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Will developers properly support WiiU when the rest of the world moves to Xone/ps4?

Derrick01

Banned
They don't support it now where all they have to do is, at the very least, port their 360/ps3 game over to a slightly stronger system. What makes you think they'll take their much stronger next gen games and figure out how and where to gut it to get it to run on a system that will sell about 20,000 copies of the game?
 

Riposte

Member
Party games, licensed game shovelware, gimped cross-gen ports that will inevitably just stop getting ported entirely when they don't sell, and the occasional moneyhatted title from devs like Platinum and Sega.

Buy a Wii U to play Nintendo titles and the occasional quality third-party exclusive. Buy a PS4/Xbone for everything else.

Everything else = Everything not on a PC.
 
Many people will be surprised to see how few people actually "move on".
You will be surprised to know just how tired people are of the current generation. The Wii U is not an indicator for anything relating to the PS4 or Xbox One.

And by the end of 2014, I expect third party Wii U support to dry up when cross gen support does.
 

StuBurns

Banned
Reengineering? Most of these games are made using middleware specifically so they're easier to develop and cross port. Wii U has free licensing on the Unity engine, which lifts a considerable burden for many indie devs vs. other platforms. Look at indie Kickstarters where Wii U is a common stretch goal. Are you sure you're not just, you know, talking out your ass?
It depends on the title, and I didn't mean the literal porting of technology, I meant reengineering of assets or design for a lower spec platform.

If we're talking about the indie games on PS4 and XBO people seem to be most interested in, such as The Witness, or Below, there's been no announcement of Wii U versions. Anything can be ported to any system, but the process always costs, and considering publishers don't seem to care about it, I seriously doubt many indies will do differently.
 
Indie developers? Sure, since Nintendo is making the process easier and easier.

Mainstream developers? No...especially because the few publishers who are still all-in for the Wii U (Ubisoft / Sega / Disney / Warner Bros. / Activision) aren't fully committed and may pull out if the upcoming holiday season doesn't make amends.
 

muu

Member
Last year I'd be saying "well no shit they will," but the combination of bombastic sales and an architecture that's far off from the very similar systems used on PS4/XB1/PC, I'm not so sure.
 
hmmmm probably ubisoft and capcom but not many others.

oh well, next time Nintendo :(


a off tv battlefield 4 would have made me buy an extra copy though, smh EA
 

monlo

Member
i sincerely don't understand why they don't support it.

I really do like the Wii U, and sharing a TV with someone is hard enough as it is. I can't even play another console, really. I literally have to use the Wii U, or I can't play any games (aside from the PC). It sucks.
 

DoctorZ

Member
I feel like if developers continue to do ps3/360 versions/ports we'll at least see bare-bones ports of those to wii u with some publishers. Some will probably abandon it though if they feel the port cost is too much.
 

Tookay

Member
You will be surprised to know just how tired people are of the current generation. The Wii U is not an indicator for anything relating to the PS4 or Xbox One.

And by the end of 2014, I expect third party Wii U support to dry up when cross gen support does.

Sure, people on forums are. But I don't think this sentiment is as widely shared among Average Joe as you think. The number of people willing to pony up for $400/500 consoles in an age where they can get iPads or tablets might surprise some gaffers.

(Not that this has anything to do with the Wii U.)
 

neptunes

Member
Did the Gamecuve show more promise going into its second year? is the Wii U tracking to perform the same?

When were the Capcom 5 games announced?

I don't remember the situation being this dire 12 years ago. I also don't remember what gamers were looking forward to in its 1st/2nd year. (I'm referring to 3rd party games only)
 
It depends on the title, and I didn't mean the literal porting of technology, I meant reengineering of assets or design for a lower spec platform.

