Codemasters: F1 2013 Would Need To Be "A Very Different Game" To Run On Wii U

This is pathetic, the GamePad is basically an F1 steering wheel. I can repeat the same response as last year when they made up an excuse for not releasing F1 2012 http://pietriots.com/2012/08/24/codemasters-our-games-suck/

Nothing to do with the install base or power of the Wii U - they're developing for systems with a combined install base of 0, and even if the Wii U was the most powerful console this generation, developers would still find an excuse not to support it. It's just another example of business bias.

Is this being released for PS3 and Xbox 360, if so then there is no reason for this not to come to Wii U.

@Jazzer94 It's coming out for PS3, 360, PS4, XB1 and PC.

Ah man. The four people who would've bought that are going to be so upset.

If Steve Hood is refering to a 'very different game' due to the power of WiiU then this is obviously a bs reply. He could be refering to the lack of analog triggers of course but even thats not fully legit, they did F1 2012 for the Vita which doesn't have Analog triggers, although it the Vita does game rear touch pad which may of been supported on the Vita's F1 2012 though. Putting the Accel/Brake on the right stick would be an option as would gyro controls which would make F1 2013 a very different game on WiiU.
No doubt Codies could bring it to WiiU if they wanted to, but probably wanted to see how F1 Race Stars sold.. which unless something drastic was done to the game was unlikely to sell well on WiiU regardless of WiiU's Userbase size due to it being, at best, only Average as a game when it was originally released on other platforms.

I'm disappointed but hardly surprised by that response. If the Wii U had momentum/sales/games then Codemasters would make it happen, but it doesn't, so they won't. I hardly blame them.

Still, the Wii U controllers are very ill-suited to racing games so that I probably wouldn't buy F1 2013 on the system even if it was being released.

I would have been interested..

Damn...
One of my first thoughts after first seeing the gamepad was that an F1 game would be perfect for it. As Grubdog said, the gamepad is practically a F1 wheel!
Madness!

As far as I know codemasters is the company who make Dirt. Now if no Dirt game is going to come to the Wii U, I think I will cry.. :/

Yet more examples of developer laziness...

and they wonder why Wii U's aren't selling, if you make us good games, we'll buy them

Well F1 is a no go.......theres only one possible solution: F-ZERO!!!

Go home Codemasters, we don't want ya! Seriously, ever since their C64 days they have rapidly devolved into poopies.

I find comments like this offensive and ridiculous.If codemasters wanted to they could develop the ultimate version of f1 2013 for the wiiu with superior graphics,ai and even online functionality to any of the other consoles.Id be much less offended if they were just honest and said "theres no way we are making a wiiu port as we dont think wed make profit".As always I will be voicing my opinion through my wallet and not purchasing this game for my ps3. Its just insulting

I think he was implying that the Wii U architecture is different therefore a straight port isn't possible.

Still a lazy dev issue.

I don’t mean to be down on Wii U, but I think I read Need for Speed Most Wanted didn’t sell so well on the format. If PS3 could run the game, I'm sure the Wii U could, so it must be down to profitability. I remember how annoying it was to me that OutRun 2 skipped the Gamecube...

Not sure if it has been said but, hey Codemasters? You want to really rock that F-1 game?

Overheard view, 8-bit graphics, oddly satisfying turning physics, DO IT.

PS - Make it a sandbox adventure game and please put an egg as the hero, thanks. He can be the driver? Yes.

@GiftedGimp wanted to let you know that the Wii U does have analog triggers . thing is no one really wants their game - one less for the shovel ware .

@Damo Heck yes, Dizzy Kart!

My idea was possibly just a Micro Machines sprite swap with eggs in F-1 cars but, you know, this might be a better idea.

@Will-75 No it doesn't they are digital. On or Off.. no on a bit, on a bit more, on full.
F1games are hardly a shovelware games, by any stretch of the imagination it would be great if Codies brought it to WiiU but would be a different game due to the lack of analog triggers. Same as the Ps3 version was a different game depending on if if you used the duak shock controller or a force feedback steering wheel due to the extra feeling you got in terms of grip, under/oversteer and traction.

Cue the fanboys complaining about lazy developers...

When will you realise that it isn't the problem of third parties to increase Wii U sales? I'm sorry your precious Nintendo is struggling to shift consoles at the moment, but that's their problem to solve - don't blame other developers (who, like any business, need to make money) for not bringing games to the Wii U when it's not a trivial port.

Be honest, it's not like you would have bought this anyway - people on this site constantly go on about how they only ever buy first party games anyway.

@Wheels2050

The issue is that developers expect Nintendo to do all the "heavy lifting" for its consoles while they take risks on Sony and Microsoft units. It has been this way for at least three generations and getting worse.

