-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
UbiSoft to launch "Play Zone" label for Wii games
- Thread starter Aaron Strife
- Start date
Red Steel was dog shit, but if they copy the controls from a better FPS, fix the sword even a little and add online mutiplayer they have another hit on their hands. Gamers are odd animals who will buy mediocre sequels to lousy games... money on the table etc...
Anyway, you are ALL forgetting the one thing that Red Steel did right. THE SETTING!
Its not in the future, WWII or an alternate reality.
It exists in present day Japan.
I dont care what any of you say. That is a pretty decent shift from space marines or normandy beach and deserves a SLIGHT nod.
*nods to Red Steel ever so slightly*
Anyway, you are ALL forgetting the one thing that Red Steel did right. THE SETTING!
Its not in the future, WWII or an alternate reality.
It exists in present day Japan.
I dont care what any of you say. That is a pretty decent shift from space marines or normandy beach and deserves a SLIGHT nod.
*nods to Red Steel ever so slightly*
By god, so people who don't own a Wii want to keep the exclusives on the system THEY bought? Who would've ever thought? Someone get this guy a gold medal!Second said:
:lol :lol Oh and the 2 resident evil games for the Wii both sold bucketloads, fyi. And saying that you are one of the "mature" gamers makes you sound like you're 13.
Seriously, people are so stupid.VideoMan said:
Amir0x said:
It's not really that they have a strategy at all, at this point - either they've tried to cash in on their old titles or try to duplicate their strategy from another machine in the hope that, based on what might have been whispered along the way by their fellow board room executive aquaintances, is likely to follow the same market. Neither of which is working for them, since they have gone on record to say as such (albeit in less pessimistic terminology.) Other companies like Capcom and Sega have ported a lot to the machine too (and sometimes with varying results) but at least they seem to have some strategies in play which occasionally result in pretty results - Capcom with their usual display of original, clever IPs alongside ports of acclaimed last gen games, and Sega with their... well, not exactly stellar line-up but they've thrown a few bones that way in the guise of old IPs getting a revival, as well as some logical lightgun ports to the machine.
I would love to see what exactly Ubisoft's grand masterful plan for their Wii lineup is beyond following the exhalted magic words "casual market", and even that has been rather disorganised at that - in fact this is the closest we actually have to them with a plan of sorts.
I think he meant Nintendo Fanboy. (someone who only owns a Wii and doesnt WANT to own any other system, because its not nintendo)Kunan said:
I own a Wii and a 360.
I think RE5 is fine where it is, but at the same timeI loved RE4's Wii controls so much I'd probably buy it for Wii instead of 360 is offered the choice. Still, I'm not gonna cry over having nice graphics and lots of enemies on screen.
His examles were poorly chosen.
Had he said Bioshock 2, fallout 3 or MGS4 I think he'd be dead on. Games who are all about story, art, atmosphere and maybe physics are probably better suited to the 360/ps3/pc market.
I thought there was third RE game for Wii that we shunned? Either way the sales for UC & RE4 are somewhat pointless from my standpoint because Im a gamer. I would rather have original games made FOR the Wi that are actually good than some lame ass port of a 360 game that looks/plays like shit. Maybe I'm crazy dunno.
AceBandage
Banned
Staccat0 said:
I think you're thinking of the port of REZero, which is going to be a Japanese only release.
I don't understand why people find it so hard to believe that people are "disappointed" (to say the least) with Ubisoft when it comes to Wii.
It's not their direction with Wii games per se, it's the execution in combination with their comments and stands about the Wii. For the sake of argument, let's suppose Ubisoft would have made only casual games (or even only non-games) from the get go for Wii, but all of them where decent / good. There would have been no problem. Or, suppose that would be the case but they also continued to make decent games like Red Steel (without mentioning shit like "Nintendo quality!!") or perhaps even "good" ones, there would have been no problem -- in fact most would be happy.
Now, take a look at what Ubisoft actually HAS been doing on Wii - from start and has been continuing to do, and you would understand why they get what they get on Gaf (and deservedly so I might add).
