Seems like Electronic Arts is taking a chance on Nintendo’s Wii U. Only last week did Jeff Brown, VP of Communications/Public Affairs at EA, say that the publisher had nothing lined up for the console in the making. It wasn’t until today that EA’s chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen state that they do, in fact, have some Wii U titles albeit their focus on the up and coming Xbox One and Playstation 4.
A little side thought though. What would they actually transfer over to the console that houses the red plumber and Triforce hero? EA’s Frostbite 3 engine means Dragon Age, Battle Field, Mass Effect, and the Star Wars series aren’t making the trek over. Madden NFL 25, in a report to Eurogamer, is said not to be Wii U bound due to past failures to launch on the Nintendo console. So what’s left? I guess it’s only time until we see what’s in store.
The Nintendo Wii U is a more powerful console compared to the original Wii but Jorgensen remarked how it can’t quite compare to the technological prowess that is the Xbox One and PS4 saying “Nintendo’s business was more [of] an extension of their last console.” during a Q&A. With the install base of the less powerful, current generation consoles being so great, Jorgensen sees Electronic Arts producing both PS3 and Xbox 360 games for the next three to four years. This leaves the Wii U with only a small fraction of the install base of current generation consoles and unable to live up to developer demands as a next-generation system.
Nintendo launched the Wii U game machine last November, hoping that high-definition graphics and a new-age touch-screen display would win back users who were turning to their smartphones for entertainment. The gaming giant sold 3.45 million Wii U systems by the end of March, missing its target of selling 4 million units.