News: Nintendo Wii News | Development Costs Lower than PS3 and XBOX 360 Page 1

Nintendo Wii News | Development Costs Lower than PS3 and XBOX 360

On the 5th of May (that being yesterday) THQ revealed its quarterly profit statistics. During the conference that followed the companies CEO (Brian Farrell) went on to talk about development of upcoming games for the Nintendo Wii:

"We showed in a press event recently a SpongeBob game using the Nintendo Wii and Wii controller, and standing there watching very jaded game journalists hoot and holler on a SpongeBob game was actually quite relieving. One of the things we like about that platform is the development costs... on the Wii are nowhere near what they are on the PS3 and Xbox 360. That's something that's quite encouraging."

"[The Wii] wasn't a whole new programming environment, so we had a lot of tools and tech that work in that environment. So those costs--and again, I hate these broad generalizations--but they could be as little as a third of the high-end next-gen titles... Maybe the range is a quarter to a half."

Good news for developers and consumers alike then, however Farrell also went on to say that:

"Our portfolio maps very, very well to what we think the Wii demographic is going to be."

Given that the only games to be announced so far are a new SpongeBob Squarepants title, a conversion of the recent film title: Cars and final title known as Avatar: The Last Airbender, could Nintendo have more trouble losing their 'kiddy' image then they might have hoped?

Nintendo have been quite forthcoming about their intentions to appeal to a wider audience of gamers than rivals Microsoft and Sony, but if their chosen demographic remains a younger one (at least in the eyes of the public) could such claims be out of reach?

Be sure to stick with C3 for more updates on the Wii, public consensus of the company we all love and Sponges that talk as and when we get them...

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Fenton 06.05.2006#1

I spose it depends upon how well the remote is portrayed as. If it's just going to be advertised with children swinging it around, then the kiddy rep is deffinatly here to stay.

Darkflame 06.05.2006#2

I am more worried about the cheaper developement costs.

While as such, that is a good thing, the idea that you can "cap out" the wii without needing long development is utter nonsense.

I mean, Resident Evil 4 was one of the most expensive game projects in history. And that was on the cube :-/

Graphicaly quality is much more related to what you are spending on development, then it is on hardware.
Hardware just sets the "upper limit"

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Revolution 06.05.2006#3

I imagine it depends what games are released as to whether the kiddie image stays.

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Spydarlee 06.05.2006#4

I agree, I think Mr.Farrell is a wii bit foolish to base that comment on the three games THQ are planning to launch and nothing else, (which seems to be the case, given the existence of titles like Red Steel elsewhere.)

Graphicaly quality is much more related to what you are spending on development, then it is on hardware.
Hardware just sets the "upper limit"

Perhaps, but the point being made here I think, is that for multiformat games and the like (THQ love those) it will be cheaper to produce on the Wii than on a rival format.

If someone wants to really push the Wii then it's probably going to cost more than a lazily made 360 game, but for a lot of games that will be irrelevant, especialy concerning ports, etc.

Reading that back I'm not sure my logic is quite right actually, tired. Smilie

( Edited on 06.05.2006 18:50 by spydarlee )

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JoshSL 06.05.2006#5

*Ahem* [fanboyism]

Low Revo development costs + Sonic sells on Nintendo = SONIC The Hedgehog '06 on Wii!!!!

PLEEEASE!! Smilie

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CALUM 06.05.2006#6

Wouldn't this mean that more smaller devlopers and bedroom programmers could get their games in the mainstream market.

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Cheesing It Up 06.05.2006#7

A quarter to a half of the cost? That is good news! Especially for Wii's long term 3rd party support!

I imagine it depends what games are released as to whether the kiddie image stays.

Let's see:
Mario (platformers, kart, sports games etc): YES
GTA: NO (well, unlikely anyway)

Yeh, I think that kiddie image is staying Smilie

( Edited on 06.05.2006 19:54 by fenno2001 )

OLU1701 06.05.2006#8

Well with a name that sounds like a couple of Kiddies going down a park slide, i'm a little skeptical about Nintendo losing their kiddy image any time soon.
I think that that name has confused developers abit as to Nintendo's true intentions. Anyway come E3 i'm sure that Ninty will set the record straight. Good news that developement costs are very low though Smilie

James2t3 06.05.2006#9

If they have a non game like brain training and it's a hit with 50+ year olds then they don't need games like GTA.

