Dear Reader:
GoNintendo 'End of day' thought - n-Space's 'Winter' storms the web, we work for a publisher, and why all Wii owners should care
I may not be a well-accomplished writer, but I sure hope my passion comes through. That’s the most I can hope for in situations like these. I know it’s a giant wall of text, but I really would appreciate it if you took the time to read through it. Thanks in advance to those that actually do!
I’m a bit drained after writing that, so my apologies for any portions that don’t make sense! I’ll off to bed for the night, so I’ll catch you all in a few, short hours. Take care, gang.
Someone looks cold…cold and alone. That would be the main character from Winter, a survival-horror game for Wii that you may never get to play. If you ever want to make that purchase decision for yourself, you’re going to have to step up to the plate and help n-Space, the developer. I know that you guys are probably familiar with this story already, but if you were MIA from the internet for the past few days, check out IGN’s article at the link below.
I find it absolutely absurd that a game like Winter is shunned by publishers. Here we have the number 1 console in the entire world, yet publishers are afraid to pick up a new game in a well-established genre. Some publishers still think that core games won’t work on the Wii. That’s kind of a crappy situation for Wii owners. It’s those same publishers that are creating the situation that they’re afraid of. If publishers don’t release core-oriented games on the Wii, then how can anyone test the waters of how core-oriented titles will sell? There’s no market for core games on the Wii because publishers haven’t created the market.
This is a mentality that came about during the first year of the Wii, and it’s stuck to this day. Publishers are afraid that they’ll be throwing their money away if they create a core-oriented Wii title. I’m not exactly sure what proof they are looking at. Do they examine the sales of their shoddy, half-assed early attempts at approaching the core Wii owner? Were they surprised to see that we didn’t want core titles that were ports from last generation, or PSP/PS2 clones with tacked-on motion controls? Would would have guessed that Wii owners would want to be treated with respect, much like 360 and PS3 owners are?
We have seen core titles do well on Wii. It’s true that there were entries from established franchises that did well…but they still managed to bring in sales. Just imagine if a publisher decided to put that same kind of care and bravery into releasing a quality Wii core title. You know…treating a Wii title as if it were a PS3/360 title. Putting the same amount of development time and effort into a product, instead of creating a Wii title as an afterthought. Using sales data from early ports and ‘Grade C’ quality Wii games to justify the actions of today is ridiculous. Most of the time, you get out of a product what you put in.
Publishers also have a hard time realizing that they may need to rethink their advertising strategies. The rules that have been in effect for 20 years may no longer apply. It might be time to think outside of the box…and that scares people. We’ve seen some great third-party Wii titles that struggled to pull in sales. Zack and Wiki was a fantastic game, but the traditional advertising didn’t help the game. No More Hoeres is another high-quality title, but the advertising approach just wasn’t there.
On the flip-side, rough estimates show us that there are 41 million-selling Wii titles…a number that almost doubles the million-sellers on PS3. Those million sellers range from Nintendo franchise classics to expanded audiences favorites. Carnival Games is exactly what the expanded audience wanted, and the marketing and word-of-mouth really pushed the title to new sales heights. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, The Simpsons Game, and Sonic and the Secret Rings are just a few titles that prove that core gamers are alive and well on the Wii. Rock Band and Guitar Hero bring in the perfect mix of casual and core, which equals big sales.
The most promising of all are the third party titles that are moving towards their million-selling status. Boom Blox is an original title that caters to both casual and core, and it’s nothing but AAA quality. THQ brought us de Blob, a game that released to rave review scores. It uses the Wii’s controllers in innovative ways in order to give us a new twist on a traditional genre. Both of these games are just about 200,000 short of hitting their million-selling status. This is just a small example of third party games that prove that the core Wii audience is listening. If you look at your title and market it through the appropriate outlets, you can see results. Publishers just have to realize that when it comes to Wii, the marketing is more important than ever before.
All that talk brings us right back to Winter. The survival-horror genre has been a popular one for years, but it’s been dominated by franchises like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Fatal Frame. While I still love each of those franchises, it would be great to see a new kid step onto the block. Resident Evil has moved away from its roots, the latest Silent Hill proves that the series is in need of a revamp, and Fatal Frame IV may never see release in the states. If there was ever a time to bring in a new survival-horror game, this would be it. Not capitalizing on this opportunity would be a huge mistake.
