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Yves Guillemot: ZombiU Wasn't Profitable, not even close, no sequel planned

Copying the PS4 and Xbone would be equally moronic. Nintendo should have continued the direction of the Wii. A cheap console that pleases Nintendo fans and casuals.

There are already 2 (big) dogs fighting over the same bone and losing truckloads of money while doing so. Why would Nintendo join in?

Why not have both? Build a simple console with an x86 CPU, 6GB DDR3 RAM and an AMD GPU comparable to the 7750 with SM5, no tablet, priced at $249. They would be drowned with third party titles. Because it would be just so easy to port games to this machine. Now they are stuck with a shitty PPC-CPU, the ridiculous amount of 1 GB RAM for games and a shitty AMD GPU which does not even have SM5. Great.
 

PBalfredo

Member
I'm so confused by all of this. Didn't everything we heard about ZombiU previously contradict what is being said? I though they were working on a sequel. What the hell?
 

GetemMa

Member
you are in for some quite wake up call, bro.

But it's ok to have a dream, man. Sky is the limit!



Uh. Let's see.

Remember Resistance?

Remember Perfect Dark Zero?

Both sold over a million copies despite their 'lack of quality'.

Red Steel

Gamespot - 5.5
IGN - 6.0
Gameinformer - 7.5

At least 1 million sales worlwide.

Riding the coat tails of the Wii and Wii Sports. By far the most popular videogame gimmick in the history of videogame gimmicks.

ZombiU is a core driven game. That is how it was sold. Core gamers do not buy poorly reviewed games just because they are there at launch.
 

Fredrik

Member
Shame. A damn shame


Hate seeing great product go unrewarded. Maybe later one they decide on a multiplat sequel.
Yup. A real shame for sure. :(

A multi platform PS3/360 sequel probably won't have nearly the same hype though, and might not sell any better, it's a rooted WiiU IP and I'm guessing there'll be lots of hating if it turns up on other consoles since lots of WiiU owners, the actual fans, will want it on WiiU instead. Think Bayonetta 2 level of hating. There will certainly be lots of talk about it though so it won't be easily forgotten. But the game is so built around having two screens that I think a single screen version would feel quite a bit gimped.

Same team could start over and make a new survival horror IP though, build from the ground up for another hardware. Spiritual successor on PS4? Clever touchpad features to make it stand out a bit? Hmm. Yup.
 

kuroshiki

Member
I do remember Perfect Dark Zero

Gamespot - 9.0
IGN - 8.4
Gameiformer - 7.0

and Resistence

Gamespot - 9.0
IGN - 9.1
Gameinformer - 9.5

thanks for proving my point.

Zombie game or not, if you think reviews don't directly and drastically influence sales, you are delusional. Devs are having Metacritic averages as a part of their bonuses when contracts are drawn up. That is fact.


Red Steel

Gamespot - 5.5
IGN - 6.0
Gameinformer - 7.5

At least 1 million sales worldwide.

Reviews matter, but less so at launch if your game has a decent hook and some advertising.


And then we have Red Steel

Gamespot - 5.5
IGN - 6.0
GameInformer - 7.5

Marketing is much more important than reviews. The most recent example is Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Damn. Thanks guys. I was about to bring something else but I don't think it is necessary. =D
 

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
I'm so confused by all of this. Didn't everything we heard about ZombiU previously contradict what is being said? I though they were working on a sequel. What the hell?

Only if you were paying attention to a very specific part of GAF. WiiU software hasn't been in any of the charts across the world, the insiders you SHOULD be listening to have been telling us that any third party games on WiiU have achieved disastrous sales and NSMBU is the only thing selling, and that whatever prototypes certain software teams may be working on need to get the go ahead from the moneymen that at this point would laugh and slap them in the face for ever suggesting a WiiU exclusive again.

RUN-ON-SENTENCE.
 

prwxv3

Member
Do we even know how easy it is to dev games for WiiU compared to PS4 and Xbone. If Cerny was not bullshitting us and it really only takes 1-2 months to make a usable base of a game (It takes 6-12 for PS3) and WiiU is not similar,Nintendo is fucked. Xbone has the same arcetecture as PS4 so it is in a very nice position as well.

