lack of 3rd party on gamecube

M

Magnum PI

Veteran
i see more and more third party which exists for xbox and PS2 and not for gamecube. ie: burnout 3. and official explanations from the 3rd party of the lack of GC port weren't satisfying to say the least.. i had some kind of idea:

microsoft must have understand they couldn't get the 1st place this gen, anyway they must have figured they at least have to take the 2nd place if they want this gen and xbox not to be a failure. nintendo's demise should be their first step to console domination.

i think that for a 3rd party it must be a tough choice to go xbox exclusive.

but if MS specifically ask to the 3rd party NOT to make a GC version in order to be allowed them to make a xbox version ? and compensate the 3rd party with lower royalties ?

is it plausible ?
do you think it's fair ?
(does it have to be fair ?)
 
it doesn't have to be fair
since it doesn't have to be fair it doesn't matter if it is or not
i don't think many 3rd part dev's need motivation for not releasing a multi-platform game on the gamecube this late in the game.
 
It's not a conspiracy or a scheme. What you describe has already been done before in the past... by NINTENDO during the NES days. 3rd party software doesn't sell as well on the GC. Off hand I can only think of Soul Caliber as being the rare exception. Here's some NPD data from December 2004. Despite there being only slightly more Xboxes than GC, Xbox owners buy more games.

Need for Speed Underground 2
PS2 - 1,044,661
XBX - 534,815
GCN - 158,473

Call of Duty: Finest Hour
PS2 - 624,341
XBX - 314,756
GCN - 85,434

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
PS2 - 236,096
XBX - 224,831
GCN - 66,570

Madden NFL 2005
PS2 - 935,719
XBX - 302,994
GCN - 143,677

NBA Live 2005
PS2 - 519,289
XBX - 178,885
GCN - 86,194

to be fair I found some GC games that sold well too....

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Movie
PS2 - 291,703
GCN - 112,449
XBX - 105,076

Sonic Mega Collection
PS2 - 162,179
GCN - 117,247
XBX - 90,133

The Incredibles
PS2 - 265,071
GCN - 169,537
XBX - 92,272
 
i'm not talking about conspiracy but business practices..

you could tend to think to this idea as pure fantasy, if such pratices were not so much seen in the PC hardware/software sector.

sales data for a few games is only anecdotical, you can also find games that sold particularly well on GC whose sequel didn't have a GC version.

i don't claim it's the sole reason of the lack of 3rd party title on GC either..
 
Pozer said:
to be fair I found some GC games that sold well too....

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Movie
PS2 - 291,703
GCN - 112,449
XBX - 105,076

Sonic Mega Collection
PS2 - 162,179
GCN - 117,247
XBX - 90,133

The Incredibles
PS2 - 265,071
GCN - 169,537
XBX - 92,272
Click to expand...

..which are obviously more aimed towards a younger age market.
 
Magnum PI said:
i see more and more third party which exists for xbox and PS2 and not for gamecube. ie: burnout 3. and official explanations from the 3rd party of the lack of GC port weren't satisfying to say the least.. i had some kind of idea:

microsoft must have understand they couldn't get the 1st place this gen, anyway they must have figured they at least have to take the 2nd place if they want this gen and xbox not to be a failure. nintendo's demise should be their first step to console domination.

i think that for a 3rd party it must be a tough choice to go xbox exclusive.

but if MS specifically ask to the 3rd party NOT to make a GC version in order to be allowed them to make a xbox version ? and compensate the 3rd party with lower royalties ?

is it plausible ?
do you think it's fair ?
(does it have to be fair ?)
Click to expand...

No, they don't ask them to not publish a title on a specific system, only other systems, as in anyone else...and then only usually for a given amount of time. All of the manufacturers offer deals to publishers if they think their product is something that will strengthen their platform. GC doesn't get support because the userbase doesn't buy enough third party titles. Go look at the sales of third party titles on the GC versus the other two systems and you'll see a pretty clear trend of the Nintendo userbase not buying in the same numbers you'll see on the other manufacturers' systems. Nintendo's own software competes far too strongly with other publishers on their consoles, and only in a few cases, do third party titles on the GC sell very competitively or even better than their PS2 and XBOX counterparts.

The N-console fanbase just doesn't seem 'conditioned' to expect much out of other publishers' titles or chooses Nintendo's own software over it. I think a lot of it also has to do with the demographic that Nintendo consoles have as their strength: the younger segment. A lot of that has simply to do with Nintendo's own brand name and the associations it has with this demographic. If Nintendo wants more third party support, similar to what you see on the XBOX or PS2, they have to foster an image of a platform that actively supports and caters to the older gamers. Without that, there's little chance that they can even get enough people to associate their consoles with being a well-rounded platform that anyone would want, as you could expect strong and broadly-appealing software categories to be represented well on it.

Short story: Nintendo needs to reestablish their console image to prospective gamers that aren't the already first in-line Nintendo fans. Once they do that, if the sales of other types of games sell, the publishers will continue producing those types of titles.
 
Magnum PI said:
i see more and more third party which exists for xbox and PS2 and not for gamecube. ie: burnout 3. and official explanations from the 3rd party of the lack of GC port weren't satisfying to say the least.. i had some kind of idea:

microsoft must have understand they couldn't get the 1st place this gen, anyway they must have figured they at least have to take the 2nd place if they want this gen and xbox not to be a failure. nintendo's demise should be their first step to console domination.

i think that for a 3rd party it must be a tough choice to go xbox exclusive.

but if MS specifically ask to the 3rd party NOT to make a GC version in order to be allowed them to make a xbox version ? and compensate the 3rd party with lower royalties ?

is it plausible ?
do you think it's fair ?
(does it have to be fair ?)
Click to expand...


Pretty much the way it works at all game software companies is sales and marketing predict the sales, they evaluate cost of the port, then they look at opportunity costs and either you get a GC version or you don't.

So if sales and marketing think the game is the type of thing that sells on GC then it get's ported, if they don't it doesn't.

I work for a major developer and I've done GC versions of all the games I've worked on in the last couple of years. But there won't be a GC version of the current one, partly because it's rated MA and Marketing doesn't think it will do the numbers on GC and partly because there would be technical issues with the GC version.


No conspiracy theories to uncover here.
 
but if MS specifically ask to the 3rd party NOT to make a GC version in order to be allowed them to make a xbox version ? and compensate the 3rd party with lower royalties ?
Click to expand...

This hasn't happened. MS doesn't turn anything away on the xbox. They are not in a postion to do that.

Sony on the other hand is a different story, however they won't specifically ask, it's just understood that if you want a game approved at the concept phase, you stand a better chance if it's PS2 only. why? because sony knows publishers won't pick up most games unless a PS2 version is coming.
 
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