Can games like Smash Bros. help sell more Wii U consoles?

One of the most common complaints we hear from Wii U owners is the lack of third party support for the system — aside from a handful of publishers, most of the big names working in the industry have all but abandoned Nintendo's system, presumably due to the lack of earning potential.

Nintendo is aware that this is an issue which needs to be addressed sooner rather than later, and Nintendo of America Senior Director of Communication Charlie Scibetta has explained to Ars Technica exactly how the firm plans to go about it:

We want the same thing that the third parties want, which is to grow the installed base. We're confident that if we can do that by driving the installed base through first-party software, like Mario Kart 8, like Super Smash Bros., then the third-party developers will follow because then they'll see there's a large enough installed base that it's worth their investment to bring their games to our platform. So it's our job to grow that installed base to make it more attractive for them to come to our platform.

Sure, everybody would like to have games earlier, but the good thing about Nintendo is that product quality is really important to us, so we would never ship it early just to help our bottom line or our financials for the holiday season. It's much more important for us to protect the brand, the goodwill we've built up with fans over the years.

The good thing about Nintendo is we've been dedicated to gaming for over 30 years now, and it's not like we do anything else. It's not like we're going to go away from what we do and try something different. We're in for the long haul in gaming.

While it sounds like a case of stating the obvious, it's fair to say that bringing massively successful first-party titles to the Wii U will cause a jump in the number of consoles sold, which will then make the platform appear a lot more appealing to third party publishers. Does Nintendo have enough up its sleeve to drive sales, or do you think more is needed? Let us know by posting a comment below.

[source arstechnica.com]