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[Lupin the Third]

None. No EA games were on the Dreamcast.

EA didn't like the way that Sega made so many consoles without decently supporting them (during the mid '90s).

It also didn't help that SEGA of America's pres, Bernie Stolar, murdered the Saturn market at E3 1997(?) with "The Saturn is not our future." And this was around when SEGA stopped pushing SEGA Sports on the Saturn, pulling the rug out from EA's potential sports monopoly in its waning years.

 

[VariantX]

Wasnt this the reason the Dreamcast failed?

Nope, the Sega sports games were actually good and were recognized as games that were either as good as or better than EA's offerings. EA probably had little to do with Sega's failure as I believe they were running low on cash at the time, plus the DC was killed off early by Sega's own hand.

 

[SolarPowered]

Not baffling. Exactly what third parties wanted. Lots of whining about how you can't compete against Nintendo games, so they get a wide open playing field and look where it gets Nintendo

Nintendo didn't GIVE anyone an open playing field. Nintendo simply didn't have anything ready and now if they do have something they're holding on to it for a relaunch of the console for the holidays.

Let us be honest here. Seriously... you sound paranoid, man.

 

[Kusagari]

The fact Wii U isn't even getting ports Vita is makes me really think something happened between EA and Nintendo.

It's not even comparable to Dreamcast because EA did have an actual reason for boycotting it.

 

[Duxxy3]

No console has ever survived without EA support.

 

[Margalis]

Why is everyone acting all shocked? Not even FIFA!!??!!

Were people actually expecting FIFA after the gimped designed-to-fail version they put out?

The Wii U lineup of games from EA was an engineered disaster. It's fairly obvious that they made a decision sometime around late summer of last year to bail out, and with Mass Effect 3 actively took steps to ensure failure.

Companies are perfectly capable of making irrational decisions. The idea that companies act in their own economic best-interest because of the invisible hand of the market applies to business over long time scales, not the actions of individual corporations.

At this point pulling out entirely probably isn't irrational, given that both FIFA and Madden for Wii U were awful.

 

[Baby Milo]

EA leaving money on the table.

are they?

 

[metalslimer]

And fans continue to harp on 3rd parties for bad launch software when Nintendo didn't get final kits to 3rd parties until months before launch. Nintendo fucked up on every level here.

 

[HEALTH_DISCO]

Wii don't have any games for U. Please understand.

 

[Mithos]

I thought NFS Most Wanted U was actually great, so it's not all shit.

It probably was, but sadly 6 month (?) too late.

 

[BlastProcessing]

 

[JoeM86]

Well Most Wanted tanked on WiiU, so...not sure that's gonna happen.

It tanked due to it being a late port and EA didn't ship many units out. I read about, but not entirely sure this is legit, Grainger Games in the UK only got 12 copies across the entire company

 

[GarthVaderUK]

Wow, that's not good.

 

[Coolwhip]

No console has ever survived without EA support.

Pretty useless statement. Are you just talking Dreamcast? Or a truckload of niche consoles too?

It tanked due to it being a late port and EA didn't ship many units out. I read about, but not entirely sure this is legit, Grainger Games in the UK only got 12 copies across the entire company

It's pretty obvious the EA support for Nintendo was already killed off way before today. Incredibly half assed ports or extremely late ports are proof to me something went sour between EA and Nintendo.

 

[wsippel]

Well, that's kinda sad I guess. Or maybe not.

 

[Squire]

wiiu has no fifa??

impossible.everything has fifa.

Wow. This post is encapsulating.

FIFA and Need For Speed were the most likely since EA even kept NFS on the DS for a very long time.

Right, right.

 

[antonz]

It probably was, but sadly 6 month (?) too late.

Late, Full price, and told right from the get go we wont be giving you dlc.

NFS was a disaster. Criterion did really put their heart into the project but EA didn't care

 

[Alienous]

Nintendo need to drop the WiiU, purchase the Oculus Rift guys at a high price, and build a proper next generation console.

Sub 1080p resolution? Aint nobody got time for that.

