Capcom's France boss not happy with Wii game sales.

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http://kotaku.com/5440909/capcoms-france-boss-the-future-is-on-ps3-and-360

Capcom's director general for France sounds very pessimistic about development for the Wii, feeling that its user base has "radically changed" into something that is no longer interested in core games such as the poor-selling Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles.

"The customer of [the Wii] has turned into something [of a] much broader audience. It is a disappointment," says Seux (pictured) in an interview translated from French via Google Translate. Seux, speaking to the blog Gamekult, also calls developing for the Wii "difficult" and goes on to say "for us, Capcom, the future is the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360."

It's likely we're hearing Seux's offhand opinion of the future, not official Capcom messaging here. Still, the words, coming from such a stalwart brand on Nintendo's platforms, are eyebrow raising.

It's clear Seux is frustrated. He points out sales of just 16,000 for Darkside Chronicles in the first three weeks of its release, compared to 140,000 for Resident Evil 4 on the Wii at release in in 2007. Seux's explanation for the disparity: the market has moved on.

One feels that there is a problem very clear on this style of game on the Wii, where gamers have obviously moved on. Resident Evil 4 on Wii worked well, but [it was released] when the market had nothing!

While Seux says the Wii is "still an important part of sales," he calls it "very much a family [console] with low attachment rates."

"This is the year of the emergence of so-called 'new console generation'," Seux concludes. "So for us, Capcom, the future is the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360."
Click to expand...

Not sure if it will change anything or if he's just blowing hot air.
 
As incendiary as this topic is / will be, I've gotta ask - have there been any third party developers that are happy with Wii game sales? Seems every other week we hear from another group that cannot move their software...whether it be Dead Space: Extractions poor sales...Sega saying they plan to shy away from Mature titles on the Wii...or Marvelous reporting how they lost money on 3 of 4 Wii titles released in the first half of '09
 
ea makes mney off the of the wii dont they ? ive also noticed theyve gone the motion exercise route of late which could be where many other developers will look to make money off the wii. id be interesed in seeing actual figures/numbers as far as companies who have made games for the wii and numbers sold.
 
do rail shooters sell well on the ps3 or 360?

the tragic truth is good wii games do not consistently outsell bad, cheap, low effort wii games
nor does taking the time to improve a wii game lead to increased sales
There are millions of people out there who would really enjoy okami or zak and wiki, capcom (nor any other publisher), has not figured out a way to communicate to those people.
 
[quote name='vherub']do rail shooters sell well on the ps3 or 360?

the tragic truth is good wii games do not consistently outsell bad, cheap, low effort wii games
nor does taking the time to improve a wii game lead to increased sales
There are millions of people out there who would really enjoy okami or zak and wiki, capcom (nor any other publisher), has not figured out a way to communicate to those people.[/QUOTE]


I think it's a partial issue. Games that would have a huge development cost may not compare to actual sales because the demigraphic isn't 16-35 males with a hardon for "HD" and playing the same old FPS for the 8th time with a different name.

I've got a 5 year old nephew that plays and I know of some almost 50 year olds playing the wii.

That's a huge chunk to try to score with just 1 game. Something that everyone likes, say any Nintendo first party game, sure... but take something like Darkside chronicles and it sells to only that niche crowd within the Wii collective which would be obviously near or less than what RE4 brought in.


It's sad that we've got some major bias because the Wii is a "kiddy"/"shovelware" console to any and all ps360 users.

It's similar to why I don't plop down 500 and get both systems... the RPGs frankly don't give me enough reason to put down that much money.

That's why I've got the PSP/PS2/DS to fulfill my needs. There are actually more RPGs on the Wii than either of them.

I'm not going to say 'Good' RPG games, because that's neither here or there in this discussion.
 
[quote name='xycury']It's sad that we've got some major bias because the Wii is a "kiddy"/"shovelware" console to any and all ps360 users.[/QUOTE]

Aside from first-party tendo games and a list of third-party efforts/rehashes I could count on my two hands, isn't that pretty much the case?
 
LOL!! Wii-wii.

If Nintendo sent me a free :wii: console plus extra wii-motes, I might consider purchasing Darkside Chronicles on clearance.

just checked out the video review, why do the gun shots all sound like carnival popcorn again?!
 
