Smash Bros. Brawl Unfit for Wii?
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: GameSetWatch
on January 26th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
I can’t bring myself to agree with Barnett’s opinions, and I’m going to say why.
There’s a number of things that are different, in the case of Brawl vs. the likes of Mario Galaxy, Zelda TP and No More Heroes.
BRAWL (or rather, SumaBura X, in the case of the JP) is ALL things Nintendo in one convenient package. That includes Fire Emblem, Mario, Zelda, Kirby and especially, Pokemon; franchises which are known for going over well with the Japanese fans. This game will include famous personalities from those series, both classic and new, and people will pay good money just to see those characters. Hell, even if you only get say, like a quarter million from each fan base to come out and support SBX, that’s still a cool 1.25 million in sales initially alone. And I can only see more copies being sold, as word of mouth spreads, the game eventually comes more widespread and a bit cheaper as time goes on.
SBX also has one other major facet going for it, as opposed to NMH, TP and Galaxy. Those games were, largely, single-player experiences; the likes of which are slowly becoming a thing only for the hardcore gamer (who’s a minority on the Wii, I’ll grant that). Meanwhile, SBX stands to be probably the ultimate party game, due to it having the most fun co-op adventure mode since Kirby Super Star, a nice assortment of mini games, as well as having a Versus mode that can be played at the particular liking of the end user.
So, with that said, I think SBX/Brawl is going to be just fine, and live up to the proud legacy of its ancestors. No matter what’s your orientation as a gamer, there’s something for you to like in that game. And I think it’s safe to presume that’s what was Sakurai was aiming for all along.
on January 26th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
I think it will sell pretty good…Obviously the delay will help it be that much better of a game…and you can’t walk into anywhere out here (chicago) that sells games/Music/Movies without seeing something SSBB related…it’s almost unreal the level of marketing this game has…
on January 27th, 2008 at 12:25 am
JC BARNETT is a DOUCHE BAG.. he makes retarded coimments
on January 27th, 2008 at 12:38 am
This guy is an idiot. galaxy selling 5 million copies is an amazing thing. The wii has sold 20 million consoles. Super mario galaxy has sold 5 million copies. If brawl sells that much that means nintendo is going to make a lot of money and grow even stronger. How someone can find someway to criticise these facts is beyond me. Who cares that galaxy hasnt sold 18.9 million copies it has already sold enough to justify a sequal. If brawl follows in galaxys footsteps i would be more than happy. Also comparing no more heroes to two nintendo mega-games is moronic. The only thing that can be concluded from this article is that 3rd party sales are down. How this means nintendos SUPER SMASH BROS. BRAWLS sales are going to be disapointing at all discredits anything this guy ever says again.
on January 27th, 2008 at 7:37 am
The sales are about the same as they always have been, it just looks smaller in comparison to the amount of Wii’s sold. So what? Why does everyone fear that the Wii will lose their 3rd party support, I see no reason to panic. Nintendo knows that it needs to keep both audiences happy, and many developers agree with that. As long as both audiences are kept happy, the Wii should be a massive success.
