Next gen EA games will skip the Wii U due to Frostbite Engine

[Foxi4]

If you rake in millions in profit, is second or third place failure?

TIL Foxi is a military dad.

Failure in comparison, plus I don't particularily care for sales however they're a good representation of the size of the userbase which is why they were mentioned. The profit a company makes is not a good representation of success in reference to the gaming sphere - a console is successful in gaming when it has plenty of great games to play and the Nintendo 64 has a handful - where Nintendo 64 truly was crushed is in the size of the library which was pitiful. Again, if you want to continue this, please, let's do that in the Console Wars thread.

EDIT: A little clarification before I fully jettison myself from this thread - if you want to reply to any of it, do so in the Console Wars thread - the link is in my signature. If you don't want to read it, don't open the spoiler although if you're upset about what I wrote, I urge you to do so.

Spoiler

People completely misunderstood what I said as they omitted the original context, the original context being "I'm not afraid of this situation, Nintendo won't let the console fall" when there are times when Nintendo can't really help the situation.

Developers were not interested in the system, it resulted in a small amount of games and all Nintendo could do was release great first and second-party, which they did, bless'em.

In regards to the PS1 shovelware accusations, the N64 has shovelware too. Carmageddon 64? Superman 64? The N64 has shit games too. It has less of'em because it has less games in general - 5 times less, that's the whole problem. I do not deny it has some great games - it does, there are a few I sincerely like. That being said, objectively, it just offers less than the PlayStation.

I coined it a failure in reference to what is widely considered as "Console Wars", not in reference to profits which I don't care about as I'm not a stock holder - I'm a gamer and I care about gaming, not whether Nintendo made money off it or not. I care about whether a gaming system had a lot of games in its library, about its popularity which is important when looking for gaming buddies (which is "somewhat" reflected in the sales numbers) and whether or not it was up to scratch from a technological standpoint.

I just wanted to level with you guys for a moment here because I may have been coined fanboyish in this thread and that's not true - I'm merely being analytical and I compare figures.

I hope this clarifies it. The whole debacle was all about the bitter comedy of the situation - about how "trying really hard" doesn't always work - there's only so much you can do to save a system nobody wants to develop for.

...now how does that relate to the Wii U? Pretty directly - more and more developers seem to stray away from it and as shown by the example above, no third-party interest equals first and second-party games only as well as a small library - we don't want that. I think that diverse gaming experiences from numerous developers are better - I promote diversity. It's great to have a selection of games, the bigger the better.

...See? It wasn't all off-topic after all!

 

[ShadowSoldier]

Failure in comparison, plus I don't particularily care for sales however they're a good representation of the size of the userbase. The profit a company makes is not a good representation of success in reference to the gaming sphere - a console is successful in gaming when it has plenty of great games to play and the Nintendo 64 has a handful. Where Nintendo 64 truly was crushed is in the size of the library which was pitiful. Again, if you want to continue this, please, let's do that in the Console Wars thread.

I agree this discussion should end, but one thing to note, even though the PSone had a bigger library, a lot of it was just pure shit and shovelware and everything. Also, the N64 has some great titles, ones that will always make me coming back to it, and it has some classic hidden gems too (Glover, Mischief Makers, Goemons Great Adventure, Space Station Silicon Valley, Jet Force Gemini, Battletanx, Vigilante 8, Fighters Destiny just the ones that come off of my head) But like I said, this discussion got way too far off from EA and WiiU, I just wanted to point that out before it ends.

 

[DSGamer64]

At this point, EA is the new Ubisoft. People seem desperate to believe that the Wii U's struggles were orchestrated, calculated, a part of a sinister plot to undermine glorious Nintendo (the bastion of all that is good and holy in gaming, blessed be their name). Nintendo didn't miscalculate - they were betrayed! The fact of the matter is, EA has nothing to gain by sabotaging them (not even 30 silver pieces, as so many would have you believe). Trying to spin this into anything more is just wrong. Period. End of story. Good day.

So, I have to ask: Do console fans go through the five stages of grief? Because it seems like we're firmly rooted rooted in "Anger" right now.

How about no? Ubisoft was never as bad as EA. Sure, the DRM on their PC games was pretty terrible, but at least Ubisoft hasn't had some of the business ethics that EA has had in the last few years. Ubisoft also learned from and admitted to their mistakes while EA continues to be ignorant and pretend like everything is all sunshine and lollipops for them when in reality it isn't. I feel sorry for the studios that are getting all the heat because of decisions that EA is making for them on behalf of their products just because EA is the publisher.

I will continue to boycott buying EA products until they smarten up their act, ditch the mandatory need for Origin on the PC and stop trying to force companies like Nintendo into integrating it into their online service. Ignorance is bliss, and EA is living in it.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

How about no? Ubisoft was never as bad as EA. Sure, the DRM on their PC games was pretty terrible, but at least Ubisoft hasn't had some of the business ethics that EA has had in the last few years. Ubisoft also learned from and admitted to their mistakes while EA continues to be ignorant and pretend like everything is all sunshine and lollipops for them when in reality it isn't. I feel sorry for the studios that are getting all the heat because of decisions that EA is making for them on behalf of their products just because EA is the publisher.

I will continue to boycott buying EA products until they smarten up their act, ditch the mandatory need for Origin on the PC and stop trying to force companies like Nintendo into integrating it into their online service. Ignorance is bliss, and EA is living in it.

