Nintendo and 3rd parties.

[AtariJr]

Looks like Nintendo is finally opening up. While I always liked nintendo's consoles, if there is any critisizm on its past consoles (not the wii) is that id have to wait over a month before any game interested me in a purchase.. as there just werent as many games out as the competition. thankfully this has been turning around, and heres a joystiq article to explain a bit further....:

 

The Wii is ushering in a new era for Nintendo, not just technologically, but also in their business relationships with third party developers. Not only is Nintendo poised to smash their "kiddie" image (Resident Evil 4 helped on the Gamecube, but it in no way compares to Manhunt 2 for Wii), but it's looking like third party developers won't have to justify their love for Nintendo anymore. The company is opening up and letting them learn how to use their Wiimote for the most pleasurable experience possible.

 

The NY Times explores Nintendo's sudden outreach using Namco Bandai as an example, saying that the "usually aloof executives" came to the publisher a year ago with an "appeal for their support." Namco Bandai's COO, Shin Unozawa says, "I had not seen that attitude from them before ... Nintendo was suddenly reaching out to independent developers."

 

We've seen some arrogant statements from American Nintendo execs, but the Wii seems to be Nintendo's contrition machine. Despite being more open to publishers, Nintendo refused to comment on their new approach to the NY Times. Although the Wii is selling incredibly well, the games haven't broken out of the gimmicky mold yet. When Metroid and Mario Galaxy hit later this year, we'll get the first real dose of what a game designed for the Wii can offer, instead of the Gamecube techno-ports we've had so far. And by next year, we may begin seeing solid titles from third party developers. Here's to hoping Nintendo learned from their past mistakes and makes the Wii what the Gamecube could have been with support form third party publishers.

[n8littlefield]

Every 3rd party is rushing back to Nintendo right now - it's quite fascinating to watch. EA and Activision have both publically stated they need to support Nintendo more, to the point of apologizing for the crap they have released in the past. Ubisoft admitted to overporting at launch and have promised better stuff. I've never seen such a quick 180 from corporations.

 

EA especially impresses me - to do from the Cube seeing nothing but Maddan and Harry Potter to actual original stuff like MySims and Boogie is a pretty big leap. I'm especially excited for this year's Madden - last years showed so much potential.

[Atari Master]

Ubisoft actually DID apologize for the shitty quality they put out as of late. Surprised the hell out of me.

 

But yeah, I think they're starting to see what's happening here. I expect next year is when the Wii will really kick off.

[Scumdogg]

And the Wii's pedestal gets a few inches higher.

 

If i were a third party developer, i'd be all over the Wii too if i could just tinker with the control scheme and sell my PS2 games all over again. Normally you couldn't get away with that kind of thing, but what you have here is a system far outselling its software library...people are going to be buying anything and everything they can for it, at least until there's a respectable stable of high-end titles out there.

 

Third party support is all well and good, but what Nintendo really needs to do is pick up the pace from a first party standpoint...it always used to be their strong suit, and i'd love to see those days come back.

[AtariJr]

how wasnt N's 1st party games like they were? i mean most of my gc games are 1st party. though i think its turning around on the wii.. most of my games are 3rd party titles. and yea, i was shocked to hell when ubisoft appologized. wii is a smart move. i forget which developer it was, but they said "we cant afford to keep ignoring the wii". its the cheapest to develop for , with the largest profit margin. say what you want about the little box, but it makes money.. last i checked thast all these guys really care about doing. God knows weve all seen nintendo act like asses when rich and kind when trying to get more popularity. im happy to see this spike in interest with devs. if there is one thing that i like about portables over consoles its that the range of games is huge... n's portable library was always larger than their console offerings. id love if this changed as i dont really play portables much.

[moycon]

It'll be curious to see how the 3rd parties make out on this one.

I'm firmly convinced a large portion of folks snapping up Wii's are buying it because they enjoyed the hell out of Wii Sports. I myself know 3 seperate groups that normally wouldn't play video games at all (my folks, my girlfreinds folks and some friends of mine) who loved bowling and baseball and the like. They commented how they would like to get a Wii!! I seriously doubt they'd have the least bit interest in a Call of Duty game though. (Hell they didn't even like Elebits when I tried to show it to them!!)

 

Time will tell. If the 3rd parties appply some effort and make a wad of cash you can bet we'll see some decent 3rd party games going forward.

[Scumdogg]

how wasnt N's 1st party games like they were? i mean most of my gc games are 1st party.

 

 

In the past...what...six years or so now, there has been ONE traditional Mario game released on a home console (the constant stream of sports and party titles notwithstanding). ONE. I mean, come on...that's their flagship character. For better or worse, Sonic has games released far more regularly, and Sega barely even exists anymore. I miss when Nintendo launched systems with a Mario game, and had a sequel up in short order. Now they release with virtually nothing, and drag out the flagships. Then when they finally do release a new Mario (Zelda, or whatever), it's followed by like four years of mysterious hype (like nothing you've ever played before!), until the sequel is finally bumped back to the next console.

