EA Developing Frostbite Engine For Mobile, But Not Wii U

Nintendo DOES NOT NEED Frostbite

I hope the mobile gaming market evaporates, taking EA with it. I think it's someone else's turn to have all the official licences.

It's a new mobile engine, so the power argument is moot. They're not getting frostbite running on mobile systems, but creating a NEW frostbite for mobiles. Obviously the market is big enough for them to feel its worth it, but for the Wii U it's not.

Of course 75% of comments will just call EA Nintendo haters and ignore common sense.

Nintendo DOES NEED Frostbite. I don't know if Nintendo is the bad one here, or if it's EA, point is Wii U is a weaker console without it.

Even though I still don't like EA, I can see why they think its worth it to bring a mobile version to phone and tables. I mean look at all those devices out there. So even if they only get 5% of people to buy the games that have frostbite as there engine then it would still be worth it to them.

Still I wish EA would just be honest and just say they are not bring frostbite engine to the Wii U as of now because of the low numbers instead of saying that it doesn't work. It just makes them look more guilty when they do release it for the system.

I don't regret my Wii U purchase one bit, but I think the third parties jumping ship does fall on Nintendo. The 3DS launch mess should have taught them that they can't sell hardware on potential these days, and they should have had some major must-have Nintendo titles at Wii U launch to push more people to become early adopters. Then maybe third parties would see Wii U as a more valuable platform. If Nintendo can have a successful holiday then things might turn around a bit, but I'm not counting on it.

I'm certainly not expecting the Wii U to "die," but I'm fully ready for yet another generation where people buy a Nintendo console to play Nintendo games and an Xbox or PS4 to play third party games.

I'm boycotting "all of our games will have microtransactions" EA, anyway.

@BooJoh "I'm certainly not expecting the Wii U to "die," but I'm fully ready for yet another generation where people buy a Nintendo console to play Nintendo games and an Xbox or PS4 to play third party games."

I will be one of them. I am mostly gonna get all multi plat for my PC but there going to be a few I will get for the Wii U even though my PC is well able to run them on max. Like watch dogs because I want to support Ubisoft for supporting the Wii U.

I pity the fools

Apart from the contractually obligated FIFA, EA really don't want to develop for the Wii U at the moment.

Some bad blood between Nintendo & EA behind the scenes I believe.

Wow, what an unprecedented relationship!

I see it as a sign that EA is just being bitter about the whole Origin thing. Doesn't bother me any. If EA doesn't want to develop for Wii U then I guess I just won't be buying any EA games. If they don't like money, then that's their problem I guess.

@Peach64 yes this is a new engine you have that right. But the power argument is still utter bs The Wii U is more powerful then Ps3 and 360 and Frostbite 3 is running on those 2 systems so the power argument is still bs they just need to state the truth that it just is not worth it to them currently not that its to weak which is completely obviously untrue.

I don't think high end games have a future on mobile platforms. They're mostly terrible. While my phone is capable, it isnt what it's designed for...all virtual buttons - awful. Battery life plummets down to around an hour.. and all I can think is how much better it could be on a game console. Phones make sense for angry birds and balloon pop not dead space and battlefield.

EA on their mobile games:
Buy game 10$
buy characters: 1$ each
buy weapons: 1,50$ each
extra stuff: 2,30$ each.

It's not so much a sign of the times but a sign of Wii U imo.

With Nintendo saying the Wii U would have better 3rd party support, i'm wondering what have Nintendo done to actually secure 3rd party support. At the start of the Wii U's life Nintendo did get some 3rd party support weather they where ports or not, but the deals where not good enough towards other console's. I also think Nintendo should try and get exclusive content with some of Ubisoft future games, seeing as Ubisoft are support the Wii U. This is where Nintendo falls short 3rd party support, 3rd party games would of filled the gaps between 1st party games not leaving them without games. If Nintendo pick-up in this area there console would see a lot different outcome, as everyone expect's 3rd party support on other consoles and the same should be said about Nintendo's systems.

it feels like all is against nintendo! first unreal engine4 and now this.

