Topic: Madden Skipping Wii U in 2013

[NWR_Neal]

Truly, Nintendo and EA have an unprecedented partnership.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/34079

The Madden series will not be appearing on Wii U in 2013, according to an EA Sports representative.

After speculation that the system would miss out on this year's Madden NFL 25, it is now confirmed that the series will skip Nintendo platforms for the first time since 1991.

Last year, a version of Madden NFL 13 came out for both Wii and Wii U. The Nintendo 64, GameCube, and Wii all had versions of Madden throughout their lives. In 2011, the 3DS launched with a version of Madden, and after that, EA confirmed that the series was not appearing on Nintendo's portable again.

The official statement from EA Sports is: "We will not be releasing a Wii U version of Madden NFL in 2013. However, we have a strong partnership with Nintendo and will continue to evaluate opportunities for delivering additional Madden NFL products for Nintendo fans in the future."

[Pajamas]

This is getting ridiculous.

[supergtt]

why would they? it would move like, 20k units.

[Shaymin]

"However, we have a strong partnership with Nintendo"

That man's nose must be the length of a football field. Hell, a *CFL* field.

[NWR_Neal]

"However, we have a strong partnership with Nintendo"

That man's nose must be the length of a football field. Hell, a *CFL* field.

Can't fault PR reps for corporate speak. Do you even any idea how many people probably needed to approve that statement?

[pokepal148]

EA, you need to get your heads out of your asses here... you are honestly a joke right now

[lolmonade]

EA, you need to get your heads out of your asses here... you are honestly a joke right now

I'd say the blame lays more in Nintendo's hands than EA.  EA obviously doesn't think a copy of madden would sell well enough with Wii U's current install base.  They're a business, and if they're smart, they'll avoid investments with a bad ROI.

[Retro Deckades]

To be honest, this wouldn't bother me so much if EA would outright admit that their relationship with Nintendo is pure crap. It's insulting as all hell when they try to pass something like "However, we have a strong partnership with Nintendo" off as truth.

[Shorty McNostril]

Not surprising in the slightest.

[ShyGuy]

A bummer for some people, I'm sure, but not for me. Madden is getting Tony-Hawked anyway.

[zenspath]

And this is perfect evidence of why EA shouldn't be allowed to have a monopoly on the NFL.  They get upset because they didn't get their way and now they LITERALLY take their ball and go home.  They spent that money because the last time this happened, Sega made a football game that was sold cheaper, and played better, than what they had been doing.

[broodwars]

I see people starting to throw a fit already, but let's face it: why SHOULD EA release Madden on Wii U this year? The console's been a massive flop all year, with even console exclusives selling in underwhelming numbers. Why should EA take a risk on a game all evidence (most notably the sub-10K sales of their own Need for Speed Wii U) points to them having to take a total bath on?  If the Wii U had a decent install base, that would have justified a port, but it doesn't. Maybe next year, the Wii U will be something other than a total monetary black hole and we'll see a Madden port on it.

That said, that whole "we have a strong partnership with Nintendo" line has to be the funniest piece of B.S. I've seen in weeks.

[Shorty McNostril]

It's a very strong "Love-Hate relationship".  EA LOVES to HATE Nintendo.

[nickmitch]

This is really a shame. The game that's literally on every system is skipping this system.

[NWR_Lindy]

The opportunity to make money makes everybody put their feelings to the side. Obviously EA doesn't feel that there's money to be made here.

[xcwarrior]

If Nintendo was smart, they would do a Nintendo All Stars Football game. Put characters from each franchise they have into it.

It would sell millions. No, really, it would. They need to forget the Japan fanbase, or have Retro do it. Or Next Level games. But make an American Football game already. With little effort (online play) it would be better than Madden.

[Phil]

"They get upset because they didn't get their way and now they LITERALLY take their ball and go home."

Literally at the speed of light.

[O_Be_1]

EA never gave the system a chance. Madden 13 on Wii U was released 2 months after Xbox and PS. Very few people will buy an old ported game. The game is also a worse port of the Xbox/ps versions. If you played madden 13 on Xbox, then play it on wii u, 2 things immediately stand out. The Wii U's version frame rate is horrible when compared as well as graphics appear jagged and blurry in comparison. You wouldn't know it unless you owned both copies of the game (which I do). I know it's not because of the wii u's hardware since the Wii U's version of need for speed looks better than the Xbox/ps3 versions and is almost identical to the PC version. The Wii U madden 13 version took only 6 months to complete and it showed.

Long story short, EA releases a low grade product, and bail after a couple months.

[ShyGuy]

Hey, is the new Madden coming to Vita?

[deshayzilla]

Hey they didn't say anything about releasing a Wii port of the game  : . I am probably the only person who liked Madden 13 for the Wii. But honestly the latest releases are getting too realistic and dull. The Wii versions remind me of Madden for the ps2, colorful and fun. So what if it didn't look realistic, at least it had gameplay.

[the asylum]

This is surprising.

And by surprising I mean incredibly predictable.

[alegoicoe]

screw EA and their shark tactics

[Fjurbanski]

EA's right. The number of people who own a Wii U who would also buy Madden is very small.


^{(because madden isn't very good)}

[Pixelated Pixies]

I find it difficult to believe that EA wouldn't make money by porting the game to Wii U (even if it was a bad port). I don't want to trivialise how much work goes into porting a game, but even with Wii U's limited install base I would think they would sell enough copies to justify the cost.
 
I would absolutely love to know the specifics of what happened between Nintendo and EA in the run up to the launch of the Wii U. The were lots of rumours at the time that Nintendo had been working with EA to build their online infrastructure but that those talks fell through. Whether or not that's true, know one really knows; but clearly something went down between these two companies. It's been fascinating to watch unfold.

[NWR_insanolord]

To all those in this thread bashing Madden right now, keep in mind that both myself and especially our tyrannical dictator esteemed director Neal Ronaghan are fairly devastated by this news, being big fans of last year's game.

Don't bash Madden just because you aren't familiar with it; everyone here gets so upset when people do that to Nintendo, but now are so quick to do so themselves when it's something they don't care for personally.