Nintendo wants third-party support for next Wii

Nintendo hopes to create an attractive market for third-party developers with the Nintendo 3DS and its next console Project Cafe.

The firm has had few issues gaining third-party support on its handheld systems, but in a recent investor meeting, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata admitted difficulty with the Wii.

"Unfortunately, there are very few success stories of third-party software in Japan on Wii," he said.

"This lowered the motivation of the software developers, and at a time when these software developers should have been running their businesses on the platform with the biggest installed base, this wasn't the reality."

Iwata cited third-party titles such as Just Dance and Guitar Hero as Wii successes that encouraged further development. However, he also noted games such as Call of Duty which underperformed on Wii compared to other consoles. Iwata mentioned graphics and the target audience for those games likely owning multiple consoles as reasons for the sub-par sales.

Even back in 2008, analysts described the Wii marketplace as "inhospitable" to third-party developers.

Regarding Nintendo's future, Iwata continued, "I would not use the term 'draw in' third-parties, but I hope we can create a market that is attractive to third-parties."

Nintendo is to officially reveal its next home console at E3 in June.