Ubisoft Scaling Back Support For Wii U, Expects Price Cut To Bolster Sales

Seriously, whats up with developers dissing out on Wii U. Look at Mario Kart 8 or Smash Bros! Their HD graphics with its low processor compare to Xbox One or PS4... Its like its ment to be a next gen console.. I dont see why devlopers delaying, canceling on an awesome console. If they could give Wii U a second chance they will prove what Wii U can bring. Wii U deserve a second chance..

The Crew looked boring and came off as a blatant NFS copy

Wii U will probably become a platform for Nintendo games + smaller scale/indie games. But that sounds exactly like something I want, so no problem.

I've almost lost interest in games driven by the graphics and story hysteria, but I can see why people who like that stuff and bought a Wii U for third party support feel betrayed.

I'm enough with ubisoft have slated for the wii u over next 13 months as long as they keep bringing splinter cell and assassins creed sequels AND the next ghost recon

Then see the support have a ressurgence once the user base increases, which it will dramatically by the end of this year

@Chakan At least they make racing games, unlike Nintendo. Where is F-Zero!?

This is Nintendo's fault for skimping on the processor and not releasing any noteworthy game, and reviewers for bashing the system and killing its appeal to the consumer. Ubisoft is smart is not making games for a system no one is buying. .And yes, I have a WiiU and I love mine, but the perception to most people is that the system sucks and no one is buying it except Nintendo freaks.

It'll be the 3ds- when the Wii U starts selling, everyone will want to come back and be best buddies with Nintendo. I agree they've messed up again but i believe that this time next year the the Wii U will be in a different place. Keep the faith guys

Man, this is not good...The 3rd party wii u reel was already sad enough....

I have been very hungry for good games in Wii U. Super Mario Bros Wii U looks boring (people have been complaining that it plays the same as the older mario bros) and Nintendo keeps delaying Wii U Fit. The games I have are mostly from Ubisoft (Just Dance and Your Shape 2013). Ubisoft withdrawing support? Nintendo needs to really do something.

I wouldnt worry. I have no interest in the crew (doesnt even seem "next gen") and the wii u is sure to get all rayman and assassins creed and probably BG&E2 too

This isn't good. The difference between the Wii U and the 3DS is that 3DS wasn't fighting against 2 new consoles. This could be the final nail in the coffin. I really hope I'm wrong.

Nintendo just can't catch a break.

............This god dang Wii U. Dag Nintendo, step your game up or you'll lose everybody!

Good riddance, can't stand your casual trash anyway.

It gives people the impression that we purchased Wii U just because of Mario Bros, Zelda, and other Nintendo franchise (Metroid, which I never liked). I was a sega fan and I am looking forward to the new Sonic. But really, if Nintendo thinks that they can survive with just Mario or Zelda fans then they are wrong. At least I am not a Nintendo fan.

How are Nintendo going to sell consoles if all the 3rd party support drops out? Sales are bad at the moment and that's without the PS4 or Xbox One.

@LunaticPandora

Oh, we'll still get Ubisoft's casual offerings. They make at least some profit (being cheaper to make).

I've got a lot of respect for Ubisoft for releasing so many titles for Wii U,but this news has made me quite upset.

Nintendo was kidding themselves if they ever thought major western third parties would continue to support the Wii U once PS4 and Xbox One were released. Its about perception, and in this case the perception is true: Wii U isn't as powerful as PS4 and Xbox One. It doesn't have 8GB of RAM. And it isn't as easy to develop for because of the hardware. We can complain all we want that devs just need to be creative with it, but it doesnt matter. At the end of the day, Wii U is seen as weak tech and difficult to work with, and it doesn't help that its not selling units. Companies like Activision, EA, Bioware, Bethesda, Ubisoft, Square-Enix, Blizzard, Valve, and more are never going to take it seriously, even if Nintendo does ever manage to pick up the sales.

Nintendo has put themselves between a rock and a hard place, and as far as serious third party support is concerned, i dont think they'll recover this gen. Next gen, if they're smart enough to realize that they need to cater more to what people really want in a new console instead of 'making something unique' which really isn't all that unique, maybe third party devs will come back.

