Wii've got a problem

The Wii lacks quality third-party games. In my opinion (perhaps the best/worst disclaimer ever), this is why.

THE FUTURE!!!...? Back catalogues used to mean a lot less than they do now, but in hard years, the viability of a Sonic Mega Collection, or Grand Theft Auto (coming to XBLA) means a lot of easy, easy money. The Wii is a different system. It’s controller is different, and the games are not in high definition. If you were to create a truly innovative, mind-changing game, would you want to tie it down to programming that, no matter how successful the Wii is, will need costly revisions the next time gameplay shifts?

As for High Definition, if you are looking at your back catalogue, you probably realize you don’t want to spend time doing costly revisions… why do them? Almost every last TV bought in every last profitable market on earth is going to be in high definition. You can’t change the past, but why would you antiquate your catalogue by 2008 standards, let alone 2028?

The other problem is not the kids who will buy anything. We have our notions of how great it was back in the old days, but there was a lot of crap on the market place, released by top tier companies. We owned it, and it should be no surprise that the kids today are buying the same crap we did, just with a different cartoon character on the front.

The other problem is choices. I am aware how tetchy Japan is about releasing most of their products on non-Japanese consoles, but for the most part companies like Konami (with one exception, for now) and Capcom have no problem whoring on the two releasing on the two big systems. In markets like Europe and America (where the profit comes from) there is no incentive in exclusivity. Because of the Wii’s considerably less power, you lock yourself in to one market. I’m sure many a game designer would love to play with it, but who’s gonna pay them?

Finally, as anyone who realizes just how much corn is going for these days since ethanol became a topical solution to high gas prices, necessity is the mother of invention. And here, there is no need to. Unless your name is Atari, this generation is treating game companies very well. Maybe you release nothing but crap (which is selling). Maybe you release the glut of your titles on the Xbox 360. Maybe your company who had an exclusivity contract had a megahit, and now you only have to go public, twiddle your thumbs, and wait for the money to knock, buy you out, and give you enough money to start your own “dream” studio. There is simply no need for any other company other than Nintendo to reinvent their “wheel”. The market is too good. Nintendo needed a change after the Gamecube and N64. But as this decade has gone, no one else really has to. Sony may be in a pinch soon, and Squenix’ profitability is going to be measured in the low single digits until they can produce viable and timely games that can attract new customers.

Sad? Certainly, but the nice thing about the Wii means Nintendo gets to fight to live another generation, and it means they have a license to print money. But so long as everyone else is printing money, they won’t be breaking down their door.