Even if the WiiU gets a huge boost from the fall games (I expect a boost but not a huge one) it will just go down again once it gets the obligatory Nintendo drought. Even the wii with its low resource games had horrible droughts. So what will happen with the WiiU that has worse third part support and needs far more resources and time to make games for.
 

ec0ec0

Member
Zombiu was a great game, sure people sure... (sarcasm)

You all know what can happen when your game gets horrible scores (nowadays getting scores like 4,5,6 even 7 is really bad). You are the ones making excuses for the game, not me making excuses for the wiiu. People here are saying things like"the game was great because i say so, so it should have sold well". What are you going to do now? are you also going to defend ea wiiu games and say that they were great?

Even if its "sad" to say it, new super mario bros u sold better than all the other titles not just because it was mario, but because it was higher quality and it was not a late version port of a any great game.
 

fred

Member
I'm surprised there's still no port for PC/PS3/360

The GamePad is integral to the experience, it wouldn't work on any other platform without a lag free controller similar to the GamePad...which probably means that PS4/Vita and One/Smartglass controls aren't an option.

Really surprised they didn't make a profit on thisthough, I wonder what sort of budget it had..? It certainly didn't seem like a AAA budget title in terms of production values or marketing.

Probably wasn't helped by the majority of reviewers being young and not remembering what true survival horror games are really like. Most of them just didn't 'get it' imo. Shame. :eek:(
 

Ridley327

Member
Zombiu was a great game, sure people sure... (sarcasm)

You all know what can happen when your game gets horrible scores (nowadays getting scores like 4,5,6 even 7 is really bad). You are the ones making excuses for the game, not me making excuses for the wiiu. People here are saying things like"the game was great because i say so, so it should have sold well". What are you going to do now? are you also going to defend ea wiiu games and say that they were great?

Even if its "sad" to say it, new super mario bros u sold better than all the other titles not just because it was mario, but because it was higher quality and it was not a late version port of a any great game.

Are you intentionally ignoring the polarizing reception it got? There's plenty of people that legitimately like it, critics and forum-goers alike.

Obviously, IGN, Gamespot, and Game Informer not liking the game did it no favors, but this isn't some kind of defense force tactic just because of platform investment.
 
greaaat...
LLShC.gif


Probably the best Wii U game right now.


Yup

Very dissappointing to hear.
 
FU EA, again FU, 1000 times, what a ton of F(*&^^ BS.

What a butthurt company, wow, they just keep on bashing, we don't care EA, we don't care. Sad just sad. I passed on your NFS and all your games, I just cannot take this complete BS.

:lol
What of Peter's quote made you react like this? What he said is perfectly reasonable and backed up with facts.
 
D

Deleted member 125677

Unconfirmed Member
Too bad, the game is pretty good and deserves a sequel, if not on Wii U then on another platform, though the gamepad integration was cool! The mediocre reviews certainly hasn't helped it either.

I sort of knew the Wii U would be my mario/zelda/dk/metroid/mk/smash/monster hunter/pikmin/x/w101/bayonetta-machine when I got it, and it certainly seems to be the way things are going!

oh well!
 

ascii42

Member
And then we have Red Steel

Gamespot - 5.5
IGN - 6.0
GameInformer - 7.5

Marketing is much more important than reviews. The most recent example is Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Aliens:CM is a licensed title. The normal rules don't apply.
 

Bruno MB

Member
Zombie U is below 200k units (sold to consumers) between Japan + US.

That 450k worldwide figure is from VG Chartz.
 

impact

Banned
Even if its "sad" to say it, new super mario bros u sold better than all the other titles not just because it was mario, but because it was higher quality and it was not a late version port of a any great game.
You're legally insane if you believe this.
 

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
I'm going to say it.

I didn't think ZombieU was that great. I think I need to try it again.
 

kswiston

Member
Riding the coat tails of the Wii and Wii Sports. By far the most popular videogame gimmick in the history of videogame gimmicks.

ZombiU is a core driven game. That is how it was sold. Core gamers do not buy poorly reviewed games just because they are there at launch.

Cruis'n USA

Gamespot: 6.1
EGM: 5.25
IGN: 4.0

If I remember correctly, Cruis'n USA sold over 1 million copies in the US alone.

I'm sure you can find similar examples for most popular systems.
 