I love my Wii U, but it needs to be admitted that there are some significant problems with it. Its underpowered, hard to develop for, and is much too expensive for what you get for it. PS4 with 500GB for $400? Or Wii U with 32GB for $350. The choice is obviously PS4 in that case. Wii U needs to either upgrade to much more memory and throw in a pro controller into the deluxe model at the same price, or they need to cut the price by at least $50 because as it is right now, its not good value.

I bought my Wii U for the games... But it looks like just with Wii, Nintendo is the only one that will be making quality softwarw for it. And it all could've bern avoided if Nintendo had just better understood the market and what gamers want.

I'm not bothered about new flashy graphics, I have my PC for that with better specs than both PS4/Xbone. I love Nintendo games , they give us something different to other consoles, PC etc. The Wii U is an excellent piece of hardware, the gamepad is a positive invention and if the games start to come out, it will sell. I just hope it's not too late.

This (I hope) is just a minor setback. They supported Wii for years and gave us two of they're best games, Red Steel 2 and ZombiU. Yet at the same time they lost money when Wii U launched.

Yeah, I agree about Rayman. If it was a day one launch it probably would be amazingly close to NSMBU.

I don't think too many will buy Xbone. Hopefully the Wii U can hold it's own 3rd party wise against PS4.

I hope you're right Brandon but PS3 has a list of over 30 3rd party backers. Wii U has about 4 at the moment, if you don't count indie labels.

They need to hire some fresh new minds to develop new IPs. We still haven't seen it's real power.

I just hate that almost every gaming site doesn't even really take it serious. Pisses me off.

Keep hearing people say it's difficult to develop for but other devs are saying the opposite.

Thanks a bunch Ubi, I'll make sure to not support your titles

This is another big moment in the Wii U's life so far. The biggest backer is now deciding to cut back on it's support for the console.

Yes Ubi came under a lot of pressure following their Rayman Legends mess up but you can't bad mouth a true 3rd Party supporter. In my opinion they gave the Wii U its first true must-have 3rd party title in ZombiU and it wasn't just your average Zombie game either. Great idea, superb atmosphere and most importantly innovation and coming at the launch of a new console. Very impressive!

I just hope that when Nintendo's 1st party names start coming out and they market their products aggressively (like they have recently with the 3DS) this will at least give 3rd parties & consumers a reason to purchase the Wii U. Sales will increase and the comeback will well and truly be on the way.

This crap annoys me to no end. Really wish they had a second team to give us other games.

And they really need to listen to us we want Metriod,F-zero,Kid Icarus,Star Fox etc.

While we wait on the other big games. They take their time for good reason but this getting crazy.

I can't say I blame Ubisoft. Nobody is buying the console. From a business standpoint, it doesn't make sense to support it. You're spending millions developing for a console that has 3 million units out there. Iwata has totally botched this.

These are quality titles people. If your a fan of any of those genres be sure to buy one. They will even have DLC so corners are not likely to be cut.

Put your money where your mouth is and preorder.

I've loved Ubi and Nintendo's relationship so far. They even published games like Rocket and No More Heroes when no one else would.

They even released Tom Clancy games on GameCube when maybe the shouldn't have based on sales

Gamers unite!

It was the same with the original Wii. They made Red Steel and then they went party and fitness all the way (with the exception of... Rayman Origins and The Forgotten Sands late, late, on). Its problably due to that they also are walking away from developing PS3 and 360 games.

Everyone knows that Wii U is not powerful enough to take on the same games as PS4 and Xbox One.. so im not suprised about this. Ubisoft, EA, Activision and so on wasnt the publishers that showed great support for the first Wii either.

i sure hope things will change... and the devs will show all wrong.. that the wii u is actually a good console... for me it is green and giving performance.. i like the graphics and the way it is controlled and the opportunities that the wii u gamepad gives..

come on!! bring on the games...

@Nintendolife
Who has said officially that Crew is not coming to Wii U? Because it wasn't listed? That is definitely a confirmation. coughcallofdutyghostcough

It's disappointing, if hardly unexpected, news given how slow sales have been. I like the Wii U as a concept and enjoy playing it, but Nintendo have badly screwed up in several key areas and it's no surprise to see third parties abandoning it. The third party reel yesterday was depressing viewing as it was basically PS3/360 line-up with several of the biggest games missing.

Say what you like about Ubisoft and their games, no console can survive without third party support. The Wii survived through having third party exclusives, but the Wii U doesn't even have that. Almost every game is coming from Ubisoft or Nintendo themselves, so if Ubisoft are dropping support that's a major concern.