That's all i'm saying.

Edited June 9, 2007 by Scumdogg

[Atari Master]

I think it's kind of split now. At least for me. I see both Mario and Link as their flagship characters. Link as a more mature one, and Mario as an "everyone" character.

 

I expect Zelda games will get darker as time goes on.

[Scumdogg]

I think it's kind of split now. At least for me. I see both Mario and Link as their flagship characters. Link as a more mature one, and Mario as an "everyone" character.

 

I expect Zelda games will get darker as time goes on.

 

 

I completely agree with you there, but at the rate they're going, most of us will never live to see where they're taking the franchise. Any word on them even being *started* on the next installment? I mean, it obviously won't end up on the Wii, but some occasional news beyond all their weird cryptic claims would be comforting.

[AtticGamer]

Nintendo looks like it will be the first company to rise in the console market after a downfall.

If I recall, Atari, Sega, NEC, Sinclair, Commodore all were famous but died shortly after a failure or two (except Atari which stood through more failed systems).

[Atari Master]

I think it's kind of split now. At least for me. I see both Mario and Link as their flagship characters. Link as a more mature one, and Mario as an "everyone" character.

 

I expect Zelda games will get darker as time goes on.

 

 

I completely agree with you there, but at the rate they're going, most of us will never live to see where they're taking the franchise. Any word on them even being *started* on the next installment? I mean, it obviously won't end up on the Wii, but some occasional news beyond all their weird cryptic claims would be comforting.

 

Actually, yes. They said they've had it in development for a bit now, and we were told to expect sooner than we think.

 

Probably 2009 or so.

[King_Salamon]

Actually... come to think of traditional Mario games on a home console... there is only 1 game (Mario Sunshine) since 1996. That's 1 Mario game for a decade... kind of explains why the big N was having troubles.

 

Mario Galaxy better be ready to roll out this year... I'm really looking forward to it.

 

This week though... I may end up snagging Scarface for the Wii as I never played another version of it yet and I have a need for a GTA kind of a game (I'll wait a while for Godfather as it seems a little too old school with the 50's and 60's setting).

 

Currently, the majority of my Wii titles are 1st party. (4 versus 3) And compared to what I had on the gamecube... the Wii is already getting some games from 3rd parties that I care about.

 

I wanna see what Activision can do to make their games better than Nintendo's first party titles... Activision did it with the Atari 2600... can't see why they can't get it done with the Wii.

[Atari5200]

all that I care about is that 3rd parties that are developing for all 3 systems, don't skimp out on the 360 version because of them being cheap bastards and just using the Wii game and fixing the controls without any kind of graphical enhancements or anything. If i want a regular XBOX game, i'll buy a regular XBOX game, with the type of games that have been coming out for the 360 lately, i really have an expectation and will not buy any 3rd party game(s) if they are sub par in quality because they made it to the Wii first then ported to the others.

Edited June 11, 2007 by Atari5200

[Pixelboy]

I wanna see what Activision can do to make their games better than Nintendo's first party titles... Activision did it with the Atari 2600... can't see why they can't get it done with the Wii.

The Activision of the Atari 2600 era and the Activision of today are two completely different things...

[Atari5200]

I wanna see what Activision can do to make their games better than Nintendo's first party titles... Activision did it with the Atari 2600... can't see why they can't get it done with the Wii.

The Activision of the Atari 2600 era and the Activision of today are two completely different things...

 

i agree with you 100%, and i blame it on franchises not sequels. Some are good, but for the most part i think they are bad. I guess it's too easy to recycle an old game, update somethings, add a couple words to the original franchise name, and sit back and watch as it sells millions because of a name. As long as they can re-invent some of their franchises and also come up with some original ideas we should see some good games for all platforms, Activision is more than capable. But they are much different than the 2600 era. They made AMAZING games for the 2600 that I think the only other company that rivaled them was IMAGIC.

Edited June 11, 2007 by Atari5200

[jbanes]

i mean most of my gc games are 1st party.

I bet that a good portion of those "First Party" titles are actually 2nd party. Nintendo has been rewarding partnerships in recent years by farming out game development to these companies. Thus the game is a Nintendo property (and probably costs the partner a fortune to make), but it's developed by someone else. That someone else is practically guaranteed a good return on the game when it hits the market. Even if it is a bit of a stinker like Starfox: Assault.