Cbajd5

Member
Yeah that went multiplatform but they're still getting the game and that's better than nothing. At the rate at the Wii U is going they won't be getting any 3rd party support at all.

Well it shows third parties aren't work with Nintendo even when Nintendo's willing to work with them. It might not be a question of whether Nintendo's trying to, but if the third parties are letting them work with them.

I mean if even placing a game in the spotlight for a new system, making it the only playable demo at in store demo stations, and publishing it in Japan wasn't enough to get a company to let a finished game that sold best on their previous console be even a limited time exclusive then I'm guessing there's nothing logically feasible Nintendo could do to get them to port other games.
 

coopolon

Member
I'm expecting W101 and Bayonetta 2 to do better than Zombi U. Zombi U has a terrible, generic name, relatively generic look at a glance, and was greeted with extremely polarized reviews. Not to mention it underwent what I'm sure was a painfully long, costly and experimental development cycle (changing from those rabbids to zombies, how to use controls, etc).

I don't think W101 or Bayo2 will sell millions, but W101 colors and style certainly fit the Nintendo landscape better. Bayonetta has the advantage of having fans on PS3 and 360 that have not yet purchased a Wii U. I could see it moving some consoles and possibly converting some Nintendo fans that never bothered with 1.

Didn't Bayonetta 1 sell really poorly? Why would a sequel, on a platform with a drastically smaller install base, perform better?

Edit: Guess I'm wrong. Apparently it had sold 1.1 mill by 2010. My mistake!

Makes me wonder why if it was so successful Sega didn't want to make a sequel.
 

Brofield

Member
I'm late to this joke, I just know it, but I'm sad we won't be seeing ZombiU2 featuring a zombified Bono.

Still, this is cause for concern. BRB buying all the good 3rd party games I'm still missing this very instant.
 
Well it shows third parties aren't work with Nintendo even when Nintendo's willing to work with them. It might not be a question of whether Nintendo's trying to, but if the third parties are letting them work with them.

I mean if even placing a game in the spotlight for a new system, making it the only playable demo at in store demo stations, and publishing it in Japan wasn't enough to get a company to let a finished game that sold best on their previous console be even a limited time exclusive then I'm guessing there's nothing logically feasible Nintendo could do to get them to port other games.

So its the fault of 3rd parties? ZombiU is certainly not the only playable demo in stores, in fact everywhere I've been they only have demos of Nintendoland.
 

GetemMa

Member
And then we have Red Steel

Gamespot - 5.5
IGN - 6.0
GameInformer - 7.5

Marketing is much more important than reviews. The most recent example is Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Already responded to the Red Steel bit.

Licensed titles don't play by the same rules because obviously their marketing has been done for them by 4 movies. And we are talking about Launch titles, not games based off of established IP that launch on consoles with a collective install base of 160 million plus and the PC group.

Your examples don't line up to the theory that
shitty games sell well at launch because there is nothing else to buy
.
 

zruben

Banned
I'm going to say it.

I didn't think ZombieU was that great. I think I need to try it again.

please don't take this wrong, and I'm not saying that it was your case but, most of the people who tought the game was bad, was because they were "playing it wrong"... the game should be played as you play Dark Souls, not as you play Left4Dead.

If you play it like the average FPS, the game will feel slow, awful and frustrating. If you take it slow, you'll experience its magic. I really think it's a very "misunderstood" title.

if you're gonna give it a second chance, explore slowly, plan your strategy and be very cautious, I'm sure you're gonna enjoy it a lot more.

I'm not trying to offend you or anything, I'm just trying to help you to enjoy more the game if you decide to give it another shot =)
 

Fredrik

Member
Well at least we got one great and unique survival horror game for the console, and the definitive console version of NFS Most Wanted before Ubisoft and EA threw in the towel. It still hurts to know it's the end though. WiiU, a Nintendo games only console is pretty much confirmed now. Which means it'll still be great but it won't be awesome, and it'll definitely not be your only console.
 

Cbajd5

Member
So its the fault of 3rd parties? ZombiU is certainly not the only playable demo in stores, in fact everywhere I've been they only have demos of Nintendoland.

I'm talking about Rayman Legends. (And about the demo I guess I could have specified before/around launch) ZombiU is obviously still at least some type of exclusive.
 

