With the Wii U's difficult 2013, and the significant efforts from Nintendo to line up a compelling Wii U release schedule for Fall, the Holiday season and beyond, there have been the expected question marks over third-party support, particularly into 2014.
If E3 demonstrated one loud point on this topic, it's that a lot of major third-parties are in a "wait and see" pattern with the Wii U, with poor returns on early investments and low sales momentum causing companies to step back and see whether Nintendo's high-profile releases cause a significant improvement in the system's performance. It'll likely lead to a period throughout 2014 with limited support, putting the emphasis on Nintendo delivering substantial but regular titles.
Eric Hirshberg, the CEO of Activision Publishing, has spoken to gamesindustry.biz about the company's strategies and policies for the upcoming generation of systems. When asked about Activision's speed of adoption with Wii U he shared some fairly positive remarks on Nintendo's ability to change its fortunes, along with his company's desire to see it succeed.
I don't think we're slower to move; we're a very choiceful company. We're very choiceful in the number of titles we make. We scrutinize opportunities very carefully, and when we go into them we go big. And I think that's been part of the formula for our success. We were there with a lot support for the Wii U at launch with a Call of Duty game, with a Skylanders game and with several other titles. We want to see Nintendo be successful and we want to do anything we can to help them be successful. Obviously the Wii U is struggling - that's not a secret, I don't think there's any other way to read the narrative right now - but they're a really good company and they've got some incredible IP that has yet to come, that they honed for that platform. We have a vested interest in making them successful.
This is a tone that's been common in recent weeks, with third-parties taking business decisions to hold off on Wii U projects and investments, but at the same time having a belief that Nintendo's release lineup will drive sales and improve momentum. While more actual support from these publishers would naturally be welcome, continuing faith in Nintendo's ability to improve the system's fortunes perhaps bodes well for the future.
[source gamesindustry.biz]
Comments 59
"This is a tone that's been common in recent weeks, with third-parties taking business decisions to hold off on Wii U projects and investments, but at the same time having a belief that Nintendo's release lineup will drive sales and improve momentum."
Heh, heh kinda weird isn't it?
This holiday is going to be big lemme tell ya that.
I don't want to see Activision being successful anymore. Likewise, EA. Megacorporations without any love for enriching ART.
A new IP honed for Wii U? Interesting.
I don't think anyone would want to see Nintendo fail despite all of the big game journalism sites enjoying views from posting "nintendo is doomed" articles. It would take a lot more than the failure of a single console to knock Nintendo down, but if by some very unfortunate turn of events Nintendo were to be run out of business everyone would immediately become aware of how much they actually do for the industry.
WiiU will be successful, but I think they've long since lost their chance to make it the big hit console of the generation.
Personally, I want all three consoles to be successful. I don't play my X-Box anymore, but why would I want it to fail just because it doesn't appeal to me?
Nintendo will be fine, this holiday hasn't happened yet. I don't plan on seeing the other pricey consoles flying off shelves. It just won't happen. People are much more careful these days. They want a bang for their buck
Hopefully nintendo can turn round the wii u fortunes so we can see good support from all the big third party company's I don't want to just play nintendo games I want a choice of different style of games that Nintendo can't provide
I just want games. Activision, release Ghosts on Wii U please. I'm sure all of the consoles will be successful, but I also expect the same lull with the PS4 and XB1. If the Wii U was too expensive at $350, what makes people think the $400-$500 systems will be any different?
@rmeyer
If Amazon pre-orders are any indication, those consoles will do fine at minimum.
The Elephant in the Wii U room for Activision is Skylanders Swap Force. If sales are poor, it will undoubtedly be the Wii U's fault and in no way Activision's for releasing a similar product to the last 2 games against the Might of Disney Infinity.
How about some definitive confirmation that "Call of Duty Ghosts" will land on Wii U? Is confusing costumers right up to the release date some sort of long lost to the public in-joke for Activision?
I have noticed Activision giving Wii U some love, keep it up, I love the odd Activision game
Request to Activision: Release TMNT: Out of the Shadows on Wii U, why is this not even being considered?!?!?
@C7_ Maybe not but the failure of a home console starts the downward spiral into obscurity. People who purchased the Wii U may not be so confident in buying the next round of Nintendo home consoles if it were to fail.
