Topic: Ubisoft rationalizes their current support for Wii

[Morari]

Maybe it's just because that version of DDR had tolerable music for a change?

[Ian Sane]

Ian likes a game that has mario was shoe horned into/whored out to??

 

I got flack for supporting the idea when it was annouced, too.  To me it seems like a cool crossover between companies and franchises which is different than "Mario does random activity".  I liked the idea of a Mario/Sonic crossover as well but thought that an Olympic game was a lame idea to frame it around.  Fortunately Brawl made up for that.

To me that's what "whoring out" IPs should be saved for.  Something big like Link in Soul Calibur.  Mario in dull EA Sports game no one will remember a month later is not.  It's got to be the sort of thing that fanboys dream of.  A Mario RPG made by Square?  Now that's a fanboy dream game.  A Mario-themed pinball game?  Who thinks about stuff like that aside from Nintendo execs in a boardroom?

A full-on Nintendo themed DDR with themes from numerous Nintendo franchises would probably be huge.

[Luigi Dude]

A full-on Nintendo themed DDR with themes from numerous Nintendo franchises would probably be huge.

Yes, someone else supports the idea.  A Smash Bros DDR game would be an amazing idea.  As Smash Bros Brawl proved, there's so many Nintendo songs that can be remixed in so many different ways, that the possibilities are endless.

Plus we'd finally get to see Captain Falcon show us his moves.

[DAaaMan64]

Hottest Parties music selection SUCKS. So please bring it on.

[Kairon]

Plus we'd finally get to see Captain Falcon show us his moves.

May not want.

[Spak-Spang]

Nintendo needs to capitalize on how much it spent on collecting all the Nintendo Music in Brawl.

Some sort of awesome Nintendo themed music or rythme game with the entire Brawl Music library would be kickass fantastic.

Nintendo make this happen...please.  Heck.  Go run and propose the idea for Rock Band or Guitar Hero IV as exclusive downloadable content, or packaged in the game to begin with. 

[Galford]

"Nintendo make this happen...please.  Heck.  Go run and propose the idea for Rock Band or Guitar Hero IV as exclusive downloadable content, or packaged in the game to begin with.  "

Sorry the Wii really doesn't have the storage space to do that.
I really don't this happening anytime soon.

The only good thing to come out of the Ubisoft announcement is all photoshops that will be on display over at neogaf...

[Kairon]

What about Wii Music?

[animecyberrat]

What about Wii Music?

Vaporware.



EDIT:


In all seriousness though, Wii Music does not seam like it would fulfill the fantasy being described by Spak here.

[Ian Sane]

Some sort of awesome Nintendo themed music or rythme game with the entire Brawl Music library would be kickass fantastic.

I fully endorse the idea on one condition: they don't go lazy on it.  If they just grab the song tracks right from Brawl with no remixes and no new songs added then I'm less interested.  I would like to see a full effort with careful song selection.  It would also like it if they really embraced the different eras.  I want to see a song from the SNES Star Fox with old SFX graphics in the background.  There is a clear retro stuff in SSB but it seems limited to the really big franchises.  I'd like it if I could get dead-on chip tune versions of songs and also modern arranged versions.

Damn, now I'm getting excited about this idea.  See Nintendo?  This is what I mean by a "dream game".  Put yourself in the shoes of the consumer and think about what kind of franchise spinoff would get people hyping themselves up for months or even years before release.  Note that SSB does that while Mario Water Polo doesn't.

Regarding Wii Music I think the concept suffers from the use of the remote.  I don't think pretending the remote is an instrument is really what people want.  That's not far removed from playing DDR with the controller.  Guitar Hero works because the controller is a freakin' guitar!  Rock Band with people "miming" instruments using remotes would not be as cool.  So if Nintendo made the OMEGA NINTENDO RHYTHM GAME some sort of special controller would really help.  Or make it DDR.

[Kairon]

Actually, one of the best things about Donkey Konga was that Latin remix of Zelda. SO AWESOME.

