Author Topic: EA CEO Frustrated by Low Wii Sales (Read 39745 times)

NWR_Neal · « **on:** November 10, 2009, 06:14:36 AM »

John Riccitiello wants Nintendo to release more first-party titles to spur interest in the platform.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=20289

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello discussed the company's low Wii sales in an investor conference call last night. He noted that he was frustrated with the poor performance of EA software on the platform, despite what he considers to be the best third-party lineup on the console.

Riccitiello described the Wii market overall to be "weaker than.anticipated," which made it especially frustrating since EA has what is, in his opinion, "the strongest third-party share" of any company creating games for the platform.

He cited that his products are the most highly-rated and highest revenue-producing of any third-party Wii publisher, yet they are still not performing at a desired level.

He placed part of the blame on Nintendo themselves. He noted that Nintendo's lack of major first-party releases throughout the year have failed to generate sustained interest in the Wii platform, and that Nintendo needs to increase its partnering with third parties at retail and push third-party software harder in general.

He particularly lamented the struggles of multiplatform Wii titles, commenting that "the opportunity exists to find different ways to partner with first party in this case to sort of help establish in the minds of the consumer legitimacy of some of these other brands when they are going out multiplatform because very, very few multiplatform titles are succeeding on the Wii."

He also considers Asian markets a lost cause for Western third parties, estimating that of the console's 50 million plus userbase, 10 million (i.e. Japan and the rest of Asia) are virtually unreachable. Riccitiello was very frank in this regard, stating "I dont think any of the Western companies are likely to participate much at all on the Wii platform in Japan, so the addressable market we see is just a little bit below 40 million."

He did, however, reiterate that he considered this to still be "an important opportunity".

GoldenPhoenix · « **Reply #1 on:** November 10, 2009, 02:36:12 PM »

Maybe they could, I dunno, advertise their games? Seriously they released a high quality game in Dead Space Extraction but no one even knew about it coming out!

Stogi · « **Reply #2 on:** November 10, 2009, 02:38:41 PM »

Or maybe, they could not completely change the game for the Wii? No matter how good it is, it's a completely different game.

Peachylala · « **Reply #3 on:** November 10, 2009, 02:41:10 PM »

It's a sad state in gamedom when us Nintendo fans know what is truly wrong yet third excuse makers can't wrap their tiny little brains around it.

It is almost like the game of Frogger. We, the fans, are the cars/trucks/alligators; third excuse makers are Frogger and Nintendo is the holes at the top of the stage.

I wonder if Ms. Pac-Man is a better game to compare?

BranDonk Kong · « **Reply #4 on:** November 10, 2009, 02:41:33 PM »

Or they could just shut the **** up. Seriously though, it's simple. Make a great game. Advertise the game. Sell the game. OBVIOUSLY doing stupid **** like "All Play" and giving games like Madden '10 "character" only *hurt* sales. Putting some effort into making a game, and then advertising it can make a big impact. Tiger Woods sells more on Wii than the other consoles, same with Guitar Hero.

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #5 on:** November 10, 2009, 02:42:26 PM »

EA Exec should be frustrated with the poor performance of EA's promotion of their own products.

3rd parties are lazy? Is that it? They expect the console maker to do the advertising for them? TOUGH LUCK, THIS ISN'T THE SAME MONEYHAT GENERATION LIKE WE HAD LAST TIME.

Nice to know that even XSEED can compete with EA on these conditions.

Stogi · « **Reply #6 on:** November 10, 2009, 02:43:53 PM »

I don't know what Nintendo needs to do other than sell systems.

They have a price drop and an instant classic this winter. What else do you want EA?!

Peachylala · « **Reply #7 on:** November 10, 2009, 02:45:23 PM »

A power pallet?

A fire flower?

Talking pizza?

The list can go on and on and on and on... and on.

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #8 on:** November 10, 2009, 02:47:07 PM »

"Talking pizza?"

Wow.

Peachylala · « **Reply #9 on:** November 10, 2009, 02:52:20 PM »

TMNT The Arcade Game says hello.

I don't even think the EA CEO is capable of saving April from her burning apartment building, with giant cannon balls falling from the stairs.