Not only is UbiSoft awesome, I feel they beat Nintendo to the punch with the Big N's biggest innovations. Red Steel 2 took away some of Skyward Sword's motion controlled thunder.

They're on to something big with ZombiU as well.

It's all a matter of money. A low install base for Wii U means that 3rd parties won't risk the cost of porting their games and engines with very litte chance of making profit. Once the system starts to sell, it will make economic sense for them to jump on the bandwagon.

But without 3rd party support, Wii U won't sell as well.

Reminds me of the 3DS situation, and by summer next year, once again it will sell due to 3D Mario and Mario Kart bailing it out. Nintendo's got themselves a routine here, eh?

@money
Hopefully quality over quantity. When Wii hit a solid installed base it managed to get some great stuff, if you shuffled through the crap that is.

@brandonbwii Ubisoft. Since they have announced The Crew for Playstation 4 and Xbox One. Not Wii U.

Looking at it from a glass half empty point of view, Ubisoft hasn't exactly been 3DS biggest supporter either.

@goombslayer
Yeah you got me there. It tends to be Ubisoft tradition to take advantage of every platform they can at launch. Typically in innovative ways.

What happens post launch window though no one knows.

Ubisoft earned big money on supporting Wii early and full force.

They wanted to do the same again, but are scared because NOONE is buying it. I get that. They're part of the problem however, what with delaying Rayman.

This might be investor BS, telling them that they won't do as much Wii U, but proceeding as they had planned for the whole time. Wee shall see.

@Bobhobob said "Nintendo's got themselves a routine here, eh?"

Yeah, screw up launch as badly as possible then churn out generic Mario games to make up ground.

This is the first Holiday season I might actually buy an ubisoft title, come on last year was garbage. The problem with 3rd party developers on the wii u is their hesitation. Of course nobody's going to buy raving rabbids and a 7.0 zombie u title. Nintendo tried hard to help your sales with packaged consoles, but you've got to release a hit first.

I hate to say this, but I might have to end up getting a PS4 for KH, and last time I bought a Sony system, I sold my Nintendo Unit and did not buy from them for about 5 years. I really hope this doesnt happen.

Once Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros U, and Zelda is out, I'm pretty sure the sales would go crazy and the 3rd party developers would come back crawling to Wii U.

UbiSoft just pi$$ed off a huge portion of their fanbase UbiSoft = EA all of a sudden.

@Rmeyer.
Ubisoft is the ONLY third party developer that is releasing "hits" without incentives (i.e. moneyhatting sega and platinum games). Accusing them of not is ridiculous.

They're withdrawing support, because after this year they'd have to make completely original Wii U exclusive games because PS3 and 360 support is going to go away, so cheap and easy ports (which are the only things worth doing on Wii U because nothing sells close the multimillion dollar budgets ubisoft otherwise has for HD games).

Nintendo completely screwed its early launch lead by having nothing, and still having no major games until December. Even then, all it is is an upres of a 3DS game with changed levels and not a massive improvement like Galaxy was to sunshine.

@deitypower
Smash bros, Mario kart and wind waker didn't save the gamecube. Expecting it to be able to save the wii u is folly at best.

Really regretting my wii u purchase.

@hydek
They didn't piss off a "huge portion" of anything. Their fanbase which was buying 10m+ copies of AC 3 and Far Cry is almost entirely on PC/PS3/360

Nintendo...... PRICECUT NOW!!!!

@Schizor

Pricecuts only work if you have games to sell. Nintendo doesn't, so the Wii U will continue to flounder and hemorrhage third party support for another 6 months, minimum, at which point it'll be too late to save it.

@Linkstrikesback It would be based on the game. If the game would come out to be really awesome then It might save the console.

I just hope they continue working on Zombi 2. I refuse to call it Zombi U2...wait...ah ****!

Schools out the Sony trolls are here to pretend they have a wii u and knock it.

Hey People, come on. We all WiiU owners should think positive. There are coming some cool Games. Ubisoft has some cool Games in the Pipeline that are coming later this Year. Pikmin in July, wonderful 101 in August and then a lot more. The very very cool "X" and Bayonetta. Next Year the WiiU will Do it very well! So come on!!!!!!

