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Ubisoft CEO: 'We Think Wii U Will Be Successful'
by Staff [Console/PC, Business]
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November 7, 2011
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Even as hardware sales for Nintendo Wii decline, Ubisoft remains a strong supporter of the console. And why not? The Wii, despite its aging graphics and novel controls, is still the current-gen market leader with 90 million units sold.
That ability for Nintendo to reach mass markets is what has Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot sold on the Wii predecessor, the Wii U.
"We are big believers in the Wii U, on two subjects," Guillemot told Gamasutra as part of a larger interview. "One is for high-end games, where we'll be able to do a game for the Wii U, but also for other [high-definition] machines, but also with specific use of [Wii U's] tablet. Two, is we like the Wii U for all the [potential of] casual games."
Ubisoft is known for getting onto new gaming hardware early, and maxing out support while the initial offerings are sparse. It's the same strategy the Paris-based publisher used for Nintendo's Wii and 3DS, as well as Microsoft's Kinect sensor, to name a few.
But Ubisoft has also supported Nintendo beyond launch. The publisher is one of the few third-party companies that has been able to find major multi-platinum success this late in the Wii's life, thanks to a focus on the mass market gamer.
"Today, the Wii still is 45 percent of our business," Guillemot said. "Just Dance, all those casual games, are selling extremely well. So we are supporting the machine because we believe Nintendo is going to push it to another level. We think [Wii U] will be successful."
"Now to [what audience] will it be addressed? We don't exactly know yet," he conceded. "But the potential of the machine, and the tablet [controller], I think is a good way to improve the potential gameplay. What we see is the ease of play is a part of the revolution we are seeing today. The fact that it's easier to access games is what can make more people play. Maybe they can do a good job there."
Gamasutra will have more from Guillemot in larger interview on Tuesday.
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Interesting number, didn't thought it would be that much, clearly something other companies will be looking at right now, to be prepared, when the Wii-U launches, or maybe not, strategies of most major game companies weren't exactly rational when it came to Nintendo during the last years.
How much of that is Just Dance is debatable.
For the time being, the big name developers are catering to the xbox and ps3 due to them having the better overall processing power. But we'll see what happens once the Wii U releases. People keep saying that the upcoming ps and xbox consoles will outperform the Wii U, but I think at this point, graphics are losing their luster and people are starting to care more about price. Which Nintendo has no problem fulfilling consumer needs with.
Red Steel 2 had nothing in common with it's predecessor in terms of story, gameplay or graphics.
But in general I agree with you, better graphics didn't helped Sony and MS in this generation and the capabilities of the PS3 and 360 aren't nearly reached, so a new generation can't be build on graphics or raw power alone.
It's failure sadly caused people not to care about the superior sequel.
More processing power can make a difference, of course, but how much really? If gamers really cared for this kind of incremental increase in power, wouldn't more of them be playing on P.C.'s?
RS2 was a lame brawler type game.
I was hoping RS2 was going to be a polished RS1. So disappointed.
Just Dance far and away the vast majority of Ubi's business on the Wii. But this is a hits driven business.
RRR is their other Wii franchise that comes to mind.
Don't see how 3rd parties are going to make AAA core games on Wii U at least after the first year. Most of them will be 360/ps3 ports.
Additionally, their TV based games (Price is Right, Family Feud, Amazing Race, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, etc.) I see often appearing in Top 100 selling lists for various online retailers, and let's not forget the Rabbids, which was a Wii-created brand and has sold very well (multiple million+ sellers) over the years.
I think Nintendo is in an intense phase of altering and tweaking it's offering.
Had they decided to go with hints of what they showed at E3 with something like Chase Mii as a pack-in title and a slew of "hardcore" launch titles like Dark Siders, I think it would have had a fairly tepid reception in the market.
Let's see how things are changed up at E3 2012.
Translation: UbiSoft is betting a ton on Wii U so we really, really, REALLY 'hope' it is successful!!