Author Topic: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii  (Read 7332 times)

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Offline Penguin_Of_Thyme

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Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« on: April 30, 2009, 03:04:31 PM »
Strong sales from Rayman and Shaun White helped Ubisoft increase their bottom line.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=18342

 Ubisoft has been a strong supporter of the Wii since its launch. Evidently, this support paid off this past fiscal year when robust sales of the company's Wii titles helped to boost full-year profits by 14 percent to 1.06 billion euros ($1.5 billion dollars).    


While earnings were down a little over 5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008-09 compared to the previous year, Ubisoft still managed to rake in 206 million euros ($292.52 million dollars) thanks to the sales success of Wii games like Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip, Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party, and My Fitness Coach. The million-selling Petz and Imagine franchises were also cited as strong performers in the fourth quarter. In fact, Ubisoft's casual game business grew by over 40 percent.    


During Ubisoft's financial call yesterday, CEO Yves Guillemot implied that a sequel to Shaun White Snowboarding is in the works. Last November and December, Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip sold over 470,000 copies on the Wii in North America. In addition, sales of the Rayman Raving Rabbids franchise jumped over 50 percent.    


Guillemot also noted that that Ubisoft's strategy for success has been altered. The company is aiming to deliver "bigger games with higher quality." He explained that even though the initial investment is larger, "in the end it will reduce risk and increase each game's potential."    


Games slated for release by Ubisoft during the 2009-2010 fiscal year include Rabbids Go Home, Red Steel 2, and a plethora of new titles in the Petz, Imagine, and My Coach franchises.

Jared Rosenberg
Video Producer, Nintendo World Report

Offline broodwars

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2009, 10:38:59 PM »
*glares with murderous intent at the mass of tasteless (non) gamers who bought the crap Ubisoftz put out on Wii this past year.*

Great job, guys, enticing Ubisoft to actually make good games on Wii.  Very well done, indeed.
« Last Edit: April 30, 2009, 10:49:41 PM by broodwars »
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Offline BlackNMild2k1

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #2 on: April 30, 2009, 10:47:52 PM »
I hope this means BG&E2 is coming to Wii.

& by HOPE I mean it BETTER come to Wii, and in full form, no shortcuts or missing content.
Wii and those damn rabbids are funding that game and we didn't sit by and watch droves of uninformed casuals buy those games just to be leftout in the cold and shunned once the real fruits of your labor start falling from the tree.

If you have high hopes for RS2 then you better not deny us BG&E2. that is not just a warning. [/angry rant]
« Last Edit: April 30, 2009, 11:23:41 PM by BlackNMild2k1 »

Offline TJ Spyke

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2009, 10:57:55 PM »
*glares with murderous intent at the mass of tasteless (non) gamers who bought the crap Ubisoftz put out on Wii this past year.*

Great job, guys, enticing Ubisoft to actually make good games on Wii.  Very well done, indeed.

Those crappy games help fund good games like Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party and Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip.

Way to go Ubisoft, you have made some pretty fun games for the Wii.

Agreed B2K1. I think Ubisoft said Nintendo systems made up the bulk of their profit, so the Wii deserves Beyond Good & Evil 2.
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Offline broodwars

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #4 on: April 30, 2009, 11:08:33 PM »
*glares with murderous intent at the mass of tasteless (non) gamers who bought the crap Ubisoftz put out on Wii this past year.*

Great job, guys, enticing Ubisoft to actually make good games on Wii.  Very well done, indeed.

Those crappy games help fund good games like Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party and Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip.

Way to go Ubisoft, you have made some pretty fun games for the Wii.

Agreed B2K1. I think Ubisoft said Nintendo systems made up the bulk of their profit, so the Wii deserves Beyond Good & Evil 2.

