Smash Bros. Brawl Unfit for Wii?

[CantGetAWii]

JC Barnett, the pseudonym for a games developer working out of Japan, has a somewhat unexpected commentary on the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl release in the Land of the Rising Sun on his Japanmanship blog. Essentially, Barnett believes the title will sell well enough, but ultimately underperform due to the Wii being a casual gamer’s machine - similar to what happened recently to No More Heroes in Japan, just on a larger scale.

As a spurious prediction I’d say we may see a promising start with the usual drop-off over the next few months and sales figures that would make anyone proud but that are still lower than expected, a bit like Super Mario Galaxy. If Sumabura [Super Smash Bros. Brawl] doesn’t sell that well it would be proof positive that the Wii isn’t a hard-core friendly platform. I suspect already that it isn’t, but a title like this could prove it once and for all.

Not being hard-core friendly is one thing, but Barnett asserts that he believes that hard-core titles won’t work on the Wii.

This also means the Wii is out of the “console war”. It has its own market distinctly different from its competitors, whom must fight amongst themselves for their own top spot. Both Microsoft and Sony are making wooing noises to the casual market but they’ll have a hard time stealing customers from the big N.

So any publisher looking to make money on the Wii must squarely look at casual and avoid hard-core at all costs.

Barnett’s opinion is interesting, and there could certainly be some weight to it - although one must wonder whether No More Heroes’ lack of success doesn’t also have to do with advertising method. Brawl certainly has more exposure, and sales should be stronger as a result. We’ll be able to reflect more on Barnett’s prediction in the next weeks.

Source

 

[AoWFraggit]

*sigh*

the truth is out.

 

[+Maniacal=Maniac+]

Hm... I'm Still Getting It, So This Article Doesn't Really Effect Me.

Everyone Who Has A Wii And Has Played Melee On The Good Ol' GC, Will Get Brawl.

 

[AoWFraggit]

oh, and don't forget: the nationwide shortage of wii consoles also plays a major factor in this. once nintendo manages to supply more wii's, we might see some higher quality titles.

 

[+Maniacal=Maniac+]

oh, and don't forget: the nationwide shortage of wii consoles also plays a major factor in this. once nintendo manages to supply more wii's, we might see some higher quality titles.

Hear Hear!

 

[SantaClaws]

I think this is bullshit

you should see some of the people on MSC

you can't say they're not hardcore

same with GH, it's the same on all platforms

 

[AoWFraggit]

then again santaclaws, you've got loads of people going berserk about endless ocean, which turns out is just an interactive screensaver.

not saying that the wii hasn't got ANY hardcore gamers, just that the casual nature of the vast majority of wii owners is setting the bar pretty damn low for game developers.

 

[thas]

i dont believe that the majority of the wii market is casual gamers. infact i believe that developer thought that at first, and the result of which was terrible hardcore games.i believe there is more hardcore gamers that own the wii but due to the higher prices of wii games, these gamers are unsure of what game they should buy. you might have noticed how well the casual games sell, but to the casual gamers its so much easier to choose from the lack of variety games they can get. all they really have to choose is what animal they want or if they want to learn word or test their math skills. if you dont agree with me that fine, but this is what i believe.

 

[brawldude]

this is blaspheme

 

[thas]

this is blaspheme

how so and who is that directed to.

 

[Shoko]

I see what the guy is saying, but he's completely forgetting the fact that a game like Brawl would appeal to a casual gamer. Heck, Sakurai even put features for casual gamers in Brawl. Spectator, using the Wiimote Sideways (Since casual gamers would most likely not have a GC), Snapshots, etc.

 

[thas]

using the Wiimote Sideways (Since casual gamers would most likely not have a GC)

im pretty sure the wiimote alone is the default and the GC is the feature.

 

[FR.]

im pretty sure the wiimote alone is the default and the GC is the feature.

It doesn't matter which one is featured/default he was just stating that the average casual gamer buying Brawl will not have owned a GC controller.

 

[AoWFraggit]

i'll be sure to pickup 2 gc controllers when i fetch my copy (the last system i owned before wii was a ps one, believe it or not)

not to say i won't try it with the wiimote/nunchuck control scheme!

 

[JAKE196]

I say thats BS I know so many ppl that are getting it (personally not online, I mean not to mention everyone online lol)