One of Nintendo’s major reasons for not supporting HD and keeping the Wii’s specifications conservative was to make it a viable platform for original IPs. The argument was that developing games on machines with multi-core processors and complex architectures was increasing development costs to such a degree, that the appetite for risk was rapidly diminishing within the industry resulting in endless sequels and me-too titles. Two years have passed since the Wii was released and it has since gained many original IPs that allow us to see if Nintendo’s decision has borne fruit, or whether it was just an excuse to limit R&D expenses.

Be sure to also check out Part 1 of this series.

De Blob

VGChartz estimated worldwide sales:300,000

Originally created as a free downloadable pc game, De Blob first came to life in the hands of 8 students from Utrecht University, Netherlands. Publishing giants THQ were so impressed by what they saw, they bought the rights to the game and handed over development to Australian outfit Blue Tongue Entertainment. Despite slow initial sales in Europe and the U.S., THQ has come to regard De Blob as a critical and commercial success. Its sales are likely to close in on the important 400,000 mark through the holidays, and should easily exceed half a million going into next year. LittleBigPlanet and De Blob show that the platformer isn’t dead just yet.

No More Heroes

VGChartz estimated worldwide sales:360,000

The strongest indicator that No More Heroes is a sales success is that a sequel is on its way - Desperate Struggle. It also serves as the strongest lesson on why sales for Wii games should not be judged solely on their opening week, something Suda himself learned much to his relief. Even now, judging No More Heroes is difficult to say the least: how much should an ultra-violent, cel shaded, censored (in Europe), technically challenged, flawed masterpiece sell exactly? Enough to warrant a sequel and keep its developer in business, that’s how much.

Okami

VGChartz estimated worldwide sales:130,000

While obviously a port of a PS2 game, Okami’s inclusion on this list is justified by its sad legacy. This was the game that may have finally caused Capcom to terminate Clover Studios, despite their work on some of the finest games of the previous generation. Okami was to be Capcom’s attempt to take Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda series head on. Critically the game succeeded beyond all expectations, with many reviewers rating it higher than Nintendo’s epic. At retail however Okami didn’t even begin to approach the sales of Twilight Princess, selling a total of 270,00 copies in the U.S.

Capcom handed over the reigns to the talented Ready at Dawn for the Wii port, but with a limited budget and schedule that ultimately did not allow the developer to add any additional content. Despite this, Capcom revealed that the game had sold 280,000 copies worldwide a mere 4 months after its release, bringing it approximately in line with PS2 sales. While it could be argued that the PS2 version of Okami had a greater amount of competition at the time, it also strongly confirms the existence of Wii gamers hungry for high quality, original content. Overall though, the case for a game like Okami is not strengthened even with the additional Wii sales - a port got the go ahead, but a sequel never will.

WiiWare

While there have been reports of some WiiWare games selling only in their hundreds, two of the best original games released on the platform have found success. LostWinds, released in May ‘08, has sold over 268,000 copies - significant success for a game developed by a small team in a matter of months. Frontier boss Braben has spoken in glowing terms about the project and has confirmed a sequel is on the way. World of Goo, despite piracy rates of 90% on the PC, has found an audience on WiiWare with sales of 44,000 in th U.S. after only being on sale a month. Arguably the best game WiiWare has to offer, World of Goo should go on to match LostWinds success after its European release and holiday sales. Encouragingly for 3rd Parties, Nintendo doesn’t have the stranglehold on the WiiWare market that it does on traditional software.

The Future

So where does this leave developers when it comes to original IPs on the Wii? The only million seller on the list is Red Steel - a big-budget game that was heavily advertised and most likely needed its large sales to cover its development costs. The rest have sold (or look likely to sell) between 400,000 - 750,000 across their lifetime, figures that neatly match up to the benchmark that Reggie used during E3 ‘08 when taking about successful 3rd party Wii games. WiiWare has also proved to be a strong platform for original content and not just a crutch for shovelware as many had feared.

