Hero-of-Time Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 Is the Wii U about to lose one of its biggest supporters? Ubisoft has confirmed during its recent investor meeting that it will be scaling back support for Nintendo's Wii U console. The French publisher — which has Assassin's Creed IV, Watch_Dogs and Rayman Legends all scheduled to hit the system before the end of 2013 — also stated that it expects a price reduction on the console in order to boost sales. Ubisoft came under fire following its decision to delay former Wii U exclusive Rayman Legends and make it a multiformat title, but has been one of the console's staunchest third-party supporters, bringing Assassin's Creed III, Just Dance 4 and ZombiU to the system. At E3, it revealed open-world racer The Crew, which notably isn't coming to Wii U. Not surprised at all. The Crew and The Division ( which looked amazing ) both were announced at the Ubi presser and neither of them are coming to the Wii U. Are Nintendo pretty much on their own at this point?
Dcubed Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 More or less. Nintendo are lucky to be even getting the likes of Watchdogs. Can't really fault Ubi, they've been better to the Wii U than just about any publisher not named Activision.
liger05 Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 I did wonder when the crew, the division and even trials had no wii u releases. The other two are next gen games with no 360/ps3 ports so not a surprise but for Trials to not even get a wii u release means something is up. Its not a surprise. Publishers look at hardware sales and wii u hardware sales are just not good enough.
Kav Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 This is such bad news... Ubisoft have given better support to the WiiU than Nintendo has!
markderoos Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 I did wonder when the crew, the division and even trials had no wii u releases. The other two are next gen games with no 360/ps3 ports so not a surprise but for Trials to not even get a wii u release means something is up. Its not a surprise. Publishers look at hardware sales and wii u hardware sales are just not good enough. Yet they jump aboard when they announce a new XBox and Playstation which still have to be released (and both of which sold far less consoles than the Wii last gen). It's both ways around actually and that's a hard battle to fight for both Nintendo and Third Party Publishers. It's like two people who really try to be together but it just doesn't work out Nintendo doesn't get enough "hardcore" gamers on board - publishers won't support it heavier Publishers won't heavily support a new Nintendo console - "Hardcore" gamers won't buy it. Lucky me I'm not a "Hardcore" gamer
Serebii Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 Not good, but not unexpected. Hopefully this winter will turn things around
liger05 Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 Yet they jump aboard when they announce a new XBox and Playstation which still have to be released (and both of which sold far less consoles than the Wii last gen). It's both ways around actually and that's a hard battle to fight for both Nintendo and Third Party Publishers. It's like two people who really try to be together but it just doesn't work out Nintendo doesn't get enough "hardcore" gamers on board - publishers won't support it heavier Publishers won't heavily support a new Nintendo console - "Hardcore" gamers won't buy it. Lucky me I'm not a "Hardcore" gamer Apples and Oranges. Like it or not the Xbox and PS audience have shown an appetite for 3rd party software and those games sell on their platforms. Even the Wii with its 100m install base had many 3rd party bombas. It seems 3rd parties have a hard enough time as it on Nintendo consoles let alone when one has such a small install base like the Wii U. If the Ubisoft games already on Wii U had sold well there probably wouldn’t be a problem but they haven’t. What do you expect Ubisoft to do? They put games on the platform and I doubt they expected old ports to sell like crazy but obviously better than they have done.
Serebii Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 Well I'm getting AC4 and Watch_Dogs this autumn on the Wii U, so I'll be showing Ubisoft that there's some desire for it
Kav Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 This year I'm more excited for the Ubi line-up than I am for Nintendo's! Splinter Cell, Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed and Rayman! They have me much more hyped than what Nintendo are releasing!
liger05 Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 As someone posted on Gaf Trials isn’t getting a PS3 release either which could be down to no analogue triggers. Kinda makes sense as I couldn’t imagine playing trials without them.
Cube Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 As someone posted on Gaf Trials isn’t getting a PS3 release either which could be down to no analogue triggers. Except the PS3 has analogue triggers. They're not great, but they're still analogue triggers. Anyway, Ubisoft have some very ambitious projects for the PS4/XB1. The Wii U simply isn't powerful enough and the online infrastructure isn't good enough.
markderoos Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 Apples and Oranges. Like it or not the Xbox and PS audience have shown an appetite for 3rd party software and those games sell on their platforms. Even the Wii with its 100m install base had many 3rd party bombas. It seems 3rd parties have a hard enough time as it on Nintendo consoles let alone when one has such a small install base like the Wii U. If the Ubisoft games already on Wii U had sold well there probably wouldn’t be a problem but they haven’t. What do you expect Ubisoft to do? They put games on the platform and I doubt they expected old ports to sell like crazy but obviously better than they have done. I don't know if your last "obviously" is based on facts but neither can I say it isn't true (I just don't have sales figures and expected sales numbers from Ubi on Wii U) What I tried to say is: you can't blame Nintendo nor can you blame the Third Party developers. So why does this argument keeps on returning? Third party backup was never big on Nintendo home consoles since Playstation 1 joined the fight. If you like the games on PS/XB more than Nintendo games; buy one of those If you like Nintendo games more than the games on PS/XB; but the Wii U If you like both equall; buy both/all three If you like to argue because you just like long neverending discussions: please continue Nothing's gonna change, the installbase is just different (Blue Ocean)
Josh64 Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 It only RARE were still here to bail then out when it comes to software droughts!