The Wii U can't handle Frostbyte but the iPhone can?
I'm calling BS.

The Wii U hasn't got the numbers compared to mobiles.

It's probably payback for not putting Origin on the Wii U. EA are like that. Is anyone really going to miss their games??? I mean, I know I won't. I play most games on PC. I can't think of one EA title i'd want to play, aside from a Dungeon Keeper remake or a proper Syndicate game. Does Nintendo care?? I doubt it.. UbiSoft are a far more important partner for Nintendo because they actually make some decent games. So much for this "unprecedented partnership" huh?? blahblaahblah..

Anyone wanne defend EA against the "anti Nintendo" claims even now ?

@KLer They never said Wii U can't run Frostbite, they said it doesn't run very well on Wii U. Frostbite is different to most modern engines in that it relies on the CPU a lot (my laptop with a crappy GT540m can run BF3 maxed out because it has an i7 quad core CPU. Most other new games won't run nearly as well). The Wii U has a weaker CPU than PS3 and 360, so it's not far-fetched to believe Frostbite as it is now will run pretty badly on it. They could rework the engine to spread the load to the GPU, but with Wii U sales being so poor it's not worth it. If sales pick up and there's a chance for them to make money I'm sure they'll spend to get it running on Wii U.

@Damo Why don't you think it's worth them creating a new engine? Android and IOS combined dwarfs console numbers. It's a huge jump from current PC tech to smartphones, a port would take so much work it would be like creating a new engine anyway.

To say I'm not happy with Nintendo is an understatement. They have botched another launch and now 3rd party support is slipping. So far all the 3rd party games we have seen on the barren shelves are ports. I am finally coming to realise that Wii U is not as powerful as we hoped it would be! I know that power doesn't matter with Nintendo products and it's all about the games, I love Mario, Zelda, SSB etc but I don't want to buy a PS4 or Next Box just to play the next Star Wars or Battlefield game. I love my Wii U, I think the Gamepad is revolutionary, but publishers aren't making the most of it, and example being the map and inventory for Resident Evil Revelations. At this rate I can see the Wii U dying before the end of the year. I really hope it doesn't but when you walk into HMV, Tesco or Game and see a few games on the bottom shelf, it doesn't look good.

@Peach64 Thanks for the clear up on that I did not know that it heavily used the cpu. I agree with you on the rest obviously if they spent the time they could get it working they just do not see it as a worthy investment at the moment. If they still do this crap if and when the Wii U has a good install base (when sales pick up) then we can say they are being anti-Nintendo but until then we should assume its just a business decision and one I do not blame them for.

They should just say that they don't see WiiU profitable but saying that it can't handle Frostbite is abig lie. To hell with them.

Here's your answer...
"We right now don't have support for the Wii U in the Frostbite engine. The reason for that is it takes development time. What should we focus on to create the best possible Battlefield experience? We are now focused on PC and the current-gen platforms, and then there might be other platforms in the future that we can't talk about," DICE executive producer Patrick Bach told Eurogamer at GDC.

"[Frostbite 3] has never been running on WiiU. We did some tests with not too promising results with [Frostbite 2] and chose not to go down that path," tweeted DICE technical director Johan Andersson in response to a fan's tweet.

Lol. Battlefield and Star Wars. Yeah, I'd be bummed If I was 12. EA has been a joke for so long it's hard to believe it's still here.

So what about PS4? I thought its cpu ain't that "powerful" too.Looks like they'll need to do a new Frostbyte for next-gen consoles.

At this point the only newsworthy EA-related announcement would be if the company was producing a game for Wii U.

Battlefield and Star Wars? 12? Do you play Mario? Zelda?

