I figured I would write a little bit after reading Mr. Holmes' article about the Wii's values influencing the PS3 and 360, much to the third parties' dismay:

Business isn't about making money, it's about making customers. Money ONLY comes from customers. The more customers you have, the more money you get. You treat your customers well, and give them a product that satisfies them, they'll become passionate about that product and word of mouth will ultimately sell more than any amount of marketing or hype could hope for. People waited in massive lines for the Wii. You treat your customers like shit, and the opposite will happen. Case-in-point: The so-called game industry.



Third parties are not interested in customers, only making money. But money only comes from customers. The third parties hate Nintendo because they have to compete with their first party games. That's always been the case since the NES. Nintendo's hardware only sold because of their software. It created a very high benchmark that nowadays other game developers are loathe to compete against. So as we're seeing with the Wii, they don't.



That's why they flocked to Sega, but Sega had the same idea as Nintendo, which is why the third parties all swarmed over Sony with the Playstation. Sega and Nintendo both made accessible and easy-to-develop-for consoles (the Dreamcast and Game Cube) but the third parties still mostly ignored them. Sony and Microsoft fought over Grand Theft Auto 4 and paid handsomely for Rockstar's game. It was hyped and hyped, touted as the best thing since sliced bread, the game came out, and Super Mario Kart Wii ultimately outsold it, and without a price cut. For all its hype, GTA4 didn't sell PS3s or 360s to anyone outside the stagnant pool of hardcore gamers. It didn't create sustaining momentum for the hardware. And even now we're seeing considerable backlash against Activision and Infinity Ward for Modern warefare 2.



Here's the horrible truth about the Wii that the game industry would like you to ignore: They need the Wii, but Nintendo doesn't need them. Nintendo wants them to make games for their system, but they're not gonna kiss the third parties' ass and do their job for them. The third parties are showing that they utterly fail to make the kind of old-school games that built this industry, which is what the Wii's audience craves. When their games fail to sell, they blame the customers. The customer is ALWAYS right. Always. Nintendo understands this, which is why most of the time, their games sell so well.

In the meantime, smaller developers are flocking to the Wii and cutting their teeth on the hardware. They aren't making blockbusters...yet. But they're learning. Developers like High-Voltage Software should be scaring the ever-loving shit out of the likes of EA, Ubisoft, and Valve. There are plenty of successful third parties on the Wii, but they aren't in the "game industry". They are developers that would otherwise be locked out of the console market by HD gaming.



You strip away the Wii sales, the Wii customers, and what you are left with is a gaming industry that is well on its way into decline, not because of the recession, but because their business practices of putting themselves above their customers, pursuing revenue before making new customers, and their otherwise shitty attitude towards their existing customers and the Expanded Market, has alienated gamers, old and new. The passion for their games is lost, replaced only by a void of disdain and cynicism.

Nintendo and these smaller third parties are disrupting the game industry by embracing low-end gaming. The industry is also being disrupted by the likes of flash gaming, cellphone gaming, and even those games you can play on the iPhone. Thing is, the DS sets itself apart because it's more gaming system than PDA that just happens to game. Sony and Microsoft both touted their systems as entertainment hubs that could do it all, whereas Nintendo marketed the Wii as just a gaming console. Which sold more units? It's the same with the DS. iPhone can play games, but the DS is a dedicated gaming platform. Not saying it's not important, but I'm saying that sales indicate that people would rather have the dedicated gaming platform.

And don't talk about price cuts. They haven't created sustatining momentum for either the PS3 or the 360. Not even for the Wii. People buy the hardware for the software. The Wii may be in a slump, but it's seen some serious software releases that's gonna give it some oomph while the PS3 and 360 stagnate for the forseeable future. Not to mention that Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit are still selling healthy numbers. The Sony Wand will only sell if there is compelling software.

If there is no compelling software for the system (and I don't mean hardcore or casual games, sorry), on parity with Zelda or Mario (and don't throw that pathetic excuse for a platformer LBP at me), then Nintendo's audience isn't gonna buy into what Sony is selling. Can the third parties create this kind of compelling software for the 360 and the PS3? Looking at their lack of creativity and success on the Wii, the answer is no. If they can't even be bothered to make a game that's graphically on parity with Shadow of the Colossus and God of War on the Wii, then how can they even do the same on the PS3 or 360?



I understand perfectly well: Third parties are only interested in money. They find new ways to fleece revenue from the hardcore. The hardcore are so easily hoodwinked by the marketing and the hype. People apologize for the industry when they want to strip away your ownership of games (Digital Distribution), for nickel-and-diming its customers. For shipping games bugged and glitched up the ass. For shitty ports of 360 games to the PS3 (Bayonetta). For making sequels that take away features (Modern Warfare 2's lack of dedicated servers). Bobby Kotick makes Ebeneezer Scrooge look like fucking Ghandi and yet the hardcore just shrug their shoulders and bend over.



But that's not the story with the Expanded Market, which is why the third parties hate the Wii. Their marketing always fails. They won't buy into the hype. The Wii doesn't allow the industry to nickel and dime their customers, and it can't shove digital distribution down their throats. They have to compete with smaller third parties that have a better grasp on the Wii audience than the larger third parties. They have to compete with Nintendo's first party games. And Nintendo doesn't release games riddled with infuriating bugs and glitches. They have to compete with quality and originality and integrity, things that the game industry has forgotten about in its quest for prestiege. They can't lock out smaller third parties with high-cost-of-entry gaming like they could on the PS3 and 360. They have to compete, but it's now obvious they have forgotten how to do that.

It seems that the game industry, game journalists, industry apologists and hacks, the analysts, they're all crying doom and gloom for the Wii. But even with the slump the Wii has had, it's still doing just fine. They sold their hardware for a profit right from the outset, and to this day their first party software still sells for full market value. The third parties that actually treat their customers right and make the kind of games that they will play, they are selling and they are prospering on the Wii.

The game industry may need the Wii and Nintendo, but Nintendo does not need them. The third parties have been so used to getting their way for so long, they're like a bunch of spoiled brats. Now they have to actually go out and make customers. Now they're the ones having to bow down and kiss the customer's ass. Their pride isn't letting them do this. Their pride is gonna be their downfall. While they ignore the Wii, the seeds of the future gaming industry is being planted by the likes of High Voltage Software and many others. When the industry finally clamors to the Wii for survival, they're gonna find an entrenched group of developers that are gonna hand them their asses.