Post by nocturnal YL on Nov 16, 2016 14:31:32 GMT -5
This may sound a bit dark and gloomy, but I'm only here to talk about observations.
Nintendo software search: Wii U, disc only
This is a list of all 99 packaged Japanese Wii U games, excluding MHF-Z packs and DQX compilations. Of these, 38 are published by Nintendo.
And here's how the publishers did: (I'm counting the Japanese versions, so for example, Ninja Gaiden 3 and Hyrule Warriors count as Koei Tecmo instead of Nintendo)
Silver Star Japan, Pokémon, Microsoft, Level-5, Kadokawa Games, Hamster, Codemasters and D3 Publisher: Congratulations! Thanks for publishing one game on Wii U; just one, but still better than nothing.
Spike Chunsoft: 2 games
Epic Mickey 2 and Terraria. I wonder if the latter was made to "counter" Minecraft.
CAPCOM: 2 games
Resident Evil: Revelations and Monster Hunter Tri G. Both are on 3DS anyway. (I didn't count the free-to-start Monster Hunter Frontier Z; while there are multiple premium packages, they're just in-game transactions taking physical forms.)Capcom is worse than EA confirmed
Electronic Arts: 3 games
Mass Effect 3, FIFA 13, NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED U. That's it. Looks to me that they tested water with the platform, decided it's not worth it, and never returned.
SEGA: 5 games
Yakuza 1 & 2, Sonic Lost World, Puyopuyo Tetris, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Sonic Boom. This sounds really contractual to me: the Sonic games are there because they agreed to make Sonic games for Nintendo, Yakuza is somewhat experimental ("what will Wii U users think of this game?"), and PuyoTeto is an easy to port multiplatform game anyway.
Koei Tecmo Games: 6 games
Former Tecmo has Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge, Koei has Romance of the Three Kingdoms 12 (base version and with Power-up Kit). The rest are Warriors games.
SQUARE ENIX: 6 games
Published on behalf of Activision: Call of Duty Black Ops II, Skylanders, Call of Duty Ghosts. SQUARE ENIX games: Dragon Quest 10 ver. 1, 2 and 3. And they seem to want to continue this DQ streak with the Switch.
Ubisoft: 8 games
ZombiU, Assassin's Creed 3, Sports Connection, Rabbids Land, Sniper Elite, Splinter Cell, Assassin's Creed 4, Watch Dogs. In other words, a mix of shovelware and classics. I'd say Ubisoft doesn't deserve the blame for abandoning Nintendo, as they've done more than what they should have in the first half of the Wii U's lifespan.
Warner Bros.: 9 games
Arkham City, Injustice, Arkham Origins, LEGO Movie, LEGO Marvel Superheroes, LEGO Batman 3, LEGO Jurassic World, LEGO Avengers, LEGO Star Wars 7. They're the only third party publisher that bothered to publish multiple games for Wii U in 2016.
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment: 12 games
Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Tank! Tank! Tank!, Taiko Drum Master, Disney Infinity, OnePiece: Unlimited World R, Kamen Rider: Battride War II, a Fujiko F. Fujio characters-themed party game, another Taiko Drum Master, Gotouchi Tetsudou (a railway-themed sugoroku game), Kamen Rider: Summon Ride, Disney Infinity 3.0, and yet another Taiko Drum Master. That's quite some dedication there.
…So what do all these have to do with the Switch?
Well, the Wii U's third party support status feels a lot like what seems to be coming for the Switch. Western big names pledged support, and the Japanese mainstays were also there. And they truly didn't lie; each of them did contribute something to the Wii U. Ubisoft in particular showed tremendous support (and all despite it being a typical big western software house with questionable management-vs-developer dynamics). And see where the Wii U is now. (Though I think Nintendo should take the majority of the blame; where it lacked third party support overall, it also didn't have enough first party support.)
The Switch's third party support list is a little more impressive, with a bunch of handheld and PC game publishers (which makes me hopeful that it really will be a home-and-handheld hybrid; the last thing you want in today's highly fragmented tech industry is competing with yourself). But I can't shake the feeling that things will end up like the Wii U. I also wonder how long will the PC game developers stay. They should be more concious about low-end clients than those who make PlayStation games, but other factors may dissuade them.
