The really key thing for Nintendo is how they handle their third party publishers.
Nintendo are the evilest of them all when it comes to the business side of things. They'll crunch everybody's margin (except their own) as hard as they can and play hard politics with release schedules, distribution deals and manufacturing lead times. In terms of support, they'll do the barest minimum - even if they're distributing your product.
These are the main reasons why they lost a lot of key third party support on the N64 and GC.
With Wii, Nintendo have already begun to project a strong, third-party-friendly image - much fuss has been made of Ubisoft's Red Steel, for example. However, the back-end stuff is *probably* as brutal for Wii as it was for the GC and N64.
As an example, my client are producing a DS title that needs a bigger save chip than normal. This has pushed the production lead time from a fortnight to nine weeks, because the carts now have to be manufactured in Asia instead of Europe. This also adds additional shipping costs which, of course, my client pays for rather than Nintendo.
These days, the GBA is even worth touching unless you can guarantee a top 10 place. The margins in place are so tight that it's really not worth the investment. Because of this, there's hundreds of great Japanese titles that'll never get localised for a larger, appreciative audience. It's a real crime against gaming - especially for a format that should be dirt cheap to publish on by now!
Nintendo are so rich that they don't care who can or cannot afford their practices and demands and, more crucially, honestly believe that they don't need anyone who isn't prepared to play by their dictatorial rules. This might well be their undoing and the Wii will end up like the DS - home to a small collection of great first-party titles, but very few third party notables.
Not to mention the RSI and injury claims, but that's another matter!
My Dad was in the armed forces and he claims that plastic explosives smell exactly like Play Doh.
Does anyone know if something similar to Play Doh is used as a medium for liquid explosives (like nitroglycerine) or is the almond smell just a coincidence?
Slashdot Mirror
The really key thing for Nintendo is how they handle their third party publishers. Nintendo are the evilest of them all when it comes to the business side of things. They'll crunch everybody's margin (except their own) as hard as they can and play hard politics with release schedules, distribution deals and manufacturing lead times. In terms of support, they'll do the barest minimum - even if they're distributing your product. These are the main reasons why they lost a lot of key third party support on the N64 and GC. With Wii, Nintendo have already begun to project a strong, third-party-friendly image - much fuss has been made of Ubisoft's Red Steel, for example. However, the back-end stuff is *probably* as brutal for Wii as it was for the GC and N64. As an example, my client are producing a DS title that needs a bigger save chip than normal. This has pushed the production lead time from a fortnight to nine weeks, because the carts now have to be manufactured in Asia instead of Europe. This also adds additional shipping costs which, of course, my client pays for rather than Nintendo. These days, the GBA is even worth touching unless you can guarantee a top 10 place. The margins in place are so tight that it's really not worth the investment. Because of this, there's hundreds of great Japanese titles that'll never get localised for a larger, appreciative audience. It's a real crime against gaming - especially for a format that should be dirt cheap to publish on by now! Nintendo are so rich that they don't care who can or cannot afford their practices and demands and, more crucially, honestly believe that they don't need anyone who isn't prepared to play by their dictatorial rules. This might well be their undoing and the Wii will end up like the DS - home to a small collection of great first-party titles, but very few third party notables. Not to mention the RSI and injury claims, but that's another matter!
My Dad was in the armed forces and he claims that plastic explosives smell exactly like Play Doh. Does anyone know if something similar to Play Doh is used as a medium for liquid explosives (like nitroglycerine) or is the almond smell just a coincidence?