Don't bury nintendo yet, they may be saved by....

[Mags]

good programing?  :shock:

THQ gave its quarterly earnings report today, and the analysts' conference call that followed saw the publisher detail some of its plans going forward. On multiple occasions in the course of the call, THQ president and CEO Brian Farrell spoke about developing for the Nintendo Wii, touching on a number of topics including THQ's first reactions to its Wii games.



"We showed in a press event recently a SpongeBob game using the Nintendo Wii and Wii controller," Farrell said, "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. As you probably know, our portfolio maps very, very well to what we think the Wii demographic is going to be."



Currently the publisher has announced Wii games based on the Nickelodeon shows SpongeBob SquarePants and Avatar: The Last Airbender, as well as one for Pixar Animation Studios' upcoming film Cars.



Farrell also talked about developing for the Wii as opposed to the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, noting that it was far less expensive making games for Nintendo's console. Farrell prefaced his comments by noting that he wasn't "a development professional," but he said the development environment for the Wii was similar to the GameCube's.



"[The Wii] wasn't a whole new programming environment," Farrell said. "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."

[Mr. Analog]

Sounds like this Wii-voloution is finally heating up.

[Thorin]

So cheaper development costs may lead to either more games made or games sold for cheaper.  Either way, it'll probably make the Wii more attractive to budget-conscious shoppers such as myself.

[Lazybones]

As of this posting the Nintendo E3 keynote is available live at http://www.gamespot.com/e3/e3live.html



They should post a complete version later, I don't plan on looking at it until after work. I suspect a huge dump of new press releases and info on the web right after its done, if it is like Sony's they should be showing off all the remaining secret features.

[Tonnica]

I don't want to make it sound like I'm too much of a Nintendo fan-ette, but a lower development cost structure sure worked for the GBA. I'm going to check out these press releases when I get home to see if I can scope any more interesting details.

[Lazybones]

I don't want to make it sound like I'm too much of a Nintendo fan-ette, but a lower development cost structure sure worked for the GBA. I'm going to check out these press releases when I get home to see if I can scope any more interesting details.

Everything should be in the E3 video which is now available in full. No pricing was announced but 27 titles are playable at E3. Haven't watched the whole video yet but there is supposed to be a impressive demo of the 4 player tennis game.

[Darren Dirt]

So cheaper development costs may lead to either more games made or games sold for cheaper.  Either way, it'll probably make the Wii more attractive to budget-conscious shoppers such as myself.

...with kids



Yup, Nintendo hasn't given up on the demographic that MS and Sony don't care as much about -- parents who want to buy their kids games that aren't nonstop violence.



Sincerely,

Darren Dirt,

a father who just bought a second copy of "Warioware Party Games" for $20 since the original got badly scratched up due to heavy use and then finally lost.

[Mr. Analog]

They need a Mario game where he goes around the Mushroom Kingdom with a sawed off Fire Flower, stealing karts, commiting crimes and gettin' it awn with the Princess.



Grand Theft Mario or some such...

[Adams]

or MarioFather



Heh

[Thorin]

They need a Mario game where he goes around the Mushroom Kingdom with a sawed off Fire Flower, stealing karts, commiting crimes and gettin' it awn with the Princess.



Grand Theft Mario or some such...

yes, but would he have sights attached to the side of his Fire Flower so he can still aim accurately while side-cocking it?

[Mr. Analog]

They need a Mario game where he goes around the Mushroom Kingdom with a sawed off Fire Flower, stealing karts, commiting crimes and gettin' it awn with the Princess.



Grand Theft Mario or some such...

yes, but would he have sights attached to the side of his Fire Flower so he can still aim accurately while side-cocking it?

Well yeah, 8-Bit Gangsta-style.

[Adams]

Make an eight-bit look but 100% 3D DirectX 10