Publishers wary of creating Nintendo titles, says Wii developer

[jkam]

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=22368

Perception of poor third-party performance sees big names hold back

Big publishers have been wary of creating new titles for the Nintendo Wii due to the perception that first-party titles are better supported than third-party games, says Brian Dreyer, business development manager for Frontline Studios.

The trepidation of companies to support the console and its motion sensitive controller has left a gap in the market that independent studios have been wise to exploit, claims Dreyer

"Nintendo hardware is traditionally seen as great for first-party titles, but not so much for third-party games," said Dreyer, speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz

"That fact really scares a lot of publishers and frankly we've seen a lot of publishers take that wait-and-see attitude with the Wii," commented Dreyer. "Rightly or wrongly, publishers are more frustrated with that than independent developers are."

While publishers such as Ubisoft and Sega have supported the Wii since launch, others, such as Capcom, are yet to get boxed product to market.

Frontline is currently working with Digital Amigos and Nibris on the Wii project Sadness. For the developer, the attraction of working on Nintendo hardware is the innovative elements of the console that provide a different approach to game development.

"It's the marketing warfare," said Dreyer. "Nintendo is the challenger, it's the underdog and it has to be coming to market with something that is completely different."

"Gamers are yawning at these supposedly great-looking games on other systems. With the Wii, we're back to the fundamentals, the nuts and bolts of any videogames experience, which simply means it has to be fun,"

The full interview with Frontline Studios, where the developer discusses Wii and DS development, as well as his thoughts on the PS3 and Xbox 360, will be published on GamesIndustry.biz tomorrow.



So basically Nintendo can't get 3rd parties to make games because people are so into Nintendo's 1st party games that they overshadow their games? Nintendo needs 3rd parties to make more games for a robust library to help push the console further. I don't see why we can't have both...it didn't seem to be a problem in the NES and SNES days.

I see the Wii as a DS type enviornment where you can have the best of both worlds really. You can have unique games centering around the new controls or more classic minded games. The DS has stylus games but it also has regular old games as well. I think with 1 or 2 big developers coming up with some new great games would seriously crack Wii development wide open for everyone. Maybe we are having a sort of DS type drought early on with the 3rd parties. I just don't want to continue to see PS2-PSP-Wii ports. We need the creativity.

I guess I just hope that the strong sales continue and the Wii can live up to its potential because really the possibilites are endless.

[Strell]

This has always been Nintendo's problem though. Always. You can either get shitty Spiro or awesome Mario. You can get retarded Far Cry or you can get Metroid Prime 3.

Same basic deal.

So I don't hold it completely against the third parties. However, in the wake of the launch with a fairly large drought, you'd think some of them would have pounced on the opportunity to release some games. After Warioware and Wiiplay, there's nothing from Nintendo until April. That's prime time for some games. So what's the excuse there?

Last summer there were reports that third parties were too wary about the Wii, even after the phenomenal E3 reception. Half of the bitching now is "look at the hype we're missing out on, why didn't we have a game ready for launch?" and the other half is "well piss off Nintendo, we can compete with u newayz."

There's some legitimate reasons for some of them to be wary, but there's some stupid "wish we could have foreseen this" type stuff also.

Perfect example? Red Steel. Last I heard it was selling well, despite the overall impression that it's kind of a let down. Ubisoft knows where their bread could be buttered, and they took the chance. Meanwhile other big names - Konami and Capcom especially - chose a wait and see attitude, and they are kicking themselves.

Again, there's lots of parts of this equation.

[Zen Davis]

This has always been Nintendo's problem though. Always. You can either get shitty Spiro or awesome Mario. You can get retarded Far Cry or you can get Metroid Prime 3.

Same basic deal.

So I don't hold it completely against the third parties. However, in the wake of the launch with a fairly large drought, you'd think some of them would have pounced on the opportunity to release some games. After Warioware and Wiiplay, there's nothing from Nintendo until April. That's prime time for some games. So what's the excuse there?

Last summer there were reports that third parties were too wary about the Wii, even after the phenomenal E3 reception. Half of the bitching now is "look at the hype we're missing out on, why didn't we have a game ready for launch?" and the other half is "well piss off Nintendo, we can compete with u newayz."

There's some legitimate reasons for some of them to be wary, but there's some stupid "wish we could have foreseen this" type stuff also.

Perfect example? Red Steel. Last I heard it was selling well, despite the overall impression that it's kind of a let down. Ubisoft knows where their bread could be buttered, and they took the chance. Meanwhile other big names - Konami and Capcom especially - chose a wait and see attitude, and they are kicking themselves.

