Nintendo News | Publishers: 1 Game for PS3? No, Give us 5 for Wii Instead!

We have all heard about how cheap the development is for Wii is in comparison to the competition, but some publishers were still wary of supporting Nintendo after the GameCube proved less successful than imagined. Now, however, the tide is definitely changing.

Jon Goldman, chairman and chief executive of Foundation 9 Entertainment, an independent game development company, recently spoke out about how Wii games are getting far more attention from Third Party Publishers and distributors that finance the games that his firm creates. He said:

"Publishers are saying: Instead of spending $15 million or $20 million on one PS3 game, come back to me with five or six Wii pitches. We had one meeting two weeks ago with a publisher that was asking for Wii games. Three or four months ago, they didn't want to hear Word 1 about the Wii."

Adding to this, John Davison, Editorial Director of the 1UP Network, stated:

"We're seeing a big shift at E3, and we'll see more later this year," and that whilst some game publishers were putting less emphasis on the PlayStation 3 "they're not going to talk about that."

This is more related to an increase in support for Wii, rather than ditching the PS3 and Xbox 360, though, especially after seeing what was on offer at this year's E3 event last week in California. On top of this, Colin Sebastian, a Video Game Industry analyst with Lazard Capital Markets, has estimated that Wii games cost roughly $5 million to make, as opposed to the $10-$20 million required for an Xbox 360 or PS3 title. Obviously this equates approximately to a developer needing to sell 300,000 copies of a Wii game to break even, compared with 600,000 on the competitor's consoles.

Kelly Flock, Executive Vice President for THQ finished off by saying:

"A Wii game can be created in as little as 12 months. Games for the two competing consoles typically take two to three years. The budget for a Wii game ranges from $1.5 million to $4 million, compared with the $10 million to $12 million the company spends on a PS3 or Xbox 360 game.

"The Wii is a godsend. We are aggressively looking for more Wii titles."

Stick around for further updates...