darkSpyro

So I've been running into all kinds of articles about the Wii U as a failed system and that got me thinking...Why would Skylanders put exclusives on the least selling platform in terms of systems sold? Most articles have the Wii U at 9.5 million Wii U's sold life to date and the PS4 at 22 million. So why would Activision go with the system that has half the number of units sold? Even if only half of those PS4's play family games it still seems odd to go with only one system for exclusives. It makes me think Nintendo was the one that wanted these and not so much Activision. It's interesting to speculate anyway...I'm still scratching my head though.


http://fortune.com/2015/06/23/shigeru-miyamoto-wii-u/

http://www.inquisitr.com/22053...-wii-u-to-fail/

http://www.businessinsider.com...to-wii-u-2015-6

If this is true and Nintendo wanted this over V.V. or Activision then they better think about their TtL and not mess with others just to make more money.

This doesn't excuse Activision/V.V. for letting them mess up lore and compatibility but still if I were in them I would care more about focusing, expanding and providing content for Amiibos instead of using these cheap ways to sell more Wii Us (which are starting to get really, really interesting in term of games).

They don't need Skylanders to sell more Wii Us.

Quote: Drek95

If this is true and Nintendo wanted this over V.V. or Activision then they better think about their TtL and not mess with others just to make more money.

This doesn't excuse Activision/V.V. for letting them mess up lore and compatibility but still if I were in them I would care more about focusing, expanding and providing content for Amiibos instead of using these cheap ways to sell more Wii Us (which are starting to get really, really interesting in term of games).

They don't need Skylanders to sell more Wii Us.

I wonder if they (Nintendo) feels the opposite is true though. I also don't think V.V. had any say in the matter. Activision simply had them work with Nintendo to make sure they'd work in the game that V.V. was designing. V.V. (or T.F.B.) are essentially filling orders when they make these games. Some kind of studio exclusive would be between Activision and said studio (Nintendo in this case). I mean I get the "Family Friendly Gaming" connection with Nintendo I just think it's odd that they'd go with the least circulated system. I'm sure they'd sold the most copies life to date (for Skylanders as a franchise) on the Wii but that's getting a completely separate game play experience anyway so I'm back to shrugging my shoulders. Plus the fact that Nintendo wanted them to have cross functionality as Amiibo's adds to the speculation that they requested this form Activision. I wonder what they paid Activision for the exclusive lol.

Nintendo were always the only ones to get exclusive Skylanders stuff, given the 3DS games every year, many Wii U exclusive features in the console games and last year's free Wii U version when buying the Wii game.

In addition, Sony and Microsoft don't have any mascot characters that are anywhere near as popular as Nintendo's, nor do they have their own toys-to-life series, so a crossover was extremely unlikely to happen there.
And most of the Skylanders developers are also self-confessed Nintendo fans.

Also, the Wii versions always sold the best, didn't they? Makes sense that they want to nurture that market and encourage them to move forward to the Wii U (see: mentioned last year's free Wii U version and Donkey Kong this year), so they won't lose them as customers when they completely stop making Wii games (probably next year).

Quote: Tigorus

Quote: Drek95

If this is true and Nintendo wanted this over V.V. or Activision then they better think about their TtL and not mess with others just to make more money.

This doesn't excuse Activision/V.V. for letting them mess up lore and compatibility but still if I were in them I would care more about focusing, expanding and providing content for Amiibos instead of using these cheap ways to sell more Wii Us (which are starting to get really, really interesting in term of games).

They don't need Skylanders to sell more Wii Us.

I wonder if they (Nintendo) feels the opposite is true though. I also don't think V.V. had any say in the matter. Activision simply had them work with Nintendo to make sure they'd work in the game that V.V. was designing. V.V. (or T.F.B.) are essentially filling orders when they make these games. Some kind of studio exclusive would be between Activision and said studio (Nintendo in this case). I mean I get the "Family Friendly Gaming" connection with Nintendo I just think it's odd that they'd go with the least circulated system. I'm sure they'd sold the most copies life to date (for Skylanders as a franchise) on the Wii but that's getting a completely separate game play experience anyway so I'm back to shrugging my shoulders. Plus the fact that Nintendo wanted them to have cross functionality as Amiibo's adds to the speculation that they requested this form Activision. I wonder what they paid Activision for the exclusive lol.

I agree with most of what you said, clearly Nintendo thinks their "Family Friendly" systems are perfect for this kids' friendly series but I don't think V.V. and TfB simply fill orders.

They have a lot of decisional power both gameplay and design wise and you can see it because you can immediately recognize a game/set of characters developed by one of those softwarehouses and tell who created it.
V.V. has its own style and idea of what this series is and should be, same goes for TfB.

Activision most likely adjusted some concepts (Traptanium Elemental Gates) and most likely are the ones behind the Skymiibos concept, but I don't think the developers are restricted in any way.

