We're about to enter a new generation on consoles and it's time to choose what really matters: graphics or gameplay. The odd competition between the Wii and everything else over the past seven years has thrown a lot of questions into the mix, but as of right now, it looks like gamers and publishers alike are focused on graphics.
And I think that's very, very sad. 2013's Games Connection Publisher Survey, which details where publishers, platform wise, are interested in putting out their games, polled over 140 publishers to find out what the future holds for consoles, mobile and pc developers, as well as outlining everyone's favorite business strategies going into 2013. It's an interesting report, but being a console-loving buffoon, I'm just going to concentrate on console-related numbers.
22 percent of the publishers polled intend to release a game on the PS4 and Microsoft's next console, compared to an 11 percent for the Wii U. In many ways that makes sense. The Wii U is struggling and even Nintendo's initial third-party supporter, Ubisoft, is backing away by releasing "Rayman Legends" on Xbox 360, PS3 and the Wii U as opposed to the originally promised Wii U exclusive. Publishers know their games don't sell as well Nintendo first party games and they're waiting to see if it survives the holiday season. They're waiting because the core gamer crowd may just be buying a graphic-whoring machine once again, instead of the Wii U's more experimental take on the next generation.
I get it. Nintendo needs to prove the console has a viable future. But here's the confusing part - that same survey shows that nine percent of publishers have planned releases for Sony's even worse-off Playstation Vita, while a measly five percent are planning on releasing a game on Nintendo's thriving-by-comparison 3DS portable. Read that sentence five more times and tell me how that makes any sense at all. Business strategy is being thrown out the window and it's hard to understand why. There may be a million reasons for this odd disparity, but it has nothing to do with valuation of the market.
It may, however, have something to do with a confusion over what gamers want. Nintendo's Wii U is stuck right now. People don't know if the catalogue is going to get any in a reasonable amount of time, so they're waiting, perhaps for the PS4 or next Xbox, or simply perhaps for the next "Mario," "Legend of Zelda" or "Metroid." And then there's the large group who just doesn't care about Nintendo anymore, but that's beside the point. There's an audience, the 3DS shows it, but Nintendo hasn't proven that the larger gaming audience cares more about gameplay experiences than the obsession with graphics. Sony is playing into this standstill, since that's basically all that the PS4 offers for individual games, other than some odd social-integration. All that user interface, Gaikai streaming, social networking stuff is nifty, but truly the only thing Sony's PS4 is bringing to game development is a hardware upgrade
And you're buying into it, at least it looks like you are, as you wait for the console to release. So as publishers watch you watching Sony and Microsoft, they're forgetting that games on the 3DS are outpacing and outselling games on the Vita, simply because the Vita sold itself as HD in your pocket. That didn't work, but the stigma remains, and publishers are acting like idiots for it.
Nintendo's Wii U may be failing for many reasons - price point, marketing difficulties, lack of games - and for many gamers it's that last one - the games. But what's to say Sony and Microsoft are doing anything to make better games other than making them better looking? And guess what. That graphical leap between the Gamecube/PS2/Xbox generation and the generation right now - that's never, ever going to happen again. That was SD to HD, this is HD to more HD. It's that simple, so get over it. Yes, Sony's PS4 features improved memory, as will the next Xbox, to help developers get every feature they want in the game, and that's a major improvement, but gameplay will not change, and the price point on those consoles is going to be way, way above the Wii U, which gamers themselves said was overpriced to begin with. You need to figure out what you want, or you're going to be sorely disappointed.
Call me a Nintendo fanboy, but I prefer you call me a supporter of the industry. The graphics obsession is confusing developers and they'll be afraid to develop for all consoles eventually if gamers can't make up their mind. That complication simply doesn't exist with mobile/tablet gaming right now, since the install base is so much bigger and the casual gamer simply doesn't care. They just want to have a fun time. Why can't you be that way?
