Posted Apr 09, 2007 at 11:53AM by Enrico S. Listed in: Opinions & Analysis Tags: Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive
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The Nintendo Wii surprised game companies with its market impact - Image 1According to a recent report by Bloomberg, a lot of game publishers had underestimated the impact Nintendo's Wii would have on the market and are now playing "catch-up" because of it. Electronic Arts (EA), the biggest game manufacturer in the world, experienced a 25% drop in sales last February because of a shortage of Wii games according to Todd Greenwald, an analyst at Nollenberger Capital Partners. This is surprising since video game industry sales rose by 28% that month.

EA has done major steps in correcting the problem including purchasing Headgate Studios Inc. in November to improve their development of Wii games. The company has already released The Godfather: Black Hand Edition and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, which brings its Wii games released to six. However, it is expecting to double that number by the end of the year.

Other companies of note that have failed to take advantage of the Wii's popularity include Take-Two Interactive. Jim Ankner, spokesperson for Take-Two, admitted that they did not have any titles released for the Wii when it came out. The company expects to release three games this year though, so that could be something to watch out for.

Ubisoft, the makers of Rayman and the Tom Clancy series of games supported the Wii and is reaping the rewards right now. It have reported increase sales for the December quarter by 24% to $405 million. This January, the company raised its 2007 revenue growth forecast (from 10% to 12%) up to 16%. The company has released seven games for the Wii already. Tony Key, vice president of marketing, spoke on the Nintendo Wii saying "It's not really a bet anymore, it's a viable system that's going to make us money."

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11 Comments


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   by PS3Rider (Unregistered) - 2007-04-09
 » ...

Sorry but as an owner of a Wii and a Playstation 3, I have to say there are no good games avaliable for the wii, that have been released or are going to be released. All Nintendo's games seem to be more focused on family and party type gaming, and they seem to be forgetting us, the gamers. As the gamers we want to see games such as gears of war and resistance on the wii, and at the moment we arn't getting anything like that.


   Re: WiiCool - 2007-04-10
 » yes, I know what you mean

I think you must have not noticed goog games coming for the wii like MK:Amrmageddon, Spiderman3, Metroid 3 (june) Super smash bros brawl, Scarface, Resident evil 4:wii edit., pokemon battle revoltuion, Alien syndrome, Manhunt 2, high school muscial with microphine(seriously, big game), MAdden 08, Nights, Wii music, Boogie, MySims, Super Mario Galaxy, Harvest Moon wii, FF Chrystal Chronicles, Pilot wings wii; this is just naming the gamer-oriented ones, not the simulator/party/learning/simple games. But dont' worry, in about two months you'll get your hearts desire. I think the devs just needed to see that people would love this console, so that's why we had a small drought.

P.S. I still havent beaten Zelda TP yet.

   Re: iyyi (Unregistered) - 2007-04-10
 » PS3 games are rubbish

PS3 games are a joke, they have been out a year on 360 and now budget titles, whereas PS3 owners have to pay full price for Year old stale games SUCKERS..

   Re: uhh (Unregistered) - 2007-04-10
 » your dumb

dude have you played zelda: twlight? its a 40 hour game packed with beautiful cinematics and fantastic storyline and cutscenes. sorry nintendo doesn't release 4-6 hour games like xbox360 and ps3
   by hi (Unregistered) - 2007-04-09
 » ps3 is getting 2 rumble soon in july with lots of games

rumor on the street is this year e3: sony will announce rumble in the controller. wii(zelda) games are gamecube(zelda) games. a bunch of lame wii port from ps2 system. people are lazy( waving controller less buttons) and want simple games. thats why u should wait to buy wii this December. were is that new super mario not paper mario. where metroid. i bet ya sonic will be the new mascot for nintendo and mario behind. u F*******ckn left lugi years he was my favorite and a little wario than lame mario. they ripp off u. that i still have ps2 and gc and waiting for a better supreme model of ps3


   Re: WiiCool - 2007-04-10
 » What in the world are you saying?