Except business ethics mean absolutely nothing when their software is selling millions upon millions and there's still quite a demand for their titles. Even the DRM-ridden SimCity sold over a million copies in what, a week?

 

[Rizsparky]

I don't count f zero for casuals since the gc version was one of the hardest games ever made (second level especially lol)

You're right, I still have trouble with the game!

 

[TripleSMoon]

Well, that's a slight exaggeration - it was 2 to 1 (76,3 million PSP's and 153,87 DS'es sold) but that train of logic was precisely what I meant. I'm sure a lot of people here have fond memories of the system but now that some time has passed, you should at least try to look at it critically. I was one of the first in line for a Gamecube and it was a really fun system (which I still own) but I'm not going to go out of my way to deny the fact that the PS2 mopped the floor with it because I'd just look silly.

There's also a huge difference between "the PS2 mopped the floor with the GameCube" and "the GameCube was a failure."

 

[Foxi4]

There's also a huge difference between "the PS2 mopped the floor with the GameCube" and "the GameCube was a failure."

The Gamecube was a failure in comparison to the PS2, but that's besides the point - if you want to drag on the subject, you're welcome to do so in the Console Wars thread - the EoF accepts off-topic discussion.

The N64 had very little third-party support due to its technological handicaps (cartridge, texture management system, troublesome SDK) and the Wii U is in a similar situation right now (outdated CPU technology with a facelift) - that's the connection I was drawing. Seeing first and second-party life support for a promising platform would be a huge disappointment, don't you think?

 

[jacksprat1990]

People generally have 2 consoles. Why is this a problem?

 

[TripleSMoon]

The Gamecube was a failure in comparison to the PS2, but that's besides the point - if you want to drag on the subject, you're welcome to do so in the Console Wars thread - the EoF accepts off-topic discussion.

The N64 had very little third-party support due to its technological handicaps (cartridge, texture management system, troublesome SDK) and the Wii U is in a similar situation right now (outdated CPU technology with a facelift) - that's the connection I was drawing. Seeing first and second-party life support for a promising platform would be a huge disappointment, don't you think?

You're right this is off topic, so I'll stop after this post. Anyway, I agree with you here, as I mentioned in previous posts. N64 and GCN failed in comparison to their competition, no denying that. You just didn't make that distinction until recently, simply saying at first "the GameCube/n64 was a failure," which is different than "failed against the PS/PS2."

But obviously we're on the same page now, so it's all good.

People generally have 2 consoles. Why is this a problem?

Maybe people don't want to have to buy multiple consoles just to get multiplats? I was really hoping the Wii U would be the only console I would need this generation, but it's looking like that might not be the case, especially if things keep going the way they are. All the money I would spend on a second console could be better spent actually buying multiplats for my hypothetical Wii U... If it actually had any.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

People generally have 2 consoles. Why is this a problem?

Is there a survey that confirms this?

 

[Rydian]

I'm missing a second one. Anybody care to fix this and toss it my way so I'm not (more) abnormal?

 

[jacksprat1990]

Thought I was poor...

 

[chavosaur]

Thought I was poor...

Not everyone can stupidly throw around money. Even if we could, I'd rather be smart with a console purchase then just buy all of em.

 

[Rydian]

Hey now, just because somebody may have two doesn't mean it's dumb. Even in today's age of cross-ports and semi-ports, there's still plenty of games that are only released on one system... and then there's all the other older systems where if one game was released on both, sometimes it was similar in name only.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

To be fair even people with more money I see only float around one console predominantly. I own all three (not that I come from a wealthy family but I bought them with my own money) but I only use one usually. First it was the Wii, but once I got a Xbox 360 I have barely touched it. Then I got the PS3 and that's basically all I use now.

So even if you own multiple consoles odds are you'll only stay around one. And I know plenty of single-console households.

 

[emigre]

I have two consoles. A PS3 and Wii. I got the Wii for free. I have however bought the DS/PSP and recently the 3DS/Vita. That's not because I'm rich or poor, it's because I'm a fucking idiot.

 

[Hyro-Sama]

Unless gaming is one of your more predominant hobbies, I don't see why anyone would have more than one console/handheld.

 

[TripleSMoon]

I have a lot of consoles (ever Nintendo console except for Wii U, a PS2, PS3, and 360). The 360 was a gift, and the PS3 I got because I found a 160 gb unbanned slim with 2 dualshocks for only $125 at a pawn shop. I much prefer to buy only one current gen console though, especially early in the system's life. No way I would've wanted to pay $250 for a Wii AND $600 for a PS3 around the first year or two of the systems' life span. The only reason I even have 2 out of the 3 current-gen consoles I own is special circumstances that I mention above.

 

[DSGamer64]

Except business ethics mean absolutely nothing when their software is selling millions upon millions and there's still quite a demand for their titles. Even the DRM-ridden SimCity sold over a million copies in what, a week?

A million copies is a low yield in contrast to the development costs of making and operating the game. They probably are barely breaking even after all the fuck up's they made at launch.

 

[Foxi4]

A million copies is a low yield in contrast to the development costs of making and operating the game. They probably are barely breaking even after all the fuck up's they made at launch.

http://investor.ea.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=671113

(Using Fiscal Year 2012 figures since 2013 isn't over yet)

Electronic Arts Reports Q4 FY12 and FY12 Financial Results

All-Time High Non-GAAP Net Revenue of $4.2 Billion in Fiscal 12
Annual Digital Non-GAAP Revenue — Up 47% to $1.2 Billion

That is all.