It's no secret that when it comes down to Nintendo and third party support - things have never been the best. For this reason and that reason, it's seemed that for years, third-parties just simply want to avoid Nintendo.
As of late, though - it seems that Nintendo has been trying to patch things up. From letting a third-party company handle one of their biggest franchises (Bando-Namcai working on Super Smash Bros. 4), to directly teaming up with a third-party company to create a cross collaboration (Nintendo and Atlus developing Shin Megami Tensi x Fire Emblem), to even securing 3 exclusive titles with a former rival (the Sonic-3 time Nintendo exclusive with SEGA). Or what about funding and publishing 3 projects developed by third party companies?
~ LEGO CITY: Undercover - T.T Games
~ Wonderful 101 - Platinum Games
~ Bayonetta 2 ~ Platinum Games
This shows that Nintendo is at least making an attempt to get third-parties on their side. The fruitage is showing from the numerous releases on 3DS and to a lesser-extent, but still noteworthy, Wii U.
And that's what we're here to talk about today - the Wii U's third~party support.
Looking back at it's predecessor - the Wii didn't really do all that well when it came down to third-party games. Because it was sporting slightly upgraded tech from the GC, many devs just flipped it off and didn't even bother developing games for it. And when they did decide to bring a game to the system, it was usually a half-baked port that was made by a back-water team.
This time around, the Wii U is still the underdog in the tech-category, but it's in no way, shape or form as handicapped as the Wii was compared to it's competition. Games like Trine 2, Mario Kart 8, Nintendo Land, Pikmin 3, Need for Speed: Most Wanted U, NANO ASSAULT Neo, and of course - X - have proved already that despite being less powerful than the Xbox One or PS4 ~ it's no slouch.
So then - why do developers insist that it is?
As of recent times, devs are still basically ignoring the system. Many games that you'll see appearing on other systems, current and next-gen ~ you won't see on Wii U. Some claim it's because they have no ideas for Wii U, others say it's because it's too weak and then there are some who just tell it how it is - they know they can't make money on the system, so until it sells, they won't touch it..which mostly makes sense, to an extent.
But just looking back at a lot of the third-party releases at launch, and even a few that are coming out this year - things seem to be a bit..well, off. Now, looking at the launch line-up, Wii U had a pretty decent library to boast at the time. A lot of the big-name titles would be appearing. Franchises like Mass Effect, FIFA, Madden, CoD, Sonic, and Assassin's Creed would all be there, front-and-center. Now, usually launch titles are sucky. Sucky in terms of being a quick-and-dirty version that seems that it was made on a very tight schedule. This explains why games such as Madden and Fifa had missing functionality, that was present on other versions, or how games like Disney's Epic Mickey: The Power of 2 had some performance problems. All of that is common launch-title stuff.
But what about now? When you see games, 6-months and on-ward in a console's lifetime, releasing (being announced really) - with missing functionality, it makes you wonder what on earth is going on. From incredibly late DLC releases (ahem - Injustice) ~ to launching without something as simple as online multiplayer (How to Survive and Batman: Arkham Origins).
When you see stuff like that - one must question, is it really the hardware or even the first-party, or is it just lazy/stuck-up developers? Sure, no Nintendo console can boast having good third-party support from since the SNES - but even now, when things seem to be brightening up, just a bit, some devs still think it's cool to half-bake their titles on Nintendo systems and then complain that they don't sell and that Nintendo gamers don't want to buy anything that doesn't have a Mario, Zelda or Metroid logo on it.
That's what I find so interesting - People, both devs and gamers are quick to jump out and make claims such as those, but when you look at facts such as games launching with missing features, being announced to have missing features, and being unoptimized for the system ~ why SHOULD someone fork-out their hard-earned money to pay for half-baked content, when others are getting all the fresh stuff?
Snipe me in the comments below...
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