I could respect this decisions as purely business if (a) Codemasters had released a WiiU version that did not sell or (b) Codemasters was not releasing XB1 and PS4 versions of its newest F-1 game.

@Wheels2050
'Be honest, it's not like you would have bought this anyway - people on this site constantly go on about how they only ever buy first party games anyway.'
Not everyone thinks this way, but your right a majority do. The fact is it's not so much thw userbase size of the WiiU thats effecting 3rd party decisions to bring games to WiiU, it the % of WiiU owners who buy 3rd party games for the system.

LOL, uhm Project CARS is far more visually stunning than this game, and its being ported no problem... perhaps Codemasters aren't particularly as talented as they want people to believe if they can't figure out how to port their game to a PowerPC CPU... I mean the two man crew Two Tribes is having no issues, the indie developers of project cars are having no issues, and there game is easily much better looking.

Its the install base, but I'm getting sick of developers trying to take pot shots at the power of the Wii U because the install base isn't big enough. Why not put on your big boy pants and be honest.

@mike_intv: That's because historically (at least in the last few gens) third party games simply don't sell that well on Nintendo consoles, whereas they can do extremely well on Sony & Microsoft's offerings.

Whatever the reason, as a third party it's simply not a good business decision to release games on the Wii U. A company could get away with it on the Wii as the stupidly large install base only required a small fraction of Wii owners to buy the game (which is what happened, given the atrocious attack rate) in order to make a profit due to the lower cost of Wii development, but now the Wii U is a HD console, which comes with much higher development costs, in addition to it being unique architecture amongst the 4 major platforms, it's simply not a winning move - particularly since there is no sign of the Wii U install base suddenly increasing. It's simply not the job of third parties to get people to buy consoles (although they may end up making a killer app that does just that) and if you can cover 3/4 of the major platforms with very little effort, why spend time and money on porting to a fourth architecture that's different to all the others and try to target a userbase that will freely admit they're not interested in third-party games?

@GiftedGimp: True, it's a generalisation, but it holds true for much of the Nintendo fan base. It's not an inviting demographic to be trying to develop games for.

@element187: I very much doubt Codemasters is skipping the Wii U because they are unable to port their game. See above, and please stop blindly supporting Nintendo.

I think we found a Codemasters employee.

Love a bit of F1,I was hoping for a Wii U game,seems like I might have to wait till next year :/

I wonder if nintendo regrets not upping the CPU power for the Wii U, most arguments not to develop games seem to come down to the architecture of the Wii u and the decision to have the CPU and GPU set the way they are.

@Grubdog: Yep, you got me.

Sounds like "Codemasters" aren't masters of coding at all, if they can't get the game to run on a more powerful platform. Maybe they should change their name to "Code Novices"

I'm still playing F1 2009 on the Wii so i'm good. I hear people saying that Codemasters are being lazy but look at from their persepctive, the Wii U is not generating as much buzz as the PS4 or Xbox1. Don't believe me check what are the top pre-orders on the online retailers.

Now I'm not going to say that the WiiU is doomed but Nintendo really need to buck their ideas up. The PS3 and 360 offer more media functionality, have more upcoming games, more storage memory and are CHEAPER then the Wii U.

I said before that I was going to trade in my 360 for a Wii U but i'm actually considering just getting eshop points cause I just playing nothing but the 3DS and Wii at the moment and atleast the Wii has the BBC Iplayer!!!

i am about to just get rid of my wii u i have not played a game since march on this poopoo! just sits there collecting dust! may just get a ps3 and metal gear legacy!

The Wii U's GPU centric architecture will mean that game engines will have to be modified to run properly on the system; though I believe that once optimized, games will not have a problem running on the system.

I believe the big problem for many large third-party devs is that the Wii U does not have a high install base at this time for large-scale third-party games to be profitable. Based on Nintendo's previous track record, even with many console units sold Nintendo still does not generate as much profits as the other console maker for big third-party companies (though they generate enough profits to warrant ports to Nintendo systems). Once Nintendo sells enough Wii Us, then I am sure that many large third party developers will be willing to invest in the console.

Since the Nintendo 64, many third-party companies (though not all!) have not had the same amount of success on Nintendo's hardware that they have had on other consoles (although there are third parties who have more success on Nintendo systems than other consoles, there is just not too many of them). I think that it is important for Nintendo and third-party companies to really change how third-party games are made and delivered for Nintendo systems.

It makes no sense to come to wiiu if its coming to everything else. Most people arent even gonna look at the wiiu version unless they have no other option anyway. You guys can complain about there beibg no install base for x1 or ps4, but even with the negativity, those systems have people excited and theres a history of third parties doing very well on each. No one really did well on wii. Or gamecube. Or 64.

No one loving cares...

People buy Nintendo's to Play Nintendo games...