[Deguello]

I think we need to bring this thread in for a landing and stop talking about which Mario spinoffs Ian is alright with and which ones he isn't.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/ubisoft-s-rob-cooper

Listen to how he describes Wii gamers.

"Q: With regards to the Wii, Ubisoft seems to be one of the few third-party publishers seeing successful software sales. Is it hard convincing the consumer there's more to the machine that mini-games?

Rob Cooper: The success of the Wii is phenomenal in the UK. David Yarnton (Nintendo's UK MD) and his team there have done amazing work. With the software itself, you've got to get the right sort of game. It's not a hardcore machine. As it's a family-orientated machine it attracts a slightly different consumer – someone who is price savvy, someone who doesn't buy a lot of software. The other issue is the amount of games on a disc. Wii Sports, Wii Play have got ten games, so the Wii gamer sees value for money. If you look at the software on the Wii, we've got to find ways of doing better and doing more sales, because it's hard to get the casual consumer who has bought those two games and is happy with them. We've got to get them to go out and buy more games, encourage them with new titles. "

You know it's one thing to be mistaken about the kind of gamers use the Wii and the kind of games they are looking for.  But to say an OUTRIGHT LIE like this boggles the mind.  Wii owners don't buy much software?  They've bought more than the PS3 at least!  Either he's lying and insulting or he's just ignorant.  At this pouint, I don't care which.

[Yoshidious]

The big disconnect between Ubisoft's rhetoric and reality is that the Wii userbase is not only already large, but as it grows, it's only getting more and more diverse, much the same as with the DS experience. So it's just foolish to try and characterise millions of consumers who have purchased a Wii for various different reasons as one homogeneous bloc, but this seems to be what Ubisoft is saying. They assert that it is necessary to develop these kinds of games to succeed on Wii, but it is obvious from software sales that there are other ways to succeed on the platform, and also that even the low-cost casual market is not without risk of failure.

I have no doubt that there are Wii owners who seldom buy software as described in the quote above, but to imply that they are the only kind of Wii owner (or even the predominant kind) just doesn't fly. Ubisoft should be candid enough to say that they are choosing to target this particular kind of Wii owner with their lineup, rather than insinuating that they've somehow been forced into it because they're the only Wii owners out there to target. 

[bustin98]

You can't have 25 million users and all of them 'casual'.

[Adrock]

I know I can't speak for everyone but I've purchased more games for the Wii in the year and a half since I've had it than in the first year and half of every other piece of hardware I've ever owned. Admittedly, I have more money now, but I have more bills to pay so it kind of balances out. Essentially, what that guy said is total BS. If there were more games I was interested in on the Wii, I'd probably have them already.

Ubisoft should be candid enough to say that they are choosing to target this particular kind of Wii owner with their lineup, rather than insinuating that they've somehow been forced into it because they're the only Wii owners out there to target.

Preach it.

[GoldenPhoenix]

The Wii is proof that expanding your audience and trying something unique can equal sales. Yet 3rd parties aren't trying to diversify the lineup in order to expand it, in a way it is contradictory to what has made Wii a great success. Also I agree Adrock, I've bought more games for Wii than any of my other systems COMBINED. I love the Wii lineup and there are some true gems in it.

[Kairon]

You know it's one thing to be mistaken about the kind of gamers use the Wii and the kind of games they are looking for.  But to say an OUTRIGHT LIE like this boggles the mind.  Wii owners don't buy much software?  They've bought more than the PS3 at least!  Either he's lying and insulting or he's just ignorant.  At this pouint, I don't care which.

Yeah. The fact is that the Wii is starting to sell more monthly software than the XBox 360 (the latest American NPDs hint this strongly), and that the Wii shipped software tie ratio is stronger than the PS3s and very healthy. The only reason why it isn't as high as the XBox 360's is because the XBox 360's tie ratio is artificially inflated due to increasingly lackluster hardware sales in the U.S. market (as with everywhere else), causing a stalling and gentrification of that market segment.

