Edge

Analyst Michael Pachter claims Activision refused to bring its biggest series to Wii U without an alternative to the standard GamePad.

Nintendo designed the Wii U Pro Controller because Activision refused to develop a Call Of Duty game for the console using only the standard GamePad.

The claim comes from Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, who made clear his disdain for Nintendo's new console at the Develop Conference in Brighton last week, saying the console simply "isn't going to work."

"I don’t get it," he said. "I think that essentially this is a solution in search of a problem. I mean, somebody had an idea - 'let's make the controller a tablet' - and there aren't many games that are going to take advantage of that.

"Activision never said anything to me, but I know that [for] big games like Call Of Duty they said, 'No, we're not putting it on there if you don't give us a conventional controller'. So they gave in."

Pachter has been outwardly sceptical about Wii U's prospects for some time - but he wasn't a fan of Wii, either, describing the current generation's runaway market leader as "gimmicky. It worked, they got lucky, [but] I don't think they're getting lucky with Wii U.

"I don't think they suck - I just think that they really believe that, 'If we're still novel, everything we do will work'. This isn't going to work.

"Hardcore gamers will buy them; hardcore Nintendo fanboys will buy it. They could put out a piece of cardboard and say that it'll play Mario and they'll buy it."

Nintendo is pitching the Pro Controller, announced on the eve of E3 by company president Satoru Iwata during a Nintendo Direct broadcast, as ideally suited to extended gameplay sessions on multiplatform games. It's been closely modelled on Microsoft's Xbox 360 pad, with the positions of the face buttons and right stick swapped around.

With the announcement out of the way, Nintendo's E3 2012 press conference focused solely on the Wii U's main controller, the GamePad, playing up its capabilities for asymmetrical multiplayer. This further reinforced the sentiment that the Pro Controller had been designed, not just for players of thirdparty games, but the thirdparties themselves. Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition shows the amount of work that has to be done to tailor a thirdparty game to the tablet controller; the more traditional Pro Controller, however, makes it much easier for Xbox 360 and PS3 games to be released on Wii U without major changes to the control system.

If Pachter is correct it shows how seriously Nintendo is taking thirdparty support in the coming console generation. The company has traditionally thrived on the strength of firstparty exclusives, but it seems Nintendo realises that may not be enough for Wii U. While 3DS's turnaround was doubtless driven by Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land, in Japan at least, it was arguably Monster Hunter Tri G that did the job.

Mark Lamia, studio head of Black Ops II developer Treyarch, recently told GamesIndustry International that the Pro Controller made Wii U a viable platform for Call Of Duty games, saying: "They announced a Pro Controller which… would be really good for firstperson shooter games. It just so happens that's what we specialise in. So that's an interesting development."

http://www.edge-online.com/news/nintendo-made-wii-u-pro-controller-secure-call-duty

Well disregarding Pachter's opinion on the matter; I can definitely see the Pro controller being a substitute for easy porting of 3rd party games to the Wii U. But this poses a few questions. Is the Pro controller going to be packed in with the console or is it going to be a separate buy? If it isn't packed in then I really don't see the point in publishers supporting this controller (which not all customers will be happy to buy) rather than the standard controller which will be packed in. If they opt for the Pro controller then they definitely won't be tapping into 100% of Wii U's install base if the above is true.

Second why can't they just put a game logo on the Wii U gamepad and just use that as a standard controller. It has all the buttons and everything, so why not? Its not like the Pro controller has extra buttons the gamepad doesn't. The gamepad just has more stuff for devs to work with. If they don't want to use the extra stuff, then don't. Heck just keep the screen blank for all people care. Why are Nintendo so intent on trying to force consumers in buying these extra controllers?

He's completely off the mark with this one. This is not the wii mote, 360 and ps3 control schemes can be mapped to the wii U pad without any alterations, and in terms of utilising the 2nd screen the easiest most simple thing to do is to provide a map and inventory. No hassle whatsoever.

Pachter is forgetting that COD did come to the wii at one point, but required tons of optimising and was not comparable to the HD versions. However the Wii U is more powerful then both 360/ps3, so such problems are now non existent. For extended play of games which don't make significant use of the Wii U pad, classic controller would obviously be the more confortable options. But the real reason behind is likely to be for offline multiplayer games where the wii mote/nunchuck is not sufficient, so other player needs a more conventional control.

As for the system itself, the control is perfect and could quite easily enhance any genre (except fighting games). The concept is just not as gimicky/sellable as the wii. The real issues lies in whether its powerful enough for 3rd party games to not be heavily compromised when we start hitting 2014.

IF Nintendo was lucky then so was Microsoft and Sony. Damn patcher give them some credit.

I see Pachter is still pissed at Nintendo for making him look like a fool during the Wii years.

That still damn well better mean that there's a Wiimote/Nunchuk option on the Wii U version. Treyarch can't be that deadheaded/closed-minded

Why do people post debate stuff from Patcher? That guy just says ridiculous and sensational things for popularity. When you argue things he says, it just make them look legitimate when they aren't.


The best thing you can do with any news regarding Patcher is completely ignore it. This is the type of news that needs your belief. It just needs you to discuss it, and it accomplishes its goal.

The guy is an analytic troll.

If Black Ops 2 has no pointer controls I will not buy it.

Also, "Activion never said anything to me, but I know that [...] they said [...]". A classic Pachter.

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Basically his speculation is based on his opinion of Nintendo.

isnt that kind of the same problem that the Wii had?? didnt come with a standard controller. I highly doubt Ninty will do it now, it would be cool