The ability to turn a profit from original Wii games is evident, the biggest hurdle seems to be the runaway success of ports and mini-game collections that require fewer development resources and time to create. Why put enormous effort into a sequel to Zack & Wiki when a Zombie-lite port of Dead Rising from the 360 will likely make more money? Despite this looming question, a large number of developers have taken up the gautlet with titles like Little King’s Story, The Conduit, MadWord, Deadly Creatures and Arc Rise Fantasia.

Gallery: NASCAR Kart Racing

• Jeff Burton
• Kyle Busch
• Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
• Carl Edwards
• Jeff Gordon
• Denny Hamlin
• Kevin Harvick
• Jimmie Johnson
• Kasey Kahne
• Matt Kenseth
• Elliot Sadler
• Tony Stewart
• Two Unlockable Mystery Drivers

EA reveals NASCAR Kart Racing for Wii originally appeared on Nintendo Wii Fanboy on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ads by Google

I saw a commercial for this stuff the other night, but now there are pretty pictures to write about as well. Burger King is upholding the time-honored tradition of coaxing children into obesity with the promise of toys by offering a new range of Nintendo-themed goodies alongside its Kid's Meal.

There are ten of the little bastards to collect, and according to Burger King, each one does "something awesome." Unfortunately, none of them can make Carnival Games disappear from the Wii's library. Anyway, if you feel like being a total baby, here's something for you to do when you get off from work today. 

None of these look like they'll beat those old awesome Mario toys though. You remember the ones? They had a Goomba that did a backflip and a springy Raccoon Mario. That was back when toys from fast food restaurants ruled. 

Don't even get me started on the French Fries that could TURN INTO A ROBOT!

I saw a commercial for this stuff the other night, but now there are pretty pictures to write about as well. Burger King is upholding the time-honored tradition of coaxing children into obesity with the promise of toys by offering a new range of Nintendo-themed goodies alongside its Kid's Meal.

There are ten of the little bastards to collect, and according to Burger King, each one does "something awesome." Unfortunately, none of them can make Carnival Games disappear from the Wii's library. Anyway, if you feel like being a total baby, here's something for you to do when you get off from work today. 

None of these look like they'll beat those old awesome Mario toys though. You remember the ones? They had a Goomba that did a backflip and a springy Raccoon Mario. That was back when toys from fast food restaurants ruled. 

Don't even get me started on the French Fries that could TURN INTO A ROBOT!

I saw a commercial for this stuff the other night, but now there are pretty pictures to write about as well. Burger King is upholding the time-honored tradition of coaxing children into obesity with the promise of toys by offering a new range of Nintendo-themed goodies alongside its Kid's Meal.

There are ten of the little bastards to collect, and according to Burger King, each one does "something awesome." Unfortunately, none of them can make Carnival Games disappear from the Wii's library. Anyway, if you feel like being a total baby, here's something for you to do when you get off from work today. 

None of these look like they'll beat those old awesome Mario toys though. You remember the ones? They had a Goomba that did a backflip and a springy Raccoon Mario. That was back when toys from fast food restaurants ruled. 

Don't even get me started on the French Fries that could TURN INTO A ROBOT!

It is once again GameTap Thursday, and what a great week it is! Not only is a new episode of American McGee’s Grimm Volume 2 now available to play free for the first 24-hours, but subscribers can also download Gothic 3 and Kingpin. Metal Slug fans who have signed up on GameTap are in for a treat because Metal Slug X is the latest free game to be added to the growing roster (145 free games total).

Here are the details for each game added this week:

• Grimm Volume 2, Episode 14: Iron John: A strange iron man living in the forest befriends a young man hoping an act of kindness will free him from his iron curse. With Iron John’s help the boy marries the princess and lives happily ever after—well, not really because Grimm hates that sort of thing.