Again, there's lots of parts of this equation.

Mario Party 8 in March.

[Strell]

That's not enough though. The MP series is fun but it's nothing that would stand up to a decent effort from a third party. If you handed me that or something with some substance - SSX and Sonic might be good examples - I'd go with the latter everytime.

Unless MP8 has online capability, I can pretty much pass on it.

Edit: Also, wasn't it announced....yesterday that it got pushed back to Q2? That would imply...what, April through June?

[SteveMcQ]

Hey, here's an idea 3rd parties: Make great games. Don't cry and bitch 'cause your games suck in comparison to 1st party games and consumers don't buy them.

[botticus]

Hey, here's an idea 3rd parties: Make great games. Don't cry and bitch 'cause your games suck in comparison to 1st party games and consumers don't buy them.That's just crazy talk.

Hopefully the Wii will build up enough of an install base that even if, relative to first-party games, third party titles don't sell well, the volume will still be attractive.

[prisonerac]

Another problem I see with third party software is the idea that it drops in price faster than Nintendo's first party software. Why buy a copy of EAs or Ubisofts newest product when it will be 1/3 off in about a month. As compared to Nintendo's products which take years to drop in price.

[dothog]

I don't buy this. The fact that a shit game like Red Steel can sell all those copies suggests to me that there's a market for good third-party games. I'm sure many parts of these comments were first stated a few years ago for the DS. This article is just a space filler, and I doubt it represents the feelings of the larger community.

[jer7583]

publishers should take on the challenge and put out some truely great stuff for the Wii, then.. Just look at EA's excellent rendition of Madden, Elebits is amazing too, and Red Steel is even selling well(regardless of quality) so there is a market for 3rd Parties.

It's foolish to say "Oh, everyone wants Zelda anyway so we'll not support Wii, we'll go to PS3 where fewer people buy their shitty 1st party games." It's also lazy.

To tell the truth, do we really want the kind of 3rd party publishers that would back down in the face of Nintendo's titles publishing for Wii? They're probably only interested in porting their poorly selling PS2 garbage with a few motion controls anyway.

We'd want the kind of publishers that would take that challenge and make something truely great and unique, worth buying even with Nintendo's catalog out there.

I say good riddance to bad garbage and let Sony/MS get the lazy publishers just out to make a quick buck on the poorly informed.

[dmaul1114]

I think the problem is one they are looking at sales on the N64 and GC where third party sales sucked because most third party games sucked, and many of the good ones were inferior ports of x-box or PS2 games. This was compounded by the fact that the GC was the "second" or "third" console for many gamers. They bought it just for Nintendo games and bought everything else on the other systems.

Another part of the problem is that it's easier to rush out some half assed game and make a quick buck than it is to spend a lot of time and money to make a game that is quality enough to compete with Nintendo's first party games. Developers just want to make cash, not spend 2-3 years on games like Nintendo does.

Thus of course a half assed port of Far Cry or some other generic FPS is going to get hammered in sales by a Metroid Prime.

Hopefully the Wii will sell well enough that developers can't ignore the Wii market and see that it is worthwhile to take the time to develop some truly great games for the Wii.

[David85]

I think the third parties have it backwards. The Wii is like nothing else and only cames for the Wii should only work on the Wii. So make Wii exclusives (they are cheaper than 360 and PS3 exclusives) that really use the controlers. There are not that many 1st party games coming out and GOOD third party games can sell, or be rented. The problem is third parties for the GC and the Wii only use shity ports of movie titles! Of course a lot of people won't buy them. So no one buys Disney's Fun Land for the Wii (I made it up.) because it's a shitty PS2 port. That third party than bitchs and moans that the game didn't sell and people only buy Nintendo games. Of course! The game is shit.

When a third party makes a great game it will sell, the problem is 99% of the time on a Nintendo console the game sucks!

[elwood731]

Let's be honest though, look at any system and the 1st party titles sell better than the average third party title. On the PS2/3 you have Ico, J&D, R&C, etc. and on the XBOX you have Halo, Fable, etc. Almost every major release sells a million regardless of quality because they push the hell out of it. Would Gear of War done as well if MS hadn't been the one publishing it? Few third party titles do with the exception of Final Fantasy, Devil may Cry, Grand Theft Auto, etc.

