The rift between Nintendo and EA

[The Mole]

We all know what happened to the Dreamcast. IMO part of this was down to the lack of support from EA. Now Nintendo are facing the same thing with the wii-u. Do you think it will have the same impact or do you think it will be less of a problem as Nintendo has such strong first party offerings?

[MarioMark]

I'd have thought Peter Moore was better than this knowing how this effected SEGA back when he was with SEGA in the late 90s. Now he's at EA he's effectively doing the same thing but to Nintendo.

[ExMosquito]

I've heard that theory before, I don't get it though. Are you referring to the EA sport games? Since when have EA carried a console to success? It's a real pity that Sega failed with the Dreamcast. It was the last great home console imo, loads of great 2D games and arcade goodness. EA? Pfffff

[MarioMark]

And to add if it weren't for the Snes and Mega Drive EA wouldn't be the company they are today.

[nakamura]

Since Fifa sold 14.5 million copies.

EA are certainly important in the larger picture but not so much for the Wii U. The biggest problem for the Wii U is that is lacks power to inspire a new generation. If it was even inbetween the power of the PS3/PS4 then EA would have a Fifa game for it this year I feel. As it stands, it is again going to be lagging behind as sports fans want to play their games on the latest tech.

[nakamura]

And to add if it weren't for the Snes and Mega Drive EA wouldn't be the company they are today.

Not quite. Part of the reason the MD succeeded in the US was because of EA and their amazing sports titles. Due to a rift with Nintendo though, they almost completely pulled out of SNES development. Nintendo agreed to reduce cart costs as a result and EA got on board.

[MarioMark]

Oh. So that's why the Snes didn't have Fifa 95?

[nakamura]

I would say that is a big part of it, after all the first Fifa game too ages to come out and it was fantastic on SNES. Fifa 95 was superb on MD and was a pity it never game across.

[J0e Musashi]

If it was even inbetween the power of the PS3/PS4 then EA would have a Fifa game for it this year I feel.

It is. Wii U is more powerful than PS3. EA's own Most Wanted U is the perfect example.

[nakamura]

Barely. Not enough to ensure first class ports of the best selling multiformat games for the next 7 years.

[teddymeow]

And how many copies did it sell? ?50 for a game that you can buy on the other viable formats for ?20...not cool!

[JammyD]

Since Wii U is GameCube MK2, I'd use this as a reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...be_video_games

[Team Andromeda]

And to add if it weren't for the Snes and Mega Drive EA wouldn't be the company they are today.

With out John Madden the Mega Drive would have never have sold as well as it did in the USA. FIFA and John Madden 92 sold millions and millions of Mega Drive imo . EA were utterly brilliant on the Mega Drive and helped to see the system in the USA and UK .

Since when have EA carried a console to success?

Madden and Fifa still millions and millions and EA are so big and powerful even Microsoft had to bow to them close down their XNS network and allow EA to use their own servers, even now FIFA and Madden are big deals to gamers in the Uk and USA

The biggest problem for the Wii U is that is lacks power to inspire a new generation

I think its biggest trouble is that is the age old problem that's Nintendo hasn't addressed ; Not enough titles coming out each month and so retail and 3rd parties don't back the system in the numbers they do for other consoles and it's only going to get worse when the new XBox and PS4 come out

Now Nintendo are facing the same thing with the wii-u.

I doubt it will have anywhere near the same impact with Nintendo being so out of touch on-line and in the GFX they've long since lost the people who play Fifa on-line.

[nakamura]

The problem is, companies do not make products to sell 100,000 to 500,000 units anymore. There were loads of games in the past that were made when the publishers knew they weren't going to sell bucketloads, a profit was all that was needed. With the current generation of consoles, costs seem to be so high that risks are not taken.

Also things like XBLA has caused a split between game types being released at retail. Games like Trials HD are now limited to being ?10 download only titles because of the nature of their style. However I guarantee the 1 million people that have purchased this game have put more time into it than the 4 million that purchased the latest Tomb Raider.

Is Trials worth less than TR?

[Team Andromeda]

However I guarantee the 1 million people that have purchased this game have put more time into it than the 4 million that purchased the latest Tomb Raider.

Its not really a good example . Trials but its very nature and game design makes you replay the game again and again, to perfect the run. TR is a game that after you finished it, you'll not really want to come back to it

The problem is, companies do not make products to sell 100,000 to 500,000 units anymore. There were loads of games in the past that were made when the publishers knew they weren't going to sell bucketloads, a profit was all that was needed

I don't think it's a new problem at all;This started to happen in the 16 bit days really with big corps and boardrooms deciding what games will be given the green light . I remember Archer MacLean going on about the lack of risk being taken in 1993 and how he missed the days of the Spectrum and C64 where you could make the games you wanted to make and not be locked in contracts