Ubisoft replies to gamers on June 3, 2008
Ubisoft started out their Wii support pretty well with Raving Rabbits and Red Steel. While those games were launch games, games such as Red Steel obviously were using the company's skills to create software that Nintendo couldn't. This action gave Ubisoft some nice sales.
However, Ubisoft has apparently been invaded by marketers who have dumped all that and had the company create baby and pet games for the Wii despite their revenue from the Wii being a measly 10%. Gamers expressed their displeasure at Ubisoft and this was the response they got.
This is a forum post from Raide, UK Forum Manager. Raide was asked for his opinion on the subject, and this, of course, doesn’t equal an official statement from Ubisoft. I will translate Ubisoft Speak to you, dear reader so you can know what they are really saying.
For your reading pleasure bold is the ubisoft forum manager response and the italics will be me, the Malstromus Magnus.
Let us begin:
The true of the matter is this, the Wii is a very different console than what most games developers are used to. [How the HELL do we make games without relying on our crutch for better graphics?] The Wii has managed to make a huge success from having games on it that just would not work on a conventional console. [We still don't understand how to make games for this system.] The Wii has also managed to increase the market share to a huge group of people that are not that interested in gaming. With Wii Sports, Wii Fit and all manner of games built for family play, Nintendo know who they are marketing for and it is not die hard gamers. If you look at the most successful Wii games, they are not amazing new AAA games, they are predominantly family orientated games/alternative games. [HELLO! It's about RETARD GAMERS people!]
Looking at the current UK games sales for Wii Wii Sales Link, there are not that many traditional games in the top 30. Trends are changing and not everyone wants a new action game, FPS game or epic RPG, sales of the Wii proves that the majority want something different. ?[We are, of course, ignoring our previous sales hits on the Wii when it launched. We are also ignoring consistently selling games below the top 30 who might end up selling more than those top 30 titles. We are also ignoring a common business aphorism that 'there is not much gold when everyone fishes from the same stream'. We must be soul-less copycats, or what that Malstrom fella calls 'Birdmen'. We believe we can flap our arms to success. Who cares about the logistics of the flight?]
Parents who are buying a console for their children do not really care about Prince of Persia, Rainbow Six or Far Cry on the box, they want games that are going to be good for their children and not get them in the local newspaper. Why else would games like Brain Training/Wii Fit/Mario Party sell in the millions if people wanted hardcore games? [Causal market, people! And you know that 'casual' is just a nice way of saying retard.]
Check the Nintendo DS figures in the UK as well. DS Sales Link. Notice whose name is listed there a few times but also notice which games are listed? We make games that will “hopefully” sell to a selected audience. [Our marketers took over, and they have demanded we define everything into defined demographics instead of the more rational job defined markets.] We are a business after all, but Nintendo know which people are their market, just as Sony and Microsoft know who their markets are. [You gamers are stupid. We are the smart ones. We 'assume' Nintendo is pursuing demographic defined markets because we are incapable or unwilling to truly understand the Wii's success. We 'assume' such software sells because it is designed to target specific demographics even though they are actually targeting different jobs.] Ubisoft have always been aimed at the more mature market (Look at our back catalogue) and in the last few years have started venturing into the casual gaming market. [Look at how we have let dumb marketing define our business based solely on 'hardcore' and 'casual' stereotypes that have come from internet message boards.] This is because that market now exists, thanks to the rise in popularity of the Wii and DS. The Wii is still a new console and it still has plenty of time to grow, Nintendo know this and Ubisoft know this. [We don't care what you gamers want. We think we know what Nintendo knows, we have put on our feathers, and we will flap our arms very hard in order to fly like Nintendo. No, we do not understand the concept of lift because marketing is about chasing defined demographics because they look good on the charts. Job defined markets cannot easily be placed on charts so that is why we do not pursue those.]
That was just a sample full article in link. I searched, and didn't find a thread about it, so I thought I would post it.
