 3rd Party Games
You know, Nintendo has done some things that were highly unexpected for those who have supported them throughout the years. Easily one of the biggest examples would be letting other companies handle their licenses. Retro Studios has developed Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and is also working on a Metroid Prime 3. Rumor has it they are also working on a Mario title, but that has yet to be confirmed. Capcom has worked on The Legend of Zelda series (with The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past/Four Swords, The Minish Cap, Oracle of Seasons/Ages). Other companies have worked with Mario games, as well (Camelot is responsible for the sports titles).
Namco has even handled the Star Fox license through Star Fox Assault, and Namco has also worked close on the Donkey Kong license. And let's not forget Rare's own Star Fox Adventures. Sega has even gotten in on the action by co-developing F-Zero GX for the Gamecube. So what's the deal? Is Nintendo just handing out its licenses to other developers?
Well, there are a few ways of looking at this. First would probably be the pessimistic way (just to get that out of the way). Some might claim that Nintendo is getting lazy so they want other developers to tackle some of their projects. Nintendo used to handle all of those licenses back in the NES and SNES days, and even develop more titles besides. Those people would probably also claim that it may stem from Nintendo not having as much direction with their old licenses as they did at one time. They may be under the assumption that the licenses are old and should be retired.
But now that the negative view is out of the way, let's look at the positive. Because of Nintendo working with these 3rd parties, that could mean closer relations to the companies. Which is exactly what Nintendo needs at this point. Closer ties to 3rd party companies and more support from 3rd parties is really what the Nintendo fanbase needs to grow. With more games, the Nintendo fanbase will have more selection and therefore attract more consumers. That is, of course, provided consumers support the games. The biggest problem there is that although Nintendo has been working with 3rd parties, 3rd party titles tend to underperform in comparison to Nintendo's first party titles.
After all...Nintendo gamers buy Nintendo consoles to play Nintendo games, right?
Unfortunately, that is the case for too many, and they miss buying out 3rd party games, which puts Nintendo in the situation they are in now. But with Nintendo working so close to other companies, hopefully they can remedy the situation. For example, Nintendo let Namco include Link as a playable character in the Nintendo Gamecube version of Soul Calibur II. As a result, the Gamecube build sold far better than the Playstation 2 and XBox versions by quite a wide margin. What if Nintendo worked with 3rd parties to do similar things with more games?
Let's do a little theoretical example. Let's say Soul Calibur III was announced to come to the Gamecube. What could Namco do to make the Gamecube build more successful? Easy. Add Link, Ganondorf, and Zelda/Sheik as playable characters. Maybe add a Zelda level or two. Imagine using Fierce Diety Link versus Nightmare in a level based off of Ganon's Tower. Maybe throw in some different Zelda weapons. You have to admit that fans would think that would be awesome. Heck, maybe even Namco could make a pure The Legend of Zelda fighting game based off of the Soul Calibur II engine.
Let's take another example, but kind of inverted. Let's say that the next Super Smash Bros game was being co-developed by several companies in addition to HAL. Imagine having multiple characters from Sega, Capcom, and Namco licenses thrown in. Tales of Symphonia, Tales of Destiny, Tales of Phantasia, Baten Kaitos, Xenosaga, Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, Mega Man (classic, X, .EXE, Legends, and Zero), Onimusha, Soul Blade, Soul Calibur I and II, Sonic the Hedgehog, Skies of Arcadia....imagine having a list of characters that included far over 200 fighters. How incredible would that be? I guarantee the game would have some serious sales.
If Nintendo did employ their licenses in more occasions with what other companies have, resulting in "cross-over" projects, you have to admit that sounds exciting. Imagine a Nintendo-esque RPG along the lines of Kingdom Hearts. Multiple characters from various series collaborating in one huge adventure? You have to admit that sounds awesome. Nintendo could always benefit from getting new games, too, but still, making good use of their old franchises couldn't hurt to attract some more attention. And it would help in third party relations.
Capcom has already proven its worth with The Legend of Zelda license. Namco has had a little experience with it, seeing as how Link was playable in Soul Calibur II. So this is nothing really obscure. Nintendo is experimenting with it somewhat already. Maybe Samus could be an unlockable character in a Nitendo Gamecube first-person shooter? That would easily help the title sell better on the Gamecube. And we all know that first-person shooters don't sell too well on GCN...but of course, fighters don't do well either. But that didn't stop Soul Calibur II from succeeding.
So, SCII sold well on GCN because of Link. That could imply that a FPS game could sell well if it included Samus, or some other famous Nintendo property. People want Nintendo stuff. But companies can opt to give them that stuff in 3rd party titles as well, making them more desirable to GCN fans. You see what I'm getting at? Nintendo can make 3rd party titles sell better themselves. Just collaborate with them on the projects.
Nintendo can make a big difference in making 3rd party titles sell better. They've done it already. They can keep doing it. And I for one hope they do.
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