 

[Ravensmash]

It's a combination of things that has led to this.

- Period of release

Nintendo decide to release a console equivalent to the 7th generation, seven years after it started.

- Price point

Wii U was priced at a hugely disproportionate cost compared to the rival consoles that it's sharing retail space with.

- Post launch games drought

Happens to every system understandably, but there doesn't seem to be anything coming outside of the expected titles we were teased about prior to release.

Nintendo should be using this time period right now to push the Wii U on consumers. They've launched right in the middle of a transition to the next generation, reliant on first party while neglecting to understand that the landscape has changed significantly. The Wii U also doesn't present itself as having a real unique selling point other than the gamepad, which hasn't even been utilised in a proper manner yet outside of a few launch titles.

Honestly, I'd love to see this system succeed but it seems like Nintendo are complacent or arrogant...or both.

 

[Visualante2]

Konami might stand to gain something from this. Not much but it's something.

Spoiler

lmao this childish Origin rumour being spread. Just accept that EA is in a tight financial position and is not seeing a good business opportunity on the WiiU

 

[Draconian]

Well Most Wanted tanked on WiiU, so...not sure that's gonna happen.

Late ports almost always tank. I don't see why anyone would've expected differently.

 

[strangedopamine]

wiiu has no fifa??

impossible.everything has fifa.

Nope:

The HyperScan didn't.

Spoiler

Although nobody cares about the HyperScan and for good reason.

 

[18-Volt]

Surely you jest. Every console manufacturer begins R&D on the next system ASAP.

But not like this. They admitted themselves that those 3 consoles, PS2, Xbox and GCN were too similiar and GCN would fail if legacy of PSone continues on PS2. Wii was ready in 2004 iirc.

 

[Kelthink]

Because we all know how well ps720 will sell. At this point completely abandoning one of the few platforms just sounds like a bad idea to me. Like I said, if Wii U takes off and ps720 disappoint, then EA will miss more money than they are saving now by not porting games to Wii U.

I don't think you understand anything.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

This really sucks. I hate to see one of the core three suffering so much, it's not healthy. Not that poor decisions should be rewarded.

instead of conspiracies about the company deliberately making bad decisions out of spite about an unsubstantiated rumour, here's an alternative hypothesis:

no one is buying the console and the few who are aren't buying the games and since it's a console that just launched they don't have a tech stack set up to pump out a low cost port the way they would with something like PSP or other basically dead consoles they support.

But teh evilz EA and teh gr33dy Originsss, wee knowssszz.

 

[Aeriscloud]

No console has ever survived without EA support.

There's a first time for everything.

 

[Meelow]

No console has ever survived without EA support.

The only console that had no EA support was Dreamcast, and EA didn't kill it, Sega did.

3DS currently doesn't have any EA games.

Anyway, I want Nintendo to speak about this, hopefully maybe try to fix their relationship.

 

[Gonzo The Great]

The fact Wii U isn't even getting ports Vita is makes me really think something happened between EA and Nintendo.

It's not even comparable to Dreamcast because EA did have an actual reason for boycotting it.

This.

EA cancelled the Wii U version of Crysis 3 before the console came out, and released a late port of Mass Effect 3 for $59.99 without the DLC. The poor sales must have scared them off. That being said, Nintendo is still at fault for most of this.

 

[hammster]

And Bethesda, And Square Enix, and Take 2, and Level 5,etc...

And in a year when all of Ubisoft's games bomb they will drop support too.

the first line: those are either not the size of ea and/or don't support EVERY SINGLE other platform

and the second line is speculative

 

[tsab]

So WiiU=Dreamcast confirmed. Where is my Shenmue Nintendo?

/joke

This is not good for the platform although I don't give a damn about most of EA games. But with Ricitellio out of the picture now this may change.

 

[DragonSworne]

Discontinuing the WiiU now would be even more of a disaster.

Bullshit. Companies do it all the time if they release product that can't sell.

If Nintendo can't quickly adapt and change then it's just another sign that the company is poorly managed. Any multi billion dollar company should easily be able to adapt, why not Nintendo?