@electroplankton
I wonder if not having Mario Kart 8 this year will hurt them. Also Mario 3D is TOO close to Christmas.

Just LOOK at DK, Mario 3D World and smash and tell me if thats possible on PS360. Wii U is next gen. It has lots of new capabilities (see DK's fur) and can produce animation rivaling Pixar. Everything looks smooth and colorful! I'm glad atleast Nintendo is keeping games -> games and not a bunch of violent/brownish interactive movies filled with QTE's.
I'll admit I was looking forward to a scifi game like Metroid or Starfox. In combination with a new Zapper/GamePad combo... But getting DK isn't that bad. It will be a solid and fun game.

Ubi is still not playing cheap like EA so Im fine with this reasonable decision. I hope future sales bring them back more.

People wanted Nintendo to make a powerful console and they did. It's not PS4/Xbox One powerful, but it's pretty powerful. If Nintendo really wanted to make a very powerful system, I probably wouldn't have a Wii U at all because more power = heftier price tag.

@ChaosAngel Thank You. It's not as powerful but it's no slouch. If it a few develops with balls!!!

We would see the potential.

Im not a sony troll and have always preferred nintendo, but a well managed product is a well managed product and nintendo has been stupid, pretty much, since i bought wiiu on day one.

Seriously, anyone whos calling anyone a troll for not digging more on the nintendo botchfest needs to gather some perspective and realize that e3 was the last chance that many consumers were going to give nintendo to wow them and the big n may as well not have come at all.

They abandoned the wii more than two years ago and wiiu will have been out a year before it has 5 games worth having. Honestly, 2014?!

WTF have they been doing all this time?! And if nome of this future crap needs the gamepad screen, why is it in the box?!

Bare in mind Ubisoft always gives tons of support to new systems, and since the Wii U is turning 1 year old and newer consoles are coming out, they want to play with those new toys.

@brandonbwii

Yes, you're right with Mario Kart.
That Game is very necessary for the Holiday Season.

3rd Party Developers, please give Wii U a chance.

@hiptanaka I wish there where a few fighting game and a first person or two. What is coming is great but... I think that there will be games that look great that will skip my wiiu. That's why it's nice I can buy other systems. People who only own one box will always miss out. They should not blame anyone. That's just how it is.

I'm just glade I'm getting watch dog. That's what I car about.

I am not worried, the days of the big budget blockbuster game is coming to an end due to the high cost and high risk on it. Just look at how many large publishers have lost money on releases that by all rights should be considered hits but were failures due to unrealistic expectations (Tomb Raider by Square-Enix being an example: 3.4 Million Sold, 7 Million projected).

Most of my favorite experiences recently have been from Mid-Tier publishers, which Nintendo is courting in their Indie program. Kerbal Space Program, Sanctum 2, Minecraft, FTL, Fez, Folk Tale, Bastion, Torchlight, Dust: An Elysian Tale, Dungeon Defenders. These are the games I have enjoyed or wanted recently and I don't think a single one cost more than $20.

It has nothing to do with processing power, people. If the wii u was flying off the shelf you would see a different story coming from developers mouth. That's why we needed a system seller-NOW! We have great games coming. I hope wii u has increase in sales.
Last night I was mad, but not as much anymore. I will give mario 3d a chance to grow on me. My wife loves donkey kong and that reminded me why I love nintendo. They include everybody.

Scaling Back, does not mean abandon. So I'm going to wait and see what this will actually mean.
I'm Happy with WiiU, and I expect 3rd party support to be much stronger by the end of next year.
If it isn't then I'll get ps4, maybe, just for the 3rd party titles not on WiiU.

Thanks for the fake article nintendolife.

It's not a big deal. Yes, people will buy Watch Dogs, Rayman, and whatever else they release, another Assassins Creed. But, one thing needs to be understood with the other two consoles, theres other games that are going to sell more than the Ubisoft titles, especially on the other systems. They shouldnt be relied on just to support Nintendo, no one should, and the reason why is because when nintendo was the biggest name in the game industry 3rd party companies were relying on them to put their name out. To me it just sounds like another EA wasting money on a system that'll sell better titles than Fifa. And another thing about EA, why would you make fifa for wii and not wiiu? Like I said, waste.

