Analyst: Wii is ‘inhospitable’ to third parties

Can Madden NFL 09 selling better on the PlayStation 2 than on the Wii prove that Nintendo’s White Box o’ Waggle is a wasteland for third party publishers? If you’re Cowen Group analyst Doug Creutz, then yes. Yes it does.

The Wii has the largest install base of current-gen machines, yet Madden 09 sold 79% less units than the PS3 version, and 87% less than the Xbox 360 version. Creutz uses this to back up his theory that “the Wii is a relatively inhospitable platform for third-party publishers.”

I think it merely proves that even Wii owners have taste.

No, that was just a little joke (the last thing I need to do is alienate Madden fans as well,) but I do disagree that this proves the Wii is “inhospitable” to anything that isn’t a first or second party game. Capcom had no complaints with Resident Evil 4, after all, and I believe both Guitar Hero III and Rock Band did pretty well. I’m also sure some of the crap that Ubisoft puts on the thing must sell well enough to keep them going.

All this really proves is that Wii owners like football less than PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 owners. That’s really not a difficult thing to believe, with all the housewives buying it.