[jollydwarf]

Redundancy for effect: Most of the PR damage EA deservedly incurred with the 360 over the last year will be largely mitigated by what they're going to do for this system. The 'upside' to their monolithic dominance is that they have the pockets deep enough to design games for this system, or at the very least, put the most into the ports. I suspect that SSX Blur is, in my best Christopher Lee voice, "just the beginning".

I never said that they would match Nintendo quality title for quality title, but I am saying that they will 'bring it' for the Wii more than most as long as it's a profitable venture.

[javeryh]

Do people honestly care who makes games? If it's good I'll play it whether it's made by a first party, third party or ninth party developer. Hey third parties - how about not releasing total shit for games then maybe you'd see an increase in sales.

Also, the Wii is super cheap to develop for compared to the 360 and PS3 so eventually I think we will start to see a ton of third party software.

[jkam]

The thing I don't understand is how would bringing a shitty 3rd party game to the PS3 be more profitable than bringing it to the Wii? I hope developers are going to start to realize with development costs being cheaper and the Wii's bigger install base (right now) they can make more money.

[dmaul1114]

Do people honestly care who makes games? If it's good I'll play it whether it's made by a first party, third party or ninth party developer. Hey third parties - how about not releasing total shit for games then maybe you'd see an increase in sales.


I don't care who makes games, I just want as many third parties on board as possible.

The more developers making games for the Wii, the more great games we end up with.

[lordopus99]

With less titles to buy, you would think companies would easily jump on the wii bandwagon because the games could sell during the dry weeks/months.

If you aren't a Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, or GTA, you get lost in the shuffle for Playstation. Hence, why good games never get played i.e. Beyond Good and Evil.

Personally, I have had more fun with Rayman then with Zelda. That is not discrediting Zelda in any way. I am just saying I have played way more Rayman then Zelda. By the way, those are the only two games I own.

[Apossum]

this is old news for every nintendo console ever.


but this--

Frontline is currently working with Digital Amigos and Nibris on the Wii project Sadness.

was not expected! Sadness lives! yay!

[jollydwarf]

Well, bringing a third-party game to the PS3, regardless of how "shitty" it ends up being, probably means that it's also on the 360. That's just it: this 'generation' will most likely end up being two simultaneous 'generations', with some titles inhabiting both.

You'll have the 360/PS3 cycle of development and the Wii/PS2/PSP one. The former is the obvious 'next-gen' step, but the latter is a weird triumverate with no distinct 'starting point' system that may very well keep all three viable much longer than they would be alone. Let's face it: it's going to be a long time for the 'mass market' to switch from the "2" to the "3" after the "PS", based on price alone. With the Wii port (or vice versa) element factored in, the likelihood of that many more non-Seanbaby-fodder titles being produced will slow down that transition even further.

This is good news for those happy to (or compelled to) make due with the PS2 for the foreseeable future. For Wii owners, it'll mean more titles, but also more 'sifting' for what's actually worth playing, let alone paying more than a rental fee for.

[coolsteel]

I think the third parties have it backwards. The Wii is like nothing else and only cames for the Wii should only work on the Wii. So make Wii exclusives (they are cheaper than 360 and PS3 exclusives) that really use the controlers. There are not that many 1st party games coming out and GOOD third party games can sell, or be rented. The problem is third parties for the GC and the Wii only use shity ports of movie titles! Of course a lot of people won't buy them. So no one buys Disney's Fun Land for the Wii (I made it up.) because it's a shitty PS2 port. That third party than bitchs and moans that the game didn't sell and people only buy Nintendo games. Of course! The game is shit.

When a third party makes a great game it will sell, the problem is 99% of the time on a Nintendo console the game sucks!


Exactly what I was thinking, the only real problem I see is with the new control scheme the Wii uses third parties can no longer half ass it or it will completely tank, I saw this development coming a mile away and its really a crying shame more companies couldn't suck it up and just put some real development time into a game. I will also add LucasArts better get their asses in gear, I want a star wars game dammit!

[ryanbph]

my mistake

[dmaul1114]

I don't own it, but from most comments about red steel, is that it wasn't a good third party game.

Of course, which is why the post you quoted says IF a SHIT 3rd party game like Red Steel can sell well, then a good third party game should certainly do good business. :D

[ryanbph]

yeah missed the shit part of the post when i was skimming

[Mr. Anderson]

this is old news for every nintendo console ever.


but this--



was not expected! Sadness lives! yay!

Exactly what I was thinking. I was under the impression it got canned. Glad to hear development is still rolling foward.