If this is true:
Dear Ubisoft. You felt the huge backlash from delaying Rayman from the entire Nintendo fandom, doesnt it show you how huge the fanbase of your work is over on the nintendo front ? If the WiiU crowd wouldnt be interested in your work, the delay wouldnt have caused such a huge outrage. And you saw how weak and unsung the competition intruduced their systems for this generation and you still think its a good idea to scale your nintendo support down ?
Please, dont wine about unsuportative consumers if your glorious plan backfires.

If Nintendo gamers buy 3rd party titles they will have 3rd party support, however a big number of nintendo gamers only buy nintendo games and that is a problem...

I love nintendo games, but I also support 3rd party companies because I'm not always in the mood for playing only mario's and zeldas I also want to play other games. I think nintendo had a nice (not amazing) colection of 3rd party titles, like batman, COD, Assassin's, Mass Effect,monster hunter,nfs,lego,nba2k13, ninja gaiden, darksiders,zombie U, if we consider that it was the console first year it's ok, and to be honest I have not seen any 1st party support (SMBU and Nland it's not enough).

Lets say that nintendo launch 5 top games a year...after 6 years we will have 30 games. We need 3rd party support! The next time someone complains at 3rd party support they should look at their game colection and see if they have already bought anything from that publisher.

As simple as that!

@Linkstrikesback The Pricecut is coming in august or september and I believe it is going to help the console back on a decent track, also with help from the recently announced 1st party games.

So everyone boycotting Ubisoft's games will help the Wii U's software sales situation how exactly???

This just means less Just Dance titles.

seems like ps4 and wii u combo is the best deal for me...

Anyone who buys a Nintendo system for anything but Nintendo games is wasting their money. It's been that way since the launch of the N64. Even with Wii dominating last generation, few third party games sold in the millions. Still, they profit every generation (virtual boy excepted) on their own software, and that's fine by me. Every generation we get people claiming Nintendo is in trouble and they do great anyway.

@bizcuthammer The Wii U costs $350 because of the included gamepad. Sony expects you to buy a Vita if you want to have the 2nd screen experience which if I remember correctly costs more than $200, around $240 at Amazon.
Sony has made PS Vita functions compulsory to all PS4 games so if you want to have the complete experience a PS4 + a PS Vita would cost you $640 while the Wii U comes prepackaged with its 2nd screen.

The Wii U is not THAT weak. It can support PS4 and Xbox One ports, albeit at slightly lower graphics much more than Wii could support PS3 and Xbox 360 ports.
The Wii U's architecture is different and I appreciate that. Do you want Nintendo to make a console that has the specs as both the Xbox One and PS4 because the last time I checked they nearly have the same parts? Then all consoles would become identical and the consoles would degenerate to brand wars and exclusives only, the consoles themselves would not be exclusive.

I'm happy Ubisoft is still supporting the Wii U even if it is less support, better some than none. However I can't help but feel Ubisoft would have had more confidence in the system if they had released Rayman Legends on time, and let the sales numbers for that release, give more information to how well it could do. I mean it was ripe for the best time to release for the system.

@Linkstrikesback

I never really felt the Gamecube needed saving. I knew at least 10 people who had one in my social circle. I only know one other person who has a Wii U in my STATE.

I think Ubisoft has provided excellent support for the system. Now Nintendo needs to come in with the exclusives, perhaps a price cut, and better advertisements to get people to buy the console; if Nintendo fails at doing that then I would not blame other third-parties for abandoning the platform. Do not get me wrong, I love Nintendo's games and consoles and I really love my Wii U and see a lot of potential in the console, but I feel that it is time for Nintendo to work hard in order to get the much needed sales and establish a much higher install base on the system.

Every month that passes i regret buying a wii u I've owned every Nintendo console from the nes to the wii u as well as all three playstations and this is the worst console I've bought by a long way

don't pull a vita and have so much potential but be ignored buy game developers. price drop wont hurt that bad once they start to make up money once the games are launched

@Sanqet I got mine practically for free and still feel the same

Nindi hasn't given them a reason to develop for them. They need to break from the norm and start shaking hands. I'm sick of seeing Iwata at every Nintendo Direct; we demand third party support already!

