What developers really think of the Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360
By John Pospisil
Ever wondered what games developers really think of Nintendo’s wonder machine, the Wii? Or Sony’s PlayStation 3, or the Microsoft Xbox 360? Well, thanks to an inside source at a major games development company, we can provide you with some interesting insights.
Our source, who has asked to remain anonymous, told us that while the developers acknowledge the success of the Wii and believe it will continue to do well, they also refer to it as a “party toy”.
Apparently they see the Wii as a way of making “easy money” by developing games that are cheap and easy-to-make, but they don’t expect to really push it with big titles, due to its technical limitations.
As our source said, they’ll be a lot of titles developed for the Wii, but nothing that really stands out.
According to our source, the developers are having problems developing “physics heavy games” for the Wii. The source said that we’ll never see games of the caliber of GTA, Halo, Motostorm, or Resistance on the Wii. If you want to enjoy these types of games, you’ll need to stick with the Xbox 360, or in time, the PlayStation 3.
Here’s how our source says developers see the next-generation console war panning out in terms of the kinds of games we see on each platform:
- Wii – will be a fun multi-player (offline) party mode type games, decent graphics, cool game play, but limited success. Everyone will pretty much own a Wii, much like they own board games
- Xbox 360 – some serious realistic games, but mostly arcade shooters like Halo, and racing games like Forza, lots of online multi-player games
- PS3 – some arcade games, but more physics oriented games, with an emphasis in intense realism in gaming, a lot of mulitplayer games, and a lot of cross platforming with PlayStation Portable and other Sony products.
Here are a few additional comments I want to make about developers’ attitudes about the Wii.
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September 30th, 2007
[...] post by John Pospisil and software by Elliott [...]
September 30th, 2007
[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today!.Here’s a quick excerptEveryone will pretty much own a Wii, much like they own board games; Xbox 360 – some serious realistic games, but mostly arcade shooters like Halo, and racing games like Forza, lots of online multi-player games; PS3 – some arcade games, … [...]
September 30th, 2007
[...] wrote an interesting post today on What developers really think of the Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360Here’s a quick [...]
September 30th, 2007
[...] ljsevendust wrote an interesting article today about Here’s a quick quoteEver wondered what games developers really think of Nintendo’s wonder machine, the Wii? Or Sony’s PlayStation 3, or the Microsoft Xbox 360? Well, thanks to an inside source at a major games development company, we can provide you with … [...]
September 30th, 2007
[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt [...]
October 1st, 2007
Oooh.. unknown developer source spills all!!!
Such a nothing article? And you wasted your time to write it and ppl’s time to read it. Least I didn’t bother with the video…
October 1st, 2007
I feel like I only read negative critique of the Wii from this site. Past few days I’ve googled for it, this site’s come up with a blog of the Wii failing or sucking.
October 1st, 2007
Should the Wii really be compared with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3? They’re all home entertainment consoles but that’s where the similarity ends. The Wii is clearly designed for a different market and doesn’t have the hardware capabilities of the 360 or PS3.
I’d be more interested in what game developers favour in terms of Xbox vs PlayStation. Which is easier for them to develop games on? Which company provides the best developer tools and support: Microsoft or Sony?
October 1st, 2007
You just made this up right? It’s a pretty poor attempt to pass off your own fanboy opinions as an industry opinion.
How sad
October 1st, 2007
“…limited success” “Everyone will pretty much own a Wii…”
Limited success but pretty much every will own one?
Good article…
October 1st, 2007
Unknown developer 2:
“PS3 is awesome, everything else is rubbish”.
October 1st, 2007
LOL, yeah good article. Nice way to contradict yourself. All your credibility when down the drain with those comments…dumb ass LOL. You’re telling everyone things they already know about the Wii. Of course we won’t see games like GTA or Halo 3 on Wii. Anyone who owns a Wii expecting games of that calibre is an idiot. Wii is a great system in it’s OWN way. Stop comparing the Wii apples for apples to those other systems. They are supposed to be DIFFERENT, which was exactly nintendo’s intent and the very reason why the Wii is kicking ass right now. Gosh! Give me this guy’s job.
October 1st, 2007
I really don’t know why people bother with the un-named “inside source” thing. Even if it is legit no one will believe it. At least in the video he was fairly positive about the wii although all he does is state the obvious. I love it how he said “party toy” like it was a bad thing. Games are pretty much toys for all ages arent they?
October 1st, 2007
The key point, and market sales prove this, is that the Wii appeals to a completely different market segment that PS3 or Xbox. In fact, the demographic that the Wii most appeals to probably has a higher average income than Xbox or PS3. The Wii is a social experience whereas PS3, Xbox appeal to who are more introverted or isolated for whatever reason. Both segments will continue to prosper but I expect Microsoft to emulate some of the features of the Wii in time.
October 1st, 2007
Rucgard- It targets hardcore, non gamers, and causla market.
ps2- hardcore, cauasl market.
Not really. it depands. Some of them could be 360 owners, other ps3 owners just nintendo fanboys.
or someone used to love sony went to nintendo.
October 26th, 2007
Oh? Then what about Scarface:The World is Yours, the God Father: Black Hand Edition, Manhunt 2, and Disaster: Day of Chrisis?
Infact, a lot of 2008 Wii games look great, and to be big hits.