My point all along has been that 3rd Party developers are ditching the Wii U and let's think this through. The Wii U will not survive without them. The sales are bad and we don't even know what Microsoft has planned for their next console. What happens to Wii U if MS launch with a gamepad similar to Nintendo's?
I bought a Wii U for Mario, Zelda and all the other exclusives but I like a lot of games on other consoles. So will Mario Kart, Super Smash Brothers etc be enough to keep the console alive if MS run with the same tech?
I don't like having to pay for Xbox Live and all the day one DLC but at least it will have the 3rd party games and I'm not just talking about EA.

I smell an industry conspiring against Nintendo?!

@Peach64 Seeing as how the Unreal engine has been scaled on IOS with games like Infinity Blade, as a business decision it would make more sense for EA to make the Frostbite scaled to mobile platforms. Given how they recently said that they are focused on becoming more profit efficient it would make more business sense to scale said engine rather then creating a new one from scatch... it's all about the bottom line at the end of the day.

Oh look, EA are full of poopoo! Who knew?!

Interesting video. 48 games coming out on 360, PS3 and or PC that are not coming out on Wii u. 48!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_Ig7A-eaZA8

Basically Nintendo Life, I don't want to see another EA article on this website. They have abandoned Nintendo, and therefore anything they do from here on out is irrelevant to this site.

People need to stop stalking about Nintendo having a killer E3. They aren't really going to make any announcements at E3. All going to be Nintendo Directs. So we'll see what they have in store. 3DS will keep them making tons of money, and Wii U will be OK. Think DS/GCN era. Going to get interesting though.

@hiptanaka I'm glad Nintendo doesn't believe in microtransactions. Doubt the Luigi download will cheaper than forty.

That rumor about EA and Nintendo not getting along is starting to rear it's ugly head. All we have to do is look at what happened from day one. To all those who don't know the engine is something that can be scaled back.to fit many different formats. With this announcement and the announcement that EA games are slowly skipping Nintendo 's consoles basically validates what most of us already know.

The way that we and Nintendo can fix this. First Nintendo has to realize the real issue. There are no first party games and there is no marketing. To resolve this Nintendo needs the goods they need games. Marketing they need to get these commercials out there for every one.
I went to see Iron man 3 it was packed they could have commercials before the preview. I suspect they didn't have a killer game to do this with.

@Peach64 What about the PS4? I heard that the PS4 has a "weak" CPU too. I don't know if it's true but we can find out. Let's assume that the PS4's CPU is weak too, how will you explain EA supporting the PS4 despite the weak CPU and smaller install base than the Wii U? Because believe me, EA will bring games to PS4 and how many people own a PS4? The answer is 0. At least Wii U has 3+ million owners already and the numbers will get bigger by the time PS4 is released. So how would you explain this?

Look, when Nintendo releases some titles that people care about, and when they finish developing the platform to function with dual controllers and make the TV integration work properly (as they should have before releasing)... THEN the Wii U will start selling well and EA will change their mind about this. Nintendo just needs to sell product ASAP.

Hahaha! This makes DICE's statements regarding the Wii U can't run Frostbite look more like crap! Total BS!

@WiiURockz I severely doubt the PS4 CPU is "weak". In fact, it will probably be the most powerful out of all the consoles.

To speculate here, it doesn't matter if the install base of fans is "0", the actual number of fans for the PS4 already exceeds those who have a Wii U already. No the PS4 and Xbox won't do any better than the Wii U did at launch, but that will be a short stint. Don't get me wrong I love my Wii U and I still have high hopes for it. Comparing the Wii U to the PS4 and next Xbox just isn't feasible.

Don't forget that Sony and Microsoft already has proven that EA games sale HUGE on their systems. So naturally the cycle will continue on their more powerful and upgraded systems. The Wii wasn't very powerful at all and 3rd party support was almost non-existent. I know the Wii U is a bit more powerful than the PS3 and 360, but the "hardcore" gamer audience has already dismissed the Wii U. I think some devs has already gotten wind of this. Again, this is just speculation on my part. I know once the first party titles start rolling out and the Wii U sales pick up....more devs will be willing to work with Nintendo. It's just a waiting game at this point.