GK · « **Reply #10 on:** November 10, 2009, 02:52:48 PM »

This on the heels of EA announcing layoffs today...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=acHpsnkxuIOc

So.. it's the first party's fault that the 3rd party doesn't have a best seller? Wait what?

Stogi · « **Reply #11 on:** November 10, 2009, 02:54:50 PM »

It's all a ploy to keep stock high...

sigh.

NWR_Neal · « **Reply #12 on:** November 10, 2009, 02:59:11 PM »

Quote from: Brandogg on November 10, 2009, 02:41:33 PM

OBVIOUSLY doing stupid **** like "All Play" and giving games like Madden '10 "character" only *hurt* sales. Putting some effort into making a game

You contradict yourself a bit. EA did put effort into the Madden games. They put effort to make them unique and something different than a the PS2 game with waggle.

I don't think All Play and "character" hurt sales for Madden. I'm pretty sure it has to do with the fact that loyal Madden players developed on PS2 and branched out to the PS3 or 360. Even if Madden Wii was miraculously the same game as the HD versions, I think it'd be selling the same, maybe even worse.
Personally, I love what EA Sports is doing on Wii. Tiger Woods is great, Madden 10 was the best Wii version yet, and FIFA 10 is awesome.

Now Dead Space: Extraction on the other hand. EA just dropped the ball on that.

Ian Sane · « **Reply #13 on:** November 10, 2009, 03:04:55 PM »

I suppose EA would be one of the more competent Wii third parties but, seriously, that's just being the best of the worst. And while Dead Space: Extraction could be the best game in the world the sheer fact that it's a re-worked on-rails shooter of a PS360 game is insulting to its target market. It says "you're not worthy of the REAL game so we have to alter it for your needs." Maybe that's because of the hardware restrictions but it still gives the impression that for whatever reason we have to be treated differently. That stigma doomed the game from day one.

Though I do agree that there has been a significant lack of major first-party releases throughout the year. Off the top of my head I can think of only four Wii games made by Nintendo for the whole year that are not a port or enhanced remake or special edition (Wii Fit Plus). In the beginning of the year they pretty much were releasing NPC titles and NOTHING else. The output comes across as complacent, that they assume that the Wii is such a big deal that they don't have to really put much of an effort into it.

Overall though I feel that the blame is shared between Nintendo and the third parties. It really comes across that all involved parties are half-assing it and then pointing fingers when they get the poor results one would expect.

Peachylala · « **Reply #14 on:** November 10, 2009, 03:06:44 PM »

Nintendo isn't to blame for Highly Dramatic flops that cause Highly Dramatic layoffs. It's Highly Disappointing.

God I love the letters HD now.

vudu · « **Reply #15 on:** November 10, 2009, 03:09:30 PM »

Quote from: NWR_Neal on November 10, 2009, 02:59:11 PM

You contradict yourself a bit. EA did put effort into the Madden games. They put effort to make them unique and something different than a the PS2 game with waggle.

I don't think All Play and "character" hurt sales for Madden. I'm pretty sure it has to do with the fact that loyal Madden players developed on PS2 and branched out to the PS3 or 360. Even if Madden Wii was miraculously the same game as the HD versions, I think it'd be selling the same, maybe even worse.
Personally, I love what EA Sports is doing on Wii. Tiger Woods is great, Madden 10 was the best Wii version yet, and FIFA 10 is awesome.

But EA didn't bother to tell anyone with a Wii why they should care about the game. We've already established that typical Madden fans will buy the 360 or PS3 version. But what about all the potential fans on Wii? I'm talking about the people who don't buy Madden games because they're too complicated. What about the dads who love football but don't buy football games because the controls are confusing? Or the gamers who want to actually play Madden casually? These people don't typically buy Madden because every button has several contextual functions that are confusing unless you put a lot of time and energy into memorizing how to play. At the same time they don't want to buy a dumbed-down or incomplete version of the game.

If EA advertised that this was the full Madden experience with easier to pick-up-and-play controls they would create a new market for the game. But like you, they believe that there isn't a huge market for the game on Wii so they don't put forth the effort or advertising dollars necessary to ensure the game is a hit.

Halbred · « **Reply #16 on:** November 10, 2009, 03:12:58 PM »

EA certainly dropped the ball on Extraction big time.