That Aiesha Tyler woman at Ubisoft conference told IGN there weren't more games shown for Wii U because it's an 'abandoned platform'. Now her comment makes more sense I guess. 'Wii U is an abandoned platform'

I've just about had it with Ubisoft. They are so back and forth on whether or not they're supporting Wii U. I'm already not buying Rayman Legends, or any of the Raymans on 3DS for that matter, but now I'm about ready to just avoid Ubisoft titles in general. I used to like them about as much as Capcom.

@hydeks Nope I don't think that's fair
The Ubisoft games that were not confirmed for Wii U all heavily rely on a new level of online integration, IF Wii U can't achieve this then why would these games come to the system.
I really hope that someone releases one of these super mulitplayer games on Wii U to show that it can happen (Activision you may be the last hope)

@AJWolfTill they could have easily brought such games like Rayman Invasion to the Wii U, but games like Ghost Recon The Division, your absolutely right, Nintendo's online probably isn't where it should be to make that one work. Nintendo has always opted more for couch co-op experiences, Sony and Microsoft seem to focus more on online multiplayer. I think I was being alil judgemental cause I really really hate online multiplayer, I have real life friends, I would like to hang and enjoy a game with them in person, not over a microphone So, bottom line, I am being judgemental

It's really hard to believe most developers can't think of a use for the gamepad though, they lack imagination

Sony and Nintendo merger. Make. It. Happen. It'll be the best company ever!

@hydeks - The problem is, devs nowadays are uber lazy they just want to re-hash FPS games each year and keep releasing them with new FPS IPs announced here and there. Oh did I mention FPS games?

if this keeps happeninto wii u im sorry nintendo as i love u and everythink about u,, but i mite have to hang up my wii u and give up and start a fresh with xbox or sony,,,, if things dnt pik up then the wii u will bomb,, im sorry but its a fact,, and im a nintendo fanboy

lol, I'll be getting Watchdogs as my WiiU goodbye game I think. And only because I haven't lost hope that they will put the gamepad to good use.

There is no worthwhile content for this console. Nintendo and their cheesy rehashes of 1980s IP can get lost as far as I care. Yes, I'm spoiled by the honestly pretty good games available on tablets, and every one of those would be perfect for the WiiU.

Perceived value of a run-of-the-mill run and jump game is $2 these days. People paying high double-digits for those Mario games must be insane.

Nintendoland was the last half-decent effort from them.

don't blame ubisoft, blame nintendo. they've sunk more money putting content on the system than any other third party. nintendo more or less wrote off the first half of the year, the 'launch window', while the console sold terribly.

third parties are right to see if nintendo's new strategy bumps up the install base before investing any more in the platform.

This is looking a lot like the N64 days. Nintendo may need to redo the "Dream Team" concept just to supplement themselves. That also means needing to do new installments for Metroid, F-Zero, Star Fox, and some new IPs or resurrecting older ones.

Reality is starting to set in...

I think this is okay.. most people that bought the Wii only bought it for one of three reasons..

1. Wii Fit

2. Wii Party Games.

3. Nintendo Exclusives.

Now I am not saying third parties did not do good on the Wii.. but honestly it was few and far between.. most did better on the little DS than ever the Wii.. The sad thing is.. I think there is enough confusion.. and that is what is hurting Wii U sells.. they need to take the Wii off the shelves and show people the Wii U is the console they should have.. I also think if Wii Mote Controls etc.. not only worked but said Wii U on the box.. that would help.. a price cut would help.. in actuality I could see Nintendo doing three versions by the holidays.. they can lanch a big version 64 GB or higher at 300.00 price mark.. the 32 GB version at 250.00 and keep the basic but mark it down to 180.00 to 200.00 put this we Wii Fit U and other games and most likely MS and PS running out of inventory.. (as happens all the time most generally.. though I think MS is in for a rude surprise.. ) It would make for a excellent Holiday Season.. and Ubi will be back.. along with EA.. begging us to take them back..

@MrCharles77 Yeah I see it all the time Mr X will in one breath complain about lack of 3rd party support and in the next say I'm only buying 1st Party on WiiU.
Not all publishers have the excuse as they simply wont dip thier toes on WiiU but the Likes of Warnerbros, and Ubisoft both are showing WiiU support but in return not getting much support in return by WiiU owners buying thier games, and for the most part the games they have released between them have been very good.
Fact of matter is, Support 3rd party games and 3rd parties will support WiiU, I try (in vain) to do my bit. Buy 3rd party games, if the releases clash with 1st party then buy the 3rd party game first knowing Nintendo arn't going to not release games, I just wish more WiiU owners would do the same.
I may get a ps4 at the end of next year but only if 3rd party support is lacking on WiiU still and even then If a 3rd party releases on WiiU and Ps4, I'll buy the WiiU version.