"We scrutinize opportunities very carefully, and when we go into them we go big. And I think that's been part of the formula for our success."
...........Yeah Activision, Um about that......Walking Dead Survival Instinct, Black Ops 2 With No DLC.....should I keep going?
If it isn't a game with a diabolical micro transaction scheme in place or something they can't port over lazily on a pre existing game engine from the other consoles.....it most likely will not make it over to the Wii U.
Activision didnt go big with Wreck it Ralph, it was too short
@hydeks I really want the TMNT game, too. I'm sure it will be terrible but I want it anyway. I don't want to have to get it on PS3 and have trophies hanging over my head.
I like Activision much more than EA ... I've bought some of there games for Wii U ... Transformers Prime & COD Black Ops 2 ... Hope they continue to support Nintendo into the future.... How about Destiny for Wii U ???
I love how pre-orders are taken as an indication for the success of the Xbox One and PS4, yet they were dismissed for the Wii U.
Also, if I recall correctly, the Dreamcast broke pre-order records in NA in its time. Just putting it out there...
@hydeks because many of us remember tmnt on snes and this one looks bad.
@darkgamer001 it also sold great but just in NA
Activision has a REALLY funny way of showing that wish for success.
Give us destiny and you can keep the rest! Realy why the wiiu is nit getting the sure seller's is beyond reason.
@ArkOne77 well said, I was just gonna post the same/similar....walking dead I can forgive, it was awful on all platforms =)
But blops2 without ANY DLC being claimed to be the definitive version by activision IS A LIE!!! why would I now trust them to back Nintendo when it matters?
"they've got some incredible IP that has yet to come"
Do they know something we don't, or is he just talking about their upcoming games we know anout?
Activision is bringing us another Skylanders, I have no complaints, keep it up!
@FineLerv Yup, I've been a huge TMNT fan since I was a kid, and all the major TMNT releases have been on Nintendo systems (if not all of them), AND Nintendo systems have the biggest kids/ kids at heart fanbase, so why not bring this? Made no sense when they announced it and it was coming to everything BUT Wii U
@Macarony64 I would agree that I'm not much for the turtles looking the way they do in the game, but the gameplay looks awesome! Activision needs to get the bring all the original TMNT games to the VC (TMNT, TMNT II, TMNT III, TMNT In Time) Heck, I would be happy alone if they brought over just the two TMNT arcade game versions!
@JGMR Me neither I don't care for the shoddy work of EA / Ubisoft or Activision. (Capcom are annoying but they produce the odd good thing. I think they just contract out everything these days so its hit or miss whether something will be good or not and they have terrible DLC policies. Maybe it is because of them making good arcade stuff in the past. Konami are a bit better at least they put some effort into some things. (The wii Rebirth's / 3d classics etc). I wish they gave the 3DS Castlevania to Wayforward though. (And released a Contra in PAL regions). Also they should put the effort in to get TG16 stuff available on 3DS VC. (As Hudson were going to).
I think Nintendo should just cater for companies who want to make stuff just for the Wii U and become stricter again about allowing junk on the platform.
@hydeks The main Turtles game was made by Konami (Same engine as the Simpsons Arcade game).
hmm i wonder what is that "incredible ip" he mentions
The way he worded it sounded much nicer than the way EA worded it.
Activision, I may not be a Call of Duty player, but I appreciate the kind words you have towards Nintendo. We're all hoping the Wii U will be successful too. Thanks for all the current support you gave and hopefully you'll give us more in the future.
@unrandomsam Yes but Nickelodeon has the rights now, so it's up to them to release them now, and Activision is the one doing their games right now. If they released them, it would be like when they where on XBLA, it would have a UbiSoft logo and a Konami one giving them credit for actually making the game.
Nintendo needs to fix their mistakes from the Wii U launch. Luckily, there are several interesting games coming in the upcoming months.
@Xilef
Well, remember the talk of Nintendo supposedly working on a new IP that is a different direction for them? Maybe that's what he is referring to.
