How Destineer dropped 6 Wii games in one week

by Justin McElroy { Jan 3rd 2008 at 1:58PM }

If you browsed the Wii section of your local video game store this week you may have seen a glut of new racing games, a kid's basketball title and whatever Myth Makers: Orbs of Doom is. The shocker isn't that the Wii got a heap of shovelware, it's that this whole lot was coming from one publisher that you've likely never heard of: Destineer. MTV Multiplayer grilled the company's CEO about how a company goes from Nowheresville to releasing six titles in one week.

The answer? Well, basically, the company found them. Boss Paul Rinde told MTV that while in Europe, he ran across group called Data Design Interactive that was looking for an American publisher to work with, and a match in budget heaven was made. So, if you're wondering how many Wii games are waiting in the wings, there's your answer: They are littered across the ground, inviting strolling publishers to pick them at their leisure like ripened blackberries and foist them on to an unsuspecting public.

But is that necessarily a bad thing? And if so, who is it bad for? Rinde makes a fairly convincing case that the market isn't at full saturation, but what do you think?

Tags: Destineer, Litter, Shovelware

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Leobebes @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:04PM

I don't see how anyone could defend this? This just gives the Wii naysayers even more ammunition. NDF where do you stand!?

deaftly @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:05PM

Looks like galaxy has some serious competition

xFenixKnightx @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:06PM

This is really jacked up. >:(

*Shakes head in dissaproval*

joeyg @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:07PM

my friend just burned a bunch of games for me...i can't believe all the crap that is being released on this system. Unless it's a first party game, it's guaranteed to be garbage on the wii

kiwi @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:11PM

I wouldn't go that far, there's plenty of third party games for the Wii that are worth playing.

The problem is that there's a lot of CRAP out there too. The same thing happens to any system that's #1 in sales, look at the DS and the PS2. Lots of amazing games, but even more crappy shovelware.

Burnt Meatloaf @ Jan 4th 2008 7:15AM

Let's hear it for indie developers!

I'd say that 3rd-party software is at market saturation. It must be really, really hard to want to make a good title for the Wii with the NDF bashing 3rd-party devs all the time. Might as well play it safe and release a crap title first just to test the waters.

How are stores supposed to know what to order? I can't even find a copy of Zack and Wiki anywhere because they need all that shelf space for a dozen other titles with a monster truck on the cover.

samfish @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:07PM

Lets try and keep the market from becoming fully saturated for as long as possible, Destineer.

Ibere @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:11PM

Here's a gameplay video of this Myth Maker game:
http://www.gamershell.com/tv/10020.html

It's simply horible.

Fernando Rocker @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:14PM

There are N64 games that looks a lot better (honestly) than this crap.

Very unprofessional company.

xFenixKnightx @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:19PM

Ibere

Looks like a PS1 game...eww.

Blazur @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:55PM

Looks like every other Wii game from a graphics standpoint. What were you expecting from two gamecube's duct taped together?!?

JerJerBinks @ Jan 3rd 2008 3:09PM

@ Fernando

Oh Fernando .... I thought it wasnt about the graphics, but about the awesome waggle gameplay!

LaughingTarget @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:13PM

N64 graphics + 60s sitcom music + non-monkey in a ball = crap

LilCo187 @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:20PM

These games are at my local wal-mart right now bundled in twos by shrink wrap sitting outside of the glass games casing selling for $27.87 or something obscure like that. I was so close to just....but my hand melted a little bit when I picked one up.

Rocketboy @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:55PM

I was one of the lucky ones that received the Ninjabread Man/Billy the Wizard combo pack. It went right back to Walmart, and I used the money to buy Super Swing Golf II. So it wasn't a total waste of a gift... :)

flameofdoom666 @ Jan 3rd 2008 3:24PM

Rocketboy- You said this EXACT comment the other day, AND- you should not return gifts. Gifts are about the thought, not about what it is- that is really childish. As stupid as the game sounds, it makes you a jerk for returning it. Plus you got garbage with the money you got back from it.

Joe @ Jan 4th 2008 10:05AM

Flameofwhateverdevil'sno.,

What's the point in having games just lying around that you're never going to play. Once the gift has been given, the thought (the thing that supposedly "counts") is a part of that. So keep the thought and trade the gift for something you can use. Or you could do what I do and just think about getting people presents and decide against it. It's only the thought that counts anyway.

Martez @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:29PM

Hahahahaha- Monster Trux? REALLY? Oh, man...

Dash @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:34PM

To make matters worse, some of the games are PS2 ports. I, sadly, remember Mith Makers. But just skip those and go for the good ones (Trauma Center 2!)

And hell, every videogame has the budget/quick-cash/shovelware game, not just the Wii. Or doesn't X360/PS3 have Pimp My Ride or Hot Wheels?

And Destinner must be loving the tags: Destineer, Litter, Shovelware. I almost feel bad for then (almost

jsn @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:35PM

This companies games represent the majority of the games out for the Wii, ie. CRAP. At this point if the title doesn't come from Nintendo, you've got a 75% chance that it will be complete garbage. Am I still one of the few here who will openly question the long term viability of this console?

LilCo187 @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:43PM

Ummmm, Yes. Now get that Scene It 360 controller out of your puss, tard.