[n8rockerasu]

It's funny that it seems everybody but the 3rd party developers are on the same page here. I don't know ANYBODY who says "That looks like a really good game, but it's not made by Nintendo so I'm not gonna buy it!" That's retarded! As others have mentioned, there were a few GREAT 3rd party titles during the Wii launch. Madden is one, Trauma Center is another, and even Super Monkey Ball was good, but I just think missed it when incorporating some of the controls (mini-games especially).

Red Steel wasn't very good, but sold very well. Why? Because it was every damn place you looked! The marketing push and coverage of Red Steel is what sold that game. Now, that's kind of misleading for consumers who are willing to take a leap of faith on a game, but if 3rd parties want their games to sell, they need to use Red Steel's strategy as their business model.

Honestly, I wish Trauma Center would have gotten that kind of push. I believe it's a game that everyone should be talking about, but only few know about. It's a shame that Atlus won't make near as much as Ubisoft did, because even though TC was kind of a port, you could tell lots of thought went into the process. Not to mention the fact that just the idea itself is completely original and creates an experience no other system could even attempt to duplicate. Those are the kind of developers Wii needs. I want fun, creative experiences. If 3rd parties could ever realize that gamers just want a little effort and ingenuity from their product, they might start to make some money.

[Vegan]

Um, the best (and best-looking) Gamecube game was made by CAPCOM.

[White-Wolf]

Do people honestly care who makes games? If it's good I'll play it whether it's made by a first party, third party or ninth party developer. Hey third parties - how about not releasing total shit for games then maybe you'd see an increase in sales.


well Thier are other things other then good games that effect what i buy.

Like EA (the example), they dident pay their game devs for thier 20-30 hours of overtime a week and wouldn't give them off time.

In the game industry you basically work 40 hour weeks but later in the project that work time increases to 70 hour weeks. Normally one gets over time payments, but EA wasent giving it too them. In addition after you basically burn out (When the project gets done), you tend to get a month or so off time. EA was moving people from project to project with no break and putting them in a 70 hour work week for months. When the game devs burned out, they would fire them, and hire fresh meat.

They only changed when better business bureau and law suits were on a direct collision course to their pocket books, and public image. This was maybe 2 years ago.

So yeah, EA=Shit even if they do manage to make a good game once in a while.

[Tebunker]

I just think it will take time. On top of that, the guy this is quoted from is a smaller independent publisher/developer. What he is essentially saying is that the Wii is a better place for companies like his. I can also understand Capcom and Konami being slower to react. Even if they decided to act on the Wii sometime last year, it would still be 18 months before anything would start to show.

Also, doesn't anyone remember all the unnamed Konami games that were thought to be cancelled a few weeks back? Last I checked the "cancelled" list had like 3 Wii games in development, and they had a whole nother list with 4 or 5 Wii games in development. It's been just over 60 days since the console came out. I think we can all sit comfortably knowing and waiting for developers to come on board.

[David85]

Exactly what I was thinking

That;s what I like to hear. :)

[shipwreck]

Hmm... well I only buy the Nintendo games and the good third-party exclusives for Nintendo systems and I think third-parties know this about me and are acting accordingly.

Every Nintendo game that comes out automatically takes my Wii allocation money, which leaves none for the third parties.

[screwkick]

This is why I sold my Wii last week. The "inovation factor" wore off quickly for me.

[mattstockton12]

If third parties would make a great game exclusive to and built for the Wii it WILL sell well. However, if we get half-assed ports like in the Gamecube era, their fears will be justified.

[Legolas813]

Honestly, I wish Trauma Center would have gotten that kind of push. I believe it's a game that everyone should be talking about, but only few know about. It's a shame that Atlus won't make near as much as Ubisoft did, because even though TC was kind of a port, you could tell lots of thought went into the process. Not to mention the fact that just the idea itself is completely original and creates an experience no other system could even attempt to duplicate. Those are the kind of developers Wii needs. I want fun, creative experiences. If 3rd parties could ever realize that gamers just want a little effort and ingenuity from their product, they might start to make some money.

I totally agree. Trauma Center is great. I haven't had this much fun with a game in a long time. We need new unique gameplay experiences, not the same remakes and sequels over and over.

[The Crotch]

I totally agree. Trauma Center is great. I haven't had this much fun with a game in a long time. We need new unique gameplay experiences, not the same remakes and sequels over and over.
Emphasis Mine


You mean... like... Trauma Center?

Zing.

