Activision: Nintendo Not Happy with Wii U
Or is this exec putting words into the mouths of Nintendo?
Activision chief executive Eric Hirshberg has been speaking about innovation, Call of Duty and Skylanders and how his company is not happy with Wii U. But more importantly neither is Nintendo.
Activision has been doing the rounds of playing nice in the media after what was effectively a management buy-out from Vivendi earlier in the year. It's also been facing criticism - the kind that makes shareholders nervous - that Call of Duty may not only be getting stale but that with GTA V coming around the corner, it might not gain gamers money. On that point, Activision chief executive Eric Hirshberg, says:
"Obviously, it's a hugely successful franchise, and I get asked about our big competitors every year. We're always up against iconic titles, and I know people like to tell a clash-of-the-titans story, but I feel there's lots of evidence that there's room for more than one successful game, and indeed more than one successful blockbuster. And if people only have money for a few games, I like our chances that Call of Duty will be one of them."
But it's when it comes to Nintendo that Hirshberg seems to go a little off-message, going so far as to imagine what Ninty maybe thinking.
Speaking to CVG, he said, "Nintendo has been a great partner for us. It's a very successful company but obviously having a rough go with the Wii U launch thus far. I'm sure Nintendo and the rest of the industry wanted a different result for the Wii U, but if we can add to the appeal of the platform then we absolutely will.
"Nintendo is a company that's had hardware hits and misses in the past, but it has always found ways to remain completely relevant. It has some of the best game-makers in the world, and I wouldn't count them out."
Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
Activision has been doing the rounds of playing nice in the media after what was effectively a management buy-out from Vivendi earlier in the year. It's also been facing criticism - the kind that makes shareholders nervous - that Call of Duty may not only be getting stale but that with GTA V coming around the corner, it might not gain gamers money. On that point, Activision chief executive Eric Hirshberg, says:
"Obviously, it's a hugely successful franchise, and I get asked about our big competitors every year. We're always up against iconic titles, and I know people like to tell a clash-of-the-titans story, but I feel there's lots of evidence that there's room for more than one successful game, and indeed more than one successful blockbuster. And if people only have money for a few games, I like our chances that Call of Duty will be one of them."
But it's when it comes to Nintendo that Hirshberg seems to go a little off-message, going so far as to imagine what Ninty maybe thinking.
Speaking to CVG, he said, "Nintendo has been a great partner for us. It's a very successful company but obviously having a rough go with the Wii U launch thus far. I'm sure Nintendo and the rest of the industry wanted a different result for the Wii U, but if we can add to the appeal of the platform then we absolutely will.
"Nintendo is a company that's had hardware hits and misses in the past, but it has always found ways to remain completely relevant. It has some of the best game-makers in the world, and I wouldn't count them out."
Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
Companies:
Activision
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Comments
Paladinrja 5 Sep 2013 12:05
1/5
Could you possibly tag your conjecture and interpretive speculation, as such and not topical of Wii U please?
I do a search on 'Wii U news' and this comes up which is definately not with the search parameters.
My thanks in advance for your cooperation.
I do a search on 'Wii U news' and this comes up which is definately not with the search parameters.
My thanks in advance for your cooperation.
... 5 Sep 2013 12:15
2/5
lol, okay, Nintendo never said they were "unhappy with the Wii U."
I can see the passion for any of their systems, and they really wouldn't go through such extensive trouble of releasing a flagship game every month if they were actually "not happy with Wii U"
Very misleading title.
I can see the passion for any of their systems, and they really wouldn't go through such extensive trouble of releasing a flagship game every month if they were actually "not happy with Wii U"
Very misleading title.
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VigoTheCarpathian 5 Sep 2013 12:16
3/5
It didn't sound like a 'ringing endorsement' but it was far from a bad thing to say. Have some respect for the Activision guy because he will get flak for this.
Secondly, he has brought up a valid point which is that everyone in the gaming industry wants/needs Wii U to do well because they don't want home consoles as we know them to fail. PS4 and Xbox1 may suffer a similar fate especially with their mainly cross-gen launch line-up and lack of anything that will wow casual consumers.
Secondly, he has brought up a valid point which is that everyone in the gaming industry wants/needs Wii U to do well because they don't want home consoles as we know them to fail. PS4 and Xbox1 may suffer a similar fate especially with their mainly cross-gen launch line-up and lack of anything that will wow casual consumers.
Joji 6 Sep 2013 14:29
4/5
Nintendo won't be happy with Wii U sales numbers, understandably while they'll remain quiet about it all.
Activision have a tough choice to make.I think CoD will sell, but Titanfall will do much better than it, when it has more dynamic fun gameplay and larger multiplayer games online. Wii U will be an afterthought, but as time goes on, they aren't sure if to cut ties with it or not.
Activision have a tough choice to make.I think CoD will sell, but Titanfall will do much better than it, when it has more dynamic fun gameplay and larger multiplayer games online. Wii U will be an afterthought, but as time goes on, they aren't sure if to cut ties with it or not.
Boomer 8 Sep 2013 12:38
5/5
Oh lol, I just realized why Activision are playing nice with Nintendo. They want Ghosts to do well on Wii U since that platform isn't getting GTA 5 xD