RicaneliteThird Parties Scrambling to make games for the Wii
The majority of the industry didn't completely buy into Wii until they were given hands-on experiences at last year's E3, and that's where the momentum changed significantly. Suddenly, publishers realized this new method of play could really catch on with gamers, but with far less than a year before launch, most would have a hard time getting anything out the door in time for launch.
Bloomberg reports companies like Electronic Arts, who has been ironically praised as one of the foremost Wii innovators, and Take-Two Interactive have been playing catch-up since Nintendo's E3 showing. EA tells Bloomberg they will have a dozen games on Wii this year, whereas Take-Two has three in the pipeline (likely comprised of The Bigs, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Manhunt 2).
Activision will also be deploying six Wii games this year, and we should be hearing more about what they're up to as E3 nears.
Is there bad news here, too? Nintendo's quick success means gamers have seen a number of rush job ports, and original games obviously need larger development cycles that potentially put them outside of a 2007 release. We didn't see truly clever Nintendo DS third party titles till a bit into its lifecycle, and, so far, that's proving true of the Wii, as well. Nintendo should have us covered in the fall, at least, but what happens after that?
Bloomberg reports companies like Electronic Arts, who has been ironically praised as one of the foremost Wii innovators, and Take-Two Interactive have been playing catch-up since Nintendo's E3 showing. EA tells Bloomberg they will have a dozen games on Wii this year, whereas Take-Two has three in the pipeline (likely comprised of The Bigs, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Manhunt 2).
Activision will also be deploying six Wii games this year, and we should be hearing more about what they're up to as E3 nears.
Is there bad news here, too? Nintendo's quick success means gamers have seen a number of rush job ports, and original games obviously need larger development cycles that potentially put them outside of a 2007 release. We didn't see truly clever Nintendo DS third party titles till a bit into its lifecycle, and, so far, that's proving true of the Wii, as well. Nintendo should have us covered in the fall, at least, but what happens after that?