Clearly something is very wrong at Nintendo. They are so inflexible that it's scary.

 

[FalsettoVibe]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlW7iP9hr7I

Whoever does third party relations for Nintendo should be out of a job. Woof.

Funny

 

[Linkhero1]

It probably was, but sadly 6 month (?) too late.

They played it safe porting a game and it proved to be the best console version. His post was incorrect because they released something of quality which sold poorly. I don't think that it being out 6 months prior had much to do with it's poor sales as the Wii U userbase did.

 

[1.21Gigawatts]

I'd have expected at least Fifa 2014 for the Wii U. I mean, if even the Vita can get it ...

Thing is that most 3rd party games at least reached decent sales on Vita.
Ubisoft was pleased with Rayman and AssassinsCreed. Activision was pleased with COD.
And I'm sure EA was pleased with the FIFA numbers(they released the same game twice^^) and the NFS:MW numbers weren't too bad either.

Another thing is that the Vita is portable, so many people buy FIFA for a home console and another copy for the Vita.
The WiiU is just another home console and I guess the few people who bought things like FIFA on the WiiU would have bought it on Ps3 or Xbox360 or PC anyway. So there is no reason for EA to put it on the WiiU, it doesn't increase their sales, it just splits their sales over three instead of two home consoles.

 

[Stumpokapow]

why isn't this affecting ubisoft or activision
their upcoming wii u games counts aren't 0
it is just ea

Because different companies make decisions independently? Different companies use different sets of technology? Different companies have different levels of available personnel? Different companies adopt different risk strategies? Different companies have a closer pre-existing relationship with Nintendo? Different companies make different percentages of their revenue for different consoles versus mobile, and retail versus digital versus digital addons? Perhaps those companies are going to get to 0, they just haven't yet, and it has more to do with the timing that you're asking the question?

 

[Sadist]

Wow, that bit is hilarious:

Oh man. That's just... ugh.

It's too bad about EA not supporting it, but seeing this particular sentence makes me laugh. They never had any intention of seriously supporting the machine.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Grilling? Would you like us to tie EA's PR people to a chair and not let them go until they tell us what happened?

Stephen Totilo asked EA about that unprecedented partnership. He wrote up their answer: that they considered that first wave of Wii U support (Madden, ME3, etc) to have delivered on their arrangement. Clearly they don't plan to give any further details.

Maybe one day the real story will come out, from people unafraid to talk, or from people who will talk under condition of anonymity. Hopefully that happens. But to blame the media for not "grilling" executives until they tell us about a failed business deal is asinine.

Ask Nintendo, Reggie perhaps , his face, on camera

" Why is there no forthcoming titles from EA on Wii U"

Simple question, no grilling

 

[KageMaru]

Well that's what happens when software just doesn't sell. I know people want to make excuses why these games didn't sell, usually blaming the publisher, but it's Nintendo that put out a system that wasn't easy to port to or hyped up enough to warrant strong sales out of the gate. I have a lot of respect for Nintendo and always want good for all the companies providing us games, but I don’t get how some can’t see that they have been dropping the ball every step of the way.

why isn't this affecting ubisoft or activision
their upcoming wii u games counts aren't 0
it is just ea

Activision and Ubisoft aren't hurting financially like EA is last I checked. They have more funds to dump, and potentially lose, on Wii-U titles.

 

[ebullientprism]

I am sure the revenue Nintendo gets from chasing down those Youtube LPs will make up for whatever they lose on not having EA games. They will be fine.

 

[Vorundor]

I want to see Reggie try to evade this situation on an interview during E3, then again, no on ever bothers to press him on anything. He gives his shit eating grin and the interviewers forget about the question, eating up whatever BS Reggie spits out at them.

EA might be shady at times but you can't deny that they have some sweet IPs under their umbrella. Nintendo should have gone out to 3rd party devs like Sony did and asked them what they would've liked from the Wii U but no, Nintendo thought they new better.... Again.

