Pigeonholing Wii as a console only for casual gamers is a mistake, says Sega president Simon Jeffery.
Speaking to Game Daily, Jeffery said there's no reason why hardcore gamers should be "excommunicated" from Wii gaming. Though after Sonic & Mario sold five million, we're not going to blame Sega for forgetting them.
"I do think going forward there is very much a place for the hardcore gamers on the Wii and there's a big opportunity for publishers to take advantage of that because we've seen the success of Resident Evil on Nintendo platforms," the Sega boss proclaimed.
"But I do also believe that a lot of Western publishers are only looking at the Wii for casual and family gaming, and I think that's a mistake - I think there's a lot more opportunity there on the Wii. The Wii isn't just about Wii Tennis and Mario & Sonic; it's about so much more."
Grasshopper's No More Heroes has racked up decent sales in the US (and is expected to do well in Europe), while Metroid Prime 3 has received the pennies of the traditional Nintendo fanbase.
But with casual games Wii Sports and Mario & Sonic making astronomical numbers on the sales sheets, is it even worth investing the time and effort on "hardcore" Wii games? Jeffery sees no reason why they should be ignored...
"The Wii as a platform has way much more to offer than [Wii Tennis and Mario & Sonic], and hardcore gamers traditionally love Nintendo as well. There's no reason why they should be excluded or excommunicated from the Nintendo world."
Yet they still buggered up Nights , that's a hardcore game.
There is sense in what the man is saying, I mean Guitar Hero and Rock Band rack up massive profits; whilst the PS3 and 360 still maintain a supply of hardcore games.
I wish Nintendo would just put Sega out of their misery and put their franchises to good use.
This coming for the company that releases: Mario & Sonic olympics, Sega Tennis, Sonic Riders, the dumbed down Nights...etc for the console Take your own advice you idiots
the time will come when all the party games have been done to death and the hardcore games will come pouring in for us. no more heroes is just the start.
Here, here! There's no excuse really. Ideally I'd want Shenmue 3 on 360 so it can be a proper next-gen graphical treat, but if it's too much of a fincancial investment then what's wrong with putting it on Wii?
Here, here! There's no excuse really. Ideally I'd want Shenmue 3 on 360 so it can be a proper next-gen graphical treat, but if it's too much of a fincancial investment then what's wrong with putting it on Wii?
Oh God no, I'd be far more worried if it was in development for the Wii rather than 360.
Shenmue 3 deserves to be made to its full potential - ie on a machine capable of graphically doing it justice.
Here, here! There's no excuse really. Ideally I'd want Shenmue 3 on 360 so it can be a proper next-gen graphical treat, but if it's too much of a fincancial investment then what's wrong with putting it on Wii?
Oh God no, I'd be far more worried if it was in development for the Wii rather than 360.
Shenmue 3 deserves to be made to its full potential - ie on a machine capable of graphically doing it justice.
yeh yeh yeh, heard it all before. while the 360 might put out good graphics, it'll never match the gameplay that the wii offers. end.
Here, here! There's no excuse really. Ideally I'd want Shenmue 3 on 360 so it can be a proper next-gen graphical treat, but if it's too much of a fincancial investment then what's wrong with putting it on Wii?
Oh God no, I'd be far more worried if it was in development for the Wii rather than 360.
Shenmue 3 deserves to be made to its full potential - ie on a machine capable of graphically doing it justice.
yeh yeh yeh, heard it all before. while the 360 might put out good graphics, it'll never match the gameplay that the wii offers. end.
No need to be so dismissive.
I'm a fan of both the 360 and Wii, aswell as Shenmue so I'd be happy regardless of which console it appeared on. I just think that if it was on the 360 it'd do it more justice - Sega's current form is absolute s**te and I wouldn't trust them to make a good Shenmue on the Wii.
Sega are right regardless of what you think of their software. It is too much of a rarity seeing fully fleshed out games on the hardware. It has the potential to produce quality software and that has been proven. I too enjoy the casual aspect but balance (board) is important just from a games players side. Nintendo fans often take comments like this as an attack on the system when all I want is to see the machine show its fullest capabilities as a piece of interesting hardware.