Whatever, we're still not getting the best that Ubisoft can do.  Crap games are what sold, so Ubisoft knows they don't have to put any real effort into a game to sell more.  These sales won't bring us A-class games like Beyond Good & Evil 2 (which likely the Wii can't even handle) or whatever the next Prince of Persia game will be, but more B->C-class games like more Rayman Raving Rabbids and Shaun White/Red Steel-type games.  Once again, crap games that require minimal effort to create are apparently what sell on Wii these days, and the Wii audience has apparently made it quite clear that they want more of them.

I really, truly can't wait to read James' reaction to this.
« Last Edit: April 30, 2009, 11:11:03 PM by broodwars »
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Offline Deguello

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #5 on: April 30, 2009, 11:34:42 PM »
Quote
Games slated for release by Ubisoft during the 2009-2010 fiscal year include Rabbids Go Home, Red Steel 2, and a plethora of new titles in the Petz, Imagine, and My Coach franchises.

Somebody should really ask them how those Petz and Imagine games are doing on Wii.  (Hint: They aren't.  They bomb terribly and are a waste of resources.)
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Offline broodwars

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #6 on: April 30, 2009, 11:47:42 PM »
Quote
Games slated for release by Ubisoft during the 2009-2010 fiscal year include Rabbids Go Home, Red Steel 2, and a plethora of new titles in the Petz, Imagine, and My Coach franchises.

Somebody should really ask them how those Petz and Imagine games are doing on Wii.  (Hint: They aren't.  They bomb terribly and are a waste of resources.)

Judging by the fact that the very article we're all commenting on specifically cites the Petz and Imagine games as being strong sellers for Ubisoft last year, I'd say you were proven wrong before you even started typing.  Not about them being a waste of resources...just about them bombing.
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Offline Deguello

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #7 on: May 01, 2009, 12:21:55 AM »
Quote
The million-selling Petz and Imagine franchises were also cited as strong performers in the fourth quarter. In fact, Ubisoft's casual game business grew by over 40 percent.

If this is what you were referring to, then you may not know the sleight of hand that goes along with making such press releases.  Here they talk about the "franchises" of games, as if they are more than one, and possibly not just limited to the Wii.  Since they failed to list specific titles and their sales numbers, and since they don't top any sales charts and VGChartz severely over-estimates their performance of their individual titles as pretty weak (and we all know how far off VGchartz can be) It stands to reason that they performed pretty dreadfully, but are spoken of in positive regard here due to their profit-rendering potential, mainly because these games are made out of bailing wire and old cheese.
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Offline DAaaMan64

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #8 on: May 01, 2009, 02:06:34 AM »
*glares with murderous intent at the mass of tasteless (non) gamers who bought the crap Ubisoftz put out on Wii this past year.*

Great job, guys, enticing Ubisoft to actually make good games on Wii.  Very well done, indeed.

Hey Sean White is a very good game.  Rayman isn't bad either.
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Offline KDR_11k

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #9 on: May 01, 2009, 04:24:32 AM »
I think we can guess the performance of the Petz games from his "bigger games are less risky" comment. The 40% growth number alone doesn't mean much, what are the absolute numbers, how did the releases behave (e.g. 50% more releases and 40% growth would mean failure)?

I hope this means BG&E2 is coming to Wii.

I thought BG&E2 got put on ice while they're working on Rabbids Go Home?

Offline Plugabugz

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #10 on: May 01, 2009, 06:04:58 AM »
Ubisoft's profits may be on the rise, but their reputation has been steadily sinking for 3 years. Eventually one will begin to dampen on the other.

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Offline BlackNMild2k1

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #11 on: May 01, 2009, 11:27:54 AM »
Quote
I thought BG&E2 got put on ice while they're working on Rabbids Go Home?
it is, but Wii is where most of their profits are coming from, so If those profits are being used to make a big budget game, they should also put said game on Wii.
« Last Edit: May 01, 2009, 12:13:45 PM by BlackNMild2k1 »

Offline broodwars

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #12 on: May 01, 2009, 12:09:03 PM »
Quote
I thought BG&E2 got put on ice while they're working on Rabbids Go Home?[\quote]
it is, but Wii is where most of their profits are coming from, so If those profits are being used to make a big budget game, they should also put said game on Wii.

