No more EA support for Wii U!

[Sheikah]

But does it really matter if you have developers on two different consoles making similar themed titles, relative to a company that have made games following a strict formula for most of their titles that haven't changed for over a decade?

 

They're all guilty of idea stagnation.

 

Which isn't really such a bad thing, as people often want more of the same for series they love.

[Mr_Master_X2]

I'm probably alone here, but I can count on no hands how many EA games I've bought in the last 5+ years. Of course, I don't actually have a Wii U yet, either.

[Wii]

For the Wii off the top of my head I have Tiger Woods, Dead Space, Boom Box Bash Party, Medal of Honour: Heroes 2, The Godfather: Blackhand Edition. So yes while I think they are scum, they are a very important developer to have on board.

 

I'd love a game as good as Burnout 2 for the Gamecube. That was savage but it won't be happening on Wii U unfortunately.

[Debug Mode]

I'd love a game as good as Burnout 2 for the Gamecube. That was savage but it won't be happening on Wii U unfortunately.

 

Oh boy, the nostalgia you have just given me..

 

The thread here seems to be going around in circles so I wont contribute too much, but there are definitely camps of people overplaying the issue and people underplaying it, the latter of which is easily the most vocal. Then again, fanboys gonna fanboy I guess..

 

Nintendo can handle themselves without EA, no one is going to contest this. But, the big fucking problem here is the recent history of EA and Nintendo (which is actually going to be more addressing for Nintendo considering they invited them on stage to announce it) and the sheer undermining of confidence in the platform. Nintendo managed to pull off the U-turn with the 3DS pretty well, but the Wii U isn't looking any where near as easy.

[Cube]

I'd love a game as good as Burnout 2 for the Gamecube. That was savage but it won't be happening on Wii U unfortunately.

 

If it helps, Criterion's next game isn't even a racing game.

 

Actually, it's nice that they even have the option of doing their own thing.

[Phube]

All my EA games (ever) off the top of my head: NFSMW:U, Simpsons Tapped Out, NHLPA 93...

Errr that's it in 27 years of gaming... So I'm not too concerned personally!

[Cube]

I think I've played 29 EA games in the current generation. Including some that would be in my top 5 games of all time (Mass Effect 2/3 and Burnout Paradise).

[Hero-of-Time]

I think I've played 29 EA games in the current generation. Including some that would be in my top 5 games of all time (Mass Effect 2/3 and Burnout Paradise).

 

I've also played through quite a few EA games this gen and a couple of them are in my top games this generation (first two on the list ).

 

Dead Space

Mirrors Edge

Medal of Honor

Mass Effect Trilogy

Army of Two ( first one )

Fifa ( Various )

Madden ( Various )

Dantes Inferno

Fight Night

The Saboteur

Need for Speed ( various )

Burnout Revenge

Battle For Middle Earth

 

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if you play their games or not, or whether you like EA as a company, the fact is that it's a developer who isn't making games for the Wii U and that sends out a bad message.

[Ganepark32]

I'll add to the list of people who've played quite a lot of EA games this generation. Say what you will about the company but if you haven't had the chance to play at least some of the games they've released over the last generation then you have missed out on some truly amazing titles.

 

And it's not just the 'big' games they've released that were great. Some of the smaller ones were worth playing: Mirror's Edge (Really wish DICE or whoever has it would get a move on with the sequel), The Saboteur (real shame to have Pandemic go down after this as it was great) and even Brutal Legend was fun to play.

 

I think a key thing that has been overlooked in all of this is that someone at EA has come out and said the key term "at the moment" with regards to no games and that there may be some "in the future" (can't remember where I saw that article but I'll try and track it down if I get time).

 

I know some have said it doesn't matter to them but in all honesty, I'd rather not have to shell out for 2 consoles at some point with this next wave of hardware (and certainly not more than 2) and not having EA's support is a blow to me especially as I am interested in the likes of what Bioware, Criterion, etc. have to bring to the table game wise and it does put me off the Wii U to a degree as Nintendo's own stuff alone doesn't hold as much sway over me as it used to. I'm sure something will be resolved if not at E3 but by the end of the year as I doubt this lack of support and explicit declination to provide any has gone unnoticed by Iwata-san.

