Here is my problem. A new Wii game comes out, looks promising, I start to get interested, it comes out, and I suddenly question the purchase. It's nothing against the Wii, really. It's just that damn price tag. $50 seems a tad expensive on a game rack. "But wait," you say. "Aren't you the guy with a huge PS3 and 360 collection?" Yes, yes I am. So the question at it's core, isn why $50 seems too expensive. After all, the last Wii game I bought at launch was Klonoa, a $30 game. Now you have to wonder why I would have a hangup like that. Doesn't make sense, does it?

Actually, it does. Here is the deal in it's rawests, simplist form. $50 is just $10 shy of $60. Since the Wii libraries are often kept next to the PS3 and 360 cases, the value proposition is almost instantly defeated with the $60 games. It's a hard line to draw and soemthing many Nintendophiles have started declaring is an unfair practice. "You can't compare Wii games to PS3/360 games." Why can't I? Why do we have to treat Wii games as the retarded special child in the room? You can only compare Wii games to Wii games? This WOULD make sense, if these Wii games weren't priced dangerously close to the other consoles releases.


I'm sure you know where this is going and are already planning the angry response. Hold back a minute and think about things this way. On August 26, 2008, Namco Bandai dropped Tales of Vesperia on the Xbox 360. It was, as many other 360 games, priced at $60. Critically acclaimed, gorgeous, and often referred to as the best Tales game in years. Three months later, on November 11th, 2008, Namco Bandai dropped Tales of Symphonia: DDay of Discovery on Nintendo Wii for $50. By this time, Tales of Vesperia had dropped at several retailers for $10-$20. Critically pounded as a reskinning, Symphonia 2 had an uphill battle. But let's ignore the price drop and focus on launch pricing, $60 vs $50. What DID that extra $10 buy you? A much better story, better graphics, better sound work, and Coop. Facing each other down, Tales of Symphonia 2 looked downright silly being priced at $50. Especially since it was facing down a possibly cheaper Vesperia.


This is but one of many examples as the article goes forward. Now I shall tackle one of the console saviors. This is one of those games that, for some reason or another, is hailed as a "finally" title on Wii. I'm not quite sure why gamers do this but certain games follow the curse of being blown up to messianic proportions. They can never live up, stop it. One such game was The Conduit. This is a Scifi shooter with unusual weaponry, the only thing making it stand out were the controls and a messiah complex. $50 was the curse they gave this game. I say curse for a simple reason. Both PS3 and 360 already had scifi shooters that kicked Conduits ass in everyway except the mythological "best controls EVA (provided said users never owned a PC)." On 360, Halo 3 has a huge and thriving community in addition to a much better campaign and a unified online community inherent to the system. PS3 had Resistance 2 which also featured a better campaign, better online, and a unified console community. And worse yet, both of these games had graphical prowess sufficient to make Conduit laughably bad. The final nail, of course, is the fact that both Halo 3 and Resistance 2, by this point, could be found for $10 cheaper than Conduit. But even at $60, the value proposition is not even in question.


Now, I mention all this because I recently added some Wii games to my collection. These are all games I really wanted when they launched, but the price instantly turned me off. Listed below are the Game, launch price, and price I paid.

Madworld $49.99 $14.98
De Blob $39.99 $ 9.99
HotD: Overkill $49.99 $14.98
EA Active $59.99 $39.99

You may have noticed the dramatic price drop I waited for on three of those. Reasoning is simple. The longer out from a launch a price stays high, the less I care about said game. This is not a Nintendo exclusive BTW. I'm still waiting on a pricedrop for Killzone 2. But let's just say my enthuisiasm for Madworld was significantly less when it hit $30 than when it launched at $50. When I spied the copy in a clearance bin, my immediate reaction was "Oh yeah, I wanted this game." Ironically enough, would it have LAUNCHED at $30, it would have been a day 1 purchase for me. But that's the problem in a nutshell. The $50 price tag immediately turns me off. It's too damn close to a better looking, often better playing, and better supported PS360 game. Saddest part is I know I'm not alone in my sentiment.

So what is the problem? The first issue I'd say is a genuine misunderstanding of the Core vs. Casual market. I know I typically hate using terms like that but let's put it this way. Who is House of the Dead, Conduit, Symphonia 2, and Madworld aiming for? Typically, they're aiming for the exact same kind of gamers that ARE multiconsole owners. Whether PSWii or Wii60, or even PSWii60, these consumers have a WIDE option to purchase. So we've defined the customers, what does this mean to publishers? Well, simply put, they are pricing their games as if Wii is the only console their consumers own. Conduit looks like Game of the Year compared to Water Wars and Call of Duty 5 on Wii. Symphonia 2 is the be all, end all, if you don't have access to Lost Odyssey or Valkaria Chronicles.


Are all games not worth $50 then? Exceptions to the rule exists and most of them come with a Nintendo logo. Fact of the matter is only Nintendo games are at the calibur of quality (most of the time) to compete with the bigger boys on PS360. It's hard to argue the value proposition of Super Mario Galaxy. But the rest? Let's just say the farther they run for the $60 price tag, the better. To a man waiting on a Killzone 2 price drop, $50 for a Resident Evil light gun shooter is fucking ridiculous. But $30? I'm there day 1.

Of course the entire crux of this article entirely hinges on the concept that you can only play one game of one genre but even if you break those down, and want to play more RPGs, SciFi shooters, etc. fact of the matter is the top tier not only kick a lot of Wii $50 games ass, but the secondary tier does a fair amount of rump kicking as well. I expect if publishers started taking this into account, more "core" games would do better on Wii. And considering the number of $40 Wii games going into the Holiday season, they are wising up. They just aren't quite there yet.