Why do I think that when Nintendo and the Wii U looks into the mirror it see's Sega and the Dreamcast looking back!

The only exclusive Nintendo has had in a long while is my loyalty as I have always owned Nintendo since the N64 - I have never owned a Sony playstation or XBox.

However Like Ubisoft and EA my exclusivity will soon be withdrawn, unless a miracle occurs, and HD rehash's of Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Mario 3D and Zelda isn't the miracle i'm talking of. Why would I spend my hard earned cash on HD versions of games I already have on Wii and Cube.

3rd party developers are doing what rats do on a sinking ship. Abandoned Ship.

''Such a shame so much hate for Nintendo, Well I still like you and am very patient.
Sod everyone here slagging you off. People seem to forget that you actually care about your fans. And actually listen (most of the time) to what we are saying and apologize when you mess up but you offer us free incentives with those apologies.
Unfortunately we live in a era of mobile games and iPads and free to download games. Xbox one and PS4 are gonna struggle to so dont worry to much''.

And one last thing how come every other game company can constantly ''re-hash'' there popular game IP's but if Nintendo do it there crap. Never mind they are some of the top rated games of all time...

You guys do know that Nintendo will win for the holiday season, right?! No need for the sobby sorrows about devs abandoning projects and such. Is it bad news...sure! Can Nintendo survive....sure! As long as it has its fans and continue to be creative and be MORE creative with it's legendary franchises. The 360/PS3 will continue to soar with upcoming games. The next gen this holiday belongs solely to the Wii U. Will the PS4 and Xbox One sale some consoles....sure! Will it sell more than the Wii U....highly doubt it. There are really no games coming to those systems anytime soon. Naturally the public will go with what they know.

The next gen consoles (talking about just the PS4 and XBO) will have a hard time like the Wii U did. People need to remember that it takes a while for a new released console to get the games people want. The only launch that was a superb launch for a console that I can remember was the Dreamcast. We're not in the 90's anymore and it takes time to get good quality games out. Please Nintendo fans stop worrying. You don't have to get too upset (maybe a little) or have to fret and lash out. Nintendo is on a rise and they are in a very good position. Patience please....

My opinion probably won't be popular, but I can't blame them. If I were a third-party publisher I would love to support Nintendo's new system, but I would be completely taken aback by how stupidly Nintendo handled the launch. Nintendo released a system with no games, and managed to deliver practically zero "must have" titles in the course of the system's entire first year (barring random announcements for games coming soon, but that's not likely at this point). I would do the same thing if I were Ubisoft. I'd say, "We'll be back when you've got a good system."

Nintendo should realizes that its console is not cheap. I bought my 32GB version with 350 bucks, and THEN I needed to spend another 40 for a wiimote-and-nunchuck set? It just turn out to be 400, the same price as a PS4.

@AyeHaley are you being serious?

It makes sense. Scale back for WiiU so they can scale up for XBox1 and PS4. But really, it's nice that they grew a pair.

Wow, I'd say it's a big loss and kick in the nuts to Wii U owners but on the other hand how well will Watch_Dogs and AC IV sell on Wii U compared to the current gen platforms? Hell, when the PS4 and Xbox One arrive it's possible those versions of those two games could outsell the Wii U one. Nintendo fans are simply going to skip those games and buy Mario anyway. So in the long run, I guess it's really not that big a deal. The Wii missed out on a lot of big third party franchises and still had great success. I guess it's a shame for those Wii U only owners who may want to play future Watch_Dogs, Splinter Cell or AC games, but unfortunately they're in such a small minority that they're not going to mean much to Ubi.

I wonder if this is less about hardware power and more to do with DRM and Nintendo's total absence of it not even letting "individual publishers decide" as Sony is?