If we're talking about the indie games on PS4 and XBO people seem to be most interested in, such as The Witness, or Below, there's been no announcement of Wii U versions. Anything can be ported to any system, but the process always costs, and considering publishers don't seem to care about it, I seriously doubt many indies will do differently.
You're probably right that Wii U won't see some of the more taxing indie games, but by and large indie titles are fairly modest affairs. I actually consider it one of the areas where the Wii U has a chance to grow and perhaps even flourish, as opposed to big budget 3rd party support, which seems destined to become a self fulfilling prophecy of failures or occasional lukewarm successes. The most unfortunate aspect of digital downloads on the Wii is the relatively small storage capacity of the system, which could fill up rapidly, especially if someone is getting their retail games digitally.
 

Vandiger

Member
It was dead when they announced the specs, can't run next-gen engines properly. Just call it Indie Nintendo with a sprinkle of PS3/360 ports.
 
You will be surprised to know just how tired people are of the current generation. The Wii U is not an indicator for anything relating to the PS4 or Xbox One.

And by the end of 2014, I expect third party Wii U support to dry up when cross gen support does.

I also dont expect that the Wii U lack of support is any indication of support for next gen console release. I think console end of life fatigue is very real, and many of my gamer friends across steam and live and psn are chomping at the bit to jump into the next cycle.
 

Gsnap

Member
Sure, people on forums are. But I don't think this sentiment is as widely shared among Average Joe as you think. The number of people willing to pony up for $400/500 consoles in an age where they can get iPads or tablets might surprise some gaffers.

(Not that this has anything to do with the Wii U.)

Obviously anecdotal evidence and not worth much, but I don't know a single person interested in the next gen consoles (at least not at launch), and plenty of them enjoy video games.

I honestly expect them to sell less than many people on here are expecting. Not Wii U bad, but certainly not as good as expected.
 

StuBurns

Banned
timed/console exclusives.
But they (Blow at least), are able to discuss future versions (he mentioned the XB1 version on Twitter), and I know the Below guys at least said it's going elsewhere, although I can't remember if they specified where.

I guess we'll have to see, so far, most the indie games announced are exclusive, or they're PS360 stuff too, like MN9, etc. I guess it's possible, but I doubt it. No core gamer is going to have their Wii U as their main system, so they'd still play those indie games on PS4/XB1 making Wii U versions redundant, at least, that would be my guess.
 

Neff

Member
If the best selling console last generation, the Wii, wasn't supported when the world moved to the PS3 and 360. What chance does the Wii U have?

It's a much, much better console than the Wii was.

Also, people are rather overlooking the monstrous development costs that will be required to make next gen worth noticing over the last one. Once the impulse release hardware purchases and opportune flirtation with new IPs have passed, anyone not looking to make an established, predominantly Western AAA title will be facing a massive risk by spending next gen development budgets, and very few will. Which leaves middle tier developers, Indie and Japan, all ideal fits for Wii U. We're seeing a lot of preorder excitement for next gen, but it seems people are more excited for the hardware itself than the games, that the event of next gen itself is what people are buying into. Of the 20 or so people I know who play games, only one is buying a PS4, because he loves Sony. I already know 4 people with Wii Us.

Writing off Wii U at this stage is rather jumping the gun when PS4 and XBOne are still an uncertain success.
 

Vaiim

Member
Depends how long it takes the rest of the world to move off PS360. Those new consoles aren't super cheap (PS4 being cheaper than expected =/= "cheap"), so it might take a little while for Johnny Casual to switch over.

Until then I'd expect some cross-gen games, but couldn't really care to be honest. I'm more interested in the exclusive 3rd party games that Nintendo gets, that's where the real gems are, I can play Creed of Battlefield: Resident Dogs Ex on everything else anyway.
 

jeffers

Member
But they (Blow at least), are able to discuss future versions (he mentioned the XB1 version on Twitter), and I know the Below guys at least said it's going elsewhere, although I can't remember if they specified where.