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #17 on:** November 10, 2009, 03:14:21 PM »

It's a serious crime against themselves when they put in the time and effort that they did on DSE and even the gamers on the forums across the internet that were waiting for the game to be released didn't know it was out yet.
Yet they have the nerve to say that it's Nintendo's fault that EA themselves didn't inform the general and enthusiast public that one of their games was infact being released. There was not a single television ad for the game or even an announcement from PR abiout the game .

NWR_Neal · « **Reply #18 on:** November 10, 2009, 03:15:00 PM »

It goes back to the 500 Copies Roundtable. Companies complain that games don't sell on the Wii, but they don't put their best foot forward to pimp it.

Although I don't recall seeing much ad support for Madden at all this year. Maybe this is a bigger issue that has to be with flailing economy?

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #19 on:** November 10, 2009, 03:23:03 PM »

EA just spent $250million to buy a company that makes games for Facebook, this is on the same day that they laid off 1500 workers. I'm not saying that the 2 are related, but it certainly shows that EA has the resources to advertise their games if they have enough money to acquire yet another company.

vudu · « **Reply #20 on:** November 10, 2009, 03:28:30 PM »

Quote from: NWR_Neal on November 10, 2009, 03:15:00 PM

Although I don't recall seeing much ad support for Madden at all this year. Maybe this is a bigger issue that has to be with flailing economy?

EA doesn't really need to advertise typical Madden games. The people who buy them know that August is Madden month.

They only need to advertise the game if they're trying to sell to a market that doesn't already buy their games (see my previous post).

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #21 on:** November 10, 2009, 03:32:19 PM »

Quote from: BlackNMild2k1 on November 10, 2009, 03:23:03 PM

EA just spent $250million to buy a company that makes games for Facebook, this is on the same day that they laid off 1500 workers. I'm not saying that the 2 are related, but it certainly shows that EA has the resources to advertise their games if they have enough money to acquire yet another company.

That makes me hope they get negative game sales next month.

NinGurl69 *huggles · « **Reply #22 on:** November 10, 2009, 03:33:57 PM »

Quote from: vudu on November 10, 2009, 03:28:30 PM

Quote from: NWR_Neal on November 10, 2009, 03:15:00 PM
Although I don't recall seeing much ad support for Madden at all this year. Maybe this is a bigger issue that has to be with flailing economy?

EA doesn't really need to advertise typical Madden games. The people who buy them know that August is Madden month.

They only need to advertise the game if they're trying to sell to a market that doesn't already buy their games (see my previous post).

So where was their Boom Blox advertising blitz?

NWR_Neal · « **Reply #23 on:** November 10, 2009, 03:36:36 PM »

Quote from: vudu on November 10, 2009, 03:28:30 PM

Quote from: NWR_Neal on November 10, 2009, 03:15:00 PM
Although I don't recall seeing much ad support for Madden at all this year. Maybe this is a bigger issue that has to be with flailing economy?

EA doesn't really need to advertise typical Madden games. The people who buy them know that August is Madden month.

They only need to advertise the game if they're trying to sell to a market that doesn't already buy their games (see my previous post).

You're right, but I do recall seeing more Madden advertisements in the past. I usually watch a lot of ESPN, especially during the NFL/MLB overlap period, and I'm bombarded with Madden ads in August. Looking back, this year I noticed a lack of ads.

I'm not even trying to defend EA. I feel that they made their bed and now they have to lie in it. I'm trying to figure out why they don't bother advertising games, and the only answer I'm coming up with besides ignorance is ad budget cuts.

EDIT: And if we're talking about Boom Blox, I was still floored at how little love that game got. I went to an event for it about a week before it came out and they restricted us heavily. We could only write a preview based on a little amount of information. I have no idea why.

UncleBob · « **Reply #24 on:** November 10, 2009, 03:36:55 PM »

Man, where are the good old days.
You remember... when third parties used to blame Nintendo for releasing really great games and hogging all the sales.

Now, third parties are mad at Nintendo for not releasing games?

Me am Bizarro?

News:

Author Topic: EA CEO Frustrated by Low Wii Sales (Read 39745 times)