Namco Bandai’s VP of sales, marketing and publishing, Olivier Comte, has had some damning words to say about the current state of Nintendo’s software market. Confessing that most Wii and DS games have been “very, very bad,” the executive believes that the gravytrain has gone off the rails.
“It’s a tough market,” he confesses. “We had a lot of product, and the average quality of a game on DS and Wii is very, very bad. So in the mind of the consumer today, to buy a DS or Wii game is to buy a game that isn’t very good.
“One of the reasons the DS collapsed is piracy, it is very clear, but also it is a fantastic machine and very easy to develop for. It was possible for three kids in a garage to make a game for it. DS is the most successful platform ever, but all my kids’ friends at school have a DS with an R4. They have 100 games for no money. So yes, the market has collapsed for the DS and Wii.”
It really is sad that the two biggest problems with Nintendo’s systems are through no fault of Nintendo itself. Shovelware and piracy have definitely impacted both the Wii and DS, and we can’t really argue that Nintendo’s own games have encouraged either. As far as the quality of the Wii games goes, I’m frankly quite disgusted at the number of publishers who jumped on board the minigame bandwagon and ruined the Wii’s reputation for a quick buck.
Wii and DS market has ‘collapsed’ [MCV]
