Console war on a new level: Wiiware's war against XBL and PSN |
Ó
Within the console war is a mini-war - a skirmish of sorts - between Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network, competing for the hearts of online gamers. The Wii, which has eluded (or excluded?) this war, seems to be girding its loins for battle.
The Wii, which the industry considers to be in a level of its own in this hardware cycle, has so far eluded the online-services war, staying in the sidelines. That may not be the case for long with the release of WiiWare.
According to Develop, Nintendo is pulling in its developers for WiiWare by pointing out that developing games on the Wii is much cheaper than developing a game for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. As one developer points out:
It should be noted that we can purchase almost two to four Wii development kits for one Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 , which as you can appreciate for a small company can affect our budget a lot
Also, if it is Nintendo's intention to go against Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network, their timing is excellent, seeing as Microsoft recently cut the royalties that XBLA indie developers receive in half. That's quite a hit against XBL, considering indie developers think of capital as a major factor in choosing which platform to developer for.
Most developers maintained their silence on the matter because of Nintendo's non-disclosure agreements. If WiiWare's "secret war" turns out to be as aggressive in the market as the Wii itself ,it's going to be an interesting few months for the industry once the service goes live.
29 Jumps Final Fantasy XIII boxart released
23 Jumps PSP homebrew - Game Categories v12
13 Jumps Sony: Get a free game with PSP Go
Contact Us:
The QJ.net Network |
 |
| Site | Feed |
| QJ.NET | RSS |
| Nintendo DS | RSS |
| PlayStation 3 | RSS |
| PSP Updates | RSS |
| Wii | RSS |
| Xbox 360 | RSS |
| MMORPG | RSS |
| Personal Computer Games | RSS |
| iPhone - iPod Touch | RSS |
| QJ.NET Forums | RSS |
Add QJ.NET
User Favorites - December
User Favorites - December
Categories
Archives
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
Comments [refresh]
that no body will defeat Xbox Live in this generation. I'm 100% behind Sony in the console wars but that is just a sad fact for the time being. This is Sony's first real generation going online with their console, it will take a while to be better (but it will). Wiiware may be cheaper and easier to develop games for, but the fact that it is cheap will reflect in the game.
the developer that has been quoted here seems a little stupid. I don't care how cheap a development kit for the Wii is, everybody knows that third party games would do better on PS3/Xbox 360. Since when did Nintendo start caring for any developer other than Nintendo?
They're not trying to beat the whole online service. We all know that's not going to happen for anyone this gen, and with friend codes, they don't stand any chance next gen of dismounting Live either.
But this isn't about the best general online service, it's about the best system for small developers to go to.
What you're missing here, is that this isn't about huge budget games. The low price of the Wii is only going to work for it. These downloadable games don't have the same graphics as Halo or something, they're all going to be evenly matched there, and they're not going to be huge, expansive, resource heavy games either. Every system is on equal footing with this. It's just the Wii is cheaper, and because these are small devs, with very little money, the Wii just has that slight edge when they're choosing the system to release it on.
Nintendo might not be the most supportive for third party devs, but with Wiiware, it's not going to be any different to the XBL or PSN.
It's small, downloadable games. What could any company do to help? They don't need to be able to access every possible bit of the system, so the system owners can't do anything for them.
I don't know what you've got against Nintendo, but don't try act like they're screwed, because they're in as good a position as anyone else in this.
With games like the new, revolutionary Tetris and Bubble Wrap Pop, I don't think Wiiware is going anywhere for a long time. Who's going to buy Tetris for $10? You can buy a used gameboy with Tetris for that much.
if you want the out-of-date version then buy the gameboy one. but if you want the up-to-date version go with wiiware
also has tetris, for $8....