Anyway, in my opinion if there would be one company this gen that didn't had their shit together and didn't know what the fuck they are doing (on Wii), then it would be Ubisoft. I hope their shovelware shitgames will continue to sell like what they are, shit.
(PS yes I got the reference)
It's not their direction with Wii games per se, it's the execution in combination with their comments and stands about the Wii. For the sake of argument, let's suppose Ubisoft would have made only casual games (or even only non-games) from the get go for Wii, but all of them where decent / good. There would have been no problem. Or, suppose that would be the case but they also continued to make decent games like Red Steel (without mentioning shit like "Nintendo quality!!") or perhaps even "good" ones, there would have been no problem -- in fact most would be happy.
Now, take a look at what Ubisoft actually HAS been doing on Wii - from start and has been continuing to do, and you would understand why they get what they get on Gaf (and deservedly so I might add).
Anyway, in my opinion if there would be one company this gen that didn't had their shit together and didn't know what the fuck they are doing (on Wii), then it would be Ubisoft. I hope their shovelware shitgames will continue to sell like what they are, shit.
:lol I don't have to imagine it though, I have EYES, Ubisoft.Grimm Fandango said:
(PS yes I got the reference)Shockgamer
Banned
The bitter tears and butt hurt continue.
Just play the good Ubi games on the HD consoles and/or computer. Can't/won't? Then accept that everything isn't going to come to the Wii, regardless of NPD bragging.
Just play the good Ubi games on the HD consoles and/or computer. Can't/won't? Then accept that everything isn't going to come to the Wii, regardless of NPD bragging.
AceBandage
Banned
Shockgamer said:
Yeah, we should just support Ubisoft's crappy efforts, instead of calling them out for it. That's a great idea!
Amir0x said:
And no one here can blame Ubisoft for attempting to cash in on successful DS games.
A lot of the Ubisoft haters have to realize that casual games are new to many major 3rd parties. You can't blame them if they fall below expectations. It's a learning process and over time they will adapt and become successful.
Fair enough. If Ubi and everyone else wants RS2 to be a completely by the books FPS, I'm perfectly O.K. with that. If there's polish, that's still a lot better than what we are seeing from Ubi currently.Amir0x said:
To me, money+time=effort. Therefore, Red Steel had effort put behind it, the result was just a disaster for the most part. Now that they are completly familar with the system, given a full budget, competent dev team(I'll even take Paris team again), and some time(even half the time of Red Steel's year plus development would be fine), I am fully confident even Ubi could put out a decent FPS. Better yet, I would bet on selling. Not that I have anything to back that up with, other than the last Red Steel, because no 3rd party has quite yet bothered with an effort into a FPS game yet(save for Medal of Honor Heroes 2, which also sold pretty damn well for a PSP port). As for the GI comments, I agree. I think you misread what I had said.Amir0x said:
LouieGeetoo
Member
Just think of this "Play Zone" label as a shovelware warning. See, UbiSoft's actually looking out for us!
Shockgamer
Banned
AceBandage said:
Hey, your money.
AceBandage
Banned
Shockgamer said:
Yes, my money, which has never been spent on any of Ubisoft's games on any console. And the way things are going, looks like that won't change.
Here is Ubisoft's quote on what they think the Wii owners want
* Super Mario Galaxy (6.1 million)[74]
* Mario Party 8 (4.86 million)[74]
* Super Smash Bros. Brawl (4.85 million)[74]
* The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (4.52 million)[74]
* Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (3.4 million)[75]
* Wii Fit (2.9147 million approximately: 2.227 million in Japan,[76] 687,700 in US)[77]
* Mario Kart Wii (2.564 million approximately: 1.444 million in Japan,[76] 1.12 million in US)[25]
* Super Paper Mario (2.28 million)[74]
* Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (2.26 million)[74]
* Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (2 million)[78]
* WarioWare: Smooth Moves (1.82 million)[79]
* Mario Strikers Charged (1.77 million)[74]
* Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (1.31 million)[74]
* Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition (1.25 million)[32]
* Carnival Games (1.2 million)[75][80]
* Rayman Raving Rabbids (1.2 million)[75]
* Sonic and the Secret Rings (1.2 million)[75]
* Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (1.05 million)[32]
* Red Steel (1 million)[75]
Mario, Zelda, Sonic, Rayman, Resident Evil, Guitar Hero. Hey look, it's the same games that always sell, save for one non Nintendo mini-game collection.