[liger05]

I think a key thing that has been overlooked in all of this is that someone at EA has come out and said the key term "at the moment" with regards to no games and that there may be some "in the future" (can't remember where I saw that article but I'll try and track it down if I get time).

 

I think that’s simply about the sales of the platform. If the Wii U actually starts selling and by that I mean a huge increase on the numbers its selling at the moment then EA will get some games on there as they won’t leave money on the table. I think it needs to be doing on average a minimum of 100k a month in the US to be seen as a viable platform.

[Zechs Merquise]

I think that’s simply about the sales of the platform. If the Wii U actually starts selling and by that I mean a huge increase on the numbers its selling at the moment then EA will get some games on there as they won’t leave money on the table. I think it needs to be doing on average a minimum of 100k a month in the US to be seen as a viable platform.

 

This is rubbish. The PSV has sold really badly, but EA hasn't publicly abandoned that as a viable platform. EA has its reasons for screwing over Nintendo and it isn't simply a business decision.

[Happenstance]

Do we know if this is just EA developed games that wont be coming or published as well?

[Dcubed]

This is rubbish. The PSV has sold really badly, but EA hasn't publicly abandoned that as a viable platform. EA has its reasons for screwing over Nintendo and it isn't simply a business decision.

 

Not to mention that these decisions would've been made long before the Wii U was released, so it isn't a reaction to poor sales. We knew for a long while that the Wii U wasn't getting Tiger Woods 14 for instance.

 

And they went out of their way to sabotage each and every single one of the games they actually released... (Not to mention that these actions have a historical precedent in the form of what they did to SEGA and the Dreamcast...)

[Serebii]

Not to mention that these decisions would've been made long before the Wii U was released, so it isn't a reaction to poor sales. We knew for a long while that the Wii U wasn't getting Tiger Woods 14 for instance.

 

And they went out of their way to sabotage each and every single one of the games they actually released... (Not to mention that these actions have a historical precedent in the form of what they did to SEGA and the Dreamcast...)

Yep.

Release Mass Effect 3 on Wii U. Announce Mass Effect Trilogy for the same price for the other formats for release around the same time.

Need for Speed...best port to hit the Wii U, they shipped barely any units. Someone here said Grainer Games only got like 12 copies

FIFA/Madden: Do not include many core features available on the other consoles

[Daft]

This is rubbish. The PSV has sold really badly, but EA hasn't publicly abandoned that as a viable platform. EA has its reasons for screwing over Nintendo and it isn't simply a business decision.

 

Have you seen EA's Vita games? Looks pretty abandoned. In fact, it's probably worse than their list of Wii U games.

[liger05]

This is rubbish. The PSV has sold really badly, but EA hasn't publicly abandoned that as a viable platform. EA has its reasons for screwing over Nintendo and it isn't simply a business decision.

 

True EA have ported games to the Vita (not bringing anything new to the platform though) but I suppose those ports have performed well enough to justify more ports. NFS and Fifa sold more than the Wii U versions.

 

Not to mention that these decisions would've been made long before the Wii U was released, so it isn't a reaction to poor sales. We knew for a long while that the Wii U wasn't getting Tiger Woods 14 for instance.

 

Wouldn’t of some titles maybe of been in development but once the numbers started coming in they decided to cancel those projects. I don’t think EA expected huge numbers with the ports put on the Wii U but would of expected better.

 

Staple IP’s like Madden and Fifa should be selling better regardless that they are gimped versions. The first Madden on the 360 was gimped but still had a very good attach rate. There was that story that on a Sunday afternoon which is primetime NFL in the US there were just a handful of people playing Madden online on the Wii U which is unheard of. NFS was never going to set the charts on fire but it’s a huge bomba even though it was released at a time when there has been so little else released on the platform.

 

I think the real question is ‘Are there enough Wii U owners that enjoy a wide genre of games rather than just Nintendo games to justify 3rd party development?’

 

I’m not sure what the answer to that is but if it is no then the only way that will change is by Nintendo following trends and developing their own racers, FPS, action adventures etc etc so the Nintendo audience is then cultivated in the type of games 3rd parties develop.