[KingDox]

Fuck these thrid party developers. Let see them talk the same story when there are 10 million Wii's sold. At least we have EA, Konomi can kiss my ass, I'm still mad at them for never putting out Dreamcast games. And who cares about Capcom ? So what are going to miss out on ? More megaman games ?

[zionoverfire]

Fuck these thrid party developers. Let see them talk the same story when there are 10 million Wii's sold. At least we have EA, Konomi can kiss my ass, I'm still mad at them for never putting out Dreamcast games. And who cares about Capcom ? So what are going to miss out on ? More megaman games ?

You'll also miss out on games like dead rising, devil may cry and yes lots of megaman.

Thrid parties have a reason to be leary of the Wii, 3rd party games for the most part sold rather poorly on the GC when compaired to Nintendo exclusives. If however this time around people show an interest in buying the games EA puts out Konomi and Capcom will of course jump on the bandwagon.

Lack of 3rd party support wouldn't be a problem except that Nintendo tends to focus on making family oriented games, so good sports titles and shooters are always lacking.

[KingDox]

You'll also miss out on games like dead rising, devil may cry and yes lots of megaman.

Thrid parties have a reason to be leary of the Wii, 3rd party games for the most part sold rather poorly on the GC when compaired to Nintendo exclusives. If however this time around people show an interest in buying the games EA puts out Konomi and Capcom will of course jump on the bandwagon.

DMC I doubt will ever leave Sony, Dead Rising 1/2/3/x/Legends will be on the 360 (Wii60 FTW) and I'm over mega man games.

The only Konomi game I care about is Contra 1/2/3 on the VC.

[io]

Meanwhile other big names - Konami and Capcom especially - chose a wait and see attitude, and they are kicking themselves.


Elebits = Konami, doesn't it? I certainly hope that is selling well, because if it isn't, that's a bad sign for 3rd parties right there.

But besides that, they are doing the wait and see. It is just like with the DS. Hopefully, just like with the DS, things will really pick up this Fall and beyond.

[Vegan]

Emphasis Mine


You mean... like... Trauma Center?

Zing.]

Objection! Trauma Center fully deserved a second chance on another platform that would give it more exposure.

[n8rockerasu]

]Objection! Trauma Center fully deserved a second chance on another platform that would give it more exposure.

Sustained! Trauma Center being a remake is a technicality. The extra procedures, improved gameplay, and genius control scheme make it a completely different playing experience.

(Oh, and also, I think he was just being a smartass..lol)

Those not concerned with Capcom jumping on board with Wii...two words: *sinister voice* Resident Evil. I don't think 3rd parties will truly be a problem..but losing Resi would destroy my world.

[Blind the Thief]

Trauma Center is not something anyone loved for the story (although, for my money, making it feel like a cheesey TV hospital drama definitely made the experience better). No, the reason I wouldn't stop talking about the original is because I felt it was the first game I'd bought that really proved just how well the DS' touch screen could work.

Likewise, Trauma Center Wii proves to me how this method of control can be a vast improvement over existing games, or how a control scheme alone can immerse me in a game. Sure, a new story would have been nice, but that's not the point. If we ever have to see remakes, I'd want them to be like Second Opinion, built from the ground-up, rather than slapping half-assed controls into an old game (I'm looking at you, Ubi).


p.s. I'm pretty sure the reason I haven't released any games on Wii myself is because Nintendo's quality games would make my own half-assed games look bad.

[epobirs]

The thing I don't understand is how would bringing a shitty 3rd party game to the PS3 be more profitable than bringing it to the Wii? I hope developers are going to start to realize with development costs being cheaper and the Wii's bigger install base (right now) they can make more money.

Because money talks and all else walks. Developers ran into this a lot with games produced for both the PS2 and GameCube. We're talking decent titles that average at least a 7 out of 10. The game would do enough business on the PS2 to make some money but fail to do so on the GameCube. After factoring for the difference in installed bases, the GameCube sales would be comparitively lousy.

This was a mystery to the publishers. They can only guess at why it's so much harder to sell a Gamecube game. One leading theory is that a major portion of GameCube owners also own a PS2 and regard the GameCube as their secondary machine used almost solely for those items exclusive to it. This primarily means first and second party titles.

Nintendo is quite aware of this, too. They even went so far as to intentionally position the Wii to be an irresistable second system for gamers likely to have an Xbox 360 or PS3 as their high-end platform. The Wii design will allow Nintendo to be very aggressive on price cutting when they finally manage to saturate the market at the current price. On the third party front, it is intended that the unique interface will encourage the creation of games that are more than just ports and viewed as interesting even if a Xbox 360 or PS3 SKU from the franchise is already owned by the consumer.