Now let's look at the million sellers.
* Super Mario Galaxy (6.1 million)[74]
* Mario Party 8 (4.86 million)[74]
* Super Smash Bros. Brawl (4.85 million)[74]
* The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (4.52 million)[74]
* Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (3.4 million)[75]
* Wii Fit (2.9147 million approximately: 2.227 million in Japan,[76] 687,700 in US)[77]
* Mario Kart Wii (2.564 million approximately: 1.444 million in Japan,[76] 1.12 million in US)[25]
* Super Paper Mario (2.28 million)[74]
* Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (2.26 million)[74]
* Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (2 million)[78]
* WarioWare: Smooth Moves (1.82 million)[79]
* Mario Strikers Charged (1.77 million)[74]
* Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (1.31 million)[74]
* Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition (1.25 million)[32]
* Carnival Games (1.2 million)[75][80]
* Rayman Raving Rabbids (1.2 million)[75]
* Sonic and the Secret Rings (1.2 million)[75]
* Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (1.05 million)[32]
* Red Steel (1 million)[75]
Mario, Zelda, Sonic, Rayman, Resident Evil, Guitar Hero. Hey look, it's the same games that always sell, save for one non Nintendo mini-game collection.
Frencherman
Member
Ubisoft has the best Market-Research-Department in the whole industry confirmed??
FortunateSon said:
It is not Nintendo's fault that these companies are making mini-game collections. I could see it if ALL Nintendo did was release mini-games, but we have Metroid Prime 3, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario, Twilight Princess, Mario Kart, and Smash Bros Brawl. That's a pretty varied lineup and does not scream "mini-games". So the fact that Ubisoft is only really making cheap ports and mini-games is entirely their fault. They simply don't understand the Wii market and instead of offering variety, they're simply making the cheapest games possible. They deserve all the hate.
I was trolling this thread before I even clicked on it to reply :lol . I was like, oh look Ubisoft has a new label for their shovelware Wii titles, fantastic.
This is just ridiculous. I think we need to re-evaluate whether or not they are making money on the CRAP they put out on the Wii.
Dont they seem to be going pretty damn full steam ahead considering the games are bombing? Lets be honest, the crap isnt selling, we know it isnt, they have 2 successes, RRR and Redsteel, the rest of the crap is doing nothing, so why is the crap multiplying? Me thinks that these games are making money ANYWAY just because the dev cost is so insanely low. There has to be a reason why Redsteel sells 1million worldwide and their shovelware never charts yet we get an announcement for a label built PURELY for the shovelware and Redsteel 2 is no where in sight. And although the tards would love to explain this by saying "Wii is for teh kiddies" thats bullshit and everyone knows it, theres a business motivator behind this, and its generally always money.
I think they are managing to make profits on the shovelware.
This is just ridiculous. I think we need to re-evaluate whether or not they are making money on the CRAP they put out on the Wii.
Dont they seem to be going pretty damn full steam ahead considering the games are bombing? Lets be honest, the crap isnt selling, we know it isnt, they have 2 successes, RRR and Redsteel, the rest of the crap is doing nothing, so why is the crap multiplying? Me thinks that these games are making money ANYWAY just because the dev cost is so insanely low. There has to be a reason why Redsteel sells 1million worldwide and their shovelware never charts yet we get an announcement for a label built PURELY for the shovelware and Redsteel 2 is no where in sight. And although the tards would love to explain this by saying "Wii is for teh kiddies" thats bullshit and everyone knows it, theres a business motivator behind this, and its generally always money.
I think they are managing to make profits on the shovelware.
Ubisoft really have not bothered to innovate anything regarding the Wii haven't they? All they have managed to produce are (bad) ports, (bad) attempts at gaining the casual markets (Catz etc), and now (bad) efforts to out do EA and Nintendo by introducing their version of TG/All Play? :lol
Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact that Ubi are just about to shit up the CGI movie industry (Peter Jackson quality you say? I'll expect Catz: Adventure of feline vaults in the cinemas then) I would have thought that they were deliberately trying to destroy the Wii, instead, it is clear that they have no clue how to compete in the 21st century.
