"Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013" by Wizards of the Coast and Stainless Games is unique in that one can play it with a controller or touch-based controls, depending on the platform. Wii U features both. A match made in heaven?
It's important to note that one of the reasons that "D13" was made for iPad was the sheer amount of potential new players that it could bring in to "Magic: The Gathering." With the Wii U being a new hardware launch, there will only be a fraction of that number of potential customers. That begs the question: How much would it cost to port the title, and is it worth doing so?
According to an interview by John Kinsley on WiiUDaily.com with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemont:
"It costs less than $1 million to port games to the Wii U, which is a lot less than making a title for the console from ground up."
With the Wii U speculated to launch this holiday, it may be doubtful to see "D13" on the Wii U unless it becomes a "Gold Bundle" with all the DLC early next year. Assuming that porting "Duels" to Wii U costs $1 million, at a sales price of $10 the title would need to sell 100,000 copies in order to break even.
If "Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 Gold Edition" is available in the launch window of the Wii U, then it's entirely possible it'll receive additional sales simply due to being one of a limited number of games on the console. Even if the title doesn't recoup its full cost to produce, it could still introduce a significant amount of players to "Magic: The Gathering."
The whole "Duels of the Planeswalkers" franchise can be seen as a giant form of advertising. So how much money is Wizards willing to spend in order to bring a new player into the game?
A recent survey by Wizards of the Coast cites an average player term of seven years. That's a long time for Wizards to gain back their investment, and then some. Porting "Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013" to Wii U might result in a short term loss, with long term gains.
Although "Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013" might not come to the Wii U one thing's for certain: "Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014" certainly will.
http://www.examiner.com/article/why-duels-of-the-planeswalkers-2013-should-come-to-wii-u
I'd certainly buy it if the price was right.