Edited May 20, 2013 by liger05

[Zechs Merquise]

And they went out of their way to sabotage each and every single one of the games they actually released...

 

You hit the nail on the head there!

 

Even with NFS (which was a superior version) they waited until the release schedule had much bigger titles (and exclusives) and then sent it out to die! Lego City and MH3U were always going to perform better than a port that had been released months earlier elsewhere.

 

Then there was the gimped version of FIFA and the ME3 fiasco too.

 

But the truth may become far clearer tomorrow with the XBOX reveal event.

[madeinbeats]

Need For Speed was priced at £50 as well wasn't it.

 

I hate to say it, but the Vita developer tools, SDK, compiler etc might help it get some ports and iterations; the Wii U's tools on the other hand probably have the complete opposite effect ATM. I think it's one area Nintendo needs to rapidly improve on, and they know it. Devs are always complimenting Sony on their tools.

 

For example, I read this comment. Totally unofficial obviously, but it sounds about right.

 

My friends in the industry described that the Wii U had terrible support by Nintendo, that it was difficult to get help and that the machine was inherently difficult and impractical to develop for. For example, you need to burn a CD to test every new build and there is no debug option to tell you why things aren't working or to give you a list of features that work or do not work in the build you are using.

 

Source

Edited May 20, 2013 by madeinbeats
Automerged Doublepost

[Dcubed]

But the truth may become far clearer tomorrow with the XBOX reveal event.

 

Indeed

 

[liger05]

Indeed

 

 

Unprecedented relationship.

[-Dem0-]

EA:

"Six months ago FIFA 13 was a launch title on Wii U. Although the game featured FIFA's award-winning HD gameplay and innovative new ways to play, the commercial results were disappointing. We have decided not to develop FIFA 14 on Wii U."

 

So there we have it.

 

It's your turn Konami.

 

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-05-02-madden-nfl-25-the-latest-ea-game-to-skip-wii-u-what-now-for-fifa-14

[khilafah]

This is rubbish. The PSV has sold really badly, but EA hasn't publicly abandoned that as a viable platform. EA has its reasons for screwing over Nintendo and it isn't simply a business decision.

 

er.. what EA games have been confirmed for Vita in 2013?

 

EA's support for Vita alongside 3DS for that matter is borderline non-existent also.

 

The only reason these platforms will get ports is because it is a whole lot cheaper then developing on the Wii U.

[Kaepora_Gaebora]

I reckon the FIFA bubble is bursting pretty soon. Much like when everyone liked PES and then slowly migrated to FIFA (myself included) Having played the last iterations of each PES is really really catching up big time. Not just from a Wii U point of view, it may not even come out on it, but in general I'm much more excited for PES this year.

Also EA can do one "our award winning HD gameplay" from a year ago. I mean those people who picked up a Wii U at the start are likely to be hardcore knowledgable gamers, who knew full well what they were trying to pull with us! I have no shame in admitting I loved a bit of FIFA on my xbox, played 12 to death, but I wasn't going to pay for it again repackaged as 13. Tosh.

[-Dem0-]

We never bought two consecutive FIFA's. We normally skip a year or two but PES was another story. We bought 2008 & 09, very enjoyable games!

[khilafah]

I reckon the FIFA bubble is bursting pretty soon. Much like when everyone liked PES and then slowly migrated to FIFA (myself included) Having played the last iterations of each PES is really really catching up big time. Not just from a Wii U point of view, it may not even come out on it, but in general I'm much more excited for PES this year.

Also EA can do one "our award winning HD gameplay" from a year ago. I mean those people who picked up a Wii U at the start are likely to be hardcore knowledgable gamers, who knew full well what they were trying to pull with us! I have no shame in admitting I loved a bit of FIFA on my xbox, played 12 to death, but I wasn't going to pay for it again repackaged as 13. Tosh.

 

Is the FIFA bubble really bursting?

 

Sorry but the numbers say the total opposite. The sales are not declining, they are getting bigger. PES sales are declining massively in europe and are slower in Japan.

 

I am not saying PES cannot turn it around but the idea that FIFA's bubble is about to burst is way off the mark.