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Soundwave on 06 July 2014
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RolStoppable said:
Soundwave said:

Third parties do that token "we have to show up at hardware maker X's press conference to pledge support" all the time. Not sure why you get so emotional about it. The 3DS had the same exact type of thing before its launch, and the GameCube did too. So did the Vita, and PSP, and PS3, and PS4, and XBox, and XBox 360, and XBox One. 

It's standard operating procedure for any new game machine launch from any of the big three manufacturers. It doesn't in any way reflect how software support will be in the future. It's just a token courtesy in the industry at this point. 

Nintendo hasn't made a system acceptable to the majority of the third party community since the Super NES, that's simply just a fact at this point. 

The Wii U is basically a full generation behind the PS4, there's no third party in the world that would've chose the chipset Nintendo did for the Wii U. 

Except that EA's CEO had never shown up before on Nintendo's stage. The same goes for others.

But let's turn this around. If you think that the Wii U was not made for third parties, then why did Nintendo return to the dual analog controller standard after the successful Wii?

Well for one, Nintendo designed the Wii U with the assumption that many people already had Wiimotes in their home, so why not give them a new type of controller to go with that? I think that was their thinking (rightly or wrongly). The Wii U controller really isn't that much different from a 3DS or DS, yes it has analog sticks and maybe that's confusing to some gamers, but it also has a giant touch panel that is arguably even more intuitive for many players than finnicky motion controllers can be (try to get a true casual to play Skyward Sword and see how long they last). 

I think the design hope for the Wii U was always to create a slightly more balanced system than the Wii, they didn't want a system that people basically just played Wii Sports on. They still wanted the Wii Sports crowd, their ambition though was just to nudge those people to maybe try different types of games. 

Maybe not unlike the DS' success in Japan ... where sure it sold a ton of casual titles like Nintendogs and Brain Training, but it actually had some good success with things like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest and other more "core" IP too. I think that was Nintendo's idea to maybe bring more of that to the Wii. Not to compete directly with Sony/MS though, looking at the system specs for 5 seconds makes it fairly obvious it was never intended to compete in that way. 

I think perhaps EA thought they could get Nintendo to use Origin, that was the only reason they were on that stage, in no way is the Wii U the system that EA would design, and you know that full well. Of the three current consoles it's the furthest thing from the system EA would design actually. 

It happens all the time for Nintendo anyway, not sure why people are so shocked, developers expressing interest in a console is just courteous. Hideo Kojima was in the Wii reveal sizzle reel saying he really liked the Wiimote. He never made a game for it. Ken Levine was in the Wii U sizzle reel. Ubi Soft promised Assassin's Creed for 3DS. Etc. etc. etc. etc.