Once upon a time, third party developers complained hell and high water that Nintendo released too many first party games for their systems. The behavior stifled third party efforts, they said, and drove developers away to Xbox and PlayStation land. Waagh waggh waggh. It even became a meme of sorts: Only Nintendo software could sell on a Nintendo system.
Oh what a difference a few months makes.
Now, the Wii is still evil, folks, don’t you worry. The bane of an industry. “Weak.” Seriously, the little white guy is the reason 900 developer, 500 publishing and 100 corporate-level positions are going to be eliminated at EA. Approximately 12 games were cancelled mid-development. Why? Well, as Riccitiello tells it, the reason is because Nintendo doesn’t release enough first party software. He wants MORE now. Bwah?
In essence, he’s also calling anyone who’s bought a Wii over the past three years an idiot who doesn’t understand gaming and EA’s undeniable genius. Read between the lines. It’s there. Further hypocrisy is found in earlier remarks, from Feb 2009, when Riccitiello said EA would focus on casual and family games on the Wii going forward. Really? And we’re wondering why EA is floundering, especially on the Wii platform? Casual gamers are debunked. They don’t exist. They are what marketers used to try and define their competition, Nintendo. It’s actually hilariously ironic, given many of those marketers were probably doing work for EA. Today the whole thing is like that climactic scene from The Hunt for Red October, when the Russian torpedo ends up coming back to kill the Russians.
Sadly, it was only a few months ago that Riccitiello was crowing about Tiger Woods PGA 10 and Grand Slam Tennis. Wii MotionPlus is the future! Treasure bath! Man, those were the days. I’d say it seems like only yesterday he said this, but that’s a cliche used to convey that a lot of time has passed since said event actually occurred, and it hasn’t. It was June.
June 2009: EA’s Riccitiello: ‘Nintendo Isn’t Trying To Dominate The Platform’
What a boob. Peter Moore for president. Man tattooed a game console on his arm for chrissake. He understands.
Meanwhile, I’ll be playing New Super Mario Bros. Wii next week, completely content with the knowledge that by doing so I’m allegedly killing EA, slowly and painfully. At least we know now why the game is completely red. Blood red. EA’s blood. Wonderful.