Which Nintendo system favored third-party publishers the most?
by David Hinkle 
{ Jul 29th 2008 at 6:00PM }
Keep in mind, though, that this is merely based on Aeropause's own evaluation and may not be representative of how much money publishers made on each system, or the quality of the titles they released on said platform. It's more or less based on an article in the latest Nintendo Power where the staff ranked their top 20 games for each Nintendo system.
What do you all think? Which Nintendo system had the greatest batch of stellar third-party titles in your eyes? We're going to stick with DS. It seems like a no-brainer to us.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
OtakuReborn @ Jul 29th 2008 6:56PM
I'm not surprised at the SNES. That was a damn good system. Everybody was flocking to it. Of course, back then, there was only the SNES or the Genesis.
FantomRedux @ Jul 29th 2008 7:13PM
I'm gonna go for the SNES too. FF4-6, Chrono, Street Fighter, DKC, * of Mana, the list goes on. Never actually owned a SNES though, so this is just stuff I've played on an Emulator, VC or a port. Whats the DS got? 2 remakes of FF games, FFTA2, Phoenix Wright.... Actually, I change my mind. Phoenix Wright just makes the DS the best ever. Anyone who objects(!) gets a finger to the eye, k? k.
Mr Khan @ Jul 29th 2008 7:16PM
Makes sense, anyway. All the SNES had to put it over the top of the Genesis was Nintendo and all the 3rd-party support they had accrued over the previous generation
Zealot @ Jul 29th 2008 8:11PM
SNES seems logical. It's the only Nintendo console where I've heard near-equal amounts of reminiscing toward first and third party titles from gamers who were old enough to have owned the system. As for me, however, the DS has definitely given me far more third-party titles than any other Nintendo system. Not counting anything I've acquired after each of these systems went off the market, I owned ZERO for my N64, one (Tales of Symphonia) for my Gamecube, one for my Wii (No More Heroes), a handful for my Game Boy (mostly $5 bargain bin shovelware titles. Hey, it was my first system), and 7 for my GBA (THPS2, Yggdra Union, Scurge Hive, Castlevania CotM/LoI/AoS, Yu-Gi-Oh Worldwide Edition). Contrast that to my DS where I only have TWO first-party titles--Animal Crossing and Pokemon Pearl. It's a fairly stunning turnaround.
aj @ Jul 29th 2008 11:55PM
For some reason I have more Nintendo titles than any other, which is really weird because I typically HATE Nintendo games.....I guess it's all the Pokemon games. I'm such a slave to the Pokemans.
Zealot @ Jul 30th 2008 12:31AM
Interestingly enough, I'm the opposite. I had virtually every 1st-party game for the Gamecube and a majority of them for the N64 and GBA, but there's something about the installments of each of my favorite franchises on the DS that's kept me from getting them. NSMB was an expanded remake of a game that, while iconic, I don't feel particularly much for, MKDS was supposedly ruined by snaking, MPH was, from what I gathered, not centered on exploration or problem-solving, Phantom Hourglass was the first Zelda game (not counting Four Swords Adventures) that I haven't bought since I began gaming because of the lack of a conventional control scheme. I've been too scared to buy another Kirby game after beating Nightmare in Dream Land in four hours. Then there are other things that I've just never liked, such as Mario Party and Starfox.
Oh, and come to think of it, I actually own four first party games--I have WarioWare: Touched and SM64DS, but I got them at yard sales for cheap and haven't played them, so I can't really count them. I would have five if I could just find a @#$%ing copy of Super Princess Peach...
MIke @ Jul 30th 2008 12:26AM
I'd definatly say the nes had the best third party support. Back then it was either make games on the nes, or on the mastersystem wich no one even knew existed. Think of all the great game series that started on the nes and then left to its competitors later on. Final Fantasy, Megaman, Bionic commando.
also since you mentioned adventure puzzles recently I have to mention Maniac Mansion and Startropics which were also 3rd party.
Luke @ Jul 29th 2008 11:27PM
SNES makes sense. Nintendo has always had a more rocky relationship with third parties than others in the hardware business, but all of 'em were sucking on Nintendo's teats in the early 90s.
I'm just surprised that GCN is almost as high, and that the N64 is so low. Lack of third party support was a complaint for both, but even more so for GCN it seemed.
GB kinda makes sense. First party games seemed to dominate the portable consoles because, I guess, third parties were more confident in home consoles? By the time GBA came around, portables had a well-established market.
And I'm surprised at the Wii, because of how many people bitch about it, but I think it's too early to assume anything. A lot of developers are just now catching up to the hype.
Maxx the Slash @ Jul 30th 2008 12:58AM
The GameCube figure is innaccurate. Lack of 3rd party support is the reason why N64 AND the GameCube failed.
Sean @ Jul 30th 2008 10:25AM
I call BS on this. I agree - SNES has the best 3rd party support by a huge margin. It was THE system. However, are really supposed to believe that the Gamecube had more 3rd party support than the NES or DS? Sounds a bit revisionist to me.
Sean @ Jul 30th 2008 11:40AM
They aren't measuring 3rd party support, they are measuring the number of acclaimed 3rd party games (from the top 20 games overall per system).
chibi_wings @ Jul 30th 2008 4:53PM
I agree with everyone else, the SNES was a no brainer, but I too am shocked that the GCN's third party titles outperformed the DS's third party titles. The DS has a lot of good third party games. And I still don't know how I feel about Elite Beat Agents taking first place, its a good game, but to give it first place seems a little rash.