jhlennon1 said: Why is everyone upset that Ubisoft is doing this? Nintendo made their bed when they said that they want the casual audience. EA, Ubisoft, Capcom, Konami etc... are helping them do just that by releasing casual games on the system to make a quick buck, which is exactly what Nintendo encouraged because they're doing the same thing. Also, the games Ubi, EA etc are releasing are not meant for the hardcores, so they are not expecting users on messageboards to buy them. They are aiming for the casuals, just like Nintendo, and just like Nintendo are reaping the benefits and will continue to do just that. I love how fans expect Nintendo to produce games like WiiFit etc... for the casual audience but want all 3rd parties to put their best hardcore games on the system. That is not going to happen, it simply won't. The Wii will get good support from the Japan devs (Atlus, Level 5, Square enix etc...) but from everyone else you can expect a lot of shovelware and if you look at the PS2 they also got a lot of shovelware aimed to make a quick buck.

 No I expect 3rd parties to do the same thing as Nintendo does: Wii Fit/Play/Sports AND SMG/Fire Emblem/Metroid. I have nothing against that Ubi makes casual games it is the statment that they wont do any hardcore games for Wii when Red Steel have sold one million (and still is on the UK chart), RE4 (a 2 year old port) is selling well over expectation and Zelda TP has sold more than 3 millions. Those hardcore games that have been released has done quit good. The market is there for both types of games. If Nintendo succed with their goals the shippment number for the Wii will pass the GC in marsch 2008. So I have big problem to see why there isn't room for all kinds of games.

That Buzz, singstar and Guitarr Hero is selling well on PS2 didn't stop 3rd party making hardcore games. Neither did brain age stop all RPGs to the DS or that Contra 4 (and that is hardcore) is coming to DS. 

elendar said: If people take the time to read the whole artical. "Guillemot suggested that a casual game costs only between ¬ 1 million and ¬ 4 million ($1.4m to $5.4m) to develop, depending on the number of platforms. By comparison he quoted a figure of between ¬ 5 million and ¬ 10 million ($6.8m to $13.6m) for a traditional Wii game and ¬ 10 million to ¬ 20 million ($13.6m to $27.1m) for an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 title" Your traditional wii games are not what is referring to when he says causal games. Most likley xboxlive, wii mini games, ps3 network games. Also DS.. In addition, he states they help Finace the more expensive projects. NOT that they lose money on them. More causal games made = more $ and the ability to develope more expensive games at the same time.

Thanks for clearing this out. That pretty much changes the whole aspect to that statement. Well, you are right about financials, but the truth is, that even if they would know that their big budget project makes money, still the unfinished game pushes profits down. And what he is stating is, that they need more funding to make those big budget titles, which don't look too good. Anyway, still they have doubts about getting cash from big budget titles, even Assassins Creed went also for the DS. That you could call playing safe. @Kber: You are right, but the situation is that 12M Step-up makes 890M and 114M makes 258... The thing you are wrong, is that PS3 and 360 are too weak to push big franchises forward. Wii is the strong one when it comes to pushing big franchises. Or at least is in the future. Since Wii will have the largest install base. It's the sales that push franchises forward. And besides, Wii is a lot bigger leap from last gen than PS3 and 360 together. @Onna&Fabinou: This is the exact same thing that was with the PS2 and PSX. All they made was quick cash-ins. So nothing has changed. Except the best selling console.

rickthestick2 said: "Why is everyone upset that Ubisoft is doing this?" Because Nintendo doesn't just make casual games for Wii and then go to another system to put out "good" games. Ubisoft is a disgrace. THey're going to lose alot of support because of this. They're not trying to do anything for Wii... and i'm sure they'll regret it later by the time Wii starts beating out the other consoles by millions and they're casual games don't sell well compared to Nintendo's casuals. Meh, nothing but disgust.

Ubisoft are going to lose nothing from this. The audience they are aiming for do not read message boards, nor do they care about games like Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. They are not interested in any of that bullcrap like the hardcore is, the hardcore are the ones who grab onto any article and bash it like this, not the casual. The only way you are going to reach the casual base with crap like this for it to be shown on TV or said over the radio. That is it.

They are a totally different audience from the users here and they think totally differently. They do not care about a stupid pointless console war, nor do they care if the name "Ubisoft" or "Capcom" or whatever is on the cover.

During my PS1 days I was very casual and I played FFVII, FFVIII and FFIX and I didn't even know who Square was because I didn't care. The game looked interesting from the cover and I went with it. Looking back too, it was the best gaming days of my life when I consider the silly e-dramas that go on the internet.

