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

[JoostinOnline]

Or I could... you know, just buy the trilogy on the PS3 for 50 bucks, like I did.

Well I wasn't just talking about ME3. You'll save at least $20 per game (minus shipping) if you import.

 

[Geren]

Once the wii-u starts to sell, EA won't have any reasons not to port their games.

 

[the_randomizer]

Once the wii-u starts to sell, EA won't have any reasons not to port their games.

Nah, they'd just come up with some other douche excuse.

 

[Gahars]

Once the wii-u starts to sell, EA won't have any reasons not to port their games.

Or rather, they'll just have an incentive to do so.

From the sounds of it, the Frostbite Engine (and remember, they're only saying that they have no plans to bring FE games to the Wii U) and the Wii U aren't getting along. Could they be made compatible? I'm sure they could, but that would probably take some time and money. Right now, with the poor sales of their Wii U titles and the system as a whole, along with EA's own money troubles, it just doesn't make sense to take all those costs.

If the Wii U can turn itself around and it proves itself as a viable platform, then that investment will make a lot more sense.

This isn't "EA being butthurt/upset/whatever excuse you want to come up with", really. There's plenty to rag on EA for, but are we so desperate for scapegoats and boogeymen that we're demonizing them for making a frugal, sensible business decision?

 

[Geren]

Nah, they'd just come up with some other douche excuse.

No matter how evil america thinks they are, EA it's a business, meaning they look to make money. Once the ps3/xbox sales start to diminish, and the ps4/nextbox start to take off, the wii-u will be the next gen console with the bigger installbase (even if it isn't outstanding). Or at least, this should be the plan that nintendo had when they released it early. Of course, this won't happen word by word, since there are many variables in play, but more or less this should be the way to make the wii-u some sort of success.

 

[JoostinOnline]

This isn't "EA being butthurt/upset/whatever excuse you want to come up with", really. There's plenty to rag on EA for, but are we so desperate for scapegoats and boogeymen that we're demonizing them for making a frugal, sensible business decision?

But is it a sensible business decision? It doesn't sound like they are putting much effort into it. They didn't even TRY to run FE3 on the Wii U. They say FE2 doesn't run as well as they want, but if it runs fine on inferior consoles (360/PS3) then I can't see why it's a performance issue.

Considering EA's recent and frequent attempts to screw Nintendo over (Crysis 3 anyone?), it's hard to believe that there is nothing more to this than business.

 

[Gahars]

But is it a sensible business decision? It doesn't sound like they are putting much effort into it. They didn't even TRY to run FE3 on the Wii U. They say FE2 doesn't run as well as they want, but if it runs fine on inferior consoles (360/PS3) then I can't see why it's a performance issue.

Because assuming that if the Wii U has trouble with FE2, it'll have trouble with its beefier, more intensive big brother is not sensible?

People have already addressed the bit about why it works better with the 360 or PS3 several times in this thread and others. In the simplest terms even I can understand - power isn't evenly distributed. It seems that the Wii U's strengths don't align with the 360's/PS3's (and more importantly, what the FE needs the most), and this is evidently creating problems of some sort.

Considering EA's recent and frequent attempts to screw Nintendo over (Crysis 3 anyone?), it's hard to believe that there is nothing more to this than business.

Are we seriously going the "This time, it's personal!" route? Really? Really?

EA is not in the position to take petty revenge against Nintendo (also, companies are not single-minded entities). That's just the fact of the matter. They're hurting for cash right now, and a lot of their big titles right now have performed well below expectations. It's in their best interest to get more games out there, provided there's a chance they will sell.

Do you seriously think EA would commit financial hara kiri out of some (mostly unsubstantiated, mind you) grudge?

 

[JoostinOnline]

Because assuming that if the Wii U has trouble with FE2, it'll have trouble with its beefier, more intensive big brother is not sensible?

People have already addressed the bit about why it works better with the 360 or PS3 several times in this thread and others. In the simplest terms even I can understand - power isn't evenly distributed. It seems that the Wii U's strengths don't align with the 360's/PS3's (and more importantly, what the FE needs the most), and this is evidently creating problems of some sort.



Are we seriously going the "This time, it's personal!" route? Really? Really?

EA is not in the position to take petty revenge against Nintendo (also, companies are not single-minded entities). That's just the fact of the matter. They're hurting for cash right now, and a lot of their big titles right now have performed well below expectations. It's in their best interest to get more games out there, provided there's a chance they will sell.

Do you seriously think EA would commit financial hara kiri out of some (mostly unsubstantiated, mind you) grudge?

Read this article (don't just skim it) and tell me you don't think EA is trying to run down Nintendo:
EA’s “Unprecedented Partnership” with Nintendo and Other Fairy Tales | PLAYERESSENCE

I have no doubt that there are financial reasons behind it. I just don't think that they are all friendly (as in, "we would like to support you but we can't") ones.