FidliousWong @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:45PM

Long Term Viability to third parties and Long Term Viability to Nintendo are two drastically different things. I'm right with you that Nintendo needs to step up the quality control but what is their urgency to do so? When majority of releases are pure crap, even Mario Party 8 looks like a shining beacon of glorious gaming.

Blazur @ Jan 3rd 2008 3:00PM

Nope, I'm always getting into arguments about that with other gamers. Most of the software produced for the Wii has a shelf life of 2-10 days before getting extremely boring. The exception being the first-party Nintendo games, which are fun for about a month, but aren't too terribly challenging and very boring once beaten.

Things might be different if they had better support for online play, but sadly that's not the case so PC and 360 gaming is far more exciting.

Liquid @ Jan 3rd 2008 3:08PM

For the record, Scene It is kick ass

jsn @ Jan 3rd 2008 3:10PM

Lilco: You roll into joystiq comments and that's the best you can come with? noobs....

Fid:
While they're making money hand over fist, they have to be looking 3-4 years down the road? Their strategy can't be to just cash in as much as possible in the first two years and let it die off. Honestly it doesn't seem like their strategy is much different with the Wii than it was with the GC. At least it was as graphically capable as its competitors, so the only thing keeping devs from porting to it was the difficulty of working with Nintendo and the low sales potential. With the Wii at least they solved the low sales potential part, but Nintendo hasn't changed and the console simply can't handle the games that devs are likely to be working on today. So that puts it at a huge long term disadvantage. More and more it seems that it's going to be a home for Nintendo properties and a bunch of hit or miss crap. While I really enjoy Mario Galaxy, Wiisports is still the only title on the console that makes me think I really needed a new console for it.

Dale @ Jan 3rd 2008 3:56PM

@LilCo: For people with more than one friend, Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action is actually pretty decent fun... it gets more play in my house than any of my ten or so Wii titles.

LilCo187 @ Jan 3rd 2008 4:09PM

Hey don't get me wrong, Scene It is a great game, however you play it. It's more directed at the people that bashed Wii before it came out and are now upset that its having success AND outselling a console that dropped a year before it.

"AHHHHH!!!! CHANGE?? I HATE CHANGE!!!"

i_hate_mtv @ Jan 3rd 2008 4:26PM

Didn't people get mad at Nintendo when they tried to regulate their 3rd party games, making sure (or attempting to, anyway) those games were quality titles with the Nintendo seal of quality?

Leilock @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:35PM

Then again, Midway got away with Cruis'in, just one N64 caliber game. At least these guys made 6. I don't know what I'm trying to prove now... i'm just sobbing.

Charron @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:35PM

These games should be taken out back and shot.

Leobebes @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:36PM

Didn't Destineer release the original Halo on Mac? If they are going to implement all this uninspiring shovelware they should at least make a monstertrux game with a faux warthog.

Anticrawl @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:39PM

They had to drop a bunch of games for writing faulty checks (The wrote em out, just didn't spell anything right). The Wii doesn't need their garbage, good day sir.

Geoff @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:39PM

Destineer bought up (or distributes, at least) MacSoft. This includes Halo, Age of Empires III, and a number of other (relatively) high-profile Mac titles.

Freelance @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:42PM

Wow. They are releasing games so fast that they must be "uh-PROACHing SSOund Barrierrr!"
Get it, sound barrier; ahhh phooey on you guys.

ProfWho @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:44PM

this is bad for the system. The Wii has an image of minigames already now this guy and the Ninjabread man guys are attempting to give the Wii the shovelware image as well. This guy is just sickening.

NeverSage @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:46PM

Monster Trux Offroad? Since they specified "offroad" I have a feeling its sister game is in development, Monster Trux Onroad. Parallel Parking ftw!

aristokrat @ Jan 3rd 2008 3:15PM

That would be pretty tough. Especially with waggle.

IanC @ Jan 3rd 2008 3:09PM

Destineer arent exactly unheard of. As well as their MacSoft division, they have released some DS games (the FullMetal Alchemist ones are an example) and the really good Windows/Xbox/Mac game Close Combat: First to Fight

Shagittarius @ Jan 3rd 2008 3:23PM

They have a glorious tradition of shovelware on multiple platforms.

Mighty Shockwave @ Jan 3rd 2008 3:20PM

My God. I just tried one of these titles called Ninjabread Man. I felt sick that anybody could call that piece of shit a game. Shovelware of the worst kind. I support small name developers on the Wii, but titles such as Dragon Blade at least have engaging controls and balanced boss battles, if little else. At least some time and thought went into that game. But Destineer, you make me sick with your laziness and lack of determination to make a good game.

Shagittarius @ Jan 3rd 2008 3:34PM

6 Games 1 Console

Blazur @ Jan 3rd 2008 4:23PM

+ one month's development = one big steaming pile 'o crap!

jabbertrack @ Jan 3rd 2008 4:42PM

and Nintendo keeps letting this happen via the old: "Quality is in the eye of the beholder"

this will not be good for them in the long run

Dale @ Jan 3rd 2008 3:59PM

There is an audience for everything... were Nintendo to impose their own narrow view of quality on games released for their systems, blocking games they didn't feel were up to snuff, we might miss out on some fun experiences.

One man's Ernest Hemingway is another man's Perez Hilton.