@WiiURockz

Read this:
given the make-up of the integrated CPU/GPU chip in the PS4 this will translate to a substantial performance boost.

Again, what Sony has done with the PS4 is something that PC builders simply cannot do yet. PC’s come with two separate chips connected over a PCI-E chipset.

The PS4, on the other hand, houses an integrated CPU/GPU custom AMD chip—the “Jaguar” CPU is not available for purchase yet and the GPU side of the equation is said to be similar to AMD cards running in the $200 price-range. The secret weapon here isn’t either the 8-core CPU or the GPU, but rather how the two are paired.

What does this mean? Basically it means that the two chips will be able to communicate with one another much faster and more efficiently than in a traditional PC set-up. Combine this with the high-bandwidth GDDR5 memory and the fact that much of the traditional CPU tasks will be offloaded to the GPU, and you have a machine that you simply cannot compare to a modern PC.

the bad one here is Nintendo due to the fact that it needs more advertising which equals more sales and more interest so that they can take wii u more serious =/

anyway for those that say nintendo dont need them well they actually do cuz they bring more games= more game sales= more games being made for us all -.- but come on they could at least try to develope a wii u version if they wanted to

No surprise here. In fact my only surprise would be if either company actually cares.

@WiiURockz I don't think the PS4's CPU is weaker that the PS3's. I they say it's weak that don't mean that weak. I doubt any specs are going to be a downgraded here.

Is which frostbite engine is being ported specified? It could be frostbite 1 for all we know if not. Even if it is 2 or 3, I think we need to remember that it won't be expected to run at full capcity.

Sorry, Frostbite didn't work that well on Wii U the first time we tried it... so, yeah, sorry but there's nothing else we can do to compromise. But we will go out of our way and spend any expenses necessary to make Frostbite Engine for mobile devices! Genius!

Its clear EA is having a pissing contest with Nintendo. I think they are cutting off their nose to spite their face personally. Their total abandonment of Nintendo has me totally abandoning them on other platforms.

The power statement is total bull now, just like how the Wii can't play SFIV but the iPhone can

@Monkeyofthefunk nintendo will survive without them just like they always have. yes they need some third party support but not heavy third party support like xbox and sony. look up the numbers.

@Rafie The funny thing about what you said is that the so called "hardcore" gamers who dismissed the Wii U aren't hardcore or at least not more hardcore than Nintendo fans. They are nothing more then bandwagon fans who choose to play games on the most popular consoles, that's all. Also their taste in games confirms that they are not hardcore. They only play realistic looking games with guns, violence and blood and their games must look great. I cannot take these type of gamers seriously and this is why I will not buy a PS4 or next Xbox. I rather play on the least popular console with true gamers who appreciate Nintendo's great games and innovations.

@banacheck You didn't have to give me a full specs explanation. I don't care about specs. I just heard the PS4's CPU is weak that's all.

@Jaz007 Ok whatever but EA is making games for PS4, a console that isn't released yet because they ASSUME that a lot of people will buy it. So they are willing to take risks with PS4 but not the Wii U who already has 3+ million owners. I strongly believe EA has something against Nintendo, it's not just because Wii U is not selling.

This just shows EA is as full of doody as much as most of their games are. The only thing I regret buying is need for speed most wanted U. I hope they go under FAST and some decent developers get hold of the licenses that these cheap people are cinstantly sitting on. Would be nice for sports games made by companies other than EA.

@MrWalkieTalkie Yeah that about sums it up. lol. That's really the only thing that bugs me here. It does seem like EA is systematically trying to undermine Nintendo but what do I know?
These are all companies that provide jobs and I really don't think some CEO making underhanded remarks or not liking the way Nintendo doesn't do everything we want should make us want thousands of people becoming unemployed.

@Peach64 Ah finally someone who isnt just a blindfolded fanboy!