It remains to be seen whether this will work in practice. The same elements that encourage developers to create distinct Wii games also creates a new challenge for the designers to make their games sufficiently Wii oriented. This is an area where many successful DS games have simply not even tried beyond a token level but third parties on a Nintendo portable don't face the same problem.

So a lot of companies aren't going to bother unless they think they have something great or they have a valuable license they're going to dump on every platform going, ala Barbie Horse Adventure. Nintendo will try to bring in the third parties but since they aren't vying for overall console supremacy anymore, they don't need those products as much as they once did. This may not be viewed favorably by many Wii owners but Nintendo is going to do what is good for Nintendo, and that may not always be perceived by the consumers as in their favor.

[PleasantOne]

Hey, here's an idea 3rd parties: Make great games. Don't cry and bitch 'cause your games suck in comparison to 1st party games and consumers don't buy them.

hear hear!!! A lot of the third party titles are already doing well, aren't they?? Trauma Center, SMB, Rayman...

You'd think they'd learn that's simply not true from the success of the DS and its third party games, as someone mentioned. Sure, everyone gets a Nintendo for the Nintendo titles... but that doesn't mean they don't want anything else. What a copout!

[furyk]

Rayman, not Red Steel, should be the example here. Rayman has never ever been a success on any console. It's a game that always got lost in the shuffle, but hey, look. Wasn't it like the fourth best selling launch game behind Zelda, Madden, and Red Steel?

[mercilessming]

On the flip side of this article, are developers that are saying 1st party nintendo are 2 good, saying Microsoft/Sony 1st crap? and they can do better than Microsoft/sony but not nintnedo.

[shipwreck]

On the flip side of this article, are developers that are saying 1st party nintendo are 2 good, saying Microsoft/Sony 1st crap? and they can do better than Microsoft/sony but not nintnedo.

My response to this would be lengthy and probably somehow offend fans of all three companies, so in short, the answer is "Not exactly".

[jkam]

Because money talks and all else walks. Developers ran into this a lot with games produced for both the PS2 and GameCube. We're talking decent titles that average at least a 7 out of 10. The game would do enough business on the PS2 to make some money but fail to do so on the GameCube. After factoring for the difference in installed bases, the GameCube sales would be comparitively lousy.

This was a mystery to the publishers. They can only guess at why it's so much harder to sell a Gamecube game. One leading theory is that a major portion of GameCube owners also own a PS2 and regard the GameCube as their secondary machine used almost solely for those items exclusive to it. This primarily means first and second party titles.

Nintendo is quite aware of this, too. They even went so far as to intentionally position the Wii to be an irresistable second system for gamers likely to have an Xbox 360 or PS3 as their high-end platform. The Wii design will allow Nintendo to be very aggressive on price cutting when they finally manage to saturate the market at the current price. On the third party front, it is intended that the unique interface will encourage the creation of games that are more than just ports and viewed as interesting even if a Xbox 360 or PS3 SKU from the franchise is already owned by the consumer.

It remains to be seen whether this will work in practice. The same elements that encourage developers to create distinct Wii games also creates a new challenge for the designers to make their games sufficiently Wii oriented. This is an area where many successful DS games have simply not even tried beyond a token level but third parties on a Nintendo portable don't face the same problem.

So a lot of companies aren't going to bother unless they think they have something great or they have a valuable license they're going to dump on every platform going, ala Barbie Horse Adventure. Nintendo will try to bring in the third parties but since they aren't vying for overall console supremacy anymore, they don't need those products as much as they once did. This may not be viewed favorably by many Wii owners but Nintendo is going to do what is good for Nintendo, and that may not always be perceived by the consumers as in their favor.

Definitely good points but I think that it is also based on prediciting that the last generation will duplicate this generation. If all 3 consoles have a 33.3% share of the market then the playing field becomes a little different. We could possible see some Wii only owners as well. I would definitely agree with this:

On the third party front, it is intended that the unique interface will encourage the creation of games that are more than just ports and viewed as interesting even if a Xbox 360 or PS3 SKU from the franchise is already owned by the consumer.

It remains to be seen whether this will work in practice. The same elements that encourage developers to create distinct Wii games also creates a new challenge for the designers to make their games sufficiently Wii oriented.

In the end its all going to come down to the games. Will they be unique enough? Will developers really take advantage of the control scheme? I guess time will tell.