Shovelware Overload

Nintendo likes to say that they have the top third-party console based strictly on unit sales.  Fine, we can believe that.  But one thing the Big N doesn't talk about enough is WHAT third-party games are selling on the system.  DecaSports, Game Party, We Ski and Big Beach Party have all sold over a million copies and have all received Metacritic ratings below 70 percent. 

Some people might wonder why this is a problem: after all, can't well reviewed games exist on a console where over a fifth of the games receive Metacritic scores below 50 percent?  They certainly can, but there are issues that have cropped up with that over time.  When you have a cheap software title on a system and those sorts of titles are common, pervasive and represent a good majority of sales, it de-incentivizes the AAA developers from putting something out on that system to try and compete for shelf space (go into a GameStop and look at the "Wii Wall" and you'll know what we mean).  When parents are satisfied with buying $20 or below budget games on the way out of a big box retailer, it makes it hard for a premium priced title compete.  Many Wii games are like the new plastic sword; a brief distraction for shrieking spoiled children in Wal-Mart, not twenty-somethings looking for the latest and greatest title.

Thankfully, not every game on the Wii is as bad as Anubis II or Ninjabread Man, but even a third-party series that's found some success on the system isn't likely to light the way for others...