Cheesing It Up 06.05.2006#10

If they have a non game like brain training and it's a hit with 50+ year olds then they don't need games like GTA.

Couldn't be more wrong in terms of getting rid of this 'kiddie image'. Yes, older people play games like Brain Training. Yes, Nintendo ARE expanding their market to so called 'non-gamers'.

However, while I personally don't see Nintendo as being 'kiddy' the general market (especially teenagers etc) do and a game such as Brain Training isn't going to change that at all...in fact it's almost a 'kiddy game' in itself and is making the problem worse. However, I'm pretty sure Nintendo don't really care about what an average teenager thinks if they're selling DS' by the bucket-load...so I guess in terms of Nintendo's success they don't need games like GTA at all Smilie

( Edited on 06.05.2006 20:20 by fenno2001 )

James2t3 06.05.2006#11

Yeah teenagers might, but to be honest if it sells by the bucket load to lots of older people who wouldn't normally by games machines it dosn't really matter, it will at least mean developers won't start dissapearing.
The DS has already been embraced by older Japanese people and the system is more of a neutral image like a computer. Wheather that can happen here i dunno...I guess we will have to wait to see if Brain Training has been a success in the US or not.

( Edited on 06.05.2006 20:33 by Blade2t3 )

Cheesing It Up 06.05.2006#12

I guess we will have to wait to see if Brain Training has been a success in the US or not.

If Nintendogs is anything to go then it should do great, as opposed to amazing like in Japan.

James2t3 06.05.2006#13

Well yeah everything seems to work out a bit better in Japan but with the software actually proving that there is an untapped market for this type of software it at least proves Nintendos machine has a far better chance of selling to a larger audiance than the 360 or PS3 could.

tiamat1990 06.05.2006#14

The press cheer for a spongebomb game!? The world has come to an end!!!

But I mean, a low end xbox360 game will still cost less compared to say a Metroid game on the Revolution. It really does depend on the game and how big it is.

patjuan32 07.05.2006#15

The reason that developing for the Wii will be cheaper than the other plaforms is because Nintendo is using the same architeture as the Gamecube. The only thing that was change is the cpu and the gpu. Sony and Microsoft built totally new systems and included support for high definition. Developers will have to familiarize themselves with the new system and artist will be needed to add in the necessary graphical details for the Hd games. All this will take time.

JoshSL 07.05.2006#16

It seems that Wii already has quite a load of Anime games though, I mean already announced is a brand new DragonBall Z, & One Piece two, Nintendo hardly ever get that much support from Anime titles as it is, but already we have these, & they're not coming out 1 whole year after the PS2 version!

I think Nintendo's kiddy image is very slowly fading, I mean they did pretty well with the GC early in it's life, with Eternal Darkness & such, but then they only did it hardly ever... I think they'll try harder to make the Wii a LITTLE less kiddy Smilie

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Megadanxzero 07.05.2006#17

CALUM said:
Wouldnt this mean that more smaller devlopers and bedroom programmers could get their games in the mainstream market.

Hopefully yes. I think Nibris are proof that we should be seeing alot of new small developers this gen, and hopefully some fresh innovative ideas

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Robbo 07.05.2006#18

As long as the dev costs are low, i'm not bothered what market THQ think Nintedo are aiming for. But surely its the same demographic as the DS, new and existing gamers?

Questworld 08.05.2006#19

Small developer aside, if by cheaper they mean third-party developers only to intend to provide on average games like Elebits (Spongebob, Metal Slug Anthology, Super Monkey Ball, etc.)for the Wii while consoles like the PS3 and 360 gets games like Metal Gear Solid 4 (Gears of War, Resident Evil 5, Chrome Hounds, etc.) then, well, no duh.

If that's the case, then it's no wonder the consoles like the Cube barely make it. Seriously, anyone notice the contrast in support between the Wii and the other two?

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