Update or new article needed... 'Just as Many new games from Ubisoft are coming to WiiU as its less rescource intensive'
http://mynintendonews.com/2013/06/12/ubisoft-will-continue-to-invest-in-wii-u/
Its really not that bleak in regards of Ubisoft Support

@Jellitoe The processor doesn't seem to be holding back Monolith Soft, so what excuse do the third parties have left for not helping the system sell better?
The fact is, they're just taking the lazy way out by waiting for Nintendo to do all the heavy lifting FOR them.

@shuis If it is, then Nintendo is the spear-head of the greatest anti-DRM movement any mainly-gaming company has ever made.
And they should be respected for it.
It's also going to expose which of the third parties support DRM and, by extension, which ones we, as consumers, should not be giving our money.

DRM is for PC gamers.
Consoles should be much more free than that.

Just drop the price on the console already!

There's no reason for them to drop the price when it's now getting games that justify the price.

I think everyone is expecting a price drop at this point. I'm a HUGE nintendo fan, but even I have to admit that the ps4 and xbone both have better deals for what you get in there hardware, especially ps4. 32 GB for $350 vs 500 GB for $400 is absurd. I think a $50 price cut would suffice, but a $100 price cut (which won't happen for several more years) would make the wii u sell dozens of millions more.

It was only a matter of time till this happened...

no drop this last gen console to 199 bundled with something or it will die sony is kicking burro and taking names u cant depend on nostalgia alone all these awsome games are not coming to wii u and i DO CARE

Nintendo hasn't had good 3rd party support since the N64. Why is this surprising? Still a Nintendo fan, I just know what I'm getting when I buy a Nintendo console.

people seriously need to relax.

translation. Ubisoft will develop games for OTHER consoles and not specifically for the Wii U.

Ubisoft has said in the past it cost them less then $1 million USD to port a game. Ubi will probably still port the games Nintendo fans like but they probably won't be developing games with the Wii U in mind.

once the install base of the Wii U increases the system will probably be flooded with ports. so relax

oh so now there backing down a bit too wow this is your fault too you know ubisoft remember that game you were suppose to have released by now but decided to wait cuz you wanted to release the game at the same time as the other consoles? hmm something called rayman? yeah you could of had more console sales and this wouldnt be happening -.-

I don't feel that the purchasing slouch comes from any lack of 3rd party support at all. All I hear from people who haven't purchased one yet, is that the next generation of systems is expensive. They are either A) Saving money to purchase one while making an informed decision of which system is truly the best investment or B) Saving Money period...

In the announced games of E3 list I counted 13 Xbox one exclusives (if we're counting Minecraft then 14), 9 exclusives for PS4, and 20+ Exclusives for the WiiU... Out of all three exclusives line-ups; Nintendo's looked the best! Ps. Who cares about the fancy schmancy driving games, we got Mario Kart!

My point is that XBone and FakeStation4 don't have a customer base yet... the 3rd party developers will come crawling back or fold their hands. Some will rise, some will fall!

"From our perspective as a first party publisher, as a console manufacturer our job is to drive the install base to reach out to a broad range of different consumers and to create an environment for third party publishers to jump in and that's what we're looking to do.

A number of third parties are bringing content and then they want to see us drive the install base which is what were doing with all of these great franchises we've announced." Pretty much what I just said...

I laugh at all the fuss of people wanting a price cut for the Wii U. Is this because they can't afford the price to begin with? Is this because they want the luxury of being able to own 2 next gen systems and get the best of both worlds at Nintendo's expense? A price cut? A price cut? Really? Ubisoft is only sabotaging their relationship.

@hydeks
I certainly found it frustrating when I went round to mates houses and they had all these games which had multiplayer on the back only to find that it was online only (illogical!). Nintendo will always be king of local multiplayer but there is no harm in releasing games with strong online as well.
Although competitive online multiplayer such as (deathmatches) are not a big deal to me, I'm loving the look of this grand scale multiplayer in which other players can seemlessly appear within the gameworld should you want them too.

Ubisoft is really starting to bug me. I'm buying AC4, Rayman Legends, and Watch_Dogs, but I'm not going to like it.

From what i read people don't care that there is hardly any 3rd-party support on the Wii U, so why should i care as i can play some of these excellent games on another console, and that other console will also benefit from my support.

smashbrolink

Doesn't your Wii U have DRM? because my Wii U does, also DRM has always been down to the publishers no change there. The fact is being able to download "paid" for products one time only is also an anti-customer move something which should not be celebrated.

Sigh... Really?? man...