Topic: New Ubisoft interview regarding the Wii U

http://www.polygon.com/2014/6/9/5793660/ubisoft-unreleased-wi...

Yves Guillemot gave some very interesting comments regarding the Wii U. Apparently they have some completed games on the shelf waiting for the install base to improve.

"Ubisoft, once a stalwart supporter of Nintendo's Wii U, is holding off on releasing an unannounced new title for the console until there are more of them in people's homes, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot told Polygon this week.

Watch Dogs, Guillemot said, is still coming to the Wii U this November, but Ubisoft is being much more careful with new projects.

"We did adapt the number of products to the level of quantities that the machine did," he said. "So we will have Just Dance again which is well suited for the machine. We'll have Watch Dogs. We have another couple of products that we are waiting to launch, specifically we have one game that we wait for the machine to be more mass market to launch."

Guillemot declined to say how many Wii U would have to sell to make releasing the games worthwhile.

"We don't have a number," he said. "We need the sales to increase so it becomes more and more mass market then we will have the volume that will justify massive marketing and TV marketing."

Does he think that day will ever come, I asked.

"I hope so," he said. "We have a game that has been done for six months. It's on the shelf, waiting for more families to have the console."

The decision to freeze completed games, especially coming from Ubisoft, is a stark reminder of the position Nintendo finds itself in this year. It was Ubisoft that has been for years Nintendo's third-party champion. They supported the release of the Wii and its motion controls with Red Steel. When MotionPlus was released, Red Steel 2 came out to support that technology. And the release of Wii U came at the same time as one of the console's better third-party titles: Ubisoft's ZombiU.

But ZombiU didn't sell as well as Ubisoft had hoped, in part because of the low console sales numbers. That franchise now appears to be dead in the water, even for other platforms.

"I think it was so adapted to the Wii U so (bringing it to another platform) would be difficult to do," he said. "Maybe it will come to other platforms, but not as a full game. It was really developed for that type of machine."

Despite how low sales of the Wii U have seemingly impacted Ubisoft, Guillemot remains at least slightly upbeat about the possibility that the Wii U could turn around.

"Nintendo is really coming up with fantastic games," he said. "They could, with the right price and very good games, help the machine start selling."

What if, we asked, the Wii U never hits that point.

"It could never come out," he said. "It could come out on another format... "

So how long is Ubisoft willing to wait, is this the last year the Wii U has to prove itself?

"I think we have to wait for Smash Bros. to come," he said. "Smash Bros has always been a big, big property for Nintendo and for gamers. And we all know that there are lots of Nintendo fans that are waiting for big games to come. We know they are coming. We don't know if they will still be there. I think when I speak with the fans that come to E3 90 percent of them are crazy Nintendo fans. They really love Nintendo and the games they do." "

Wow.... Interesting... What is this mysterious finished game for Wii U that they won't release until sales pick up?

Nobody is happy with Wii U sales numbers and that's just the way it is. Nintendo alone has to sell it's box and they have cited the challenges with getting software out and getting the right software out as well. Third parties can only pull back until the narrative changes.

I am guessing the game is Ghost Recon Phantoms, kinda makes sense in my mind

Agreed.
I wish they wouldnt wave games in consumers faces though.

Because delaying Rayman Legends worked so well for them......

I think you're right. It has to be.

It would also make more sense to wait for a larger install base when launching a Free-2-Play game

Maybe this time they won't release it around the same time as GTA 5. Which would be like trying to release a movie around the same time as the Avengers.

Obviously they'll delay this Wii U Party game so it launches alongside Smash Bros. I mean they've already waited for Mario Kart to become the only game you need in that genre, why not wait for Smash also? While they're at it they should launch Watch Dogs for Wii U on the same day

They said they want more families to have the system (not gamers), so don't get your hopes up. It is probably some crappy spinoff game like those Rabbids games.

That would be very stupid... and it sounds like something Ubisoft would do. If it is an awful party/family shovelware game, I guess we can kiss Ubisoft's support goodbye.

You know what would be really stupid if Nintendo also released a game near GTA V's release with a new IP. Imagine if that happened! No one would even buy the game, especially if it wasn't super accessible. Hahahahaha...oh...I just made myself sad

To be honest, the game probably isn't that good. How else could they have kept such a tight lid on it?

These statements were probably just made to irk Nintendo and its supporters. Remember, it's Ubisoft.

While it's probably a pipe dream, I really, really hope the mystery game is a sequel to ZombiU.