But for the most part that's not what's going on.  Right now the trend that seems to be happening is that developers put the cheap & easy games on Wii because those have a high profit margin with relatively low sales.  Then they take those funds and make the games they want to make on 360 and PS3 (example: Resident Evil 5, Prince of Persia Next-Gen, Beyond Good & Evil 2).  Suda 51; the folks behind the Conduit; and a few other assorted games aside (Madworld, HotD: Overkill), when was the last time we saw a developer who came right out and said they were making a game on the Wii because that allowed them to do what they really wanted to do with the game (No, saying "we're really trying to take advantage of the Wii's *whatever*" does not count.  That's just a way of saying "We're making this game on Wii, so this is how we're going to try and make it work")?

The Wii is the market leader and we SHOULD be getting the developers' full attention, but it's quite clear just looking at the titles on the market that we are not.  We get the filler projects.  Occasionally, a developer comes along who feels a bit daring and willing to take the Wii on for something special, but it's rare.
« Last Edit: May 01, 2009, 12:10:47 PM by broodwars »
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Offline NinGurl69 *huggles

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #13 on: May 01, 2009, 12:15:08 PM »
"Ubisoft's profits may be on the rise, but their reputation has been steadily sinking for 3 years."

Ubisoft has DONE IT.  They've achieved NINTENDO QUALITY.
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Offline broodwars

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #14 on: May 01, 2009, 12:19:55 PM »
"Ubisoft's profits may be on the rise, but their reputation has been steadily sinking for 3 years."

Ubisoft has DONE IT.  They've achieved NINTENDO QUALITY.

Wow, that's sig-able territory there.
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Offline Ian Sane

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #15 on: May 01, 2009, 02:56:07 PM »
Quote
The Wii is the market leader and we SHOULD be getting the developers' full attention, but it's quite clear just looking at the titles on the market that we are not.  We get the filler projects.  Occasionally, a developer comes along who feels a bit daring and willing to take the Wii on for something special, but it's rare.

I know and I'm not confident that's going to change.  There was always hope that this was a losing strategy and that developers that released junk on the Wii would fail.  But if Ubisoft is doing good thanks to the Wii then the strategy probably works.  Ubisoft certainly does not deserve AT ALL to be successful on the Wii.  They treat it as a shovelware console.

It would be nice if Nintendo addressed this but since they became number one again they don't seem to make any attempt to improve third party support.  They never really were very good at it or appeared to be dedicated towards it before but in the past you at least got the occasional "token effort" third party deal.  Have we gotten ANYTHING like that at all where Nintendo made some deal to get such-and-such game on the Wii?  Unacceptably lousy third party support is with a doubt the number one issue with the Wii.

Offline KDR_11k

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #16 on: May 01, 2009, 03:23:18 PM »
Obviously RGH is considered higher priority than BG&E2. I'd even say there's a good chance BG&E2 may end up with major plan changes by the time it gets unfrozen (like cancellation).

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #17 on: May 01, 2009, 03:26:52 PM »
=D

BGE2 would interfere with Ubi's success.
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Offline broodwars

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #18 on: May 01, 2009, 03:34:05 PM »
It would be nice if Nintendo addressed this but since they became number one again they don't seem to make any attempt to improve third party support.  They never really were very good at it or appeared to be dedicated towards it before but in the past you at least got the occasional "token effort" third party deal.  Have we gotten ANYTHING like that at all where Nintendo made some deal to get such-and-such game on the Wii?  Unacceptably lousy third party support is with a doubt the number one issue with the Wii.

Well, in all fairness I'd say backroom deals probably had to be done between Nintendo and Square to get DQ X on Wii (and mind you, that could be subject to change.  The Wii's graphics could be easily emulated by either of the next-gen machines, and it's not like DQ X will likely do anything interesting control-wise given the history of the franchise).  But that's all that comes to mind.
« Last Edit: May 01, 2009, 03:36:58 PM by broodwars »
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Offline GoldenPhoenix

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #19 on: May 01, 2009, 03:39:40 PM »
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Well, in all fairness I'd say backroom deals probably had to be done between Nintendo and Square to get DQ X on Wii (and mind you, that could be subject to change.