[DAaaMan64]

I know I can't speak for everyone but I've purchased more games for the Wii in the year and a half since I've had it than in the first year and half of every other piece of hardware I've ever owned.

QFT

[Kairon]

I know I can't speak for everyone but I've purchased more games for the Wii in the year and a half since I've had it than in the first year and half of every other piece of hardware I've ever owned.

QFT

You guys already know I don't need to add my voice to the mix don't you?

[animecyberrat]

just one more reason to hate not having any money to spend on games. I determined that the reason I stopped playing my Wii everyday was because I got tired of the 5 games I own. Anyways I made the mistake of buying Red Steel on the assumption that if it did well then it would contribute to the Wii getting more hardcore support and it didn't seam to click.

[Flames_of_chaos]

Well guess what guys Ubisoft is going to publish a good Wii game exclusive in America and PAL Tenchu IV Tenchu V and Tenchu VI are announced but the platform is TBA. If anyone is doubting Tenchu the original team came back and are developing it.


- main characters are Rikimaru (the white-haired guy) and Ayame (the girl)
- the story is set 1 year after the riots caused by the Witchcraft Lord "Tenrai". Some troubled activities still remain uncovered on the Gouda territory, and the forces behind these activities are starting to gain in power. In addition, another incident related to the abduction of the princess Kiku (Lord Gouda Matsunoshin's daughter) occurred in the meantime. In the end, it's up to the ninja Rikimaru, one of the most faithful Gouda servant, to investigate these incidents...
- it's basically a "Stealth Ninja Action Game", so the best key words that could describe this game's mechanics are : "Sneaking" and "Assassinating".
- the graphical production, the action, as well as every dramatic aspect have been considerably improved for this new entry. Could apparently be "the epitome of the series".
- refreshed character design, and a new set of actors too.
- the specificities of each character lie essentially in their many killing techniques, which are each emphasised with their own "assassination cutscene".
- perform various classic spy moves, such as hiding in water, climbing on ceilings and sneaking on ceiling boards, hiding in dark corners, transporting and dissimulating bodies, hiding inside the baggage of itinerant caravans to sneak inside heavily guarded places,...and many other possibilities, including moves entirely new to the series.
- Use your spy moves freely to hide yourself, collect informations, and strike when you find an opportunity ; these are, basically, the very foundations of the infiltration gameplay.
- A series of screenshots shows a special move allowing you to throw an enemy's body directly into a water pond right after killing him, thus hiding the body.
-"using various ninja tools (smoke bombs, shurikens,...) has always been one of the series strength, and this time is no different". In fact,it looks like this time around, the functionalities of these items will be based around the fact that you'll also be able to use these in combination with the Wiimote and nunchuk motion controls/pointer. We will apparently be able to learn more about about that in an upcoming issue.
- seems like the official site "www.tenchu.net" will be updated on June 7th with infos on the game.

[Kairon]

So Ubisoft likes distributing traditional titles, but not making them?

[Flames_of_chaos]

Well Kairon atleast it's support. Ubi always loves localizing things they localized a decent amount of japanese games on the 360 as well. The last Tenchu publisher in America was Activision(Sony era), Microsoft(co-published,360 tenchu) and Nintendo (tenchu DS). I know in Europe Ubi localized/published/distributed a good amount of NamcoBandai and square-enix games.

Some conference shots for Tenchu IV

Official Trailer LOOKS AMAZING!
Website

[Kairon]

I'll say it's a good thing that Ubisoft likes localizing... but they didn't do much advertising for NMH. Hopefully we can expect more from them, in both commitment, and the number and success of their localized titles, in the future.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I'll say it's a good thing that Ubisoft likes localizing... but they didn't do much advertising for NMH. Hopefully we can expect more from them, in both commitment, and the number and success of their localized titles, in the future.

I think that is way too much to hope for unless it is "Chinese Babyz" the game.