EA COO doesn’t think Wii U will be a transitional console, online talk
Some industry insiders have expressed concern that the Wii U will be a “stop-gap” console. In other words, rather than taking a full leap to the next generation, these people believe that the console will be a means to transition between hardware generations and will be considered more of an upgrade.
EA COO Peter Moore does not share that opinion. In a recent interview, Moore said that specs and graphics will begin to take less of an important role and will make way for other elements such as interfaces, communities, and controls.
Moore explained:
“People will start talking about it being a transitional platform. And I don’t think that’s going to be the case, and here’s why. I think the [tablet] controller [is huge]. This is not about specs anymore… This is about, as it was with the Wii, is the controller a unique way of enjoying a game experience, regardless of what the graphic fidelity is? I don’t know what Xbox and PlayStation’s plans for their next platforms are, but it’s not going to be hanging on graphic fidelity. I guarantee you that. Look, you saw Battlefield – how much better could this stuff look at some point? There’s a point of diminishing returns… I don’t even know if there’s anything better than 1080p. In the early days of our industry, this stuff was absolutely about how much better the games looked – shinier helmets, greener grass – but I’ve been around long enough to know that seeing your breath in a football game is a huge deal. But that’s no longer the case any more. Now it’s about interfaces. Now it’s about building a community in a rich, powerful,way. And now it’s about, ‘What is the way we can control the game?’ You’ve seen that with Move, you’ve seen it with Wii MotionPlus more recently, and you’ve certainly seen it with Kinect. And Nintendo’s job, quite frankly, is to build a better mousetrap with regards to the way that we use the controller. So I don’t know what Xbox and PlayStation’s plans for their next platforms are, but it’s not going to be hanging on graphic fidelity. I guarantee you that.”
Moore also took a few moments to discuss how Nintendo are now taking online more seriously with Wii U:
“It’s critically important to us and we are relieved, if anything else, that they have made a huge commitment that they have presented to us… Online certainly was not a factor with the Wii, as you know; although they had capabilities, it just wasn’t there at the level that both Xbox Live and PlayStation had. But I think Nintendo totally gets that multi-player, building community, co-op play, having the ability to bring games that are deeper – all of these things are now very important.”
