Ubisoft, SEGA, EA believe in Wii U, Take-Two a bit more cautious
This information comes from Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot…
“We will announce one game that we want to launch day one that is a new type of game, which should be interesting. It is still very important, just because you can test a market and also see through the eyes of the first consumers. They are the people that actually have the word of mouth factor. The trendsetters. It doesn’t increase [costs] very much because the advantage is in being close to the other machines, you can do the game for all the formats at the same time. [Ubisoft is evaluating the Wii U for] both new content and a third location [for existing franchises].”
This information comes from EA Games label president Frank Gibeau…
“It served us well on PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3. Getting in early is partly about being a successful transition company and figuring out where the hardware is going to go. With the Wii U it’s important for us to get there on day one so we can get in and build as big an audience as possible. We’ve been doing this for 25 years and trying to pick platforms and more often than not we get it right. I hope we have this one right. That’s the gamble.”
This information comes from Sega West president Mike Hayes…
“At some point we were the biggest, certainly top three third-party publisher on Wii, so for us it was a great platform… we’ve got absolutely no qualms about [Wii U]. I just think we’re all a bit premature in being a bit glass half full on 3DS. Everyone was clamouring ‘oh please bring it out in March, you must bring it out’ and then it’s like you get to June and it’s all ‘sales aren’t very good…’ Well, they haven’t got the software yet… That controller is absolutely brilliant and we have to think of innovative ways to use it. We’re doing high definition Sonics, we’re doing obviously Aliens: Colonial Marines, so you can bring them across, and that’s relatively low cost, which is good news. Then you spend your money on how do you use that controller effectively to make it unique and differentiate it.”
This information comes from Karl Slatoff, chief operating officer at Take-Two…
“For us it’s really about understanding what the hardware capabilities are and understand how it’s going to fit into what our goals are from a franchise creation perspective. Really understanding what that platform can deliver and developing for that platform. So that’s our philosophy, not just with the new Nintendo console but across the board. Whether we’re looking at the 3DS or the PlayStation Vita or any of the new formats that are coming out. We can’t look at them all the same way. We’re not just going to port over.”