Hus said: eab said: Guys, this is just like Hollywood. Think "Pirates of the Caribbean" or "Day After Tomorrow" are the things that studios make money off of? No, they make money of cheap movies like "Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Knocked Up". Studios like making huge blockbuster movies that bring the company lots of prestige, but between CGI costs, advertising budgets, and paying AAA actors, those movies barely break even. Studios make their money on those cheap comedy movies and use the profit to fund huge budget action movies. Same with game studios, obviously Crysis and Assassin's Creed are games you want associated with your company. People want to make these games and have them on their resumès. Does it matter that they will only sell 1/10th that of Pokemon? Not really, its all in prestige, companies like Ubisoft want to be able to walk into a conference and say "Look at this shiny new action game!" rather than say "Look at this puzzle game for the DS, it looks like something a budget studio made but it will sell."  WTF  do you have a brain ? they made 3 pirates movies for one simple ass reason, THEY MADE lots of MONEY.

I'm with Hus on this one.  What the hell are you talking about?  Big movies make REALLY big bucks for the studios.  How many "Big Fat Greek Wedding" breakfast cereals have YOU seen?  How about "Knocked Up" action figures?  REALLY?

Not only do these movies make ridiculous amounts in merchandising, dvd sales, rentals, pay-per-view, international releases, etc, but that also CLEAN HOUSE at the domestic box office.  When a movie like Greek Wedding makes a lot of money, it is a HUGE surprise, NOT the other way around! 

EDIT: forgot to add "Video Game Liscensing"  How about an "Are We There Yet?" video game?

Not every game company needs to cater to the Wii audience, guys. Some may try to slot themselves into the 360/PS3 markets and Ubisoft appears to be one of them. They've made a lot of great games such as PoP, SC, R6, AC, etc., all of which cater to the high def crowd. There's nothing wrong with that. There are plenty of other companies focusing on the Wii and not the 360/PS3. That's also okay.

Basically, stop being fanboys and bitching and moaning that company A isn't focusing on the Wii while company B and company C are almost entirely Wii-based. Get over it.

eab said: Meanwhile 'crap' movies like Big Fat Greek Wedding make ~$450 million in cinema sales alone and cost the companies less than a million dollars to make.Â

If Big Fat Greek Wedding made $450 million in the box office, I'll eat my f***ing hat.

I don't quite understand what your point is but your allusions to the movie industry are clearly not working.

Yet the audience isn't foolish. They'd buy casual games that from Nintendo rather than casual games from Ubisoft. They go to the store and buy the game they saw that was on that "Wii would like to play" Commercial before they buy any of that Ubisoft stuff. Seriously, Nintendo's casuals are probably the best out there these times, and because "the audience" doesn't spend much on video games, they'd buy the Nintendo games over Ubisoft for the sole reason that they are Nintendo. They'll buy the game because they saw the commercial with two Japanese guys.

Don't even try to tell me that Ubisoft casuals will do as well as Nintendo casuals. Heck, Mario Party 8 had awesome sales because of the name "Mario".

I'm not angry because Ubisoft is making casual games, i'm angry because they're only making casual games. Regardless of whatever sales they get, they'll be shot down because of whatever Nintendo has out. They're going to lose support and will be disliked by the few million Wii supporters who have the sense enough to read what Ubisoft says.

But whatever...

EDIT: @jhlennon1

rocketpig said: eab said: Meanwhile 'crap' movies like Big Fat Greek Wedding make ~$450 million in cinema sales alone and cost the companies less than a million dollars to make.  If Big Fat Greek Wedding made $450 million in the box office, I'll eat my f***ing hat.

It made $241,250,669. Which is still outstanding for an indy movie with a really small budget.

I know the movie made a boatload of money but those kinds of indy money-makers are few and far between.

rocketpig said: Not every game company needs to cater to the Wii audience, guys. Some may try to slot themselves into the 360/PS3 markets and Ubisoft appears to be one of them. They've made a lot of great games such as PoP, SC, R6, AC, etc., all of which cater to the high def crowd. There's nothing wrong with that. There are plenty of other companies focusing on the Wii and not the 360/PS3. That's also okay. Basically, stop being fanboys and bitching and moaning that company A isn't focusing on the Wii while company B and company C are almost entirely Wii-based. Get over it.

 I think the most of is more pist of about the "we make or money on the casual Wii audiance but the hardcore Wii audiance wont get a shit".