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
please don't take this wrong, and I'm not saying that it was your case but, most of the people who tought the game was bad, was because they were "playing it wrong"... the game should be played as you play Dark Souls, not as you play Left4Dead.

If you play it like the average FPS, the game will feel slow, awful and frustrating. If you take it slow, you'll experience its magic. I really think it's a very "misunderstood" title.

if you're gonna give it a second chance, explore slowly, plan your strategy and be very cautious, I'm sure you're gonna enjoy it a lot more.

I'm not trying to offend you or anything, I'm just trying to help you to enjoy more the game if you decide to give it another shot =)

I genuinely appreciate your response. I will try that approach next time. I think I just got really frustrated by dying all the time.
 

GetemMa

Member
Cruis'n USA

Gamespot: 6.1
EGM: 5.25
IGN: 4.0

If I remember correctly, Cruis'n USA sold over 1 million copies in the US alone.

I'm sure you can find similar examples for most popular systems.

I won't quote you on that because it isn't even remotely close to true.
 
I disagree. There is a lot of money to be made in that direction. With the increased focus on online, there'll be a lot of revenue flowing in. The direction Nintendo is going is where there is nothing. It's better to fight for something than be left in that corner with nothing.

Casuals aren't so easy to bring in right now. Wii was fortunate enough to be releasing before the smartphone explosion and the the success of the iPhone changing everything. Targeting casuals and Nintendo fans at the expense of everything is a short-sighted move. It won't work as your core audience. Nintendo fans are a minority. They're pointless in the grand scheme of things. Trying to gain the casual market is a much harder task now than it was back in 2007 too. There have been huge changes since then. It's easy to say 'you should target the casual market' as if there are a tremendous amount of ideas but it's much harder to do well than anything else. Making another cheap console to target the casuals is a short sighted move, just like it was relying on this gimmick where they've managed to isolate themselves even further.

They had seven years and an early release. They should've launched a comparable console with similar architecture, focused on their online service more, and tried to eat into the potential marketshare of the future Xbox One and PS4. It's not like Microsoft and Sony are so powerful that people are going to wait just for them. Had Nintendo created a generational jump themselves, with more involved support from third parties, plenty of people would have jumped in.

They're trying hard to differentiate themselves and making the Nintendo brand even less relevant in the process.

It's not a difficult concept to grasp, or shouldn't be for a business. The industry is moving in one direction. Move with them, and tweak things to change your brand image if you like. That, at least, ensures some things for you and makes it less of a gamble. Don't bloody jump off a cliff on the other side.

The Wii was understandable. It was necessary and it worked out fantastic. It put them in a strong position. But, somehow, they managed to mess that up by trying another cheap gimmick.

Forget the PS4. If a console like the Xbox One launched in 2012, there'd be a lot of interested people. It's a whole year where there is nothing like it. There is a clear distinction to be made too between it and existing consoles like the PS3/360. Third parties who are already moving in that direction can also create cross-generation titles too at a lesser expense, whilst also getting ready for the upcoming Microsoft/Sony consoles. It's an easy move to gain market share and build a new brand image upon your existing one.

Nintendo just goes out there with another gimmick, a stupid name, no multi-media functionality, poor online/accounts system, and isolates itself further from the general gaming industry. It's no surprise the Wii U is struggling because they made every mistake possible with it.

While I agree with a lot of this, I think you're underestimating the difficulty Nintendo would have had in making any serious inroads with the Sony/MS core gamer market. That's not to say that they shouldn't have tried and that they couldn't have done a much better job than they're doing now in a number of respects (specs, online functionality, first-party core titles), but the perception that Nintendo consoles aren't for core gaming is far too deeply entrenched to have been erased in a single generation.
 

Exile20

Member
What is puzzling is that there was no real competition when Zombie U came out. If atleast half of all Wii U owners bought it, it would sold a lot.

I have no clue what Wii U owners want. Just Nintendo games? but only NSMB U was out at this time. Why didn't they pick up Zombie U? Why? It is a survival horror that uses the gamepad and was a fun game with fun multiplayer(I liked it).

I can't believe I am saying this but I see why third party are not on board or on wait and see. They have no clue what Wii U customers want outside of Nintendo games. It is a shame to be honest.

Nintendo should publish Zombie U 2 just to make up the horrible Wii U launch. You OWE us Zombie U 2 Nintendo. You are off the hook on this one Ubisoft, but I am still watching you.
 