I can barely read what you are saying... are telling me that sony will release rumble for old games? LEARN TO SPEAK ENGLISH! Oh and there are some things you said that are not true and are quite stupid:

1.Wii games are not GCN games, Zelda was meant to be only on GC but they decided to push it back a year for both consoles, but the Wii version is better with more features. TO make it simple: Wii-DVD; GC-mini dvd, a big size difference.

2.People are not lazy by choosing moving their arms instead of pressing buttons, to the contrary it is more lazy when you sit there with a controller and mash buttons- This is an example of how you just contradicted yourself and obviously are not smarter than a fifth-grader.

3. Super Mario galaxy should be release later this year as will Metroid three.

4. Sonic is not Nintendo's new mascot, nor will he ever be. Sonic is from Sega, Mario on the otherhand, is from nintendo; I hope you can understand that.

5. "people are lazy( waving controller less buttons) and want simple games. thats why u should wait to buy wii this December. "

That makes absolutley no sense, which is why I think you are a kid, you son't even know what you want to say...

to sum up my words, what was the point in that little post? Your title said ps3 was going to get rumble( you didnt even metion on old games) yet you seemed to write down random things that just didn't have much to do with your topic... you must be a little kid.
   by Justice (Unregistered) - 2007-04-10
 » The Truth

'hi' is a dumb ass ***** *****!

   by jlf278 (Unregistered) - 2007-04-10
 » Games Out Now:

I'm sorry PS3rider, but real gamers don't just sit around playing FPS deathmatches all the time. Real gamers play all kinds of great games. And yes, gears of war is a great game, and so is Halo 2 and Counterstrike, so what? Wii hasn't even been out for 6 months, and you're condemning if for not having an FPS system seller? The fact is that Xbox360 and PS3 controllers are designed poorly for FPS, but the Wii you can guarantee will (with enough time invested) play an awesome FPS. Of course, since Nintendo isn't into that genre, it takes time for 3rd parties to figure out how to get the most of the system and especially the new control capabilities.

Anyway, you clearly have your head up your @$$ since you think zelda TP isn't a good game. For everyone else, I'm sure you'll enjoy Zelda, Rayman, Madden, Excite Truck, Trauma Center, Elebits, Wii Sports, Wario Ware, Paper Mario, Sonic, SSX and Godfather.


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   Re: ha (Unregistered) - 2007-04-10
 » i agree but...

you kinda missed that a ps3 can use a mouse and a keyboard, which is what made the pc the best for fps.. anyway i didnt like redsteel that much, it would've been kinda better if they made you pull the controller closer instead of farther when sniping, cause actual motion when sniping is pulling the gun closer to your eyes right? just my 2 cents
   by Yeah (Unregistered) - 2007-04-10
 » Yeah

I agree with the comment and as a Wii owner there are very good games out now for it and the PS3 has no game thats got a WOW to it ressitance fall of man sucks i cant think of game on the PS3 that would beat zelda and isnt it time you moved away from mashing those buttons and go to having fun when playing games.

   by Adam (Unregistered) - 2007-04-13
 » Angry old timer

I am a gamer from the old-school era, when grafix were NOT the game at all. Just to remind any kids reading this: EVERY damn games you might like nowaday ARE from this so nostalgic era. Megaman, Metroid, FinalFantasy, Dragon quest/warrior, Mario, Zelda, NAME IT damnit, I mean, games in these times were FAR better than today's games. Why? Because grafiz did not make the game. Innovation did. Imagination did. Nintendo did.

However, now I only see (or mostly) kiddy games on the wii. I love this console, I own one, but still can't wait for true gamers game as well. Take my word, it is not the gamers who are lazy, it's the developpers. Take Square and enix for a classic example. Both made very cool games because of the competition. Now? They will release an "on-rail" dragon quest for the wii. Are they thinking Wii gamers for dumbs? Unable to play a RPG? Like when the Japanese won'T send us some of the best RPG games ever because "it wouldn't please american gamers"? *****!

Now, if Wii wanna please gamers, Nintendo should get a whack in the head, fall back into it's memories of the past and remember the splendid glory of the NES and SNES. Why do you think they are creating the rip-off Virtual console? c'mon. It Obvious.

Wii is not getting anywhere now because of so many ports, but then again, I understand that developpers need to aknowledge the console. Let us be patient. But let us not be dumbasses, *****!



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