Who cares EA games are horrible

@Peach64 Thinks for being one of the few on here that get it

It's shocking that Nintendo has built a console that's not future proof. At some point, all high end games won't be possible on the Wii U. I suppose people will have a go at EA, but it's not their fault that Nintendo went down the current gen road. And publishers skipping and pulling the plug on the Wii U, is Nintendo's fault. As mentioned before, Nintendo builds its consoles around what's best for them. As with all of Nintendo's consoles from the Nintendo 64, Nintendo will be virtually on it's own, as third party support will be p**s poor.

@WiiURockz

Hyperbole much?

I clearly remember EA's statement, along with the chuckle, that Wii U was not powerful enough to suport Frosbite. As an owner of a few EA games, this frustrates me that EA would rather lie to their supporters. The only impressive thing I've seen lately from EA is their support of marriage equality, but that doesn't excuse all the lies...including Sim City's "inability to function offline." Oh well. At least I know where my money is going and where it's NOT going.

@WiiURockz So those who play on other consoles aren't true gamers?! That's why the gaming community is so divided now. There are folks like you who feel the same way on both Sony and Microsoft. They call Ninty fans"soft" gamers because all they play are cutesy games outside of Mario, Metroid, and Zelda. Oh and another....everyone does not like shooters.Games like COD and Battlefield isn't for everyone, myself included. I have all of the consoles, so there's no bias with me.

I just hate to see Ninty fans turn into other console hating ragers every time an article is made here about another dev not wanting to work with Nintendo for some unforeseen reason. It's not Sony's fault...it's the devs. Nor is it Microsoft's fault either. I for one do appreciate Nintendo's greatness and always will. However, there are great games that come out on other systems that Nintendo doesn't have. That's why I have all of the consoles. To each their own I suppose.

EA and DICE are full of bullplop. They may have devkits and they may know a little more than I do about them, but I highly doubt they're saying the truth. CryEngine 3 was successfully ported and FULLY OPTIMIZED and running "beautifully" on Wii U. Heck, Crysis 3 was ported and ready to ship on Wii U.
And people may flame me on this one, but I find CryEngine 3 to be more impressive than FrostBite 3; the only thing I see FB3 having over CE3 is perhaps draw distance, optimization on PC, and more birdies on screen. Other than that, Crysis 3 makes Battlefield 4 look like Call of Duty Modern Warfare.

EA did such a great job with NFS: Most Wanted on WiiU, using all the PC assets, why in the world can't they bother to produce games they are making for poopy phones....sigh

It comes down to this, Wii U needs to sell more units then EA will make sure Frostbite works on the Wii U.

Well it's obvious as to why they do squat for Nintendo. They are threatened by them. They are a soulless corporation only interested in gouging as much money as possible with as little effort. You only need to see them in action to get that. Nintendo on the other hand actually cares enough about their customers not to go blind cash grab on them, not that they are perfect mind you, they're just not super evil. So in the eyes of EA, a company that interested in innovating does not bode well for their profit margin. Remember, they want your cash with as little effort as possible. Forget all this competition nonsense. In all honesty, the sooner the whole gaming community gets this and boycotts EA the better. Either they'll wise up or they will go bankrupt. And as for all the IPs, we can get them when they go under. Trust me it will be like the world's best pinata.

@gaby_gabito @Koto EA or Dice have never said that Frostbite won't run on Wii U. I'm repeating myself here, but all they said was that Frostbite doesn't run well on it. There are some detailed arguments above about the Wii U's architecture above which explains how this comment is perfectly feasible. Could they get it running on Wii U? Of course, but that would take work, and they're calculating based on what's happened so far that the time and money required to rework the engine would not get recouped in game sales. If Wii U sales improve, they'll probably reconsider. That doesn't contradict any of their statements so far.