They are going to wait because nothing seems to sell on wii u current wii u owners dont support there system they just complain when devs say the hell with this last gen kit or the wii u owners are waiting for the next game for 7 year olds who knows
god i cant remember the last time iv played a third-party game x
i say send them back and leave me with nintendo goodness x
@FineLerv good point, this is more a reflection of the industry. Despite that, this isn't 2006 anymore and high taxes and health insurance costs is not going to bode well for Americans this year. There is a reason Sony is selling the ps4 for 43% less than it's ps3 counterpart. If the team of systems don't do we'll, neither will developers. On another note, this transition is always cold for developers because new system adoption is a long process. No one wants to develop a game for a small population of owners. Expect some devs to go under if they haven't set aside some cash. Game development is extremely difficult, very expensive if you want quality control, and there are huge ramifications if the software doesn't sell big.
Activision have released two rubbish games on the Wii U in the past couple months "The Walking Dead" & "Fast & Furious" I don't care if they release the next Call Of Duty on the Wii U. I never really played them much on consoles apart from Call Of Duty 2 Big Red One on Gamecube. Aside from that I use to play the original & United Offensive on PC.
Their Skylander U game is very buggy and they won't provide any support for fixing it. Just sayin...
@Gunnerholic YesBecause that was totally a problem when the Virtual Boy and then GameCube failed. That's why Nintendo is obscure now...
Wait, what?
@wombatkidd See Sega or Atari for further details. Goodwill is very easy to lose but very hard to accumulate. Any retailer will tell you that
I would guess the new IP is Destiny. What other ones do they have besides that?
@Shiryu - Only for Nintendo Consoles.
@Gunnerholic I could be wrong but I predict next round of Nintendo's consoles will complete the handheld/home console merger and will be the portable home console that will compete on scale with iEverything and Android and still challenge Sony and MS.
So basically they want to suck the life out of one of Nintendo's franchises, recycle it, and make billions, just like they did with Call Of Duty. No, thank you.
@SCAR392
He's talking about a Nintendo IP.
"Obviously the Wii U is struggling - that's not a secret, I don't think there's any other way to read the narrative right now - but they're a really good company and they've got some incredible IP that has yet to come, that they honed for that platform."
@Midnight3DS
My bad. I read it as 'our new IP has been honed for that platform'. Damn, I really misread that...
Ah... Good old Activision... Giving us the same exact game for years and years...
I hope that the Wii U will pick up to the point where these major publishers will start actively publishing stuff for them. While there hasn't been many Activision (or EA) games that have appealed to me lately, I do want to see a healthy selection of games from a variety of publishers available for the Wii U...
"We're very choiceful in the number of titles we make. We scrutinize opportunities very carefully, and when we go into them we go big."
Hahahaha. That's hilarious. Can I just say one thing though?
Walking Dead: Survival Instinct.
Also - of course you'd want Nintendo to be successful, to want otherwise would be idiotic from their point of view. What matters is support. If you don't support them then it doesn't matter.
'Choiceful' is not a word and I have no idea what it's meant to mean in this context.
@cornishlee sounds like something a dudebro might say
@Macarony64
It would be a cruel blow to the Wii U if it didn't get Destiny and (I suppose) Ghosts. Those games will be huge and I'm sure will easily shift enough copies to warrant profitabe sales... unless they are released a year later : /
well interesting at least they trying to support the company hope we get some games from them at least but wonder what this IP just for the Wii U is? nintendo did hint at this too
This type of speach tells me that no ghosts nor destiny on the wii u. They are just waiting to see if the wii u sells well on the next 4 months, if the install base of the wii u reaches the 8M they release the games, if it stays on 3.5/4M they dont.
If the install base reaches 10M by the end of the year you will have fifa14 and battlefield from EA.
I am excited for later this year. All the waiting will finally pay off! Not too long until Pikmin 3 either
@JGMR lol…
just make games on wii u an shut up
Activision has a butt load of money if they really wanted to support the Wii U they could. They should really put some real muscle behind an exclusive game, the Wii U is more then capable of going toe to toe with PS4 & X-BoxOne. We just haven't had a developer besides Nintendo even begin to push the console. This isn't last gen, it seems like certain gaming outlets and developers are trying to slander the Wii U and the gaming community hust runs with. I know if they really made a great game for the Wii U it would help drive sells.
Oh yeah and I really want that new TMNT game on Wii U. Activision make it happen, PLEASE!!!!!
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