The recent release of Ghostbusters for the major platforms has the nerd community, myself included, quite happy. However, it also brings to light the disproportionate effort that one needs to put forth on the Wii in order to make a good product and the, unfortunately, stunted rewards you'll get regardless of effort.

Now, in the interests of foreclosure, the game's not selling stupendously regardless of platform. According to VGChartz, the sales breakdown is as follows:

360: 0.22m
Wii: 0.11m
PS3:0.26m
PS2:0.06m

That the 360 and PS3 sales are the best of the bunch is not surprising. That seems to be the case almost all the time. However, what's disappointing is how much work went into the Wii version. Ars Technica has a fascinating article on the effort Red Fly Entertainment put into making Ghostbusters for Wii truly shine. From reworking the graphics into something that would look pleasing on the platform, the the fine tuning of the controls based on countless play-test hours and brainstorm sessions. Their reward? Only marginally higher sales than the PS2 version, which is itself a down-port of the Wii, and people wondering why they should bother.

How did we get here though? Going back to VGChartz, here's their stats for the three major consoles worldwide:

Wii: 51.20m
360:31.34m
PS3:22.54m

The complete and utter lack of parity in console sales is spectacular. The Wii is doing remarkably well, so why is Ghostbusters doing so much more poorly on the Wii than on the other two systems? Now, in the interests of foreclosure, the Wii's hard region lock does bar 19.14m Wii owners from playing it, as the game is PlayStation 3 exclusive in Europe (the 360 version is region free, thus allowing Europeans to import it). So that leaves us with 32.06m Wii owners with access to the game (I think, at least – has the game even been released in Japan yet? Hell, is Ghostbusters even popular in Japan?). You still have a stupidly large consumer base, and with a broader consumer demographic than the PS3 or 360, at least in theory. However, a funny thing happens with the Wii. Yes, the more casual leaning of its market is there, but the bigger culprit might just be consumer overlap.

Now I don't need to tell anyone here, but not everyone has only one console. In fact, given just how different the Wii is from the other two consoles, I'm willing to bet that there's a huge number of Wii owners who also own a PS3 and/or a 360. In fact, for all the lip service given to kids, geriatrics and casuals, the Wii could very well be #1 by virtue of being everyone else's #2, as it's far more likely for a 360 or PS3 owner to get a Wii than the other of the two major consoles. So what you have is a situation where most people are going to have to make a choice as to which version they should get. I can't speak for everyone else, but for this multi-console owner, online multi-player is more important than waggle control and cutesy graphics. Not that these are bad things, but every gamer has to look at him/herself and ask what they want in a game. This, my friends, is a classic example of why you shouldn't cross the streams. Wii exclusives may not do spectacularly, but they're more likely to do better than a port.

The recent release of Ghostbusters for the major platforms has the nerd community, myself included, quite happy. However, it also brings to light the disproportionate effort that one needs to put forth on the Wii in order to make a good product and the, unfortunately, stunted rewards you'll get regardless of effort.

Now, in the interests of foreclosure, the game's not selling stupendously regardless of platform. According to VGChartz, the sales breakdown is as follows:

360: 0.22m
Wii: 0.11m
PS3:0.26m
PS2:0.06m

That the 360 and PS3 sales are the best of the bunch is not surprising. That seems to be the case almost all the time. However, what's disappointing is how much work went into the Wii version. Ars Technica has a fascinating article on the effort Red Fly Entertainment put into making Ghostbusters for Wii truly shine. From reworking the graphics into something that would look pleasing on the platform, the the fine tuning of the controls based on countless play-test hours and brainstorm sessions. Their reward? Only marginally higher sales than the PS2 version, which is itself a down-port of the Wii, and people wondering why they should bother.

How did we get here though? Going back to VGChartz, here's their stats for the three major consoles worldwide:

Wii: 51.20m
360:31.34m
PS3:22.54m

The complete and utter lack of parity in console sales is spectacular. The Wii is doing remarkably well, so why is Ghostbusters doing so much more poorly on the Wii than on the other two systems? Now, in the interests of foreclosure, the Wii's hard region lock does bar 19.14m Wii owners from playing it, as the game is PlayStation 3 exclusive in Europe (the 360 version is region free, thus allowing Europeans to import it). So that leaves us with 32.06m Wii owners with access to the game (I think, at least – has the game even been released in Japan yet? Hell, is Ghostbusters even popular in Japan?). You still have a stupidly large consumer base, and with a broader consumer demographic than the PS3 or 360, at least in theory. However, a funny thing happens with the Wii. Yes, the more casual leaning of its market is there, but the bigger culprit might just be consumer overlap.

Now I don't need to tell anyone here, but not everyone has only one console. In fact, given just how different the Wii is from the other two consoles, I'm willing to bet that there's a huge number of Wii owners who also own a PS3 and/or a 360. In fact, for all the lip service given to kids, geriatrics and casuals, the Wii could very well be #1 by virtue of being everyone else's #2, as it's far more likely for a 360 or PS3 owner to get a Wii than the other of the two major consoles. So what you have is a situation where most people are going to have to make a choice as to which version they should get. I can't speak for everyone else, but for this multi-console owner, online multi-player is more important than waggle control and cutesy graphics. Not that these are bad things, but every gamer has to look at him/herself and ask what they want in a game. This, my friends, is a classic example of why you shouldn't cross the streams. Wii exclusives may not do spectacularly, but they're more likely to do better than a port.

Personally, I enjoyed the Hell out of the game, but I can see why it isn't out-right selling.  It's a relatively short experience with only mediocre multiplayer that is basically Horde mode with little twists and proton beams.  That's not to say it's a bad game...but it's definitely not one I've purchase at full price.  =  /

Also a classic example of why you shouldn't cross the streams is because, all life as you know it will stop instantaneously and every molecule in your  will body explode at the speed of light.

And what are you trying to say with this exactly?
Because if anything they didn't really port if over, and you're saying why they shouldn't do a port, and you, yourself say they haven't with alot of that.
So I'm confused.

I have to admit it was the online play that convinced to take a PS3 before the 360.   I have not been disappointed and i admit that while I am looking forward to Ghostbusters I have not picked up a copy yet