I still have the Wii U and I will be happy when the first party games are announced but still, I can't defend Nintendo on this, they screwed up.

 

[Ridley327]

The fact Wii U isn't even getting ports Vita is makes me really think something happened between EA and Nintendo.

It's not even comparable to Dreamcast because EA did have an actual reason for boycotting it.

Being crybabies about having to compete with another sports line?

 

[Tamanon]

Man, not even Madden or FIFA. That's insane. Even the Vita gets Madden.

 

[theman5141]

I believe it's safe to say that - at this juncture - the support for Wii U is appreciably lower than that of the Gamecube, even during its particularly trying times (c. 2003). Pick a point, ANY point, during the cube's lifetime and it's quite apparent that there was far less apathy for the machine than there is currently towards the Wii U. A rebound is still possible, but a Gamecube type scenario is probably where Nintendo ought to be pinning their hopes. It saddens me immensely, because I'm not one to have doubts about purchasing Nintendo hardware. The Wii U sets an ugly precedent.

I still have a modicum of faith in them, and believe they will successfully stave off what appears (thus far) to signal a premature console death.

 

[Linkhero1]

Late ports almost always tank. I don't see why anyone would've expected differently.

Considering the console is lacking software, I don't think it being a late port had much to do with poor sales as much as the userbase did.

 

[The Technomancer]

I'd be willing to give the purely financial logic argument total credence if EA had shown a good faith attempt to support the console and decided after the failure of high-quality games that it wasn't working and they were pulling out. But I have a hard time, given what they did do, thinking that they hadn't basically made this decision over a year ago

if they really did expect that Mass Effect 3 port to sell, well then they're run by morons

 

[Kobun Heat]

Because different companies make decisions independently? Different companies use different sets of technology? Different companies have different levels of available personnel? Different companies adopt different risk strategies? Different companies have a closer pre-existing relationship with Nintendo? Different companies make different percentages of their revenue for different consoles versus mobile, and retail versus digital versus digital addons? Perhaps those companies are going to get to 0, they just haven't yet, and it has more to do with the timing that you're asking the question?

Yeah but besides THAT

 

[MThanded]

are they?

I was assuming they could throw some 3rd rate ports over there. Maybe the porting cost is too high in relation to the sales.

 

[BobLoblaw]

I'm shocked and appalled.

Spoiler

I'm neither shocked nor appalled.

 

[Gonzo The Great]

Being crybabies about having to compete with another sports line?

SEGA releasing three failures in a row (CD, 32X, Saturn) probably had something to do with it.

 

[Shiggy]

You cant blame them? Really

EA is a multi million dollar company that spends millions on sport franchise exclusive, getting the official Star Wars license.

But they are not gonna try on Nintendo console, a company that has been proving to survive for over 25 years in this industry.

All they put out is sloppy late ports on WiiU

I'm not saying they should go balls hard on WiiU, but aleast put an effort, im sure EA makes more money then Ubisoft but Ubisoft is putting out huge games on WiiU.

For them to not put out 1 game around the time the WiiU will most likely recorver from its slow start is a pure joke and looks like sabotage, regardless of how u feel about WiiU hardware and early slow sales, 3DS recovered and I expect WiiU will also.

Why should they put their resources to Wii U development when they don't see an audience for their games on that platform? It simply doesn't make sense for them financially if that's what their projections say. Will Wii U sales change in the latter half of 2013? I would assume so, EA apparently does not believe in that.

If I were you, I'd also put a close eye on what other 3rd party publishers will show at E3. Hint: You might be disappointed. Most games that will be released this year were in development before the sluggish Wii U sales.

I'd be willing to give the purely financial logic argument total credence if EA had shown a good faith attempt to support the console and decided after the failure of high-quality games that it wasn't working and they were pulling out. But I have a hard time, given what they did do, thinking that they hadn't basically made this decision over a year ago

Companies have expectations about a system's sales before its release. If they thought in late 2011 or early 2012 that the Wii U will sell like shit, then their projections proved to be accurate. No magic involved. Could've also been the other way around as with the Wii.