Rock Band & Guitar Hero to lead on Wii?

[wideawakewesley]

The Wii and PlayStation 2 versions of Rock Band (released in June 2008 and December 2007, respectively) were mere shadows of their former Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 selves. Most of the key features had been gutted, there was no online play or downloadable content, no character creation, and they weren't too easy on the eyes. The masses didn't seem to mind, though, as the Wii and PS2 versions of the original game outsold both Rock Band and Rock Band 2 on the other systems last year.

According to data from the NPD group, the Wii version of Rock Band was the franchise's best-selling SKU last year with over a million units sold. The PlayStation 2 version was right behind it. Rock Band Wii and PS2 were the 29th and 31st best-selling games of the year, respectively.

The original Xbox 360 Rock Band came in at just under 800,000 units. Rock Band 2 on 360, available since September, sold just under 600,000 units.

The NPD data isn't clear which SKUs are Special Editions and which are the game only. Rock Band 2 on Wii was released right at the tail end of the year and moved just over 150,000 units.

I guess the developers would be crazy not to make Wii the lead platform for these titles now, especially as both RB2 and GH:W2 now support song downloads on Wii. Now if they can just circumvent the friend code system like EA have.

Wes

[stubadub]

The 360 numbers are reasonably close to the Wii, and from what I understand it is easier to develop for the 360 and migrate over to the other two platforms than any of the other possibilities.

I might be wrong, but I suspect that the revenue generated from DLC will always be greater on the 360 than the Wii. I wonder how the profit from there compares to the profit from the game itself.

[dolson]

http://gamer.blorge.com/2008/08/04/ea-focus-on-ps3-as-lead-platform-for-game-development/

Doesn't say anything about the Wii being in the equation, but from PS3, to 360 is the easier route, at least according to EA.

[skin87]

Ever since Rock Band came out, its DLC has constantly been the highest selling item on Live. I have probably spent well over $60 on DLC for the game, and considering there is no packaging or shipping costs, I'm sure Harmonix has made more money off of me downloading tracks than me buying the original game. While the Wii can get DLC now, I don't see it being nearly as successful as the 360 or PS3 platforms with the whole streaming from a card deal. So I would be willing to bet anything that even though more copies were sold on the Wii, both the 360 and PS3 versions have been more profitable.

[scoobydiesel]

The wii is in way more house holds so of course it sold a crapload more.

given at work im sold out of 360 version right now and have about 8 wii ones on the over stock.

[wideawakewesley]

The wii is in way more house holds so of course it sold a crapload more.

given at work im sold out of 360 version right now and have about 8 wii ones on the over stock.

Surely that's the point, you develop for the largest market? Especially if you're already selling more units to that market. If RB and GH needed next-gen graphics or DLC wasn't available on Wii it'd be a no brainer, you'd go with those platforms, but as those things aren't in the equation, it would seem to make more sense to put your A-team on the Wii version.

Wes

[stubadub]

Surely that's the point, you develop for the largest market? Especially if you're already selling more units to that market. If RB and GH needed next-gen graphics or DLC wasn't available on Wii it'd be a no brainer, you'd go with those platforms, but as those things aren't in the equation, it would seem to make more sense to put your A-team on the Wii version.

Wes

Except you don't need your A-team to make a game that will sell on the Wii. Take a look at Carnival Games. It just needs to be something that people think will be fun and have heard of. Throw in a nifty peripheral and you're all set.

I think you could go back and do a Rock Band with Super NES graphics on the Wii and people would largely have no problem with it. If you do that same thing on the 360 and PS3 your sales would take a nose dive.

[scoobydiesel]

I think it would suck to see RB3's graphics go way down because they built it on the wii....not that its a big deal really to me. it would kinda suck but i know alot of folks who hate the wii because of the look of the games(they dont get the fun part)

[Forbizzle]

There are a couple things to consider:

1) playstation and Xbox owners have Tony Hawke syndrome with plastic instruments right now. They've been sold the same game over and over. Whereas the Wii just got guitar hero, and rockband came out significantly later on the Wii than it did on any other platform.

2) These games (rockband especially) are very focused on DLC. Given that the Wii has no hard drive, it wouldn't be very profitable to focus on the huge install base that will never buy your songs.