To be honest, I bet that the developer is a 360/PS3 nut. XD
on January 27th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Well, nah, it’s a Famitsu 40/40 … which means it absolutely CANNOT be bad and thus proof pwns your argument like crazy …
on January 27th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Look he makes a valid point i really dont think that nintendo has made some very good choices. I mean c’mon love it or hate it, it’s not that great of a system and regardless of how many people you know that have a wii, I promise you know more that have 360’s or PS3’s. They are better systems. The wii is underpowered bottom line. The library consists of 3 to 4 franchises that are good and if they keep making retarded hoices they’ll end up just like sega…
on January 27th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
JENOVA YOU ARE ANALYZING THE SITUATION TOO BIASTLY! 20 MILLION PEOPLE ARE ENJOYING THEIR WIIS. IM A HARDCORE GAMER AND I PLAY MINE EVERY DAY. US 20 MILLION STRONG ARE SUPPORTING NINTENDOS PUSH TOWARDS FRESH AND ORIGINAL GAMING AND ARE NON PHAZED BY MICROSOFT AND SONYS ATTEMPTS TO PUSH GRAPHICS FORWARD. US 20 MILLION ALL AGREE THAT THE WII MOTE IS NOT A GIMIC, ITS HERE TO STAY IN GAMING FOREVER. MICROSOFT AND SONY WILL HAVE TO COPY NINTENDOS CONCEPT SOMEHOW NEXT CONSOLE GENERATION IN ORDER TO STAY COMPETITIVE. THEY BOTH HAVE FAILED THIS GENERATION AND HAVE BOTH GIVEN NINTENDO A LARGE PORTION OF THE MARKET SHARE. IF YOU DONT THINK MICROSOFT AND SONY ARE WORKING ON EVOLVING GAMES EVEN FARTHER YOUR CRAZY. GRAPHICS WILL CONTINUE TO EVOLVE ON THEIR OWN BUT NINTENDO HAS STARTED A PROFITABLE GAMING REVOLUTION.
on January 27th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Who is to say hardcore gaming defines it? Sure it gets the most coverage and the most reported sales, but that is because the original generation who started out with gaming have grown up and become bad tempered and crusty. To imply that Wii is out of the console wars bears no evidence, other than when it was made, it was aimed specifically at a different demographic. Does that make it not a video game system?
If anything i would say the 360 and the ps3 (do not think i am being biased, i do own all three consoles, and appreciate them equally) have dropped out of the race for two reasons: one the Wii has already won speaking from a sales perspective and two; the other two platforms are not technically game platforms, they are entertainment systems. The Wii uses games, and games only, with exception of a few details like the browser. The other two offer a wider range, DVDs, high definition graphics, HDMI, media centers, even, in the ps3s case, a Linux operating system. This may be looked at as giving them better evidence as being better consoles, that is entirely in the contrary. The Wii has its sights set on Games, whether they be hardcore or casual. Ive played most of the good games that have come out on the Wii, and i must say it tweaks the senses perfectly. Wii sports, and Wii Play offered a nice relaxing moment of fun every now and then, which released both stress and any negative emotions instantly, while games like Zelda: Twilight princess and Mario Galaxy, i felt i was very in my element as a hardcore player. When i play the 360 or the ps3, there has not been an instance where i have had a chance to feel relaxed. I can only force myself to play either when im in the mood for a challenge.
This entire speech was not to say Wii is superior or anything, but to stop things like these being said to intentionally bash the Wii’s reputation.
on January 28th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
i cant agree with JC Barnett. im also a hardcore gamer and i think and i know that the wii is doing great. i have been a nintendo fan for a very long time now and im also a fan with the 360. first of all, JC Barnett can not compare NMH to ssbb. super smash bros has been around since the n64 and it is a good game. ssbm is a great game. i bought ssbm one the first day it came out n i still play it for hours today.ssbb has been a major talk around my community and all over the site. i know it wil sell like halo 3 did. NMH just came out and i know that people (me as well) may have thought that NMH would be crap and it turn out to be a good game. JC Barnett cant compare a game franchise that has been there since n64 to a game franchise that just came out. give NMH more time and we will see if it does good.
how can he say the wii is unfit. the wii is being sold out today and it has around for over a year. i bet JC Barnett like games that have today grapghic expectation. i bet he does not like the wii cause it’s not hd like the 360 and ps3 and it doesnt have other feature as well. nintendo focus on the games and only the games. people like the ds cause of the games. dont get me wrong but most of the psp games are also for the ps2 and the psp owner bought it also cause of the other fuction.i not saying that psp suck or sony for that matter. i own all system but ps3(for now) and i dont think that ssbb could work for any other system. i know that there has been games out there that try to do ssbb style or try to innovate ssbb style and they have failed. ssbb is here for the wii and the wii is here to stay.