And I hope they've learned their lesson from both the 3DS and the Wii U, and not betting too much on third party support.
Nintendo software search: Wii U, disc only
This is a list of all 99 packaged Japanese Wii U games, excluding MHF-Z packs and DQX compilations. Of these, 38 are published by Nintendo.
And here's how the publishers did: (I'm counting the Japanese versions, so for example, Ninja Gaiden 3 and Hyrule Warriors count as Koei Tecmo instead of Nintendo)
Silver Star Japan, Pokémon, Microsoft, Level-5, Kadokawa Games, Hamster, Codemasters and D3 Publisher: Congratulations! Thanks for publishing one game on Wii U; just one, but still better than nothing.
Spike Chunsoft: 2 games
Epic Mickey 2 and Terraria. I wonder if the latter was made to "counter" Minecraft.
CAPCOM: 2 games
Resident Evil: Revelations and Monster Hunter Tri G. Both are on 3DS anyway. (I didn't count the free-to-start Monster Hunter Frontier Z; while there are multiple premium packages, they're just in-game transactions taking physical forms.)
Electronic Arts: 3 games
Mass Effect 3, FIFA 13, NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED U. That's it. Looks to me that they tested water with the platform, decided it's not worth it, and never returned.
SEGA: 5 games
Yakuza 1 & 2, Sonic Lost World, Puyopuyo Tetris, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Sonic Boom. This sounds really contractual to me: the Sonic games are there because they agreed to make Sonic games for Nintendo, Yakuza is somewhat experimental ("what will Wii U users think of this game?"), and PuyoTeto is an easy to port multiplatform game anyway.
Koei Tecmo Games: 6 games
Former Tecmo has Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge, Koei has Romance of the Three Kingdoms 12 (base version and with Power-up Kit). The rest are Warriors games.
SQUARE ENIX: 6 games
Published on behalf of Activision: Call of Duty Black Ops II, Skylanders, Call of Duty Ghosts. SQUARE ENIX games: Dragon Quest 10 ver. 1, 2 and 3. And they seem to want to continue this DQ streak with the Switch.
Ubisoft: 8 games
ZombiU, Assassin's Creed 3, Sports Connection, Rabbids Land, Sniper Elite, Splinter Cell, Assassin's Creed 4, Watch Dogs. In other words, a mix of shovelware and classics. I'd say Ubisoft doesn't deserve the blame for abandoning Nintendo, as they've done more than what they should have in the first half of the Wii U's lifespan.
Warner Bros.: 9 games
Arkham City, Injustice, Arkham Origins, LEGO Movie, LEGO Marvel Superheroes, LEGO Batman 3, LEGO Jurassic World, LEGO Avengers, LEGO Star Wars 7. They're the only third party publisher that bothered to publish multiple games for Wii U in 2016.
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment: 12 games
Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Tank! Tank! Tank!, Taiko Drum Master, Disney Infinity, OnePiece: Unlimited World R, Kamen Rider: Battride War II, a Fujiko F. Fujio characters-themed party game, another Taiko Drum Master, Gotouchi Tetsudou (a railway-themed sugoroku game), Kamen Rider: Summon Ride, Disney Infinity 3.0, and yet another Taiko Drum Master. That's quite some dedication there.
…So what do all these have to do with the Switch?
Well, the Wii U's third party support status feels a lot like what seems to be coming for the Switch. Western big names pledged support, and the Japanese mainstays were also there. And they truly didn't lie; each of them did contribute something to the Wii U. Ubisoft in particular showed tremendous support (and all despite it being a typical big western software house with questionable management-vs-developer dynamics). And see where the Wii U is now. (Though I think Nintendo should take the majority of the blame; where it lacked third party support overall, it also didn't have enough first party support.)
The Switch's third party support list is a little more impressive, with a bunch of handheld and PC game publishers (which makes me hopeful that it really will be a home-and-handheld hybrid; the last thing you want in today's highly fragmented tech industry is competing with yourself). But I can't shake the feeling that things will end up like the Wii U. I also wonder how long will the PC game developers stay. They should be more concious about low-end clients than those who make PlayStation games, but other factors may dissuade them.
And I hope they've learned their lesson from both the 3DS and the Wii U, and not betting too much on third party support.