Yeah, ok. Any proof for this? Could it because Square supports the market leader with a DQ title since, well, the beginning? Baseless speculation FTW. I just love whining even when games that DISPROVE points made by a particular user are proven false. I suppose Monster Hunter 3 was a backdoor deal as well? Or perhaps Tiger Woods is a backdoor deal with Nintendo and EA. Perhaps Sin and Punishment 2 is a backdoor deal between Treasure and Nintendo? Oh yeah that new Silent Hill game was a backdoor deal as well from Konami and Nintendo. Boom Blox Bash Party is DEFINATELY a back door deal between Nintendo and EA. Heck I'd say the CoD series is completely backdoor deals as well.

That's right ignore the good to great 3rd party support that is coming up VERY soon and pretend everything sucks from 3rd parties. And whenever something comes up that counters that point, pretend it is because of back door deals. Now I know why I intentionally ignore posts from the Ian/Brood duo. Whenever we see good to great 3rd party support it is "token" game even if there is about one or two coming out each month.
« Last Edit: May 01, 2009, 03:58:22 PM by GoldenPhoenix »
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Offline broodwars

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #20 on: May 01, 2009, 04:11:51 PM »
Quote
Well, in all fairness I'd say backroom deals probably had to be done between Nintendo and Square to get DQ X on Wii (and mind you, that could be subject to change.

Yeah, ok. Any proof for this? Could it because Square supports the market leader with a DQ title since, well, the beginning? Baseless speculation FTW. I just love whining even when games that DISPROVE points made by a particular user are proven false. I suppose Monster Hunter 3 was a backdoor deal as well? Or perhaps Tiger Woods is a backdoor deal with Nintendo and EA. Perhaps Sin and Punishment 2 is a backdoor deal between Treasure and Nintendo? Oh yeah that new Silent Hill game was a backdoor deal as well from Konami and Nintendo. Boom Blox Bash Party is DEFINATELY a back door deal between Nintendo and EA. Heck I'd say the CoD series is completely backdoor deals as well.

That's right ignore the good to great 3rd party support that is coming up VERY soon and pretend everything sucks from 3rd parties. And whenever something comes up that counters that point, pretend it is because of back door deals. Now I know why I intentionally ignore posts from the Ian/Brood duo. Whenever we see good to great 3rd party support it is "token" game even if there is about one or two coming out each month.

Geez, talk about going ballistic over nothing, Golden Phoenix.  I just said I couldn't think of another major 3rd party title acquisition Nintendo had managed, not that there weren't any.  And incidentally, you can't use EA sports or party titles as an example because they develop for EVERYBODY (as I should KNOW considering I work for them...QA Tester, and no I can't talk about it.) without any real discrimination.  Besides, last time I checked people weren't falling over themselves to pick up Boom Blox on Wii when it came out last year.  If you want to bring up EA, bring up Dead Space: Extraction because while it looks like a total cash grab (Dead Space was largely notable last year for probably failing the least of EA's 3 big new IPs last fall, despite being completely awesome) it also looks pretty good.

And Sin & Punishment 2 could be very awesome, but it's also very niche and unlikely to sell in major amounts so I left it out of consideration on this matter since we're talking about major AAA 3rd party titles.  As for Silent Hill, yeah I did forget that one.  But considering it's going to PS2 and PSP as well it's not that big an acquisition on the scale of something like DQ X which is Wii-exclusive.

Considering Square can't be bothered to take the leap to put a real Final Fantasy game or any other notable Square-Enix franchise on Wii, I think my supposition isn't completely out of the realm of speculation.  It's not like these two companies haven't made deals between each other before (such as when Crystal Chronicles got created).
« Last Edit: May 01, 2009, 08:47:06 PM by broodwars »
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Offline Deguello

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #21 on: May 02, 2009, 01:53:54 AM »
I don't know what else Nintendo can do for third parties besides be the #1 platform and not really regulate what third parties want to make on Wii.  That seemed to be all they cared about in every previous generation until this one.  Now suddenly its about comparing demographics and trying to "understand" the Wii, which is like trying to "understand" a hamburger.  Just eat it.