Wii owners, I understand your frustration. I know that you don’t think third parties treat us fairly…I really do get that. There are some third parties that are trying, and we applaud them for doing so. There are developers and publishers that believe in the Wii, and they are showing their support with their releases. n-Space is another one of those developers that sees what the Wii can do, and knows that the audience is there for their game idea. Unfortunately, n-Space hasn’t been able to pair themselves up with a publisher that thinks the same way.
This is why we have to step in and make some noise. Wii owners didn’t put themselves into this third-party predicament. It was the early publishers that stuck us here. They gave us shoddy support, and then got miffed with us when we didn’t buy their products. Now they don’t even want to try supporting the core audience. On the flip-side, there are developers that really know what the Wii owner is like. They know of the expanded audience, but they also know of the core audience that goes unfed. They see what the Wii can do and what titles can reach us. They are reaching out to us, and we need to reach back to them. It does truly suck that we have to fight for game support from time to time, but I am more than willing to prove just how passionate our audience can be. If that’s what it’ll take to make this happen, then so be it.
The support for Winter from internet publications has already been staggering. From big to small news outlets, there have been a ton of stories regarding Winter. I think it’s clear that people are fed-up with the core support on Wii, which makes the situation that n-Space is in even harder to stomach. We need to rally together and let not only n-Space, but devs/pubs all around the world know that the core Wii gamer exists, and we are ready to play.
As I’ve told you, there are a number of outlets that are willing to work for this cause. Obviously, the Nintendo team at IGN is doing their best to spread the word on Winter. As I’ve already showed you, I contacted Matt Casamassina about getting together some long-term support for Winter, with the hopes of a publisher popping up. If you missed his response, you can check that out here. As you can see, he’s ready to fight the good fight right alongside the rest of us. He’s not the only one either. My inbox was full with emails from sites around the web that are ready to man-up and make this happen. We’ll be telling you more about those sites/people in the future, once we have a clearer gameplan.
I can also tell you that I’ve been contacted by some people within the game industry analysis business, and they are looking to provide n-Space with all the data they can concerning publishers, core titles, sales, and so on. I’ve also managed a contact address for n-Space, and I hope to hear a response from them tomorrow. Finally, I sent out an email to a friend at a game magazine to see if a support article can be put together. Keep your fingers crossed for all these goals…for they would surely help in helping Winter find a publisher. Regardless of how this first wave of support goes, you can be sure that there are many other ideas brewing.
Finally, that brings us to the most important part of this mission…you guys. There aren’t going to be any publishers changing their tune unless you guys are loud…VERY loud about Winter. I am hoping that you are right there with us on this fight. Even if Winter isn’t your cup of tea, we still want your support. While the main goal of this mission is to get Winter a publisher, there’s also another very important message that goes along with this fight. Publishers and developers need to hear from the core Wii owner. If they don’t hear your voice, they aren’t going to support you. They are going to continue down the path of creating ‘puppy’ this, baby’ that and ‘mini-game fest 5000′. Speaking up for the publishing of Winter not only shows that you are dedicated to the Wii, it shows that you’re not going to take this shoddy treatment any longer. We are tired of seeing revenue pile up from shovelware titles, only to be taken to game development on the 360/PS3 side. Core gamers are here…and we are ready to support quality titles.
Right now, the best thing you can do is spread the word of Winter and its online petition to everyone you know, every forum you visit, and every mailbag you can find. I know that for every person that signs, there are 10 more that think that petitions are pointless. It’s true that many petitions come and go, but when they have a very big, supportive campaign behind them, great things can happen. Look at our past petitions that we ran. The first petition was for Telltale games to bring their titles to Wii. There was a petition as well as a phone campaign…and look at what happened. We also ran a petition for Bionic Commando on Wii. While we still have no word on that project actually happening, we saw Capcom comment about the petition numerous times. They applauded the community outcry, said that they heard our pleas, and took our actions into consideration. We had our voices heard, and while Capcom may/may not bring BC to the Wii, you can definitely see that they are supporting the core gamers on our side. Finally, there was a huge campaign/various petitions for The Conduit. I think the Wii-owning core crowd definitely stood up and fought for that game, and it paid off bigtime.
Now, I open the virtual floor to you guys. What do you think we can do in order to make Winter on Wii a reality? What are your suggestions to get our voices heard? Who do you think we should go after? I know that many of you have pointed to SEGA as the third party that would be most willing to approach this game. I too think that’s a fantastic choice. I don’t think we should approach them yet, simply because we don’t know what publishers n-Space contacted. Once we find out that information, I will pass it onto you. So…besides specific publishers, what do you think we should do to make this happen?