 

[DiscostewSM]

The question I have is...

Was EA/DICE attempting to test FB2 on the Wii U as if it was a 360/PS3, or were they attempting to use the Wii U as it should be used? And (forgive me for bringing this up), what about the PS4? Based on speculation, the CPU in that isn't exactly special either, but it seems FB3 will automatically be used on it without FB2 testing, whereas Wii U required FB2 testing beforehand for a decision? Then there's E3 2011, which had EA touting how Wii U would be running their games, with some that just so happened to be utilizing FB2. Did they do actual testing, or (as MutedPenguin on Twitter put it) did the "'test' end around the same time as the 'unprecedented partnership'"?

 

[Rydian]

Was EA/DICE attempting to test FB2 on the Wii U as if it was a 360/PS3, or were they attempting to use the Wii U as it should be used?

What do you mean?

And (forgive me for bringing this up), what about the PS4? Based on speculation, the CPU in that isn't exactly special either

Not special compared to PCs, but nobody expects it to be because it just needs to meet a minimum performance level. It's still likely to be a good chunk more powerful than the Wii U's.

Despite Joostin's repeated denial, we have plenty of evidence that the Wii U's CPU is a higher-clocked Wii, and we've even gotten clarification from Marcan that it's not special and is indeed a higher-clocked Wii with more cores.

 

[Qtis]

What I still don't understand here is why so many people think it's irrelevant for the WiiU that a huge publisher/developer like EA isn't going to bring a load of games over to the WiiU this year (perhaps even next year? Who knows..). Nintendo's first party games are great, don't get me wrong, but a few first party games in a row that are bad (and, in the end, low sales = low revenue) and any company will be struggling. Developing games isn't a charity thing and all the companies are in it for money. Ever wonder why so many game devs have gone bankrupt because of low sales (although the games may be good). While Nintendo may not be making the game, it's getting profit out of it per game sold (licensing income) and the resulting hardware sales (which usually lead to more games being bought). If EA doesn't see the profits in a certain game compared to the investment, I can see them not wanting to put out the money for the investment. Yet.

If platform X doesn't have that one game you most likely want to play, you'll probably not buy it. This will usually lead to you not looking at the games for that platform X as much as looking at the games for platform Y. That's possibly lost income there.

TL;DR: How can someone honestly say that the world's biggest sports game publisher is not a major player in sports games and thus gaming industry? Some people actually want to play FIFA/NHL/NFL/whatever games with the best graphics (read: most realistic) and best gameplay (read: as close to real life games) and buy the new games every year. Not some Sony Uncharted, Microsoft Halo or Nintendo Zelda. Just plain and simple football, be it single player or perhaps local or online multiplayer.

 

[DSGamer64]

They won't but okay.

They'll sell units and they'll do well but it's not gonna push it to Wii levels of success.

And you think another 700 dollar Sony console with only a few exclusives is going to do well? Keep dreaming.

 

[Eerpow]

TL;DR: How can someone honestly say that the world's biggest sports game publisher is not a major player in sports games and thus gaming industry? Some people actually want to play FIFA/NHL/NFL/whatever games with the best graphics (read: most realistic) and best gameplay (read: as close to real life games) and buy the new games every year. Not some Sony Uncharted, Microsoft Halo or Nintendo Zelda. Just plain and simple football, be it single player or perhaps local or online multiplayer.

It's not a big deal since it's Nintendos task to turn things around for the Wii U, not EA games. Losing support from big devs is to be expected if sales under perform, Iwata knows this and have in interviews told that they don't feel comfortable with Wii U advertising yet, the system has been put on hold and he has at times even said that he's sorry for the lack of games lately.
Nintendo has never been able to rely on big third party releases during their system launches as evident with the 3DS for example. Unless EA's titles were Wii U exclusive (which wasn't the case obviously) their decision to put Wii U development on hold won't impact the system in any significant way. People won't buy a Wii U for multiplatform games alone. EA's support comes after the system have proven to have an audience, not the other way around.

 

[ohsoroso]

So EA is voted worst company but without their titles the Wii U is doomed? I don't get it.

 

[Etkar.H]

Good thing I bought a new gaming PC last year.

 

[Kouen Hasuki]

Enough Said

 

[spotanjo3]

Jeez. Wii U is not looking good since the most 3rd parties do not want to supported it. Good thing, I won't buy it to waste my money. I will continue to keep my eyes on it this summer.

 

[Rydian]

So EA is voted worst company but without their titles the Wii U is doomed? I don't get it.

Probably because you think that the "worst company" poll was anything other than "the company that most of the internet that voted in this poll dislikes".

 

[DaggerV]

I'm quite enjoying MH3U.

 

[retKHAAAN]

Rare that Godwin's Law is invoked in a USN OP...