It really IS as SIMPLE as THAT...
_{Watch the profanity, please — TBD}

Not blaming them. Wii U has a poor install base rigjt now, so it's not worth it at all.

@wheels2050

If the comment was about business, then it would be different. But it was about console tech — which is not all that different (though slightly better) than the X360 and PS3. So porting would not be that difficult/costly. So I am not sure what the comment really means.

By the way, the Wii attach rate was only about one game less than the 360 rate. That is remarkable given that some systems were bought for nursing homes or exercises.

Project Cars will be much better.

Errrr the game won't be for Xbox One and PS4 either, they said that the whole next-gen thing gets too much resources for them.

Really you take a stab in the foot of Nintendo with this half news.
Check Eurogamer for the real thing.

@Kodeen The developer's comment being discussed, which is the basis for this article, says that it's not coming to the Wii U because the system isn't powerful enough to handle it. They don't say anything about not making it for business reasons, so I don't know why you keep bringing that up. If they're not making the game for Wii U due to its low install base they should have just said that, rather than make an excuse which makes their company look incompetent.

I agree with a lot of you in that this game is likely not going to sell on WiiU so why should Codemasters bother. I would love to see a Dirt game on WiiU someday but won't hold my breath. As for some of the arguements on 3rd party on Nintendo and other platforms.....I think good games sell and generally a really great game will sell at 10% of the installed base. 15% is super. So COD on X360 generally sells about 10mil on a 75mil base....many Xbox users live for FPS so this makes sense as COD on ps3 only sells about 7mil on a similiar base. Tomb Raider which is a superb game in a classic franchise only sold 3.5mil on ps360 on a base of 150mil. That is pathetic like 3%. What is sad is Bioshock Infinite did worse than tha with 2.5mil sales. Again these are excellent games in established franchises and both had TV advertsing campaigns (in the US atleast). Meanwhile ZombieU did 475K and Lego City and MHU did over 300K on a us base under 4mil. Which is actually very good sales rates of 7-10%. So the thing is the right games will sell on the WiiU and sell as effectively as on other systems. The problem is the right games are not always the same games as will sell on ps/xb/pc so the publishers have a better chance of success going to those 3 and with them all being x86 architecture now it is easy to port them arround. So as in the past Nintendo is a niche product. If the base gets big enough like Wii then we will see some unique offering like Red Steele, Mad World, No more heroes and maybe the ocassional main liner like Assasin Creed or Batman. What we will not see is a Niche game like F1 on a niche console like WiiU. I am not sure Nintendo can change this or even should strive to. We love Nintendo because they are different and they give us gaming experiences no one else delivers. It would have Nintendo be a one size fits all system, but at this point they can't because for 2 generations ps/xboxmhave catered specifically to these users and gamers that care enough about both worlds own multiple systems. So get your WiiU for Nintendo, the odd and unique 3rd party and the very diverse amount of Indies coming and then get either a xbox/ps/pc for everything else and that is still the answer.

Theres no excuse, if they release it on wiiu, i will personally buy one million copies of this game.

Steve Hood is lying!

Codemasters never had Nintendo in mind when making their F1 series since 2010. Their F1 games have been built on the same EGO engine since back then, save a few tweaks and improvements--which is why they will not release their F1 2013 game on a next-gen system--and it was never fitted for use on the Wii.
Trust me, this is not as bad as it seems. Those Codemasters F1 games have all kinds of setup bugs, driving bugs, weather bugs, they've gone simpler and simpler, and their online options are terrible! What's worse, is that they only patch the game for consoles one time, before forgetting about it and moving on to next year. They have a knack for abandoning consumers.

I'm moving on to Nintendo to get away from 3rd party developers like Codemasters.

why thank you code masters. thanks for your thoughtful insight. don't feed us bullpoopies. if you don't want to develop for the wii u just say so. cause i know you would probably release a game on the 3ds in no time. this video game business is some harsh crap. why can't devs just tell the truth and be done with it. just say the wii u isn't for your game and leave it at that.

@mike_intv: I stand corrected about the Wii attach rate - I didn't realise it was that high. However, I'd be interested in seeing what the third party attach rate is, given that is really what the issue at hand is here.

I don't see what the ambiguity is here, though - he's simply saying that there would be a lot of fundamental code changes in order to make the game run on the Wii U, and more than can be justified given the expected profit. I think he really meant "Unfortunately it'd have to be a very different game just to run on the Wii U, and it's not a good business decision to invest the money in making it happen".

He explains himself further in the twitter comments.

That's kind of a loose statement in regards to what they'd have to do to make it work, but a pretty solid one in regards to whether they have the means to do it.

Too bad that publishers are cutting out the Wii U versions out of the budget more often than not, as the development leads often seem interested in working with the machine.