Barton: Wii Game Glut 'Raises Specter' Of Player Disenchantment?

Author: by Staff

Talking as part of Gamasutra's latest 'Analyze This' feature, Screen Digest's Ed Barton has been discussing the massive amount of budget-priced Wii games on the market, suggesting the large volumes "raise the specter of consumer confusion and disenchantment." The popularity of Nintendo's consoles and a relatively relaxed approval process has led to an extremely large amount of lower-budget casual game releases for the platform. Therefore, Barton had this to say when asked what he would advise game developers to focus on this year: "I wouldn't shed a tear if there was a reduction of budget software targeting Wii. Retailers, already under enormous pressure, could do with a more focused offering from the publishing community for Wii. In the UK market, it was practically impossible for any retailers to stock and promote every single Q4 2008 Wii release with the attention that a new game release deserves, because there were simply too many of them. Budget software obviously plays a very important role in the marketplace for certain games purchasers. But I question whether such large volumes are a healthy or sustainable phenomenon, especially if it raises the specter of consumer confusion and disenchantment." The full Gamasutra installment of 'Analyze This' is now available for reading, with plenty more comments on 2009's game market from Wedbush Morgan, EEDAR and Screen Digest analysts.