Retailers Tired of Large Controllers
It appears that retailers have grown tired of large plastic instrument controllers taking up their valuable shelf space. In fact, the PopStar Guitar controller by XS Games almost didn’t make it to stores because retailers weren’t willing to stock it. Additionally, one Wal-Mart executive even “spent ten minutes explaining the problem of every single publisher coming out with a new, big controller” during a demo for a music-rhythm game.
This MTV Multiplayer report takes a look at the issue. It notes that XS Games was forced to come up with a Wii Remote wrap-around controller instead of a full-blown plastic guitar just to get retail space for its game.
Music games aren’t the only culprit either, with Wii Fit packing the huge balance board peripheral. Heck, the next Tony Hawk game is expected to pack a skateboard of its own.