You may not have heard yet, but Capcom has announced a brand new Strider game! The trailer looks pretty fantastic. I love it any time a game comes out that is 2D and has an old school style, even if it's not based off of an old series. But here's the thing I have an issue with. This game is coming for Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, and PS3. No Wii U. Sorry Nintendo. Even though your NES was the first home system Strider appeared on, you don't get this game. Even though Capcom is bothering to make versions for the now-last-gen 360 and PS3, both of which aren't quite as powerful as your current system, they're still not bothering to make it for you.
Are Wii U sales really that bad? I know the month-to-month numbers are very low, but I was under the impression that the Wii U still has better lifetime sales than the Xbox 360 and PS3 did at this point in their lifetimes. Plus, it's July! This is always a slow time of year for the industry. We've only really had two blockbuster AAA releases all year, Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us. Sales are slow all around. Or is it something more than that? Is there a grudge in place here? There are many third party publishers that used to work closely with Nintendo, companies like Capcom, Konami, Square-Enix, Tecmo-Koei, and EA, who now are not. Or in some cases they'll put out a couple lazy ports then complain it's Nintendo's fault when they don't sell well. Is this all because of the way Nintendo used to treat the third parties back in the NES/SNES days? I can't imagine these publishers, companies whose main goal is to make money, would lose out on profit just to spite Nintendo. It can't be denied, however, that Nintendo used to be pretty heavy handed with the third parties. But hey, newer third parties, that weren't around or weren't as big back in those days, do this too.
Could it be, as so many people around the internet say, that third parties don't like to put stuff on Nintendo's systems because their games are always outsold by Nintendo's own games? Nintendo's first party games do tend to sell more than anything else on their systems. Let's look at one example in particular. When the Wii U launched, EA made a Special Edition version of Mass Effect 3 for the system. The Mass Effect series was very popular in gen 7, selling huge numbers on both Xbox 360 and PS3. It was very cool to see it appearing now on a Nintendo console. How did is sell? Abysmally, by all accounts. Why was this? Was the draw of New Super Mario Bros. U just too strong? Well, that might have been part of it for some people. Let me tell you my opinion on the matter. I love the Mass Effect games. I very much enjoyed the multiplayer on ME3. I had plans to buy it on Wii U so I could continue playing the online for free (my original copy is for 360, and I don't currently have Gold). It was listed at $60, which I thought was a bit high for a year old port, but I loved the game so much I was considering it. Then some information came out. The Mass Effect Trilogy, a bundle of all three games, was announced as coming out at the same time as the Wii U version, but only for Xbox 360 and PS3. It was to sell for the same price as ME3 on the Wii U. On top of that, EA also said that there was no plans to bring the ME3 DLC to Wii U at all. Upon hearing all this I abandoned my plans to buy ME3 Special Edition. I may still pick it up eventually, if I find a cheap, used copy.
How could EA expect Mass Effect fans to be happy with a $60 year old port with no DLC support, when the entire series was being re-released, with DLC support, for the same price on older consoles? And then they had the nerve to complain that it didn't sell well and blame Nintendo for that! The tinfoil-hat-wearing part of me thinks it was all a conspiracy. They wanted sales of ME3 to be low so they could use it as an excuse to stop making games for Nintendo.
Okay, I'm going to stop myself here, before I get into fanboy territory deeper than I already have. Bear with me, folks, please. Yes, I do accept the fact that I can be a fanboy at times. But, that said, I do own all the systems, and always find great games to play on each. I love me some Halo, Fable, and Gears of War. I love Uncharted, Infamous, Jak and Daxter, and plenty of other Sony games as well. To this day the only controller I feel comfortable playing a Tony Hawk game with is a DualShock. So why should I care what games show up on which system if I have them all? Nintendo just happens to be my favorite. Even before the NES days, Donkey Kong was one of my favorite games on my parents' old Atari 400. Nintendo is always going to be my favorite company. They've given me so many happy memories. I just hate seeing them brushed to the side of the current game industry. Many out there might say they're doing it to themselves. I say Nintendo is still making the exact same kind of quality, fun games that they have been for more than 30 years. So it bugs me to see an old school series like Strider coming back as a modern 2D game, but not on Nintendo systems. Especially since the 360 and PS3 are getting a version.
That's it for my little rant. If you're a big Sony or Microsoft guy, don't let it scare you off! I like those systems too, I promise! Before I finish, let me also say that if you're a fan of horror movies, get yourself to the theater and see The Conjuring! I just got back from a screening before I started typing this out. It was one of the best horror movies I've seen in years! Great atmosphere, lots of good scares without relying too heavily on jump scares or so-called "cheap" scare tactics. Some really nice practical effects, and most importantly it didn't fall victim to dumb-ending syndrome. So many otherwise-good horror movies have been ruined by the writer not knowing how to end them properly. This was a very well written movie based off of a supposedly true story. Go see it with a bunch of friends!
As always, thanks for reading! Be sure to follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI!
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