[quote name='LoWeT']well hopefully tatsunoko vs. capcom will help out sales[/QUOTE]

I'm pretty sure nobody will buy that game either. Unless the name is somehow changed to Mario Vs. Capcom or Wii Fit Vs. Capcom in the next week.
 
[quote name='camoor']Aside from first-party tendo games and a list of third-party efforts/rehashes I could count on my two hands, isn't that pretty much the case?[/QUOTE]


But that isn't a "problem".

There are good games, and some good exclusives. It's hard for developers because they have to look at the whole picture and see where the collective is.

That's like trying to pull off a Dexter Barbie special edition to the 5-6 year olds... just isn't going to work, not going to get it, going to sell poorly.

The same could be said for any console. If the PS3 was geared towards more kids, and family games, we'd see a bunch more shovelware because that's their attention span. Not Uncharted or MGS.


I guess one could say that Nintendo's own hands into the software business has molded and shaped the console into getting out of the "hardcore" age group.


Still though, great games sell greatly. I am floored that Mario Kart DS is still outselling new games when it was released ages ago.
 
I understand that he's trying to point out how much the market has 'changed', but wouldn't it better to compare Darkside Chronicles numbers to, I don't know, the numbers for Umbrella Chronicles?

RE4 was lightning in a bottle. A re-released game that was considered one of (if not THE) the best games of a generation and had IMPROVED controls. Not a great comparison.

The Chronicles games are niche, at best. They aren't amazing and are, frankly, for die-hard fans of the RE franchise. Personally, I loved them. I've likely put more time into both of those (at least 25 hours a piece) than any other Wii game combined. That, however, is no declaration that they're great games that will span different markets. It baffles me that people in charge of Capcom don't realize that.

Admittedly, if Capcom really only sold 16,000 copies of Darkside Chronicles, would anyone blame them for moving to other systems, where RE5 sold mind-numbing numbers?

I truly do think that a lot of it has to do with the mindset of 'primary' console, and the Wii not being thought of as such. I'm guilty of it myself, I can't lie. I went for, literally, over a year without really playing the Wii... then Silent Hill came out. Then I played Darkside Chronicles. Then I realized that there were a handful of really great games for the Wii that I've totally overlooked (Punch-Out!!, Little King's Story, Boy and His Blob, to name ones I snagged last month alone) just because I was more focused on the 360 and PS3. It wasn't intentional, but it happened.

I'm not sure how to finish this up, so, yeah... done. Ha.
 
Maybe if companys put in a geniune effort with some solid marketing they would receive more sales. Don't blame users for not buying your crappy products, especially light gun games when the Wii user base would have gobbled up a RE5 port with the RE4 engine. Their loss.

Also Tatwhatever versus Capcom (which I'm buying) is still more of a niche game that most likely won't sell well.
 
I do admit Wii tends to be the system I consider last when purchasing games, don't why though. I think if they had more games that didn't rely on the controls as a gimmick and just used the controls as part of the game gamers would be more inclined to purchase. I tend to use my PS2 as my main gaming machine, so graphics are not an issue with me. Conduit looks pretty good as well.
 
It's easy to say that people will just flock to shiny new HD graphics and ignore what's underneath, but when you have two consoles with dozens of titles each that look worlds better and have the gameplay to back it up, he's absolutely right in saying that the Wii is being left behind.

I personally feel the appeal of Wiis controls wore off for me extremely quickly and beyond 1st party games, anything else is a toss up. Everyone and their mother jumped on board to cash in and make shovelware for the wii so the perception is that most of the games are junk and no one wants to blindly buy anything anymore.

I hope Nintendo is stuffing their mattresses because they'll be back in last place again after the next round of releases. Unless they come up with something better, earlier, and cheaper than the rest, they're going to face the same problem Sony did with the playstation where they had non-traditional gamers buying it (for DVDs) and people otherwise happy with what they have that don't feel a need to upgrade.
 
I wrote this article long ago, so I'll post it here.

Recently the president of EA said finding success on the Wii was "confounding". I found this statement rather confounding myself due to various reasons. This seems to be a common thing with third parties on Wii. Many publishers are hesitant to put big budget content since it's failed them in the past. That's a self-fulfilling prophecy if I ever heard one.