I think it's because a lot of Starter Pack sales are from the Wii U

Quote: Tigorus

So I've been running into all kinds of articles about the Wii U as a failed system and that got me thinking...Why would Skylanders put exclusives on the least selling platform in terms of systems sold?

thats a easy one to answer, to sell the wiiu... and with that said, the wiiu is a good console, it have fantastic games. but the thing is people want every game on one system, instead of buying two game consoles. you may ask why the third part developers dont bother with the wiiu. because they support the xb360 and ps3, the thing is that nintendo dont give them any advertising. they must do the advertising of the games them self, this cost money. this is the reason why third party developers for the most dont want to develop for the wiiu. its not because it got weaker hardware than the xbone and ps4. also nintendo likes to do their own things, this also cause some developers to get their pants in twist, they demand finished games and dont allow updates. if its not a serious game breaking bug. with that said you can take the new batman game, and see that warner bros the developers was fully knowing they released a unfinished game for the pc. this release it now and fix it later, nintendo dont want to have anything to do with. when it comes to the wiiu skylanders release of super chargers, i am just happy they did the coop with vv. if you dont have a wiiu i urge you to reconsider your thoughts about the console. its the best place for this year skylanders to be experienced, and it should really be played on a wiiu.

I seriously doubt there are many customers that are bothering by the fact that these guest stars screw up the lore. It isn't really that big of a stretch. Now, if Batman and Spiderman suddenly became skylanders, that would be too out there for customers to acceptt.

And yes there are customers who are frustrated that it's now harder to collect them all, and they are compelled to collect figures they can't use....but that's not the customers that are going to make or break Skylanders. Those are the customers that will throw a fit, threaten to leave the franchise, and then go all in buying everything anyway.

I think the deal was agreed upon because it benefits both companies. It's going to push the amiibo market and give skylanders a slight marketing push. I know the wii has been the best selling version of skylanders, and I'm not sure if that was still the case last year. I suspect Acitivision feels that Skylanders success is closing tied to Nintendo's success in that regard. I also don't know how DI sells on the different consoles or if they are in the same boat. Perhaps lego games sell well on xbox one/PS4 and they fear lego dimensions could have an advantage there.

Overall, although I understand how the guest stars bother some fans, it has to be considered a win win deal from the business perspective. If Supercharger is deemed a failure, it's hard to believe it would be because of the guest stars. More likely, it would be because fans just got tired of the franchise, the overestimated the appeal of vehicles, or the competitors just got more appealing. Guest stars is a safe move in a business sense.

Quote: CountMoneyBone

Quote: Tigorus

So I've been running into all kinds of articles about the Wii U as a failed system and that got me thinking...Why would Skylanders put exclusives on the least selling platform in terms of systems sold?

thats a easy one to answer, to sell the wiiu... and with that said, the wiiu is a good console, it have fantastic games. but the thing is people want every game on one system, instead of buying two game consoles. you may ask why the third part developers dont bother with the wiiu. because they support the xb360 and ps3, the thing is that nintendo dont give them any advertising. they must do the advertising of the games them self, this cost money. this is the reason why third party developers for the most dont want to develop for the wiiu. its not because it got weaker hardware than the xbone and ps4. also nintendo likes to do their own things, this also cause some developers to get their pants in twist, they demand finished games and dont allow updates. if its not a serious game breaking bug. with that said you can take the new batman game, and see that warner bros the developers was fully knowing they released a unfinished game for the pc. this release it now and fix it later, nintendo dont want to have anything to do with. when it comes to the wiiu skylanders release of super chargers, i am just happy they did the coop with vv. if you dont have a wiiu i urge you to reconsider your thoughts about the console. its the best place for this year skylanders to be experienced, and it should really be played on a wiiu.

Wii U is not easy to develop for, as it's not an Intel based chipset. Apples and oranges. I've heard support isn't the greatest either. Wii U is also a family console, so only certain types of games tend to do well. Stuff like Splatoon would rock on Wii U but probably be lackluster on a Sony platform--conversely a FPS shooter does well on a Microsoft/Sony combo but fail on Nintendo systems.

PlayStation versions have always been a distant third behind the Microsoft and Nintendo versions within a respective generation. In spite of the gloom and doom, Wii U sales are not that far behind the XBox One sales. Taking all of this into account, combined with the fact that Nintendo is the only company with an existing TtL line, it makes sense to have Nintendo exclusives over Sony or Microsoft.

See I know the content fits but they are only going to reach half the numbers with Nintendo exclusive character vs. a Sack Boy and say Ratchet and Clank on PS4/PS3. Again I know D.K. and Bowser "fit" content wise but it's just strange that Activision went the exclusive route and with the least sold system of the three.