Surely with the likes of Oblivion easily eclipsing it Shenmue is not quite the budget hungry project it once was. Just wrap all the games up into one and impliment them as you initially planned on the Dreamcast.
I am not always suited to the argument that just because something has motion controls it is more fun either.
I'm a fan of both the 360 and Wii, aswell as Shenmue so I'd be happy regardless of which console it appeared on. I just think that if it was on the 360 it'd do it more justice - Sega's current form is absolute s**te and I wouldn't trust them to make a good Shenmue on the Wii.
i agree mate, i wasn't having a pop. i own them both aswell. sega are pretty naff at the mo and it has to be said.
I reckon they should make a game with gun toting Sonic offshoot character Shadow the Hedgehog using the balance board. It will sell like a really hot cake.
Sega can talk the talk... I think they should make a new Sonic game that totally reinvents the wheel. The 3D Sonic games have largely been a shambles, so maybe just maybe they can revive it.
I don't consider myself a particularly hardcore gamer, just a gamer. If something really piques my interest, I'll buy it. I bought a Wii primarily because I love Nintendo's key franchises - Mario, zelda and Metroid. There is not much else out that suits my gaming tastes. It's not just the "casual games" but the shovelware and the ports of games I already own that is getting me down.
Developers really need to start showing the Wii more respect. It does have excellent potential, but it is sad to see that it hasn't really been realised. It shouldn't be dismissed as a casual gaming machine, but that is in very real danger of happening if the games do not improve. I'm eagerly awaiting E3 just to see what is round the corner for the console.
Finally, and this is for those that may construe my comments as an attack on the system - they aren't.
Here, here! There's no excuse really. Ideally I'd want Shenmue 3 on 360 so it can be a proper next-gen graphical treat, but if it's too much of a fincancial investment then what's wrong with putting it on Wii?
Couldn't agree more! I too would rather see this game look as good as possible, but on Wii, it would be possible. I have not bought A single sega game since Shen 3 was canned (unforgivable you bastards) but even if they just re-use the engine from shen 2, at least we will have closure. FInnish the fight Sega!
"PS3 makes a better draft blocker than games machine"
You big baby.
Try... "90% of Wii owners aged 9 and under".
Caption : "but 90% of Wii gamers prefer their toy pick up truck to the Mario Kart wheel".
Uh oh, now theyve done and made the little lord von cry. Where's Vulcanraven to come and kiss your booboo all better?
I'd laugh if he actually did come. That would be extremely fanboyish. Though I disagree with the draft blocker comment. There are plenty of good multi-format games on PS3.
I find it odd how everyone considers Resident Evil to be a hardcore game, and yet every Playstation owner I've ever met has played the series. Hardly an underground phenomenon is it?
The fact is the Wii was positioned differently by Nintendo's own design. You only have to look at the polarised efforts of Nintendo themselves to see that the main focus of innovation is aimed largely at the casual gamer.
They wanted to expand the market and they have. The "exclusion" of hardcore gamers was inevitable in the face of Nintendo's over-bearing strategy and a traditional games market driven by the power of a console.
I find it odd how everyone considers Resident Evil to be a hardcore game, and yet every Playstation owner I've ever met has played the series. Hardly an underground phenomenon is it?
The fact is the Wii was positioned differently by Nintendo's own design. You only have to look at the polarised efforts of Nintendo themselves to see that the main focus of innovation is aimed largely at the casual gamer.
They wanted to expand the market and they have. The "exclusion" of hardcore gamers was inevitable in the face of Nintendo's over-bearing strategy and a traditional games market driven by the power of a console.
Having the more powerful machines didnt help Nintendo overcome the Playstation brand in the past, they had to do something different. Simplicity has also been a key, there are millions of gamers from the 'Golden era' of gaming still to be tapped, so forget hardcore gamers. Think of the ex hardcore gamers who havnt bought a console since woodgrain.
in all fareness sonic and the secret rings was for the hardcore gamer and from sega and was also the first wii game to show wii's power only bettered by super mario galaxy and prime 3 the only thing that anoyed me was reversing sonic,if they make a sequal they will have to fix it.anyone manage to get all the gold medals????
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, that's a hardcore game.