Firstly, third parties have no one to blame but themselves. Answered that question quickly, didn't I? They were the ones who created the current market on Wii by filling it with garbage. What games that aren't garbage they produce get limited marketing and next to no commercials. Again, compare the marketing of the "biggest" Wii third party game, The Conduit, with the marketing of Rogue Warrior, a B-level action game for the HD consoles. Rogue Warrior has received way more of a push. What games deserve to sell on Wii? Little King's Story? Muramasa? Dead Space: Extraction? Maybe. But which ones received proper advertising? Oh, yes. None of them. So none of them "deserved" to sell. Quality can only do you so much in the games business. Customers have to know your game exists before they can buy it. Even when they say it on shelves, how should they know what it's about? That's why I think games like Carnival Games and its ilk do so well. It's obvious when you look at the box what Carnival Games is about. Unless you're a moron which I was told all Wii owners are. "They're casual, they're stupid. They're mass-market. They're mainstream!" Oh, my! I'm getting scared! At least that is what you'd be led to believe by looking at the majority of third party software for Wii.

Then they whine when their games don't sell. No, really. You think? You put out heaps of garbage, and you expect them to sell? You plan to cheat consumers out of money by having them purchase crap on a disc? They also whine that Nintendo gets all the sales. I wonder why. Big mean Nintendo getting all the sales.

I guess you can blame Nintendo. No, not for everything like some companies, overzealous console warriors, and fat, bearded bloggers. Nintendo is the only company this generation seeing mass profits in a time of loss. They're set. They need not do anything for third parties who crapped on them two generations running and now this third one. I think the solution is simple: Nintendo should stop making games that are of quality and games that don't treat their players like mentally retarded or redheaded stepchildren. They should make the same garbage games that everyone else does, so third parties will have a chance. In all seriousness, I think helping third parties with advertising of top games would help out a lot. It wouldn't set the world on fire, but we've seen Microsoft do this (because their first party studios are highly inferior to either Nintendo's or Sony's-- why else would every year be shooter year on the 360?).

So that's the problem with third parties. They're not going to fix their mistakes. They're not going to dare admit they fail at understanding the Wii because in their perception, it's the Wii's fault. Not their own. Will this self-fulfilling prophecy ever change? Probably not this generation. Probably not next either until Nintendo stops making good games that sell well. They don't sell well because they're from Nintendo. They sell well because they get proper advertising, and don't come off as gifts for your mentally ill cousin. Until then, third parties will continue to bleed money, studios will close, and decent people will lose their jobs. Is the Wii the savior of these companies? No, but we've seen the HD business structure is unsustainable. Might as well try something new, guys.

And with that, I'm through talking about this Wii/third party nonsense that pops up every other week. Adieu!

http://superphillipcentral.blogspot.com/2009/12/third-party-woes-on-wii-whos-to-blame.html
 
[quote name='Salamando3000']As incendiary as this topic is / will be, I've gotta ask - have there been any third party developers that are happy with Wii game sales? Seems every other week we hear from another group that cannot move their software...whether it be Dead Space: Extractions poor sales...Sega saying they plan to shy away from Mature titles on the Wii...or Marvelous reporting how they lost money on 3 of 4 Wii titles released in the first half of '09[/QUOTE]

I'd say Majesco is pretty happy with it's Carnival Games sales. Casual games as a whole in fact seem to be decent sellers. At least this has been my experience when observing shopping habits at stores like Targat and Best Buy. Also, if I remember correctly, Guitar Hero has sold really well on the Wii.
 
umbrella chronicles was a spin-off until capcom made a new resident evil 4 like game for the wii [was suppose to be resident evil 5]. but capcom was being lazy and they continued that spin off idea instead of making a resident evil 4 like game that many [including myself] were looking for. it's been a little over two years since the release of both resident evil 4 and umbrella chronicles on the wii and capcom still haven't made a resident evil 4 like game for the wii. it back fired on them and they are saying the wii gamers are too stupid, this and that, etc.... but in reality, it was capcom who made the mistake because they never cared for the wii. we'll be entering the 3rd year since the release of resident evil 4 and umbrella chronicles 1, i'm still betting that they'll continue with another spin off of umbrella chronicles and a new resident evil 4 like game for the 360/ps3.