 

A few examples:

 

* Starfox: Assault - NAMCO

* Starfox Adventures - Rare

* Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door - Intelligent Systems

* Mario Party 4 - 7 - Hudson Soft

* Super Smash Bros. Melee - HAL Laboratory

* Mario Golf - Camelot Software Planning

* Metroid Prime - Retro Studios (Prior to acquisition by Nintendo)

* F-Zero GX - Sega

* Super Mario Strikers - Next Level Games

* Donkey Konga Series - NAMCO

 

If you look carefully, you'll notice that only the games that were absolutely core to the Gamecube library were done by Nintendo directly. These were also the games that tried (not all succeeding) to push the gameplay formulas in different directions. This list of games includes Mario Sunshine, Mario Kart, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, Animal Crossing, and Zelda Wind Waker. Miyamoto was directly involved in many of these.

 

IMHO, this has been a good move by Nintendo. Not only does it get the other game developers more involved, but it gives international companies a chance to do their own take on Nintendo properties. Without the occasional American or European influence shaking things up, the Nintendo library would quickly become as bland as the Sega libraries have in the past. Great games, but all with a similar "anime-style" feel. Much in the same way that American-heavy development can result in the blandness of too many First Person Shooters. By blending the various developers, they all feed off one another's styles and can create much more distinct titles.

[Scumdogg]

I wanna see what Activision can do to make their games better than Nintendo's first party titles... Activision did it with the Atari 2600... can't see why they can't get it done with the Wii.

The Activision of the Atari 2600 era and the Activision of today are two completely different things...

 

 

I've noticed that you do see some blinders come up on this site regarding the developers of the old days. The "Atari should totally make an awesome comeback!" or "The Hyperscan will be totally awesome because Mattel made the Intellivision!" crowd. As if there's a stable of sixty-year-old programmers out there just waiting to be unleashed on some next-gen hardware. Activision's been more of a publisher of good games than a developer of good games as of late, haven't they?

[AtariJr]

i mean most of my gc games are 1st party.

I bet that a good portion of those "First Party" titles are actually 2nd party. Nintendo has been rewarding partnerships in recent years by farming out game development to these companies. Thus the game is a Nintendo property (and probably costs the partner a fortune to make), but it's developed by someone else. That someone else is practically guaranteed a good return on the game when it hits the market. Even if it is a bit of a stinker like Starfox: Assault.

 

A few examples:

 

* Starfox: Assault - NAMCO

* Starfox Adventures - Rare

* Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door - Intelligent Systems

* Mario Party 4 - 7 - Hudson Soft

* Super Smash Bros. Melee - HAL Laboratory

* Mario Golf - Camelot Software Planning

* Metroid Prime - Retro Studios (Prior to acquisition by Nintendo)

* F-Zero GX - Sega

* Super Mario Strikers - Next Level Games

* Donkey Konga Series - NAMCO

 

If you look carefully, you'll notice that only the games that were absolutely core to the Gamecube library were done by Nintendo directly. These were also the games that tried (not all succeeding) to push the gameplay formulas in different directions. This list of games includes Mario Sunshine, Mario Kart, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, Animal Crossing, and Zelda Wind Waker. Miyamoto was directly involved in many of these.

 

IMHO, this has been a good move by Nintendo. Not only does it get the other game developers more involved, but it gives international companies a chance to do their own take on Nintendo properties. Without the occasional American or European influence shaking things up, the Nintendo library would quickly become as bland as the Sega libraries have in the past. Great games, but all with a similar "anime-style" feel. Much in the same way that American-heavy development can result in the blandness of too many First Person Shooters. By blending the various developers, they all feed off one another's styles and can create much more distinct titles.

 

you know what i mean . i consider 2nd party 1st party sometimes as its still "done" by the 1st party company.. or at least one of their "divisions"

[jbanes]

you know what i mean . i consider 2nd party 1st party sometimes as its still "done" by the 1st party company.. or at least one of their "divisions"

I'm not trying to be snarky. I'm trying to make a point.

 

Nintendo has handled the issue of third parties in a very different manner than they have in the past. By farming out their first party properties to companies that are effectively third party, Nintendo is both increasing the number of property-based games as well as keeping the third parties happy.

 

If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Everyone complains that "third parties don't stand a chance because Nintendo's games are so good". This is a way of circumventing that problem while giving the third parties a chance to learn what Nintendo expects of them.

[AtariJr]

you know what i mean . i consider 2nd party 1st party sometimes as its still "done" by the 1st party company.. or at least one of their "divisions"

I'm not trying to be snarky. I'm trying to make a point.

 

Nintendo has handled the issue of third parties in a very different manner than they have in the past. By farming out their first party properties to companies that are effectively third party, Nintendo is both increasing the number of property-based games as well as keeping the third parties happy.

 

If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Everyone complains that "third parties don't stand a chance because Nintendo's games are so good". This is a way of circumventing that problem while giving the third parties a chance to learn what Nintendo expects of them.

 

the differnce now is that theyve said that nintendo is more or less "holding hands" with developers now, making sure they understand the ins and outs of the hardware and controller. hopefully with this type of attention to their 3rd parties, they will make many more good games than nintendo themselves.