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
Well at least we got one great and unique survival horror game for the console, and the definitive console version of NFS Most Wanted before Ubisoft and EA threw in the towel. It still hurts to know it's the end though. WiiU, a Nintendo games only console is pretty much confirmed now. Which means it'll still be great but it won't be awesome, and it'll definitely not be your only console.

If the WiiU ever accumulates enough sales for 3rd parties to games to be viable. By then, I don't think 3rd parties will care.
 

ascii42

Member
What is puzzling is that there was no real competition when Zombie U came out. If atleast half of all Wii U owners bought it, it would sold a lot.

I have no clue what Wii U owners want. Just Nintendo games? but only NSMB U was out at this time. Why didn't they pick up Zombie U? Why? It is a survival horror that uses the gamepad and was a fun game with fun multiplayer(I liked it).

I can't believe I am saying this but I see why third party are not on board or on wait and see. They have no clue what Wii U customers want outside of Nintendo games. It is a shame to be honest.

Nintendo should publish Zombie U 2 just to make up the horrible Wii U launch. You OWE us Zombie U 2 Nintendo. You are off the hook on this one Ubisoft, but I am still watching you.
I've always thought survival horror was a relatively niche genre.
 
What is puzzling is that there was no real competition when Zombie U came out. If atleast half of all Wii U owners bought it, it would sold a lot.

I have no clue what Wii U owners want. Just Nintendo games? but only NSMB U was out at this time. Why didn't they pick up Zombie U? Why? It is a survival horror that uses the gamepad and was a fun game with fun multiplayer(I liked it).

I can't believe I am saying this but I see why third party are not on board or on wait and see. They have no clue what Wii U customers want outside of Nintendo games. It is a shame to be honest.

Nintendo should publish Zombie U 2 just to make up the horrible Wii U launch. You OWE us Zombie U 2 Nintendo. You are off the hook on this one Ubisoft, but I am still watching you.
As a Wii U owner, I'm just not that interested in the game. I rarely play anything besides Nintendo games on a Nintendo console, and when I do it's normally for a genre I enjoy like fighting games or RPGs.
 

Raist

Banned
Riding the coat tails of the Wii and Wii Sports. By far the most popular videogame gimmick in the history of videogame gimmicks.

ZombiU is a core driven game. That is how it was sold. Core gamers do not buy poorly reviewed games just because they are there at launch.

How can you use that type of argument for Red Steel. We're not talking Wii Fit or Wii Play (which got rather poor reviews).

Red Steel sold because the Wii sold. ZombiU bombed because the WiiU sold like shit so far. That's pretty much all there is to it.
 

Ridley327

Member
What is puzzling is that there was no real competition when Zombie U came out. If atleast half of all Wii U owners bought it, it would sold a lot.

I have no clue what Wii U owners want. Just Nintendo games? but only NSMB U was out at this time. Why didn't they pick up Zombie U? Why? It is a survival horror that uses the gamepad and was a fun game with fun multiplayer(I liked it).

I can't believe I am saying this but I see why third party are not on board or on wait and see. They have no clue what Wii U customers want outside of Nintendo games. It is a shame to be honest.

Nintendo should publish Zombie U 2 just to make up the horrible Wii U launch. You OWE us Zombie U 2 Nintendo. You are off the hook on this one Ubisoft, but I am still watching you.

I think it's as simple as some have suggested with Nintendo not doing anything for themselves to break this feedback loop that's been plaguing their consoles. If you want the Nintendo audience to get excited for games like ZombiU, Nintendo should have similar games themselves to help drive that desire. I'm a firm believer in the idea that it's been a horrific mistake that Nintendo hasn't done more to invest in western development to get those kinds of games onto their consoles, and this has certainly been a strong argument in favor of that idea.
 

Kyon

Banned
I still wanna see the MH numbers. Im not buying ZombiU the biggest 3rd party game for WiiU being a flop and MH not... Then again it is a port so it probably wasnt that expensive to make
 

Frodo

Member
I guess he could have said, at least roughly, how many copies it sold, or how many it would have to sell to become profitable. I don't believe it sold well (even though I love the game and think it deserves more love) but knowing how much it would have to sell to start a profit would show where the blame really lays at...
 
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