Regarding the Wii U itself, yes it is a damn good little system. I personally wrote it off but recently picked one up and am pleasantly surprised. I have to admit this was in part due to the exclusives (so maybe it's working after all). I love Bowser and I'm indifferent to D.K. but I'm glad I picked the system up and on the cheap @ $230 and it included Swap Force. Maybe this was a partnership nod and less of a fiscal decision. With Nintendo talking about the NX I'd say the Wii U has a good two year life left at this point (one year to get NX to market and another to take hold). Personally I'm getting 3 versions (PS4, Wii U and 3DS) so it's going to be interesting how many Wii U Starters are left on the shelf when the dust settles.

Oh and on a side note, Amiibo's suck. I picked up a Pit and Smash Bros. last weekend and was sorely disappointed to learn you don't play as the Amiibo but with or against and only in Smash...WTF is that lol?!? If they won't let us play as them give us more options to play with them, like in classic mode or something. So I'm not overly thrilled that Bowser and D.K. have Amiibo functionality but it's still there so ehh.

Quote: Tigorus

See I know the content fits but they are only going to reach half the numbers with Nintendo exclusive character vs. a Sack Boy and say Ratchet and Clank on PS4/PS3. Again I know D.K. and Bowser "fit" content wise but it's just strange that Activision went the exclusive route and with the least sold system of the three.

The thing is, Sackboy, Ratchet and Clank would never draw as many new customers to Skylanders products as Nintendo characters will.

Not to mention it's not only Wii U exclusive - the amiibo Skylanders also work on the Wii and 3DS, so they actually reach out to the largest potential audience, not the smallest.

Quote:

Oh and on a side note, Amiibo's suck. I picked up a Pit and Smash Bros. last weekend and was sorely disappointed to learn you don't play as the Amiibo but with or against and only in Smash...WTF is that lol?!? If they won't let us play as them give us more options to play with them, like in classic mode or something. So I'm not overly thrilled that Bowser and D.K. have Amiibo functionality but it's still there so ehh.

So... you'd want the amiibo to do the same things you could do without having to buy any additional figurines in previous games? I think it's pretty obvious why that wouldn't work. :P
There are a couple of games where you use the amiibo figurines as playable characters, though.

The main appeal of amiibo is that
1) most of them are supported across a vast number of games: see https://i.imgur.com/ZNchYY5.jpg
2) they give us awesome crossover content that would otherwise never have happened (again, see the above link)
3) they're high-quality (for the cost) figurines of fan-favourite characters

Quote: FireMeowth

Nintendo were always the only ones to get exclusive Skylanders stuff, given the 3DS games every year

That's a damn good point. What's a couple exclusive characters compared to an entire exclusive game every single year? And they are really fun games at that.


Nintendo and Skylanders have always been tight.

Quote: FireMeowth

So... you'd want the amiibo to do the same things you could do without having to buy any additional figurines in previous games? I think it's pretty obvious why that wouldn't work.
There are a couple of games where you use the amiibo figurines as playable characters, though.

The main appeal of amiibo is that
1) most of them are supported across a vast number of games: see https://i.imgur.com/ZNchYY5.jpg
2) they give us awesome crossover content that would otherwise never have happened (again, see the above link)
3) they're high-quality (for the cost) figurines of fan-favourite characters

Not entirely sure what you mean by that. I assumed you'd be able to play as said Amiibo character while they leveled up and gained power and special equipment and abilities. I also don't agree that it's a given that most or all Wii U owners will pick this up, let alone just for the Amiibo functionality. If half the PS4 users got an exclusive version and all the Wii U players picked it up you'd still have more units sold on the Playstation side of things. I also think, overall, that this is a bad idea. I hope it ends well for them, I really do now that I've supported them with getting a Wii U but man I just don't know.

Thanks for posting that graphic though. It appears that Skylander Bowser will be unique in Smash so now I can get a regular one to play with in the meantime. My "Amiibo's suck" was laced with a little sarcasm. It is kind of cool having them as partners in Smash. I do wish I could do more with them though. Since your always outnumbered in Classic it would be nice to have a partner. It would also be nice if Nintendo would pull their head out of their ass and make a legit cohesive game using all their Amiibo characters. Kind of like Skylanders (that would be interesting) or maybe an RPG like Super Mario RPG and you could have a party of Link, Peach, Bowser and Samus (ah snap that would be amazing). This half-assed support of these $13-$14 figures drives me nuts lol. Would it kill them to fully support their figures with a legit game?...I don't think so.

We have a person who is jelly.

Originally, Skylanders was supposed to be a Nintendo game, but Nintendo turned them down. It seems that didn't damper their spirits as the 3DS version has always had some sort of exclusive figure in them.

