I may read some books and play out side while I wait for new Mario and Zelda to come out.
Wii is fun for family games. Thats about it.
It seems to me that the Wii has a passionate crowd behind it who defend it as a game system. This is completely understandable, but the problem is that many people want to twist the Wii into a gaming machine catered to the likes of the Sony or Xbox crowd.
A lot of households own the Wii, and there are probably a lot of gamers who own a Wii as well as a PS3. But I’d bet (and this is speculation) that most of the me-generation who owned the 8-bit NES have graduated onto systems like the PS3 and Xbox as their game system evolution. I file the Wii in my head as a sophisticated family machine, almost a sophisticated evolution from V-Tech devices (yes, I’m serious).
It’s a great machine, but its purpose and spirit is much different than that of the Station or the Box. I think that Wii owners naturally want to validate what they’ve bought in defense of that system to what has increasingly been referred to as the “hardcore gaming crowd”, which would all be made irrelevant if people could just accept the Wii for what it is. It’s a family oriented, novelty gaming machine with a bit of crossover into classic console gaming.
I have both a wii and a 360, I’m perfectly fine and happy. I’ve got my ground covered.
@Aaron I often wonder the same thing. I think the Wii might’ve been an unstoppable force if it had only tapped into online gaming and provided a platform that was actually capable of next generation graphics. I’m a fierce defender of the Wii and Nintendo in general, but it does sometimes feel like my Wii is just a Nintendo box. It’s a console for which I buy Nintendo’s games and ignore the rest.
@John
A good example is Christmas. Every year our family brings the Wii out to the family gathering, but its essentially the same thing. Wii Sports and Wii Fit. It makes me wonder why there’s isn’t a *decent* Christmas-themed Wii game for the holiday parties.
It’s interesting to think that there’s no issue with a Wii at the family gathering, yet I’d never consider the Xbox or Playstation.
I’d simply like more professionally developed ‘family’ games ala Wii Sports and Wii Fit to be made for the system.
For the last time I’ve just gone shopping for a Wii game and found nothing there worth spending my money on and I was quite happy to buy 2 or 3. The Wii is the last Nintendo console I’ll ever purchase – I’m not 12 years old, I don’t want to play family or sports games. The low quality output in the Wii is shocking. No wonder RE: Darkside sold poorly – we’ve just had one on the rails shooter from RE now another boring clone. If maybe Capcom would have put RE5 on the Wii we wouldn’t be havnig this conversation. Goodbye Nintendo.
Nintendo does not have a problem with M-rated games, but N did turn it’s back on it’s long-time customers with the Wii. N elected not to compete with Sony and Microsoft with the current generation consoles, but chose to pursue an untapped market of new consumers, ‘casual gamers’. These C-Gamers had rarely or never played a gaming console, therefore a new and innovative system was required. The motion controller, Wii-mote, was an instant hit, but it’s use is limited for normal game play. The problem N will face is keeping these new C-Gamers for their next generation console, which is doubtful unless they produce another cheap gimmick. I’m a N fan, or more correctly, I enjoy the Zelda franchise, but I am just a casual gamer. I purchased RE4 for the GameCube in addition to the Zelda titles and was hooked. When the Wii was released I expected a next generation RE game to accompany it. I purchased RE4-Wii, which was just as fun, but I was still waiting for the next RE game for Wii. Umbrella Chronicles was a disapointment. RE4 is a prime example that M-rated games can succeed on Wii, without superior graphics. It’s intriguing game-play that makes you want to play a game, not the graphics. Since N has not encourage developers to produce quality M-rated games for the Wii the developers have no reason to do so. Therefore Nintendo loyalist have turned to the Xbox or PS to get their fill of ‘mature’ gaming. At this point there is no audience in N’s market to buy M-rated games since the ‘best’ games are now on the Xbox and PS. Despite positive reviews for M-rated games like MadWorld, House of the Dead, and Dead Space Extraction the audience just isn’t there on the Wii. It’s upsetting to have a console that I only want to play a hand-full of games on, and I’m trying to avoid investing in a Xbox or PS since I am just a casual gamer, but unless N makes some major strides within the next 2 years to appeal to my taste I will likely jump ship.
Every comment here is pretty much what developers wanted to do. Turn people off from the wii by producing bad games. First of all, im sick and tired of companies shelling out half-hearted efforts and then feel “disappointed” that nobody bought the games. Honestly, Capcom, give us some ACTUAL support and then you can legitimately complain about your sales. Until then, suck it up.
Btw, this came from the french. They were recently established and lack any real credibility.
Sean Malstrom. Look him up.