I guess we'll have to see, so far, most the indie games announced are exclusive, or they're PS360 stuff too, like MN9, etc. I guess it's possible, but I doubt it. No core gamer is going to have their Wii U as their main system, so they'd still play those indie games on PS4/XB1 making Wii U versions redundant, at least, that would be my guess.

yeah tbh i was mostly going on memory and a quick google verify. But if nintendo can get loads of middleware indie engines and have like the unity licensing deal then its pretty easy for them to port. Kinda makes me wish shin'en did waxing indie pretty style games :p
 
Did the Gamecuve show more promise going into its second year? is the Wii U tracking to perform the same?

When were the Capcom 5 games announced?

I don't remember the situation being this dire 12 years ago. I also don't remember what gamers were looking forward to in its 1st/2nd year. (I'm referring to 3rd party games only)

GameCube's second half lineup was much, MUCH stronger than the Wii U's lineup in terms of third-party support.

Here is a comparison:

GameCube's USA August - December retail lineup (ending its first full year)

Code:
#001. SUPER MARIO SUNSHINE		NINTENDO OF AMERICA		August-2002
#002. SUPER MONKEY BALL 2		SEGA OF AMERICA			August-2002
#003. MADDEN NFL 2003			ELECTRONIC ARTS			August-2002
#004. TUROK: EVOLUTION			ACCLAIM ENTERTAINMENT		August-2002
#005. NFL 2K3				SEGA OF AMERICA			August-2002
#006. DISNEY MAGICAL MIRROR		NINTENDO OF AMERICA		August-2002
#007. NFL BLITZ 2003			MIDWAY				August-2002
#008. BEACH SPIKERS			SEGA OF AMERICA			August-2002
#009. SMUGGLER'S RUN			ROCKSTAR GAMES (TAKE 2)		August-2002
#010. STAR FOX ADVENTURES		NINTENDO OF AMERICA		September-2002
#011. ANIMAL CROSSING			NINTENDO OF AMERICA		September-2002
#012. NEED SPEED: PURSUIT 2		ELECTRONIC ARTS			September-2002
#013. CRASH BANDICOOT:CORTX		VIVENDI UNIVERSAL		September-2002
#014. NASCAR THUNDER 2003		ELECTRONIC ARTS			September-2002
#015. SCOOBY-DOO:100 FRIGHT		THQ				September-2002
#016. MONSTERS INC: ARENA		THQ				September-2002
#017. ROCKET POWER: BEACH		THQ				September-2002
#018. PAC-MAN FEVER			NAMCO				September-2002
#019. MLB SLUGFEST 20-03		MIDWAY				September-2002
#020. RAYMAN ARENA			UBI SOFT			September-2002
#021. NHL 2003				ELECTRONIC ARTS			September-2002
#022. 4X4 EVO 2				UNIVERSAL INTERACTIVE (VIVENDI)	September-2002
#023. CAPCOM VS SNK 2: EO		CAPCOM USA			September-2002
#024. SCORPION KING: RISE		UNIVERSAL INTERACTIVE (VIVENDI)	September-2002
#025. FREEKSTYLE			ELECTRONIC ARTS			September-2002
#026. NHL HITZ 2003			MIDWAY				September-2002
#027. NCAA FOOTBALL 2K3			SEGA OF AMERICA			September-2002
#028. MYSTIC HEROES			KOEI				September-2002
#029. KELLY SLATER PRO SURF		ACTIVISION			September-2002
#030. BIG AIR FREESTYLE			ATARI				September-2002
#031. CASPER: SPIRIT			TDK MEDIACTIVE			September-2002
#032. EGG MANIA: EGGSTREME		KEMCO AMERICA			September-2002
#033. WTA TOUR TENNIS			KONAMI OF AMERICA		September-2002
#034. MARIO PARTY 4			NINTENDO OF AMERICA		October-2002
#035. GODZILLA:DESTRY MELEE		ATARI				October-2002
#036. TONY HAWKS PRO SKATR4		ACTIVISION			October-2002
#037. NAMCO MUSEUM			NAMCO				October-2002
#038. STAR WARS: CLONE WARS		LUCASARTS ENTERTAINMENT		October-2002
#039. TIMESPLITTERS 2			EIDOS INTERACTIVE		October-2002
#040. PHANTASY STAR I & II		SEGA OF AMERICA			October-2002
#041. NBA LIVE 2003			ELECTRONIC ARTS			October-2002
#042. TY TASMANIAN TIGER		ELECTRONIC ARTS			October-2002
#043. BACKYARD FOOTBALL			ATARI				October-2002
