The whole Rayman Legends saga has sullied Ubisoft's name with a lot of Wii U owners, but the fact is that the French publisher has stuck with Nintendo's console for longer than most. Watch_Dogs and Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag — two of the company's biggest 2013 releases — are both destined to appear on the Wii U.
Speaking to CVG, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot reiterated his firm's stance that the Wii U isn't done and dusted just yet, and that Nintendo's impressive arsenal of IP can pull the system out of the rather poor situation it currently finds itself in:
We should also include Wii U in the next-gen conversation. How do you reflect on the decision to back the console so early on?
I would say that it didn't do as well as we expected. But if Nintendo comes with good brands this year and takes advantage of the yen, then maybe they have a chance to have a machine that has high quality games and at a reasonable price.
Because we believe a lot in the second screen and the touch possibilities, the fact that you have a different way to play. We learned a lot in doing that and we are already reusing that knowledge using companion apps on tablets, telephones and so on.
Ubisoft is pushing second-screen gaming in a big way, and although it is taking the concept beyond the Wii U GamePad thanks to tablet and mobile apps, there's no denying that Nintendo's console offers the most seamless implementation of this type of gameplay. Hopefully a turnaround in fortunes will encourage the French company to redouble its efforts in supporting the Wii U.
[source computerandvideogames.com]
Comments 23
Ubisoft really is a great company. Zombi U was exceptional. Watch Dogs looks great. Rayman Legends looked fabulous with the demo/app challenge. Their support of Nintendo has always been admirable. Red Steel 2 was super fun. I am playing now Sands of Time on the GC through the Wii and it just shows their brilliance.
It certainly performed under expectations. Heck, Rayman Legends sold 0 copies.
Yeah, Optimism!
I certainly think so. I'll be purchasing a Wii U in the near future, as well as buying a few Wii games to tide me over to the flood of first-party AAA games coming this autumn/winter.
It'll be really weird if and when the Wii U makes a 3DS style comeback. Lots of 'I told you so' comments will start flying around but there will still be people claiming it's not a viable platform.
wii games look decent played on wii u. I am playing wii games on wii u most of the time
Love or hate it, ZombiU is one of the few games that shown that the Gamepads second screen can add a lot to a game, at times it even built up the fear, looking down, away from the tv screen at the gamepad screen to see where that 'ping' was coming from while not being sure if it was a Zombie about to attack or a harmless rat, or bird.
Ubisoft have shown great support this year for WiiU, with exception of Just Dance I've brought all of Ubi's games so far either for myself or the Kids and plan on buying the titles they have yet to release on WiiU.
Oh, they can, its more a matter of if they will.
I dont have the numbers in front of me but I think PS1 outsold N64 and I'm almost certain PS2 outsold Gamecube but Nintendo just keeps chugging along. The Wii might have been their iPad/iPhone moment but the WiiU is looking more like Apple TV, which despite being not much more than Steve Jobs hobby and having its price cut to just $99 is still avsilabe for sale 6 years after its release.
I dont think Nintendo cares about "winning", just making a profit and good games. I think they know Wii was a fluke and a fad and its back to being 2nd or maybe even 3rd.
Oh dont be so modest Ubi, we all know that your Smurfs 2 game is gonna be the turning point for the Wii U!
Mwhahahaha!
You should see the japanese reactions to Pikmin 3, it seems it's the next KA by Miyamoto, they all get crazy for it.
I am happy with the Wii U and I'm still glad I was a day one purchaser . The Wii U offers so much more than the other systems even the new ps4 and xbox1, it will be awesome when developers start to tapping into the true potential of Wii U like an Art app, a photo app , the video chatting works super good there is a decent web browser I mean the controller really is genius .. there is a mic. to voice chat , there is NFC included as well Wii U can handle some awesome HD graphics it's a SIN no one is tapping into the true POWER and AWESOMENESS of Wii U - so much potential sitting there waiting !!
They might have the brand power but certainly not the intelligence...
I'd bank on a turn around. Ninty's IP's always sell systems... Their only real mistake with the Wii U so far was not fully anticipating asset creation in HD which led to software delays, which softened sales which pushed back some 3rd party titles (kind of like a cascade effect)... it looks like they have a handle on that now, starting in a couple weeks we will have 1 new big title per month, if we don't see sales turn around by the end of the year, then its probably not going to happen... so we can only be patient, but ENJOY the system for the second half of the year.
@Jamouse Oh yeah!!!
@PokeTune
Do you ever say anything positive?
Watchdogs!
Thank goodness.
Can you imagine is some 3rd party title got credit as "the game that sold Wii U"? There'd be panicking in the streets.
Funny thing is that Ubisoft is part of the reason the Wii U is performing so poorly.
Rayman Legends was complete and ready to be shipped and they delayed it for the sole purpose of stripping it of it's exclusivity. That game would have sold systems.
I love Ubisoft and their games, don't get me wrong, but deciding that a system isn't worth putting your exclusive title out 4 moths into its life before official sales numbers have come out was idiotic.
@Nintenjoe64 i completely agree with u on that one
@wombatkidd Couldn't have said it better. I'm still mad at them for delaying Rayman.
ZombieU needed a LOT of work.
Other than that, they've done alright.
@PokeTune
You should be saying that to EA, not Nintendo.
@Yrreiht I understand where you're coming from. I do, because I was really excited for Rayman Legends as an exclusive myself. But... considering that pretty much EVERYONE has abandoned Nintendo at the drop of a hat, yet Ubisoft is still bringing games, GOOD games, and a lot of them, to the Wii U, I can't help but forgive them. No one's perfect. People make mistakes. Companies make mistakes. And it's not like they didn't have a reason. I mean, the Wii U DID kinda bomb after launch. I know if I spent years working on a masterpiece, I wouldn't want it to flop on a console hardly anyone bought. And yes it would've brought in a few new customers, but lets be honest here. Not THAT many. Rayman Legends was never that game, it's a 3rd party sidescrolling platformer, which I may love, and you may love, and many other fans may love, but it doesn't have the draw of a 3D Mario game, or MarioKart. I know we use the "it would've sold Wii U's" argument, but let's face it, not in any meaningful way. Maybe the numbers would be a hundred thousand higher, and that's being very generous. But 3.5 million to 3.6 million isn't a big difference, and that's just reality. Yeah it sucks, but we do still get the game,in addition to the launch day Assassin's Creed 3 and Zombie U, and they're also bringing Splinter Cell, Watch Dogs, and Assassin's Creed 4. That's no shabby lineup. In fact, it's commendable. Without Ubisoft, Wii U's 3rd party lineup this fall would consist of Batman, Sonic, and Deus Ex. That's basically it. We should give credit where credit is due, at least that's the way I feel anyways.
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