Sony: Publishers Leaving Wii For PS3, Wii Has Few "Innovative New IP"

In a recent interview with IndustryGamers, Sony Senior Vice President of Publisher Relations, Rob Dyer, said publishers are leaving Wii for PS3 and that the Wii platform has little innovative new IP.

"What publishers have said is they're not going to spend the resources on Wii... In my job, we compete against Microsoft and Nintendo, and we're competing for resources. So when I walk into a publisher, I ask, 'Where are you guys pushing your resources?' In the past, it was 'Look how hot the Wii is,' or 'Look how hot the DS is,' and 'We should put resources there.' They did that and realized, 'You know what, third-party product just doesn't sell on that platform.' So now they're taking those resources, coming back to us and saying, 'Sony we're going to be able to provide you with that exclusive content,' or 'We're going to put more engineers on it and figure out to maximize the Blu-ray and get more out of PS3.' That's what we're seeing now," Dyer said.

Dyer went on to explain that the Toy Retail Sales Tracking Service (TRST) data for top 10 titles is what is driving publishers to leave the Wii in hopes of a brighter future on PS3.

"And I don't even have to fight for their hearts and minds; I just show them the TRST data with regards to how many top 10 titles are third-party titles on the Wii, or how many top 10 titles are third-party titles on the DS. Not many. It's not a hard story to sell, and they get that. Unless they've got a particular franchise that's worked well on the Wii, you don't see a lot of innovative new IP coming out on that platform."

With High Voltage Software's recent announcement that their upcoming monster/zombie shooter, The Grinder, will no longer be a Wii exclusive as one example, it is clear that Nintendo must do something to maintain third party support for the Wii platform.

Do you think Nintendo has a third party problem? If so, how should they fix it? Let us know in the comments below.