markderoos Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 It only RARE were still here to bail then out when it comes to software droughts! Buy a 3DS Man, I'm buried in games...
madeinbeats Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 (edited) The other two are next gen games with no 360/ps3 ports so not a surprise Its not a surprise. Publishers look at hardware sales and wii u hardware sales are just not good enough. As someone posted on Gaf Trials isn’t getting a PS3 release either which could be down to no analogue triggers. Anyway, Ubisoft have some very ambitious projects for the PS4/XB1. It could be the Wii U simply isn't powerful enough and the online infrastructure isn't good enough. Corrected Edited June 12, 2013 by madeinbeats
Rummy Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 What I tried to say is: you can't blame Nintendo nor can you blame the Third Party developers. So why does this argument keeps on returning? You can blame Nintendo. They've got a product and they're not selling it. Their product just is not selling well enough. Whose fault, other than Nintendo's, is that? Apply it to any product, any manufacturer, anything at all. If it ain't selling, the makers have done something wrong. Wii U needs a price cut right now tbh. Nintendo should have announced a premium slash to £200 yesterday - the E3 hype will have helped shift a few units I reckon. It'll sell gradually over the year at a price point of £200, and the games sales will come with it. It's the only way forward imo, take the hit and sell the thing. Games won't save it, the unit itself needs shifting to break the catch 22.
Agent Gibbs Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 by scaling back do they mean EA style? or just no exclusives only multiplatformers? its bad news really because as others have said, this years Ubi line up is better than or equal to nintendo's first party line up
Retro_Link Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 Pretty sure the Wii U couldn't run The Crew or The Division could it?... at least not without being notably scaled back and that's not what those games are about. They're a next-gen showcase. Also Wii U still isn't exactly the place to be for online. The likes of WatchDogs also look too good on PS4 to overlook. Nintendo just got the Wii U all wrong.
markderoos Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 (edited) You can blame Nintendo. They've got a product and they're not selling it. Their product just is not selling well enough. Whose fault, other than Nintendo's, is that? Apply it to any product, any manufacturer, anything at all. If it ain't selling, the makers have done something wrong. Wii U needs a price cut right now tbh. Nintendo should have announced a premium slash to £200 yesterday - the E3 hype will have helped shift a few units I reckon. It'll sell gradually over the year at a price point of £200, and the games sales will come with it. It's the only way forward imo, take the hit and sell the thing. Games won't save it, the unit itself needs shifting to break the catch 22. But would that bring the same amount of Third Party (Ubisoft in this case) support that PS and XB get? I just don't see that happening EVER. If shipping more units was the way to go, than why didn't the Wii get all the big hitters? I can guess there's one real reason: the typical Nintendo home console buyer buys the console for Nintendo games. Nintendo would like Third Party support, they don't need it. The typical Nintendo gamer will buy the Wii U in the next two years. Just wait and see. It won't sell as much as the Wii maybe, but more than enough to make it a decent success for Nintendo and typical Nintendo gamers. (this is what I think will happen ofcourse, not trying to dismiss your opinions guys ) Edited June 12, 2013 by markderoos
Cube Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 by scaling back do they mean EA style? or just no exclusives only multiplatformers? By "scaling back" they mean "Ubisoft announced two new games that aren't on Wii U, alongside one that is on the Wii U (Just Dance)".
madeinbeats Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 (edited) Pretty sure the Wii U couldn't run The Crew or The Division could it?... at least not without being notably scaled back and that's not what those games are about. They're a next-gen showcase. Also Wii U still isn't exactly the place to be for online. The likes of WatchDogs also look too good on PS4 to overlook. Nintendo just got the Wii U all wrong. Well, it's possible all three ways and depends on the game's demands, but you can't just take it for granted that that is the case. Ubi saying they are scalling back because of install base like they are here would be the more logical assumption. If the footage I posted of Watch_ in the Wii U thread is Wii U footage, then Wii U looks perfectly fine. Remember the PS4 footage has been scalled back from its original 'beast PC' reveal, E3 2012. Edited June 12, 2013 by madeinbeats
liger05 Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 Well, it's possible all three ways and depends on the games demands, but you can't just take it for granted that that is the case. Ubi saying they are scalling back because of install base like they are here would be the more logical assumption. If the footage I posted of Watch_ in the Wii U thread is Wii U footage, then Wii U looks perfectly fine. Remember the PS4 footage has been scalled back from its original 'beast PC' reveal, E3 2012. That wii u footage of watch dogs looks very very good. If thats how the game looks then yes that is impressive.
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