#044. TIGER WOODS PGA 2003		ELECTRONIC ARTS			October-2002
#045. SHREK EXTRA LARGE			TDK MEDIACTIVE			October-2002
#046. NBA 2K3				SEGA OF AMERICA			October-2002
#047. ROBOTECH: BATTLECRY		TDK MEDIACTIVE			October-2002
#048. KNOCKOUT KINGS 2003		ELECTRONIC ARTS			October-2002
#049. X-MEN: NEXT DIMENSION		ACTIVISION			October-2002
#050. TOP GUN: COMBAT ZONES		TITUS SOFTWARE			October-2002
#051. BLOODRAYNE			MAJESCO				October-2002
#052. OUTLAW GOLF			VIVENDI UNIVERSAL		October-2002
#053. TAZ: WANTED			ATARI				October-2002
#054. SWINGERZ GOLF			EIDOS INTERACTIVE		October-2002
#055. WORMS BLAST			UBI SOFT			October-2002
#056. MAT HOFFMANS PRO BMX2		ACTIVISION			October-2002
#057. PRO RALLY 2002			UBI SOFT			October-2002
#058. ROBOTECH COLLECTOR ED		TDK MEDIACTIVE			October-2002
#059. METROID PRIME			NINTENDO OF AMERICA		November-2002
#060. SONIC MEGA COLLECTION		SEGA OF AMERICA			November-2002
#061. BOND 007: NIGHTFIRE		ELECTRONIC ARTS			November-2002
#062. RESIDENT EVIL ZERO		CAPCOM USA			November-2002
#063. HARRY POTTER: CHAMBER		ELECTRONIC ARTS			November-2002
#064. SPYRO:ENTER DRAGONFLY		UNIVERSAL INTERACTIVE (VIVENDI)	November-2002
#065. MEDAL HONOR FRONTLINE		ELECTRONIC ARTS			November-2002
#066. MORTAL KOMBAT: DEADLY		MIDWAY				November-2002
#067. SW: JEDI KNIGHT II		LUCASARTS ENTERTAINMENT		November-2002
#068. NICKELODN PARTY BLAST		ATARI				November-2002
#069. MK & ASHLEY SWEET 16		ACCLAIM ENTERTAINMENT		November-2002
#070. RUGRATS ROYAL RANSOM		THQ				November-2002
#071. DEAD TO RIGHTS			NAMCO				November-2002
#072. BALDURS GATE:ALLIANCE		INTERPLAY PRODUCTIONS		November-2002
#073. HOT WHEELS:VELOCITY X		THQ				November-2002
#074. MONOPOLY PARTY			ATARI				November-2002
#075. HUNTER: THE RECKONING		INTERPLAY PRODUCTIONS		November-2002
#076. ZAPPER				ATARI				November-2002
#077. STREET HOOPS			ACTIVISION			November-2002
#078. REIGN OF FIRE			BAM! ENTERTAINMENT		November-2002
#079. MINORITY REPORT			ACTIVISION			November-2002
#080. LEGENDS OF WRESTLING2		ACCLAIM ENTERTAINMENT		November-2002
#081. NASCAR:DIRT 2 DAYTONA		ATARI				November-2002
#082. DIE HARD: VENDETTA		VIVENDI UNIVERSAL		November-2002
#083. DEFENDER				MIDWAY				November-2002
#084. FIFA SOCCER 2003			ELECTRONIC ARTS			November-2002
#085. ROCKY				UBI SOFT			November-2002
#086. DISNEY SKATEBOARDING		KONAMI OF AMERICA		November-2002
#087. BMX XXX				ACCLAIM ENTERTAINMENT		November-2002
#088. WRECKLESS: YAKUZA			ACTIVISION			November-2002
#089. EVOLUTION SKATEBOARD		KONAMI OF AMERICA		November-2002
#090. DISNEY SOCCER			KONAMI OF AMERICA		November-2002
#091. FIREBLADE				MIDWAY				November-2002
#092. WHIRL TOUR			CRAVE ENTERTAINMENT		November-2002
#093. CUBIVORE				ATLUS				November-2002
#094. DARKENED SKYE			SIMON & SCHUSTER		November-2002
#095. LORD OF RINGS: TOWERS		ELECTRONIC ARTS			December-2002
#096. SW: BOUNTY HUNTER			LUCASARTS ENTERTAINMENT		December-2002
#097. SPONGEBOB: DUTCHMAN		THQ				December-2002
#098. FROGGER BEYOND			KONAMI OF AMERICA		December-2002
#099. JIMMY NEUTRON: GENIUS		THQ				December-2002
#100. EVOLUTION WORLDS			UBI SOFT			December-2002
#101. BLOOD OMEN 2			EIDOS INTERACTIVE		December-2002
#102. MONSTER JAM: MAXIMUM		UBI SOFT			December-2002
#103. DRAGON'S LAIR 3D			ENCORE				December-2002
#104. DR. MUTO				MIDWAY				December-2002
#105. SUPER BUBBLE POP			JALECO				December-2002
#106. PK:OUT OF THE SHADOWS		UBI SOFT			December-2002
#107. DISNEY FOOTBALL			KONAMI OF AMERICA		December-2002
#108. NHL 2K3				SEGA OF AMERICA			December-2002
#109. NCAA BASKETBALL 2K3		SEGA OF AMERICA			December-2002

