Ubisoft to 'refocus' on Xbox 360, PS3 and 'major franchises'

They are trying to avoid poor retail performances. If NMH for the Wii did stunning numbers, they probably would have picked the PS3/360 version to build on that success.

Just import it. You know what happens in the game already.

If that were true then they wouldn't be publishing NMH2. There has to be more to it than that. Especially when the game is already developed and paid for in its Japanese form.

And I'm on the fence about importing. I can't import the 360 version because its region locked, and the PS3 version is censored.

It's a shift to more quality on a universal front is what it is. It's not about publishers abandoning the Wii because there's no money to be had there, but they're starting to figure out that the shovelware machine isn't helping anyone. Best Buy and Target are supposedly going to refuse to stock more mini-game collections (though i presume that means low-tier minigame collections. the crap), and this is Ubisoft declaring that they're moving away from that too

You can make money in the casual space quite well, but not as much in the shovelware space.

This was meant for a discussion above.

Different reasons, again. MadWorld would have failed anywhere. The Conduit, however, has a bit of a story to tell in that the game's focus was in purely trying to be "good for a Wii game," that as well as a lack of local multiplayer hurt their chances considerably.

The views being taken of the Wii market, by a lot of people, are too absolutist. There are very few games that can properly unify the market (though they exist on both the first and third party side of the line, stuff like NSMBWii and Rock Band that'll sell to both equally), and if you want it to work, you have to know what you're going for.

A friend of mine posted a rather good explanation of how to succeed on Wii (based on what *has* succeeded) over at Destructoid.
http://www.destructoid.com/blogs/Lord+The+Night+Knight/how-to-figure-out-the-wii-market-both-the-expanded-and-core--160030.phtml

That's an interesting read but I still don't see any solid proof. Look at the list conveniently posted below. Your friend is claiming "simulators" (which he applies quite broadly) make for good selling games, yet the list of Ubisoft games is full of simulators (again, going by your friend's definition). Yet here we have Ubisoft saying that's just not working. I mean, Carnival Games sold millions, which your friend explains is a result of simulator of carnival games, yet clearly games like Six Flags, Gold's Gym, The Price is Right, etc, etc... are all simulators by the same definition and didn't sell. Have you even played Carnival Games? It's terrible. And that's the crap shoot I've been referring to.

It's not a matter of having more money thrown at them. At least, that's not how you'd want to word it. It's... a lack of ambition.

What the Wii NEEDS are tent pole games. Games that will attract the 'casual hardcore' player. Currently, it really doesn't have any of those. The Conduit tried to position itself as such, but internet message board hype aside, it was met with a resounding 'meh'.

The Wii DOES have that support coming...in Japan. MH3 is already out and did very well. Dragon Quest X is coming either later this year or 2011, too.
Unfortunately, neither of those games are very appealing to western gamers.

That is what us Wii folks are ultimately arguing for at the end of the day...the same kind of support that PS3 and 360 get. A game like MadWorld or No More Heroes can sell a lot better than they have, if conditions are right, but without those big tent pole AAA games to attract buyers in the first place, it's going to be a struggle. No More Heroes is NEVER going to be a system selling game, no matter how hard people wish to the contrary. It just isn't going to go over well in the mainstream.

Really, I think if you look at how well these hardcore Wii games have sold relative to their comparable PS3 and 360 'counterparts' (games with a relatively similar budget / scope / ambition), the numbers they put up are actually DAMN good, considering their situation. They're more or less on par with each other.


Personally, I think it's too late to do anything now. Third parties fuckin' blew it. They created a self fulfilling prophecy around hardcore game sales and they drowned the casual market in an ocean of shit and sales are now starting to reflect that.
People- casual or hardcore- only trust well known brands on the Wii at this point... and most of those brands are Nintendo's franchises.

If third parties are smart (and they've proven they aren't for various reasons), they'll hard target the core Nintendo audience for the rest of the Wii's lifespan, given how loyal and informed they are. It's pretty much the last chance they have and even THAT is risky, considering how much damage they've done to their reputations.

I frankly have no sympathy for these companies. It's common sense to treat the Wii like you would the HD consoles because that's how it always worked for every other market leading console ever; build an audience with marquee titles, sell cheaper titles to that audience in between marquee releases.
But they didn't want to... they wanted to half ass it and make a bunch of games on the cheap and that was reflected in the quality and, now, the sales.
Karma is a bitch.