The Wii U currently has a decent number of third party games. However, many gamers are unsatisfied with the not only the current selection but also the projected selection. Nintendo has stated that they plan on concentrating on their own first party titles before they worry too much about the third parties, but some of the third parties have come out to show their stance.
Electronic Arts, who has always had a Love/Hate relationship with nintendo, came out with the following statement:
“It’s been 60 days since we launched Need for Speed Most Wanted on the Wii U. We’ve launched four games. We’re proud of them. They’re in the marketplace and they’re selling. The guys inside the studio are looking at the Wii U tech and they’re looking at the platform. They understand it. As it develops, if there’s an opportunity to publish more games on the Wii U, we’ll do that. We’re not writing it off. We’re not not developing for the Wii U. We’re just watching it, and we’re really focused right now on PS4 and Xbox One, to really nail that transition.”
Bethesda’s Pete Hines, Vice President of Marketing and PR, said:
“We don’t have anything announced for Wii U. We don’t have anything announced for the handhelds. Are there opportunities that could come up there that could make sense and be the kinds of things we would want to do? Absolutely. But what we have going on right now doesn’t fit with that. For a game like Wolfenstein, as it’s designed, we want it out on as many platforms as we can support that will support the game as it’s envisioned, where we don’t have to cut features or dial stuff back or end up delivering a game where Wolf on this platform is nothing like it is on the PS4. Other platforms that we’re not doing anything for, we’ll wait and see. I would never say never. There are a lot of talented folks doing a lot of cool stuff, and maybe opportunities arise, or maybe somebody internally says, ‘hey, I have this great idea to do this thing on this platform.’ If that makes sense and it feels like something Bethesda would do, okay. But we’re not just going to bang a round peg into a square hole. That’s not how we work. It doesn’t make sense for us.”
Ubisoft said:
“As a company, we like the Wii U. We really believe that the second screen can add a new dimension to gaming. We’re still big supporters of that system. We have just as many games coming out on Wii U this year as we did at launch. So we like the second screen. We think there are opportunities with all these games to extend them – to another person, to another location. We’re taking it very seriously. It’s not necessarily next-generation, but it’s next-generation thinking. We want to extend the experience to whatever screen is handy. We have been looking for ways to take advantage of these second screens. Those companion apps are our first attempt at doing that.”
Could Nintendo’s open arms to Indie Developers, such as Pencil Test Studios and their kickstarter project Armikrog (Now officially licensed by Nintendo), has put a little fear into some of the big developers that have been on the edge? Creating a game for one of Nintendo’s platforms that sells well could open many doors for a small Indie Developer, even if it only releases on a Nintendo platform.
What are your thoughts? Are there other third party developers that you wold like to see devote themselves to the Nintendo Life?