• Gothic 3: Piranha Bytes’ third in the series of fantasy-themed role-playing games. In this installment, The Nameless Hero arrives on a continent overrun with orcs, who have enslaved most of the humans in the area. The Gothic series thrives on choices and reputation, and this installment is no different - players can side with the orcs, save the humans, or both. Gothic 3 also boasts a beautifully-rendered open world, with lush jungles, deserts and intricately detailed icy tundras.

• Kingpin: Life of Crime: Publisher Interplay and Redneck Rampage developer Grey Matter Interactive present Kingpin: Life of Crime, a first-person shooter set in a gritty, crime-ridden city. Players enact their revenge against drug kingpin Nikko Blanco using whatever weapons are available. Gameplay includes weapon modification, interactive conversations with non-playable characters, and the ability to hire gang members to join in the fight.

• Metal Slug X: (Free to play for one week only) Morden’s Army is at it again, and only the Metal Slug team can stand in its way. But taking down Morden and his troops won’t be easy. Fortunately what the team lacks in wits, it makes up for with ordnance: they’ve got about ten zillion bullets and grenades, plus the ultra-advanced (and stylish) Metal Slug super vehicles. Released in 1999, it is something of a remixed, upgraded, “director’s cut” version of Metal Slug 2. Gentlemen, start your war.

December 11 will see the release of Grimm Volume 2, Episode 15: The Pied Piper which like all Grimm episodes, will be free to play for the first 24-hours. In it, the Piped Piper uses his siren call (or flute if you will) to lure a kingdom’s children to a watery grave. Just how much more horrible can Grimm make such a tale? Tune in next week to find out.

In the meantime, to play Metal Slug X for free or any of the other games in GameTap’s wide variety of free titles, head on over to the website and sign up. While you are there, if you decide to become a subscriber, you can sign up for that too.

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Related Articles at Gaming Today:

• American McGee's Grimm: Volume Two Release Schedule Announced
• GameTap Thursday: More Grimm Along with Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
• GameTap Tuesday: Grimm Gets His Hands on the Golden Goose
• GameTap Thursday: Grimm Volume 2 Goes Live with Fallout Tactics
• GameTap Thursday: Grimm Violates Cinderella's World; Lionheart and Elements of Destruction

• Euro bands, Naked Brothers coming to Rock Band next week
• Tighter competition: Rock Band also getting The Killers DLC
  

Valve has always had pretty popular games, and if their recent release of sales figures over the past ten years are any indication of the company’ success, well then they will have nothing to worry about for a very long time. Well, that’s barring some unforeseen gaming or spending catastrophe like a Superman 64 or a very bad heroine addiction.

Here are the numbers reported to Game Informer, then posted on Gamasutra and broken down in a pretty list by VG247:

• Half-Life - 9.3 million
• Half-Life: Opposing Force - 1.1 million
• Half-Life: Blue Shift - 800,000
• Half-Life 2 - 6.5 million
• Half-Life 2: Episode One - 1.4 million
• The Orange Box - 3 million
• Counter-Strike - 4.2 million
• Counter-Strike: Condition Zero - 2.9 million
• Counter-Strike: Source - 2.1 million
• Counter-Strike (Xbox) - 1.5 million
• Left 4 Dead (projected) - 3.6 - 3.9 million

The figures add up to a total retail amount of  32.8 million and if you include the projected Left 4 Dead numbers, it increases to 36.4 - 36.7 million. These figures also do not include digital sales of their products through Steam, which Valve is currently keeping under wraps for some reason or another. Be that as it may, the numbers speak for themselves, and whether you are a Valve fan or not, they are nothing to sneeze at by any means.

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Related Articles at Gaming Today:

• Is PC Gaming Dead?
• Lineage Drives NCsoft's Q2 $82.1m Sales
• Valve Still Standing Tall as Indie Studio
• Capcom Q1 Sales Rise on the Wings of Phoenix
• DS Lite Sales Hit 700k in Australia