WiiWare developer argues the case for shovelware

by Chris Greenhough { May 13th 2008 at 11:00AM }

One of the biggest criticisms routinely thrown at the Wii is related to the amount of shovelware that has popped up on the system, yet not everybody is convinced that the likes of Pool Party and Rig Racer 2 are a force for evil. Chatting to Next-Gen.biz about his company's forthcoming Major League Eating: The Game, Mastiff chief Bill Swartz seemed to defend the wealth of filler software that appears on Nintendo's machine, arguing that a wider range of games will ultimately yield more gems, and that consumers are perfectly capable of making their own choice.

For what it's worth, we agree that bigger libraries generally produce a greater number of top-drawer titles -- the PlayStation 2 is a fine example of this trend -- but we're not so sure about the second part. Are consumers really educated enough about games to make a good choice? Game Party's continued success in the UK suggests not.

Tags: bill-swartz, major-league-eating, mastiff, minigames, shovelware

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Roto13 @ May 13th 2008 11:12AM

The ones who don't know the difference between shovelware and actual decent games probably don't care.

mgroves @ May 13th 2008 11:14AM

I would argue the most successful systems are the ones that draw the most crap. This is a correlation, not a causation: but PS2, NES, SNES, all have an asston of junk games for them.

TheCoats @ May 13th 2008 11:15AM

How much is an asston?

mgroves @ May 13th 2008 11:16AM

Around 0.90718474 metric asstons.

TheCoats @ May 13th 2008 11:19AM

^^AH

TheCoats @ May 13th 2008 11:14AM

Chances are if you are on this site (or the internet in general) you know the diffrence

mgroves @ May 13th 2008 11:16AM

But it's entirely subjective. The average casual gamer doesn't care about the same things you or I care about.

TheCoats @ May 13th 2008 11:19AM

This is about quality not type-of-game....I understand it is relative but i will admit sometimes i feel like just chilling out and playing a casual game.....and i have to say there is an easily see-able line of the quality of these games

when a company rereleases ninjabreadman and puts a new skin on it so it looks egyptian.......That is pretty bad quality.....

Jumbo @ May 13th 2008 11:30AM

I think there's an easily see-able problem with your grammar.

mgroves @ May 13th 2008 11:15AM

And Game Party is a great game for...parties...at a great price.

samfish @ May 13th 2008 11:19AM

Game Party actually isn't terrible. I wouldn't buy it, but it's fairly fun to play with other people.

I think we label shovelware too easily these days in general.

Mike D @ May 13th 2008 12:51PM

I find it strange that this blog shuns Mario and Sonic & Game Party but praises Deca Sports?

SoshiKitai @ May 13th 2008 2:34PM

Mario & Sonic is actually really fun and challenging among friends! Dunno why people hate it so much. :|
Never tried Game Party, but with everyone saying "It's pretty okay", I think I should just shut my ideas of the box cover and give it a try someday.

As for Deca Sports: People have been waiting for a Wii Sports 2, and this is basically the only one that delivers better than the rest.
If I had money, I'd get it too... after reading more user reviews.

velocitystrike @ May 13th 2008 2:35PM

People, Game Party's constant "being-in-the-charts-ness" is completely unnacceptable when there are much better games hitting #37 then falling out of the chart completely (Zack and Wiki) (slight exaggeration).

Also, why is there a Hannah Montana game in that header pic? She's the HAWT.

Spekkio @ May 13th 2008 4:18PM

Breep-breep-breep! Jailbait! Jailbait! Jailbait! Breep-breep-breep!

Kamek @ May 13th 2008 3:53PM

haha my sister got the Horsez game in the picture...It was just as bad as you'd think...
Anyway, I guess its true that consoles should have a wide range of games, but the wii just has too many of these cheap games and it's like a stereotype for all wii games.