After a lackluster GameCube performance in terms of meeting sales and financial expectations, many publishers were reluctant to develop first generation titles for Nintendo's upcoming Wii. The Street writes: "'No one's going to make money on the software except Ubisoft,' whose Red Steel title Nintendo showcased at E3, says one hedge fund manager... 'Everyone got caught flat-footed.'"
Midway Games' VP of publishing Miguel Iribarren claims a large reason that publishers could miss out this holiday season is because Nintendo stayed quiet on Wii until E3. "We didn't have the information to work off of," said Iribarren. "I think everyone pushed [Wii development] to the back burner till they got the information on the machine itself and the business model."
Strike the missed holiday opportunity (assuming Wii does well) as obvious. So is Nintendo staying quiet on Wii to blame for the lack of third-party launch titles, or the GameCube's poor performance which influenced publishers to make a more conservative business decision?