With a strong star t, the Wii is now in the homes of over 13 million people worldwide, and this to within a year of launch. There are currently more games being released for the Wii than that of the PS3, and in some instances than the XBOX360, however what exactly is the future of Wii games?

Take for example a game which Capcom had hoped would have done extremely well, and whilst it hasn't been a complete flop it hasn't been that successful either. The game in question is Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure. Having sold 30,000 copies in the first week in the US, and only a further 15,000 a week after, it was hardly breathtaking figures, especially when you consider the fact that the US has around 5.5 million of the consoles in total. It's not only in the US that the game has done poorly, with similar results in the other two territories as well.

Now you may think that this isn't a big name game, however if you've read the reviews leading upto the release, it was very much a big-name title of a sort, with IGN going on about it for four months and giving it a 9/10 come review time. So if it got good reviews, then what was the cause of the game to suffer? Was it simply not enough advertising? People saving their money for another game? Or was the game just simply too difficult?

The fact is that many players found the game hard, and whilst the developers moaned that they weren't paying enough attention, at the end of the day, they must not have made it clear enough for gamers to complete without help.

Now let's step back a little and look at another title, this time a game that is more widely known - Super Mario Galaxy. A much more simpler game for the Wii, and in it's first week of release in Japan it managed to sell 251,000 copies, to which Zack & Wiki doesn't even close to. However don't get lost in the big number, since it's predecessor, Mario Party 8 had in fact managed to sell 265,000 games in the first week alone.

Could it be that with the Wii, players want more Party Games and not something that's "Epic"?

Will third-party developers be as patient? Historically, Capcom has been happy to push epic games and unique content. But if you want our honest-to-God advice, don't go booking time off for Zack & Wiki 2 yet.
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  • 1
    ShadowKing2 Nov 15, 07
    I find the best games on Nintendo are created by Nintendo. But that's just my opinion.
  • 1
    TwilightPrince Nov 16, 07
    Nah, not really. It's just that Capcom didn't advertise Zack & Wiki at all. Plus, with a name like "Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaro's Treasure", it's kinda hard to sell it to hardcore gamers. Most people I've talked to about the game think it's some kiddy Nickolodeon cartoon game judging by the title.
  • 1
    MusiKon Nov 16, 07
    Capcom only relied on word of mouth to sell this game, which was obviously a big mistake.
  • 1
    Gogetenks Nov 16, 07
    That's true, Capcom didn't advertise at all. With games like Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, that isn't an issue. That game still became a million-seller within a few months. However, Zack and Wiki is a new IP and, from the looks of it, it doesn't seem very appealing to the average gamer or the casual gamer, despite it being a great game. Few people even knew about the game, and in turn few people appreciated what the game offered.

    I don't believe it really shows that Wii gamers no longer like single-player games. Galaxy hasn't sold particularly well in Japan, but it has supposedly performed extremely well in North America.

    quote
    So far, the game has performed "crazy good," according to Kaplan. "The launch of Galaxy has done really, really well. We're looking to put together some numbers for you soon."
    Again, I don't believe this is an issue. Zack and Wiki wouldn't have done particularly well on any console, it seemed like a sleeper hit from the start. I still plan to buy it as soon as possible, but I don't think it will sell very well. We've still seen many single player games sell very well, however.
  • 1
    Chekkaa Nov 16, 07
    quote
    Now let's step back a little and look at another title, this time a game that is more widely known - Super Mario Galaxy. A much more simpler game for the Wii, and in it's first week of release in Japan it managed to sell 251,000 copies, to which Zack & Wiki doesn't even close to. However don't get lost in the big number, since it's predecessor, Mario Party 8 had in fact managed to sell 265,000 games in the first week alone.

    Could it be that with the Wii, players want more Party Games and not something that's "Epic"?
    1. Galaxy isn't a party game, so I don't see what the point you are trying to make.
    2. Mario Party 8 isn't a predecessor to either Galaxy or Zack and Wiki, so I don't get that either.
    • 0
      Krunal Nov 17, 07
      I said how Mario Party (which is a Party Game) sold more copies of the game than Galaxy and hence that is the first point you didn't get.
      By Predecessor, I mean it was RELEASED BEFORE these particular two games
      • 0
        Chekkaa Nov 17, 07
        But they aren't related. Is Mario Kart 64 the predecessor to Halo 3? No. Is Halo 2 the predecessor to Halo 3? Yes.
  • 0
    Lost in Azure Nov 17, 07
    Nice news, very nice, RATED! Good Luck with your future news reporting. ^^

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