I bet they will eventually get it running on Wii U, and most on here will react with 'SEE! THEY WERE LYING BEFORE!!!', but they have never said the Wii U isn't powerful enough. If they'd added 'and Wii U game sales aren't currently high enough for us to work on optimizing our engine' they'd still get flamed by people that seem to think these companies should be happy to make a loss in order to help Nintendo shift some hardware. Everyone is in this business to make money, even Nintendo.

Well that's somewhat disappointing. I was hoping that the new Star Wars Battlefront game would make it to the Wii U. Maybe attitudes will change down the road and something will be worked out so that Wii U will get Frostbite.

@Peach64
Yeah, I kind of realized that as well. It's just the thought of EA coupled with Nintendo sparked some kind of rage in me for whatever reason (not as bad as Bamco and Tales though). EA is looking to be very cautious with Wii U, but because of that caution they're losing favor in Nintendo fans' eyes. Makes sense though, just because a massive company like Crytek can put money and manpower into porting an engine doesn't mean a massive company like EA has to as well. What I'm afraid of though, is once Wii U sales do pick up and EA DOES port this engine over, I fear that they won't put quite as much effort as they should into optimizing it and thus making it run their games very poorly on Wii U.

Don't worry, this is all part of their unprecedented partnership!

@Peach64 Sorry, I was thinking about the comments made about the Unreal Engine. Still, I don't think EA should have lied about the whole SimCity thing I want to play it but I still always get knocked off the servers. If it's playable offline, it should be an option. I think the Always Online would have been better suited for the next Sims game and not SimCity.

I do not blame them (EA, etc.) for business decisions, as every company shall go after their own strategies.. But boy, I hope the PS4 and NextBox **ck-up big time! It's seems to me to be the only way the Games development industries put again more effort and innovation into their work!

I am still amazed at the quality games coming to Wii U later this year from EA due to their strong relationship they have with Nintendo....oh wait....EA was lying through their teeth...The best part about it is, when the Wii U starts posting sales, EA will attempt to release games, and the sales will be worse then what they are now. That makes me happy

I guess the iPad isn't a viable game platform like everyone here thinks...

Whatever EA feels they need to do to better their company. I am not a huge fan of their games anyways. I did not like their microtransaction plans either. Personally I think the choice to ignore Wii U is a mistake.

@mch Why pray on their downfall? It's up to Nintendo to revolutionize the way they market and distribute their software here. Hardware isn't an issue anymore. Not Sony's or Microsoft's fault that EA opted to not do anything for the Wii U anymore. They'll change their tune once sales pick up!

@th3r3ds0x
Exactly! This will come back to bite them in the butt. When PS4/720 come out and struggle for sales in this new market EA will see what all this crap has done for them. In the meantime Nintendo will be releasing their big name first party games and interest in the Wii U will go up. Christmas time will come and kids will be wanting their Mario Kart, Mario 3D etc.

Well, EA had been involved in the market for mobile games for a while now. And their relationship with Nintendo was always awkward.

EA suck it and i won't ever buy another EA game why give tham my money when they treat nintendo like crap

The problem is that they would have to develop a new engine for the Wii U not that they don't do it, this fact is understandable.

EA is still butthurt over Nintendo not choosing Origin as the only online service for the Wii U.

@WiiURockz

Ok, not every game on the 360 or PS3 is a shooter with dark colors and lots of blood. The PS3 has tons of Japanese RPGs(a rare genre on Consoles currently), a good number of platformers that are aimed at the same market as Mario, and a good selection of games that cover a wide array of genres.

As for the 360, it's got a good selection of games that also cover a wide array of genres.

But tell me, how are 360 and PS3 owners not real gamers? A major problem with modern fan boys is the concept of stereotyping fans of a system. The nonsense about "360 owners only like Shooters, PS3 owners never play their over hyped exclusives, and Nintendo gamers only like kiddie cartoon crap!" really needs to stop.

The PS3 and 360 will go down as two of the greatest systems of all time, and if anyone takes even a few minutes to look over their libraries, you'll see a diverse selection of games on both platforms that cover a wide array of genres.

