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We're on a third party supporting binge here at House of Nintendo. Why? It's because we believe that third party support for Wii is dodgy because of developers not knowing how to make the best games for its audience, not because of the Wii consumers themselves. For this reason, we sound the trumpets to both support third party gaming on WIi and to encourage developers to do a better job.

So today, let's take a look at the million sellers (and those that are so close that as if this writing it is all but certain that they will- nobody on this list has less than 850,000 units sold) that populate the Wii's third party roster. They are, in order of success:

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games
Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock
Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition
Rayman Raving Rabbids
Carnival Games
Sonic and the Secret Rings
Red Steel
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
MySims

Let's break down the game genres:

Mini-Game Compilations: 3
Action Adventure: 3
First Person Shooters: 1
Music/Rhythm Games: 1
Simulation: 1

Upon first glance, this list certainly does confirm the old suspicion that mini-games are the only thing that sell on Wii. However, note that tied for first place among the genres is action adventure. This is proof that this all important genre can and will sell on the system. Also worth noting is that each game has a compelling argument as to why it succeeded while other games failed:

1. They had a property that was unique to Wii (light sabre waggling in Lego Star Wars).
2. It was a Wii exclusive that played to the system's strengths (semi-on rails gameplay of Sonic and the Secret Rings).
3. Was a beloved "core gamer" IP that was brought over to the system: Resident Evil 4.

Looking at the list overall, we can also pick out the following trends:

4/10 were exclusives. Rayman wasn't but it was released on Wii first.

The minigame "games" on this list have a common thread... at least when you exclude Rayman. They feature activities that people enjoy in real life (but maybe lack the skill or time to do). I think this is part of Wii Sport's charm: in my experience the number of people who would enjoy bowling, for example, decreases when a dingy bowling alley is put into the equation. Ditto Carnival Games and its "carney avoidance."

Other minigame failures on Wii can be partially blamed on the developer choosing non-sensical activities to simulate. A great example is EA's latest, Ninja Reflex. It looked promising, but when I found out that picking out flies in the air with chopsticks was supposed to be ninja training... well, let's just say those gaming dollars went elsewhere!

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