I'd have to see exact numbers, but as far as I can remember hearing, Skylanders has always sold the most starter packs for Wii and likely the Wii U isn't far behind compared to other consoles. As much as it pains me to say, Nintendo systems are regarded as very "kiddy" so of course a game created with children in mind would sell well on it. And sure, PS4 has a huge leg up on console sales over Nintendo and the Wii U, but that doesn't take into effect at all the Skylanders sales. As a matter of fact, I thought Swap Force sold the worst on PS4 or Xbone compared to all the other systems. With Nintendo already having the amiibo tech at the ready to stick into a figure, the guys from Skylanders probably found it very easy to integrate their ideas together and if you check out the Nintendo Treehouse video with gameplay, they mention as much and how everyone at Nintendo immediately loved the idea.

If Microsoft and Sony create a line of toys to life figures (which frankly I'm a little shocked we didn't see at E3) I'm sure we'll see some sort of collaboration between those companies and Skylanders as well. Although, that could also be nipped in the bud if the Amiibolanders don't work out well.

The Wii U isnt a failed console... -.-

Well I couldn't find Trap team numbers but I did find Swap Force numbers. See link below for article. It attributed about 59% to Wii owners. The Wii was the third highest selling console of all time though and totally eclipses the Wii U in terms of units sold. That said the Wii can't keep up with what they want to do now in Super Chargers and seems to be getting a dedicated racing game instead of an adventure game with new gimmicks and mechanics. I don't believe Sony and Micro want to dilute the market with more half assed measures and are content to get a little from each of the pies and supporting as many third parties as they can. Hell Nintendo is doing that as well by supporting Infinity, Lego Dimensions, Skylanders and various Amiibo supported games. I'm wondering now if they'll have exclusive mini figs. in Dimensions. Maybe not at launch but down the road. Hell they could make them work with Amiibos. Could you imagine scanning a Link or Yoshi Amiibo and getting a Lego mini fig of the same character? That would be awesome. I don't think they should sell physical Nintendo Legos that only work on Wii U but have added functionality with the Amiibos since people will already assume anything with an Amiibo is Nintendo only.


http://fortune.com/tag/skylanders-trap-team/

Wii U isn't a failed console, Splatoon and Super Smash Bros Wii U not to mention Mario Kart 8 are AMAZING GAMES.

The wii u was just poorly marketed. To be honest I would have never gotten one if I didn't think trap team would be the last skylanders game on the wii but nonetheless I am very happy getting one. I just hope they don't try to replace the wii u any time soon.

The difference between Skylanders and most third party games is that it actually appeals to the core Nintendo audience. Bright colors, imaginative fantasy worlds, cartoonish characters. It's the same reason Sonic and Rayman have such a great relationship with Nintendo.
have


People are always talking about how Nintendo should do more to attract the dark and gritty third party games onto their console, but what I want is for more third party developers to make cartoony, colorful stuff.

Quote: TakeYourLemons

Quote: CountMoneyBone

Quote: Tigorus

So I've been running into all kinds of articles about the Wii U as a failed system and that got me thinking...Why would Skylanders put exclusives on the least selling platform in terms of systems sold?

thats a easy one to answer, to sell the wiiu... and with that said, the wiiu is a good console, it have fantastic games. but the thing is people want every game on one system, instead of buying two game consoles. you may ask why the third part developers dont bother with the wiiu. because they support the xb360 and ps3, the thing is that nintendo dont give them any advertising. they must do the advertising of the games them self, this cost money. this is the reason why third party developers for the most dont want to develop for the wiiu. its not because it got weaker hardware than the xbone and ps4. also nintendo likes to do their own things, this also cause some developers to get their pants in twist, they demand finished games and dont allow updates. if its not a serious game breaking bug. with that said you can take the new batman game, and see that warner bros the developers was fully knowing they released a unfinished game for the pc. this release it now and fix it later, nintendo dont want to have anything to do with. when it comes to the wiiu skylanders release of super chargers, i am just happy they did the coop with vv. if you dont have a wiiu i urge you to reconsider your thoughts about the console. its the best place for this year skylanders to be experienced, and it should really be played on a wiiu.

Wii U is not easy to develop for, as it's not an Intel based chipset. Apples and oranges. I've heard support isn't the greatest either. Wii U is also a family console, so only certain types of games tend to do well. Stuff like Splatoon would rock on Wii U but probably be lackluster on a Sony platform--conversely a FPS shooter does well on a Microsoft/Sony combo but fail on Nintendo systems.

i think splatoon would have done good on any console, a good game dont depend on the console to be successful

Yeah, although I'd argue the Wii U remote is what makes it fun. I could see it absolutely frustrating without it. I honestly can't see why FPS games does so well with controllers, to me a mouse or Wii U remote is a lot more intuitive. I absolutely hated RE 4/5 on the big consoles but loved RE4 on Wii and RE5 on PC because of the remote and mouse.