Activision plans to support Wii U, Treyarch remaining coy
It was surprising to see that Activision didn’t announce any titles for Wii U at E3 2012. The only game confirmed for the console, Skylanders Giants, was mentioned casually in an interview following Nintendo’s press conference.
Even with the lack of reveals, fans can be rest assured that Activision is planning support for the console.
Activision Publishing boss Eric Hirshberg has said that they “take out time to get our ducks in a row before pulling any trigger.”
“We take out time to get our ducks in a row before pulling any trigger. We don’t have announcements today but we will be supporting Wii U.”
…we were there with second screen enhancements with Call of Duty Elite last year and one of the primary uses we’re finding comes through the tablet and through the smartphone.”
“People are using it as that sidecar as they’re playing… People are using it in that between games way that I think now you’re seeing that kind of rhetoric with the controller from Nintendo as well as the SmartGlass presentation from Microsoft. So it’s great that others are jumping on board and enhancing that idea but it’s something we were doing last year with Elite.”
Treyarch studio head Mark Lamia was much more willing to talk about Wii U, though he was still coy with his remarks. He expressed excitement for the platform and the Pro controller in particular.
Lamia said:
“I think it’s interesting to think about all the platforms. Just in general, that’s part of my job as a studio head, working with Activision on assessing where our creative can live. How can people experience it? We obviously have been a Nintendo developer for many years and have created many Call of Duty games on the Nintendo platform. [Wii U] is clearly a more powerful platform than its predecessor and… they have obviously a unique controller and interface.
“And they announced a Pro Controller which appears to be a controller that would be really good for first person shooter games. It just so happens that’s what we specialize in. So that’s an interesting development and then they have that touch display device and you think about the kinds of things you might be able to do and – without getting into specifics – I absolutely have given it consideration and thought. We’re game developers and it’s a new piece of hardware and technology, so we’re always thinking about that stuff.”
Once he was prodded further, Lamia said:
“It’s difficult to say because it’s something we’re not talking about. I’m intentionally being elusive because we’re not talking about it!”