This is a much, MUCH stronger lineup than what we're getting from USA retail from the Wii U this year.

Compare this to Wii U's lineup:

Wii U's USA August - December retail lineup (ending its first full year)
Code:
#01. Pikmin 3 (August 4th)
#02. Disney's Planes (August 6th)
#03. Angry Birds Trilogy (August 13th)
#04. Phineas and Ferb (August 13th)
#05. Disney Infinity (August 18th)
#06. Splinter Cell Blacklist (August 20th)
#07. New Super Luigi U (August 25th)
#08. Rayman Legends (September 3rd)
#09. The Wonderful 101 (September 15th)
#10. Hot Wheels (September 17th)
#11. Scribblenauts Unmasked (September 24th)
#12. Wind Waker HD (October 4th)
#13. Just Dance 2014 (October 9th)
#14. Skylanders: Swap Force (October 13th)
#15. Wipeout 2 (October 15th)
#16. Zumba Fitness: World Party (October 16th)
#17. Just Dance Kids 2014 (October 22nd)
#18. SpongeBob (October 22nd)
#19. Lego Marvel Super Heroes (October 22nd)
#20. Deus Ex Human Revolution (October 22nd)
#21. Batman: Arkham Origins (October 25th)
#22. Wii Party U (October 25th)
#23. Angry Birds: Star Wars (October 29th)
#24. Monster High (October 29th)
#25. Assassin's Creed 4 (October 29th)
#26. Sonic Lost World (October 29th)
#27. Call of Duty: Ghosts (November 5th)
#28. Ben 10 (November 5th)
#29. Adventure Time (November 12th)
#30. Ducktales: Remastered (November 12th)
#31. Mario & Sonic (November 15th)
#32. Watch Dogs (November 19th)
#33. Young Justice (November 19th)
#34. Super Mario 3D World (November 22nd)
#35. Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures (November 28th)
#36. Wii Fit U (December 13th)

Compare GameCube's 109 releases to Wii U's 36 releases.
 

KageMaru

Member
You will be surprised to know just how tired people are of the current generation. The Wii U is not an indicator for anything relating to the PS4 or Xbox One.

And by the end of 2014, I expect third party Wii U support to dry up when cross gen support does.

