Console Manufacturer - Third-party Support

Third-party Support

It has often been said that when it comes to a console’s success: “It’s all about the games”, and this is certainly true. A console manufacturer needs to have ample third-party developer support in order to have a steady stream of quality video games being released throughout the year. Although brand loyalty, technical capabilities and price certainly plays their part, people tend to purchase the console that offers the games that they enjoy most. Without games, there is no reason to buy a console. It is the very reason why people doomed the Nokia N-Gage to failure before it was even released. Therefore console manufacturers need to establish good relationships with third-party developers, otherwise they risk losing the support that they need to another competitor. A lot of this revolves around management, business decisions and partnerships, as even Microsoft occasionally publishes games for Nintendo handhelds, having no handheld of its own at present or planned for the near future. However, a console manufacturer can also help promote third-party support by making their console easy to develop on. Part of the reason for the success of the PlayStation against the Sega Saturn was that the PlayStation was considered an easy platform to develop games, while the Sega Saturn, with its dual processors and overall complexity, frustrated developers instead. In the sixth generation, Nintendo was perceived to be comparatively lacking in 3rd-party support, and relied mainly on their own 1st-party games, a situation since the Nintendo 64, since at the time, many third party developers opted for the PlayStation due to the ease in making games for it. Many top-selling Nintendo games are critical franchises that are well recognized in the video game industry at large, like The Legend of Zelda, Mario and Metroid. In the current seventh generation, this is reversed: the PlayStation 3 is perhaps the most difficult (and the Wii the easiest) to develop for.

On the other hand, third-party developers and publishers are themselves responsive to sales numbers, and the surprise success of the DS and Wii has prompted companies like Electronic Arts and Square Enix to shift more focus and resources toward Nintendo projects.