Third Party Poopers: Part Five

With all the buzz surrounding the Wii pre-launch, you might think that third-party developers would scramble to start production on Wii games in order to capitalize on what appeared to be a sure-fire hit console.  You’d be wrong.  Developers dragged their feet, unsure of whether or not the Wii would live up to the hype.

Nintendo planned to ship a whole lotta these.

Meanwhile, Nintendo sent a very clear signal to the world about its expectations for the Wii, publicly announcing plans to ship six million Wiis to retailers during the first six months of the console’s lifespan.  Six million!  In six months!  This in Nintendo, the company that barely managed to move 20 million GameCube consoles in six years.  To put that number in perspective, the PS2 – the biggest-selling console of all time – sold seven million units its first year on the market.  And Nintendo was saying, “Yeah, we’re going to pretty much do that in about half the time.”

Now, one might be able to forgive third-party developers for ignoring the marketing hype surrounding the Wii.  After all, hype is simply hype.  But Nintendo made a very large investment putting six million units into production, something no company would do without extensive market research to back up such an enormous – and downright ballsy – financial investment.  More importantly, retailers were making room on their shelves for all of these Wiis, something no retailer would do without the utmost confidence that the units were going to move.

Still, many developers ignored all evidence of market forces pushing the Wii to certain success, preferring instead to take an allegedly conservative approach and see how the Wii actually sold before beginning development on Wii games.  Those developers are idiots.

Developers Are Idiots

I probably don’t need to tell you that when the Wii hit stores, it sold out all across the globe, creating a shopping frenzy during the 2006 holiday season.  But you might not be aware of the fact that Nintendo eventually sold a massive 7.4 million units worldwide during its first six months on sale…1.4 million units more than its unbelievably optimistic initial projections.  And sales didn’t slow down, either.  Nintendo moved a staggering 14.3 million Wiis during its first year.

Three guesses how third-party developers reacted to this year-long clinic on how to attain total industry dominance.

Yes, many third-party developers continued to remain skeptical of the Wii’s longevity…and that’s putting it nicely.  Sega’s US vice president of marketing expressed concern about the Wii’s staying power and suggested that the PS3 would eventually win this generation’s console war.  The Chief Creative Officer of Insomniac called the Wii a fad.  The President of Epic compared the Wii to a virus.  Shiny Entertainment founder, legendary video game developer and games industry consultant Dave Perry expected gamers to “drop their Wii controllers” in favor of HD gaming experiences.

I guess it’s true what they say…denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.

Pictured: Video game developers, literally swimming in it.

What’s Next

Wrapping up “Third Party Poopers” with lessons learned…and lessons not learned.