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With many third party publishers disappointed with Wii U’s performance, all eyes are on Nintendo to turn the console’s fortunes around. Fortunately, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has a plan to draw third parties back to the platform.
During the company’s annual investors meeting, Iwata was asked about Wii U’s recent third party troubles, and how Nintendo plans to improve the situation. Iwata responded by saying that the company would begin by “seamlessly” releasing major first party titles to increase the console’s install base and make it a more viable platform for other developers.
“As third-party software developers do business for their own profits, they tend to avoid investing in a platform with little presence. We would therefore like them to see Wii U as a platform with which they feel they can make profits from an economical perspective. However, if we tried to do nothing but buying our way to create such a good condition for developers, our own business could collapse. Accordingly, we will give more momentum to Wii U through our software. This is one thing we need to do.”
Iwata also emphasized the fact that Wii U needs a big third party hit to encourage other developers to jump aboard the platform. While there were a number of high profile third party releases during Wii U’s launch window, the vast majority of them failed to make much of an impact on the console because they were already available on other platforms, thereby minimizing their appeal.
“There were so many games released by third party publishers for Wii U during the launch period, but most of them were converted from other platforms and therefore could not enjoy brisk sales. As a result, some software developers have become pessimistic about Wii U.”
Nintendo will be doing its part by launching a number of major titles through the end of the year, beginning next month with the release of the long-awaited Pikmin 3 on August 4, followed by a retail version of New Super Luigi U on August 25, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD in October, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze in November, and Super Mario 3D World in December. Whether or not this strategy will turn the console around just as it did the 3DS remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt this coming holiday season will be an important one for Wii U.
Source: Nintendo World Report
Not to be super negative, but the success of the 3DS hasn’t resulted in a flood of third-party support, especially from Western developers. Nintendo’s future will continue to rest upon its own ability to drive units. I doubt many devs are going to want to dumb down their PS4 and XBone games for the Wii U. That said, success is success regardless of who is putting games on a Nintendo platform; I just want to see the company do well.