Bye Ubi, it was fun.
Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact that Ubi are just about to shit up the CGI movie industry (Peter Jackson quality you say? I'll expect Catz: Adventure of feline vaults in the cinemas then) I would have thought that they were deliberately trying to destroy the Wii, instead, it is clear that they have no clue how to compete in the 21st century.
Bye Ubi, it was fun.
Spotless Mind
Member
Accepting/ignoring the amount of insulting shit they are churning out is much worse than voicing an opinion on them. Seriously people, get over this stupid fanboy/console wars garbage. There is no reason we shouldn't complain about what Ubisoft are doing.Shockgamer said:
ghostlyjoe
Member
Spotless Mind said:
Clearly, all the people defending Ubisoft in this thread intend to purchase and enjoy the "Play Zone" titles, right? I mean, they're not just hypocrites trying to get a dig in at Wii owners, right?
ThatObviousUser
ὠαἴÏÏιÏÏÎ¿Ï Ïαá¿Ï εἶ
I'm actually willing to bet (not a ban, though) that RE5 is coming to Wii anyways. I think the best course this gen would be multiplatform for all consoles.
AceBandage
Banned
Andrex said:
I don't think RE5 will, but given sales of the other games, you can safely bet that the Wii will get more original RE games.
The-Switcher
Banned
For every No More Heroes and Tenchu title, they shit out 10 "Play Zone" titles.
FightyF said:
We certainly can! There is a major difference between the Wii and the DS (let's see if you can figure out what it is), and to ignore this difference is to shoot yourself in the foot. Unfortunately, Ubisoft doesn't seem to understand this.
A lot of the Ubisoft apologists need to realize that so-called "casual games" have been around since the dawn of video games, and that gamers who enjoy them are not going to shell out money for games that are worse than their favorite free flash games.
ggnoobIGN said:
I think that they certainly aren't giving priority to Wii titles, that much is clear. What's not clear is why this is a huge shock. PS360PC is a (demonstratively) better market for them, and they made a real niche for themselves on Xbox as well. In the past, Gamecube and PS2 were also in the same realm of power as Xbox, so it made ports extremely easy and therefore none of the systems could really say they were "ignored". The problem is Nintendo chose this strategy on Wii, which for Ubisoft is not in line with their general goal of base assets ported across a series of similar powered console.
Now what happened? Ubisoft saw what they did on DS - which was a success - and thought they could go a similar "casual/low-budget" approach with Wii. At the moment, it is not necessarily the most booming success for them. However, since they're keeping at it, I suspect they see signs of inroads in this market and they choose this to keep drilling at as a brighter prospect than hardcore titles on the Wii.
So, did Ubisoft put a lot of effort into their Wii titles? No, I agree not. And while it is certainly in their hands to change this, it is Nintendo's strategy that made it less likely for them to put forth that effort.
Ubisoft has plenty of bright prospects on the horizons, and they simply chose the PS360PC strategy instead of the Wii strategy. You cannot expect them to give equal run to every system under the sun, for them to have an equal size for cellphones, and for DS and for Wii. They have to make games they feel they're best at, while trying to capitalize in their weaker markets by emulating successful titles.
- Price of Persia, Far Cry 2, End War, H.A.W.X., Beyond Good and Evil 2, Brothers in Arms, Splinter Cell, etc
People who are saying "bye Ubi" or "Ubisoft is dead" quite obviously only plays systems, not games.
They clearly are making great games or potentially great games, and if you really cared so much about their software you would, at some point, aim your purchases on the systems they've chosen to go for.
If you feel you can't be interested in them on PS360, then I don't see the point in wondering why they've decided to "stereotype" the market of Wii the way they did. Since other casual crap games like Carnival Games have also made a dent, they are constantly encouraged
Amir0x said:
Not much to argue with, but I'd add a few points:
1- If Ubisofts Wii focus has always been on just casual shit, why make and advertise Red Steel? Why put out ports of Prince of Persia, Driver., etc.
2- Again, if casual/low budget is their strategy, why make statements like "we're going to see Nintendo like quality" and "we have over 300 people working on Wii games".
3- To echo what others have said, I suspect Ubisoft has never had, and still doesn't have a consistent Wii strategy. Try a exclusive FPS here, throw out a Rayman based mini game there, charge full price for unchanged last gen ports, throw out a ton of DS cloned games not suitable for anyone over 10. I don't see a rhyme or reason to what Ubi is doing; If they want to be strictly casual, then go strictly casual and make the games actually fucking good. If they want to try and grow a more core userbase, actually improve your ports and charge appropriate prices and at least give some midsized original stuff. It's not that difficult.
Look at Capcom- Nothing huge (yet) but they've been smart. RE4 and Okami at less than full price. Actual attempts at new IP (but not a huge investment) with Zack and Wiki. Reaching out to external developers to try and tap the family market (Spyborgs). Hell even their more casual attempt (Neopets) sounds like its actually a decent game. You can say that Capcom's Wii offerings aren't all AAA at the moment, but you can't say they are complete shit, which is the case for Ubisoft at the moment.
schuelma said:
Without generalizing, we can say that that has almost entirely been their strategy. I think the reason we got Red Steel was simple - Nintendo worked closely with Ubisoft as they got dev kits and Wiimotes and such earlier than others, and the "reward" Ubi gave Ninty for this leg up on other developers was that game. I believe that since the first people to buy systems is almost universally hardcore gamers, it made sense to Ubisoft financially to start their time on Wii with a hardcore title.
The answer to your second question is easy. "Why put out ports?" Because that is, and always has been, one of Ubisoft's core strategic principles, regardless of what system. And it is also why when they run out of PS2/Xbox/GCN games to port, or that are relevant to the market, they find it hard to want to dedicate resources to a full fledged hardcore game, since they cannot as easily port across to other systems.
schuelma said:
You're wondering why their PR arm made such statements?
Your answer is this: we're talking about it.
Amir0x said:
Ok, and this is part of my point- they did such a horrible job with those ports! PoP was FIFTY DOLLARS. FIFTY! With no real gameplay improvements. At least Capcom ports 1- great games and 2- charges appropriately for them.
tekneek2k6
Member
I'm hoping that the "Nintendo-like quality" titles are in the development pipeline while all these cheaply made mini-game titles are being released. I don't see why they wouldn't attack on both fronts to maximize their potential profit.
Mr. Pointy
Member
Basically.The-Switcher said:
If Ubisoft want to fund Japanese Wii projects because they couldn't be arsed to do anything themselves, I can live with that.
Aaron Strife
Banned
The problem is that they operate on a business model that consumers will consistently buy only games in the same genre, in this case mini-game collections. Who can blame them? Look at how many first-person shooters and sports games sell. Rehashing the same game is easy and convenient for them.Amir0x said:
But that strategy doesn't work with Wii. Nintendo made the Wii Sports, Wii Play, Mario Party 8, etc. games to introduce gaming to casual buyers, and from there on they'd go and buy into their core titles. Games like Mario Party 8 and Wii Play aren't going to be leaving store shelves anytime soon, meaning that for every Play Zone game UbiSoft shits out it has to go up against games that customers are familiar with and would rather buy. If they had introduced this line a year ago, they might have seen more success, but in retrospect I'm glad they didn't.
I actually wouldn't mind UbiSoft's perception of Wii if they completely ignored it (like every other major third-party is content with doing) or actually put out games that are worth buying, casual or not. For all the minimal effort they pour into Dogz and Sports Party and whatever other Nintendo bandwagon they want to jump on, they could easily make a great Rayman platformer and sell gangbusters. The fact that they're supposedly making a Prince of Persia Wii is somewhat uplifting but I'll believe it when I see it.
AceBandage
Banned
Linkup said:
It has a lot to do with the sheer arrogance/ignorance that they announce these games with.
"We'll try harder to make Nintendo like quality games."
"Sales charts show that only casual games sell on the Wii."
"Our Petz and Imagine games aren't selling on the Wii, but we'll continue to shovel them on."
