"Under their thumb"

[Steerforth]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6171107.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=newstop&tag=newstop;title;7

console software fell a sharp 20 percent, while handheld software rose 61 percent on strong sales of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.
 
They were unanimous in their opinion that the success of the Wii and DS, which rely primarily on first-party games, has cut into the bottom line of third-party publishers. In April, roughly 63 percent of all Wii games and 79 percent of all DS games sold were made in-house at Nintendo.
 
Besides being a short-term issue, the success of first-party games could pose long-term problems for third parties. "A key to the successes of many publishers during the last console cycle was market share gains at the expense of first-party publishers," UBS analyst Benjamin A. Schachter pointed out. "We are concerned that this cycle may revert somewhat back to greater share gains for the first-party players, particularly as Nintendo rebounds and Microsoft focuses on and improves its AAA titles."
 
I don't know why this would be a surprise. As some on this board have pointed out time and again, there is a lot of halfbaked crap going down the Wii pipeline, that probably should not translate into robust sales. Its almost a deafeatist attitude when it comes to Ninty, throw your 3rd string against them so your big boys can have success on another platform. Maybe in a year from now we will see some more impressive 3rd party games.

Anyone ever think there will be a 'generic' game console for 3rd parties, or is that a pipe dream for them? I think a lot of people would have been happier to see a PS 2.5 instead of what they are faced with now, uncertainty untill this all shakes out.

I think this next Christmas will crown the next gen 'winner' for this cycle, whoever doesn't have momentum then probably will never gain it. Each system has a lot of big games slated, so this should be fun. Time to go 'all-in'!

[feilong801]

The best selling Gamecube game in 2006 was Resident Evil 4. The second best selling game in the early going for Wii was Red Steel (not a good game, of course, but a third party game built from the ground up for Wii and not a port).

It's really up to the third parties to not make crap. That's really all it is.

It has been proven time and time again that gamer's have relatively deep pockets. Shoot, most people on this board buy most of the new stuff that's any good; whereas I only purchase a new game or two a month for my expensive consoles, and I think I'm the exception, not the rule. Long story short: Quality product will do fine on a Nintendo console.

-Rob