Nintendo wins over outside game publishers with Wii

By Kemp Powers and Jennifer Martinez

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In the video game industry, the spoils of the console wars come in the form of support from third-party software publishers selling games to run on your machine.

Nintendo Co Ltd (7974.OS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), surging from the commercial success of its Wii game machine, is winning over this coveted group of partners in a marked departure from the Wii's ill-fated predecessor, the GameCube.

During this week's E3 video game industry trade show, Nintendo boasted about the success that third-party publishers are finding on the Wii, saying that 19 non-Nintendo games have surpassed the 400,000 unit sales mark in the United States.

"When this generation started, if you would have talked to any of the third parties, chances are they were putting their investments in other consoles, not the Wii," said Reginald Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America.

"They've all been shocked by the success that has happened in the marketplace and had to catch up with Wii development."

Third-party publishers tend to flock to the best-selling game machine since this gives them a chance to sell more games. This tends to set off a virtuous cycle where a leading game machine will feature better games, which then drives more console sales.

Games that publishers began working on after the Wii's sudden success are just now being brought to market, Fils-Aime said, meaning the third party sales momentum will only continue to increase.

The GameCube was routinely blasted for being a showcase only for Nintendo-created games like "Metroid Prime," "Animal Crossing," "Super Mario Sunshine," "Super Smash Brothers Melee" and "The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker."