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The developer of Okami as well as Suda 51 mades some intriguing comments regarding developing and marketing games for the Wii.

First the Okami Developer:

Now, Suda 51:

First of all, let me say nobody wants third partys to be disappointed or frustrated in developing for the Wii, but as for first party sales, of course Nintendo has a leg up on any third party coming in late to the party. And we as consumers trust Nintendo games are going to be worth the $50 more than any third party title, so it shouldn't be that big of a surprise.

Make great games and the money will come...hopefully

Okami Source

Suda Source

There is no secret. Just slap together a few mini-games and you have a big hit.

If you want to attract the casual audience. If they want the "hardcore" crowd interested in their games, they need something big, unique, innovative, exclusive, and almost Nintendo quality.

I think it is precisely the opposite. Put some more effort than slapping together a few mini-games and/or porting over PSP titles and maybe they will be on to something...

Zack and Wiki is a prime example that decent games on Wii get over looked. Take Carnival games, that has sold over a million if I am correct. If No More Heroes sells badly in America. Then third-party companies are pretty much screwed. Unless they bring a casual game out...

regarding the okami dev: seems more like he's a little sour about his game not getting the acclaim he expected based on previews and reviews. problem is, the game was never marketed towards the casual or even mainstream. did anyone ever see one tv commercial of okami? besides the internet and gaming magazine ads/teasers/trailers, it is the only exposure this game got. word of mouth can only take you so far.

suda 51: he basically figured it out himself. wii is for the casual. the very few "hardcore" games it has basically appeals to the fanboys. im curious whether he figured this out while still in R&D though because some time while in development of no more heroes, they announced they were gonna make a 360 game.

ive said this during the gamecube and even the N64 days, but for 3rd party devs making nintendo games, nintendo is their worst competition/ enemy. it sucks that this early in the game, it's already showing.

true, but the devs in question made original IPs. how did zack and wiki do? from what i've seen, that game really had some promise, plus it was advertised as a family oriented game.