All of this posturing and "testing" and experimenting actually has a bad effect on third party reputations on the market leader.  I mean seriously, just imagine that you've never played a game and go into a Wal-mart and judged the quality of the games.  You'll see Super Mario Galaxy on one end and see Imagine Party Babiez.  Ah, though here's a game that looks interesting, Far Cry!  Awesome!  You play it and basically swear UBISoft can't make games worth ****.  Your gamer buddy Deguello even told you to stick with the first party games because third parties make terrible Wii games.  Fast cut to the future, Nintendo is pulling down billions with their non-focus-tested, full effort games while third parties struggle to understand why the sequels to their Wii Sports ripoffs don't take off.

Now to be fair, Golden Phoenix is right.  There is a treasure trove of compelling software from some third parties coming and it probably will get better.  But right now it's like there is some kind of embargo set against the Wii that they never get many big time titles or big time effort, despite the logical and financial impetus to do so.  Case in point, Square Enix, who seems to like their lackluster and disappointing performance on the 360, when Fantasy Crystal Chronicles on the GC outperformed everything the 360 did and that led to noting at all.  Non-advertised games like Tales of Symphonia 2 have even outperformed big time S-E exclusives for the 360.  The message is pretty crystal clear.  Make RPGs for the Wii, because even random Wii owners buying randomly has sold more games than direct advertisement to hardcore 360 owners.  I can't think of any reason why they haven't other than they just hate the Wii, regard anything having to with the Wii with a sense of resentment and obligation, and will do anything in their power to delay, obfuscate, and sabotage their own games just to create a reason to no make them anymore.

This turned into a 3rd party rant, but it's hard not to when they keep getting things wrong, and seem to be acting stupid on purpose.
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Offline Infernal Monkey

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #22 on: May 02, 2009, 02:02:39 AM »

Offline broodwars

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #23 on: May 02, 2009, 02:06:56 AM »
The thing about Square-Enix is that they are the antithesis of everything Nintendo preaches: they place great emphasis on presentation and expanding the immersion of the player and storytelling through every technical and cinematic trick in the book.  Nintendo doesn't build consoles that can handle what Square-Enix really wants to do, hence why we get Dragon Quest X (the series that prides itself by looking and playing like a glorified 8-bit game) and not Final Fantasy XIII vs. Wii or some such thing.  If Nintendo wants Square's support, they're going to have to build a console that can do what Square wants to do.  Combine that with previous bad blood between the two companies from the SNES->N64 days and I think you have the reason why we never get Square-Enix's AAA titles (Dragon Quest IX and X nonwithstanding).
« Last Edit: May 02, 2009, 02:09:01 AM by broodwars »
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Offline Kairon

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Re: Ubisoft's Profits Rise Thanks to Wii
« Reply #24 on: May 02, 2009, 04:30:11 AM »
You'll see Super Mario Galaxy on one end and see Imagine Party Babiez.  Ah, though here's a game that looks interesting, Far Cry!  Awesome!  You play it and basically swear UBISoft can't make games worth ****.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Far Cry was THE BEST FPS on the Wii at launch, better than both Red Steel and COD3. I loved it. The graphics were pretty horrid, but don't let that get in the way of good straightforward fun. I started playing Far Cry in the middle of playing Twilight princess... and didn't pick Zelda back up until I had beaten Far Cry.

The thing about Square-Enix is that they are the antithesis of everything Nintendo preaches: they place great emphasis on presentation and expanding the immersion of the player and storytelling through every technical and cinematic trick in the book.  Nintendo doesn't build consoles that can handle what Square-Enix really wants to do

Interestingly enough, can't the same also be said of Rareware of old?
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