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.
*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.
*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.
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.
QuoteGames 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.)
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.
*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.
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?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.
QuoteI 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.
"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.
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.
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.
QuoteWell, 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.
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 ****.
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
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).
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?
QuoteThe 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.
But this wasn't true of them before this generation, they didn't care about power, which is why they made most of their games for the market-leading market leader. They didn't give a rat's ass about demographics. And to tell the truth, it's not really true today, considering they've released most of their games on the DS, which is... well the weakest system out today (funny that nobody seems to care now.) Is that handling S-E's "vision?"
QuoteIf 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).
The DS? I could have sworn Square Enix would have wanted for more graphical graphics to tell stories with. Maybe it's because when the DS took off, S-E ADAPTED to the market's wants as opposed to leading a Pickett's charge into debt for the sake of Sony fans.
Bad blood means little if anything today. If anything the GOOD blood between S-E and Sony has led to this strange loyalty to them that is counterproductive and inflating costs out the wazoo. Seriously, just two PS3 games seem to be dictating their entire course. Like there is an internal war between two factions. The PS3 team (FFXIII and that other game), and everybody else. Could you imagine if FFXIII had been announced as a Wii game in 2006. It'd probably be out now, with no need to gouge fans for asking full price for a demo disc. And probably that other game too. And maybe they'd actually have some spare time for a few side projects, and maybe some of those side projects could be great games. But instead we have this monolithic FFXIII that is lording over everything else, drawing resources while a WIDE OPEN MARKET, WHICH HAPPENS TO BE THE BIGGEST, is left untapped for... some reason.
It was perfectly true before this generation. The GameCube and the N64 before it had major issues with insufficient storage.
It was perfectly true before this generation. The GameCube and the N64 before it had major issues with insufficient storage. You couldn't put FMV (at least in the amount that Square uses) or whatnot on the N64 and still have room for a game, and with the GameCube mini-discs you're looking at using a fair number of discs to do one game. And mind you, even setting that aside you have to deal with the fact that Nintendo has never been fond of the RPG genre outside of the Mario RPGs and (in Japan) the Earthbound/Mother franchise.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3612/3285658954_a70be910e8.jpg?v=0)
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