Dante Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Anyone who has browsed the Nintendo Wii section of their favorite video game retail outlet lately has to agree with 2K Games global president Christoph Hartmann - the Wii market is flooded with crap. There are a ton of games out for the Nintendo Wii to be sure, but for the uninformed consumer, finding a good one these days is like wading into a septic tank. I myself used to enjoy picking up the odd crap game now and then, but now there are so many it isn't even funny anymore. Hartmann explains where things have gone wrong. "Where people go wrong in the casual market is that, while the development costs are exploding on the casual side, they’re treating the Wii like the old PC market – making cheap, accessible games. They think if they make ten titles and two are hits, they will finance the other eight. “But they forget these eight crappy titles will flood the market and will lead to problems in terms of production – and upset retailers. Also, the consumer will be pissed off because they’ll be confused.” He's pretty much defined "Shovelware" for us here. Cheap little titles thrown out into the market in order to make a quick buck in between more interesting and involving products. The difference here is that while PC shovelware is generally content to rot away on websites, Wii shovelware rots away on store shelves, pissing off retailers and confusing customers. It's almost painful to watch uninformed parents purchasing Wii games at retail stores these days. The mainstream media has made a must-have consumer product out of the Wii, so folks go out and pock up games for it thinking they can do no wrong, only to discover after the 20th collection of mini-games that perhaps they'd better start reading gaming websites and checking ratings before buying. I often find myself helping customers at game stores when they are about to make horrible, horrible mistakes. Hell, the flood of shit hurts too, along with any other gaming site that seeks to keep up with reviews. We just can't. For every big game we reviewed this past holiday season, at least 5 crappy Wii titles hit shelves that we didn't touch. There's just not enough time, which means when consumers look online for a review, they don't find anything. What worries me the most is that this is exactly what happened back in the days of the Atari 2600. Everyone had one, the market was flooded with crap titles, and the console died. Is there any way to stop it? Only Nintendo has that power, and judging from the list of upcoming Wii titles, they aren't planning on exercising it any time soon. kotaku.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tapedeck Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Interesting points. So could we see another videogame crash? Suerly by becoming dissolusioned at the lack of quality, people will naturally accelerate their "tiring" of console gaming and potentially the industry could be damaged from this. Or moreso, Nintendo themselves. Will Sony and MS then become a beacon for "quality"? Perhaps it is only the 1st party Nintendo titles that will sell on Wii in the end. Certainly appears that way at times. I was thinking about comparing this to "cinema" in general but there's always some mentalist who will go and see the latest sub par comedy or teen flick. Maybe the market will stay afloat. Difficult to forecast. I'll get there in the end though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emasher Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 It's almost painful to watch uninformed parents purchasing Wii games at retail stores these days. I agree with this, I've people buying those Wii fit starter kit things looking so excited about it, I'm sure they thought it was Wii Fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashley Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 But following the common train of thought in regards to Wii's casual audiences; They are people who don't tend to own consoles, but have taken an interest because its unique. They may not play it all the time but fairly regularly and they pick up games which tend to be heavily advertised or use the Wii remote in fun ways. Thus these people, the apparent bread and butter of the Wii's audience, don't know what is/isn't "quality" (and using the term in this manner implies some kind of egotistical superiority but hey ho). They see 'quality' titles as ones that they find fun to play. While there are some who may then spark an increased interest in video games and go on to buy a PS3 or 360 (or both) and then may think "hang on, the Wii has a load of crap. I'll stop playing/sell it". However for everyone one of those that do another two will buy a Wii (at this rate anyway). Furthermore the majority of the audience are the type that will play it casually and thus will not be seeking someone-elses's conceieved idea of quality. To use an analogy; these people are like the majority of middle-aged and beyond people who use the internet. Some do have a great interest and get the best packages and use it for all sorts; most will go with a brand they know (BT, their mobile provider, whoever) and just pop on every once in a while to check emails or look at flights (but seldom purchase online). They don't want the most from the internet, nor do this audience want the most from gaming. Personal conjecture of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D_prOdigy Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 I don't care what he thinks. I only care if he plans to do something about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ganepark32 Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 ^ exactly. As I said over at Kotaku, put up or shut up. They can't exactly shout about crap games seeing as all they've given the Wii is crap games in party games and some awful sports game(s). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.dakota Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 perhaps, 2K are about to announce something big for Wii? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ten10 Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 I thought it was the E.T game that killed the 2600 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shino Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 I swear, this is what Kotaku ever says about the Wii. 2K dude should know that the problem is with his side of the industry, not Nintendo. I'll wait for this E3 to say anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirited away Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 I thought it was the E.T game that killed the 2600 That was the final nail in the coffin really; It wasn't inclusively responsible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammy2211 Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 There isn't alot to add really, the Wii is full of crap and the more full of crap it becomes the harder it is to stand out Albeit some may argue it becomes 'easier' to stand out amongst the crap, I feel this would only be true if your audience were more informed and better educated (which assumes they don't enjoy the 'crap' in the first place). While comparisons to the Atari 2600 are laughable, it is no doubt becoming a problem for the Wii, and once these 'crap' games reach minimal retail prices it's going to escalate even further. Ultimately it to me reads as an excuse for 2k to ignore the Wii and justify developement for the PS360. I'd imagine it's not to that extreme though, especially after their success with Carnival Games. He does make a valid point though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkjak Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 I thought it was the E.T game that killed the 2600 Among other things. The market was flooded with crap that people thought would be good because of their names (like ET and Pacman), but turned out to be nearly unplayable. People thought that if they'd enjoy a game in the arcade, they'd enjoy it at home. People felt tricked and confused, so because there was no apparent way to find out what games are good or bad, they grew tired of gaming alltoghether. Like I've said before, what guarantees do Nintendo have that this strategy, which is scaring the core away, will make the casual purchase their next gen format? The Wii can be like Pogs. Huge for a year or two, then the "cool kidz" move on to something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReZourceman Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 The cool kids never moved off of Pogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jav_NE Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 I'm with Ash. I mean, i havn't bought a Wii game for like a year because there's nothing i want. I know its all shovelware (with the odd exception) but thats me. The mass audience doesn't, and they enjoy these crap games because they are fun. Call them uneducated or whatever, it doesn't matter, they are happy with these games and will be for some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkjak Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 The cool kids never moved off of Pogs. First there were hockey cards, then Pogs, then fingerboards, then Playstation, then skateboarding, then Pokémon cards, now the Wii. And how about music. First people LOVED Eurodance, then you had to listen to hip hop, then Death Metal, then R 'n B, now you're an absolute idiot if you listen to anything beyond rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emasher Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Actually. The mass audience isn't happy with just whatever shovel-ware. I know a huge number of casual gamers. Most of them keep buying crap games and then when I ask them about them, they say they are all crap and wastes of money. A lot of them are happy with it the first time or so, but they aren't stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shino Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Wow, darkjak! That's almost facts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReZourceman Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 The cool kids never moved off of Pogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zechs Merquise Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Well, this is exactly what 2K are doing! What a tit, his company are a major offender in this. They are part of the problem yet he sits there telling everyone else about it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Well, this is exactly what 2K are doing! What a tit, his company are a major offender in this. They are part of the problem yet he sits there telling everyone else about it! To be fair to them they've put out some 'proper' games with decent ratings on the system. Also their mini-game compilation is pretty much the best 3rd party effort. I don't think they're even in the same league as most offenders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patch Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 the Wii market is flooded with crap. Hasn't this largely been true for every generation's leading console? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcj metroid Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Hasn't this largely been true for every generation's leading console? yes but every generation bar this one the best selling console seems to be the key development console for publishers.. I mean if this was any sane other generation we'd be getting metal gear 4,prince of persia,resident evil 5 primary developed.. you'd be forgiven for thinking in the future that the 360 and ps3 were the best selling .... we get shit on wii no doubt it's horrible but it wouln't be so bad if we knew we are getting a massive title from someone but alas only nintendo seem to be doing it. ever get the feeling that developers constantly hope the wii will fail? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammy2211 Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 yes but every generation bar this one the best selling console seems to be the key development console for publishers.. I mean if this was any sane other generation we'd be getting metal gear 4,prince of persia,resident evil 5 primary developed.. you'd be forgiven for thinking in the future that the 360 and ps3 were the best selling .... we get shit on wii no doubt it's horrible but it wouln't be so bad if we knew we are getting a massive title from someone but alas only nintendo seem to be doing it. ever get the feeling that developers constantly hope the wii will fail? There is definitely a stigma about the Wii among some major publishers and developers. Alot of developement teams who are more successful on the PS360 sort of look down on the Wii, shuddering at the thought of developing for it. Epic Games were the only ones to come out publically and say it, but then I don't think anyone else has done better off the HD systems this gen then Epic lol. The difference between the PS2 and PS1 gen is publishers are seeing good returns on PS360 developement so it's hard to justify taking support away from the systems, especially when the studio's you allocate to Wii software probably don't want to develope for it. All my experience is based on Western developement though, which will always focus on PS360, just like they've ignored the DS for it's entire lifetime (Aside from stuff like Petz etc). I'm not sure what the attitude is like over in Japan but developement over there is turning more and more like the west. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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