And no, people that play PS3 and 360 are not "jumping on the bandwagon". They bought the systems to play the favorite games. If you want to blame anyone, blame NIntendo for losing Final Fantasy, Castlevania, and other third-party franchises to Sony during the PS1 era. That is what opened the floodgates, and Nintendo's focus on doing in the opposite direction every generation does not help attract third-parties to them.

I have never been able to figure out why people deprive themselves of the games that are offered on other platforms. Are you honestly telling me that there are no games that worth buying a PS3 or Xbox 360 for? If you love Xenoblade, than what's wrong with the JRPGs that are on the PS3?

I play all systems that offer good games. This is one of the major problems with the modern video game indstrudy. People are so loyal to one platform, they will dismiss the others without a second thought.

There are PS3 and 360 games that stand up to what Nintendo puts out. And people who play those games are real gamers. Or is someone going to tell me, someone who has played games since the Sega Genesis that I'm a bandwagon hopper?

Still angry over no Origin on Wii U, huh EA?

EA is still but hurt from that Origin deal falling through and I will stand by my thoughts. Regardless, i am not fan of really any of there games and they already had BF4 running on the system last year as they have already said so we know it can run the new FB engine.

Let`s see how fanboys try to flame EA and then do a complete 180 if they start supporting Wii U.

More bad news. I'm still keeping the faith in nintendo to deliver soon. Fatal frame please please. (it ain't happening but one can dream right?) lol

EA can go suck a nut. And no, this opinion would not change even if EA became Wii U's strongest supporter tomorrow. They'd also have to fire all their executive management, restructure their business model and update their policies in a way that removes their "Developer = Sweat Shop" mentality before I would seriously consider changing my mind.

guys, the wiiU CPU is horrible. those rumors about it being worse than CURRENT gen consoles are true. that's what all the developers are saying, anyways. DICE, THQ, a LOT of these developers hate the WiiU because it's a chore to program on.
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The mobile market is vastly incomparable to that of current consoles at the moment, let alone the Wii U. In fact, mobile development is one of EA's strongest and most profitable divisions and has been for eons; how is this even surprising?

They're only investing in a more sensible and promising market, i.e. not the Wii U.

@Caryslan @Rafie You guys really know what you're talking about! Thanks for having some common sense

It's because they are thinking from a business perspective. All the suits out there now believe that the future lies in mobile games, and EA thinks they're being smart by investing into this business model.

I personally don't think the future of video games lies in mobile devices, so this move seems rather short sighted and ignorant, to me. I think that once the novelty of being able to play games on your phone wears off, that people will come back to traditional game consoles. Obviously that's not going to happen to everyone all at once, so I think that mobile and dedicated game machines will coexist, but EA would NOT be wise to rule out Nintendo's platform.

@WaxxyOne

EA is ending online pass. It's a start.

@WiiURockz Funny, you accuse others of being false gamers that feel that their gaming is suprior to others, but then do the exact same thing and claim that people who love shooters aren't gamers and claim your gaming breed a is a truer and suprior breed of gaming.

@Luis_Gimpy Big difference. I have nothing against good old expansions or robust DLC. Microtransactions more often refer to buying a weapon or a new level for a dollar. That model has many problems, not least the annoyance of buying a game that feels incomplete.

I'm pretty convinced I've figured out what the hubbub between Nintendo and EA is about by now.

EA realizes that all games must have some form of online community element, both because it is attractive to most contemporary players, but also because it allows them to monitor all the copies sold, if they demand online activation of the product.

Meanwhile, Nintendo is adamant that their players shouldn't have to interact with a third party after purchasing a boxed product, and should be able to utilize the offline portions of their product without ever taking to the internet.

The two viewpoints do not jive. The people at EA want more control, in order to fight piracy and run vital statistics, along with selling DLC directly to the user. The people at Nintendo want to offer the same no-nonsense products they always have.