WiiWare sales threshold is "speculation"

By Robert Purchese Published 15 April, 2009

Contracts are "private and confidential".

Nintendo has told Eurogamer that talk of a minimum WiiWare sales threshold that can leave developers out of pocket is "rumour and speculation".

Furthermore, the platform holder explained, "The terms, conditions and contracts between Nintendo and developers are a private and confidential matter."

Nintendo was responding to a Watchdog-style report by Gamasutra, which claims to have confirmed the threshold with multiple developers, albeit off the record.

North America, according to Gamasutra, has a mid-four figure range sales number barrier, while individual European territories have a lower four figure range.

This may have been implemented to reduce the amount of rubbish offered on the online service, but has apparently lead to unforeseen problems due to lack of demos and console storage space.

We, like the hunchback anorak Columbo, will investigate.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (8) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • peterfll #1 3 years ago

    It is damn silly that both Sony and Nintendo don't include demos by default a la Microsoft and Xbox Arcade.

  • Trinod #2 3 years ago

    Or that where a demo is made, its not made available to all.

    Age of Booty, Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3, please stand up

  • fushimi #3 3 years ago

    On the other hand, some developers complained that Microsoft force them to make demos whether or not they have the time or budget, and regardless of whether their particular game is suited to having a demo.

    If only we could have optional mandatory demos...

  • penhalion #4 3 years ago

    @Fushimi

    Microsoft are the only ones who seem to be thinking clearly about their customers. A try before you buy of a download only game is essential. There are no refunds for download games and as a result (on WiiWare and to a smaller extent on PSN) people are simply not prepared to take that plunge into the unknown.

    As for a game that isn't suitable to have a demo. You've lost me there. If the game is playable and interactive, then it can have a demo. The only reason not to have one is to hide bad gameplay.

  • DFawkes #5 3 years ago

    Or the developer runs dedicated servers and a demo could damage the paying users experience, like L4D. Even then, they did at least offer a demo pre-release to drum up interest.

    There are games that just aren't suited to demos though, like GTAIV, where you could never get a half-decent sense of the city.

  • Dan234 #6 3 years ago

    The wording was "Multiple sources have indicated to Gamasutra that there is a minimum amount of sales, on a per-territory basis, that WiiWare developers must reach in order to recoup any money at all for their games."

    Are they including the money the developers have to cough up for devkits?

  • scouserfuller9 #7 3 years ago

    I wouldn't argue with the storage space with the recent update however I think demo's would be decent as I wasted a few good points on WiiWare games at the start and you can't sell or exchange them unlike discs. We could all be missing out on good games on there because of this!?
    The virtual Console games don't really bother me as I've played games since the NES and Master System days and only download games I enjoyed playing when I was young but it would be worth having demo's for those who weren't playing in that generation.

  • fushimi #8 3 years ago

    @penhalion

    I'm merely reiterating developers' sentiments that I read somewhere once. I wish I could find the article or reference, as I must admit I find it hard to come up with a reason a game wouldn't suit having a demo, but I think the time/budget argument is fairly valid. That's why you end up with demos that are nothing more than the first level or so with a cut-off point arbitrarily enforced. A purpose-made demo is so much more effective (like The Force Unleashed, which used a level that is not the first one in the game, and gave the player more power than they normally have available at that point in the game, and so on).