Third party sales crucial to Nintendo, says Merceron

Eidos' chief technology officer, Julien Merceron, has told GamesIndustry.biz that he believes this Christmas could prove crucial to the long term success of Nintendo's Wii platform.

According to Merceron if third party titles don't sell well it will lead to a dive in the support for the console.

"Either third party developers and publishers will make money on the Wii platform, or they won't - and if most of them don't I think we'll see a big drop in support for the Wii next year, which could have some consequences for Nintendo, and very positive ones for Microsoft and Sony," he said.

"So I think that the success of the Wii from the different publishers is going to be the determining point this Christmasâ¦if you can't make money at Christmas on the best platform out there, then you have no chance all year long "

The comments come in an interview ahead of GDC Lyon, which is taking place in the first week of December. The full interview is available now.