where are the wii games for 2010 by capcom? there is a small list when compared to the 360/ps3 and even if there are more releases for the wii, they are more likely shallowed games. it is correct when publishers complain about the wii because what they do on the wii is lazy work and that is something that won't work. the excuse they give are inexcusable because it's not the customers fault for not buying bad products but the developers for making a crappy product. even nintendo has done it themselves with those gamecube remakes and they aren't selling.

advertising isn't the problem because it's what the game offers to the player. what exactly am i doing in this game? i'm not doing anything. do i have control of the characters? do i have control of the action? do i have control of the pace of the game? what sort of actions am i permitted? this game offers a very limited interaction for the player. in resident evil 4, i'm able to make head shots, dodge enemies by moving away and sort, interact with the game world and so and so. this is why dead space extraction is dead in sales because it's crap. but it's more then just this idea, there's also the label that was placed in this game. dead space extraction was labeled for people who are stupid retarded family gamers and resident evil umbrella chronicles 2 probably had the same label.

the games nintendo make will always sell because they need to make games to sell the hardware. if they can't do that then you can't sell the hardware. if you can't sell the hardware then you can't sell games. so it is logical that the games nintendo make will exceed those of the third party because it's to sell the hardware. third parties don't need to sell the hardware but their software. this is why nintendo games sell. but once people have access to the hardware, they will soon look for other software and that is where the third party comes in. but if third party developers have slacked off and this and that and it turns of the gamers, is that nintendo's fault or the third party? the answer is the third party. nintendo has made a door for mass people to play other games, but third party developers are all being stupid and when they miss the opportunity and they blame the hardware company. but the hardware company gave you an opportunity which the third party took for granted. is that the hardware companies fault or the third party? the answer again is the third party. basically capcom could have made millions this holiday season but they screwed themselves because they wanted to. what does capcom do in return, blame the hardware company.

nintendo this holiday have sold 3million additional units on top of the already sold units from past sales. capcom is sure pissed that they could not get money from those people because they screwed badly. they blame nintendo and the people because it makes them feel better.
 
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[quote name='seanr1221']http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/08/capcom-wii-is-a-tough-market-to-crack/#comments

In short, Capcom says they will make fewer, but better, Wii games.[/QUOTE]

I'll be very interested to see what Capcom puts out. Developing for the Wii seems to be fraught with problems....games over-saturation...very, very diverse userbase...users who are less likely to buy games than those with PS360 during times of economic strife...and Users that probably don't know the difference between any two games on a shelf.

Seems like, all said, it's much easier to make a profitable PS360 game than it would be to make a profitable Wii game.
 
You can replace Capcom with basically any other third party company and it would be the same. End result, people buy nintendo consoles for nintendo games. And it is funny that the top selling games on the platform (Wii Fit, NSMB Wii) dont even use the motion sensing in any massive way.

Games like Carnival Games and the sort may have done well, but their sequels are doing piss poor. This is the same in japan with games like Taiko/Deca Sports doing very well and their sequels doing piss poor. It is because these are casual gamers who can play the same crappy game for years and not need anything new. Heck, most of these people only turn on the wii when people are over and it becomes the board games of this generation.

The ones who suffer in this situation are the Wii only owners who demand the respect the top selling system each generation usually gets. They aren't getting it at all and never will. Nintendo doesn't even give a crap either, they are making money hand over fist. They make money on each wii sold, their own games are the top selling games, and they sell tons and tons of controllers and accessories that they make more on then any third party game sales could dream of. They do not need anyone to be the success they are, so they will not go through lengths to make them happy.

If you are a gamer and you only own a Wii, you need to just get over it and get a HD console as well. I own all 3 and am very satisfied. I use the wii for nintendo games (DUH), rock band and karaoke games. Works out well for me. I use the HD Twins for everything else.

[quote name='LoWeT']well hopefully tatsunoko vs. capcom will help out sales[/QUOTE]

ROFL. We have a comedian on the forum.
 
i didn't enjoy the Umbrella Chronicle, so naturally i'm not going to waste my money on Darkside. Mindless shooting is fun, but it gets boring after an hour or so. The story is not helping either... And p.s. no achievements/trophies...
 
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