Fans of the Losers are the Winners - News
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 24 August 2011 / 3,975 Views
The console wars have existed almost as long as gaming itself. While the last couple generations have seen smaller diversity between platforms, thanks to multi-platform third party support, there are still diehard fans out there that stick by a console manufacture no matter what. In extreme cases, they'll heavily defend their platform and become completely blind to criticisms towards their platform and rejoice when their company stands on top of the others. When their favorite platform is on top, what does the loyalist gain?
Third party support is generally the reward for having the top platform on the market. That platform has the most units out there, so the publishers are ready to capitalize on those consumers. It only makes perfect sense, unless we're talking about the Wii which still saw some significant third party backing early on in the system's life. Otherwise, the only real benefit is that their favorite platform manufacture is sitting happily on their toilet seats made out of one-hundred dollar bills. So it is a bit strange to see that these loyal consumers wish for the success of their platform, when they benefit more from healthily struggling platform.
When your life depends on something, chances are you're going to put more effort into it to ensure that'll you'll keep on going. You may even find you have strength or stamina you never thought you were capable. To a certain extent, business is the same thing. Struggle to survive no matter what as long as there are signs of profit in the future. When they're on the ground, they'll try harder to not only keep their current income, but also please new consumers to bring in new income. Their loyal consumers are always the bottom line, as long as they keep the company rolling. Therefore, they're more likely to push to keep their current consumers happy. That means, if you have a console that can stay afloat, they'll continue to feed the loyal consumer.
Looking at the past, you'll see that the underdog platform, while not usually a commercial success, tends to have an abundance of software directed at their loyal consumers. With a weaker third party arm, they have to keep the system going on their own. Platforms like the SEGA Dreamcast have libraries that, after the dust settled, are now considered some of the greatest by many. The Japanese-only title Segagaga does nothing but show SEGA's apperciation to their loyal fans. While not the underdog, the Genesis and the Super Nintendo were so close neck to neck, neither Nintendo nor SEGA could let their guard down, which created what many might call a golden age of gaming.
When you have companies sitting on a throne in first place, you tend to notice that keeping their base-line consumer happy isn't entirely a priority. Just look at Nintendo of America and their forbidden three Japanese titles, plus many other releases across the Wii that never saw a release outside of Japan or Europe. That's not saying localization was guaranteed on their less successful platforms like the Gamecube, but the rate seemed much higher as they struggled for software to sell, something the Wii doesn’t need to worry about thanks to evergreen software. The PlayStation 3 is possibly one of the greatest examples of a console that came up short, although only early in its lifespan. Sony basically built its entire modern first party franchise catalog in a single console generation. I’m not sure that line-up would be nearly as strong if they had constant third party backing during the platform’s lifespan. That might be why first party support from Microsoft is running a bit thin outside of the Kinect spectrum.
At the end of the day, those who follow a specific console win from a first party perspective during these moments of weakness. It has to be a healthy weakness of course and not to the point the platform dies, like SEGA and its Dreamcast. In all honesty, loyal platform owners shouldn't frown when Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft has another bad system cycle. They should smile knowing that, right now, they are the most important consumer to that publisher.
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In terms of Nintendo, the loyal fan is definitely not top priority. That's been made pretty clear...
The Wii has gotten so many incredible core titles. I understand it's easy to have them be washed away by the abundance of "shovelware," but these amazing quality core titles exist more on the Wii than they ever have in recent memory. We have Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, and a freakin 2D Mario game!
Also, I don't feel like Sony's software has gotten any better with the PS3. Their first-party software has been kickass for quite a number of years now, and they've just been continuing that trend. Also, I feel like Microsoft has gotten better first-party games this gen than they did last, and the 360 is performing way better than the original xbox.
Conclusion = I don't think selling less consoles makes better first party games (due to "more desperate" suppport).
This isn't true with Nintendo. Generally it seems to be that when the first party software is good, the system does better. Looking at the Gamecube, most of the first party software included the weakest outings of the given franchise (Mario, Mario Kart, Star Fox, Kirby, Donkey Kong, Zelda X2, etc..).
I felt the system with the most fan service from Nintendo was the Wii, as we got a lot of re-releases, and very powerful outings from certain franchises - particularly in Super Mario Galaxy, and FINALLY a new 2D Mario game. There were also brand new franchises like Wii Sports and Wii Fit, which successfully pioneered and explored entirely new genres. Nintendo also acquired Monolithsoft and just released Xenoblade (You can always import it if it is not released in your market, it was released in your language), and even though no Final Fantasy, we are getting Sakaguchi's Last Story - which might be closer to FF than FF13 was.
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