Generally cross Gen support sticks around for around ~3 years for major franchises. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out next Gen considering how long this Gen has stuck around.

I could see Wii-U support almost entirely dry up by the end of next year, regardless of how many games appear on the ps360.
 

Moonstone

Member
It's a much, much better console than the Wii was.

And the vita is the best handheld ever created by mankind. Support still sucks.

Also, people are rather overlooking the monstrous development costs that will be required to make next gen worth noticing over the last one. Once the impulse release hardware purchases and opportune flirtation with new IPs have passed, anyone not looking to make an established, predominantly Western AAA title will be facing a massive risk by spending next gen development budgets, and very few will. Which leaves middle tier developers, Indie ..

Lets get the facts straight: Indie and Mid-tier developers release predominantly on Steam and not on the WiiU. In the future they will release on PSN, XBL, Steam and maybe on the WiiU too. WiiU might get some titles there, but not many exclusives. Perhaps some japanese games, but Japan doesn't play a big role anymore. Especially when all hope is on mid-tier WiiU games.

Of the 20 or so people I know who play games, only one is buying a PS4, because he loves Sony. I already know 4 people with Wii Us.

Of the 5 gaming people I know, three prefer the PC, the other two are collecting Amiga games. Consoles are dead ;)
 

Relativ9

Member
I like this thread, it's a thread where even the most hardcore nintendo fans will admit that the very premise of this question is faulty, it lifts spirits to see such a unanimus appriciation for the obvious.
 

JordanN

Banned
Nintendo must not care about third party developers. When the Wii was a massive success, they only pushed their games and let the casual stuff flourish.

Now Wii U is out and Nintendo had no idea what audience was suppose to be on it. There's no core or casual.

It's hard to imagine what kind of support they're every going to get now. Banking on indies may not be a good idea or it's too late, because MS and Sony also want them too.
 

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
I mean, they didn't support the Wii when it was on top of the world, so no.

I wouldn't be surprised to see decent support from Japan, though.
 

Ishida

Banned
Ever since the Nintendo 64, third party developers have given the middle finger to Nintendo with a few exceptions. I really don't know how the lack of support to the Wii U is of any surprise. We've been seeing this for years now.
 

squidyj

Member
absolutely the wii u is going to get proper support by devs if by proper you mean the level of support it deserves.
 
I mean, they didn't support the Wii when it was on top of the world, so no.

I wouldn't be surprised to see decent support from Japan, though.

I would.

Japan isn't supporting it any better than the West. Actually Japanese support is probably worse right now.
 

d1rtn4p

Member
OP, you're on the wrong system if you care about developers. Nintendo has been all about first party for two decades now. Personally, I like it that way.
 

Naminator

Banned
Third party is going to support the WiiU when the player base on is big enough and willing enough to purchase third party titles.

A lot of WiiU ports right now sell only 60-80k copies, thats not something the publishers are interested in, especially since port to the WiiU is not a walk in the park.
 

dcx4610

Member
The biggest blow the Wii U is going to to feel is yet to come. The change to x86 architecture for the Xbone and PS4 will be its death knell.

Once companies stop making 360 games, there is very little chance they are going to devote a separate team to code and port games over to the Wii U when both next gen consoles and PC are on the same architecture.

If you think the Wii U is bad right now, just wait. 1st party games and nothing else.
 
Nah, Wii U is going to be a first party, moneyhatted second party, and indie system. 3rd parties will be GONE after this holiday season, I'm almost certain. That is unless, all the upcoming multiplats sell incredibly well. It's very unlikely.
 

Allforce

Member
image_zps2cd9d696.jpg
 

alan666

Banned
Okay, well, if it's serious. This is what your Wii U future looks like.

Scabby low rent ports of 360 games, then when everyone moves on to PS4/XBO/PC only, with game engines not even on Wii U, you get nothing.

Pretty much yes, the WiiU not being x86 is the real killer.

I am a WiiU owner since launch & i am not optimistic about its future at all.

I think it will end up a cult console like the NeoGeo or the PCengine.
 
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