Not So Fast: Rayman Legends Delay May Be a Necessary Evil

Gamnesia: I know many here and across the net are giving Ubisoft a lot of flak over the Rayman Legends delay for the Wii U. It's ironic how one game delay is causing such a stir after how stellar Ubisoft has been lately, outside of the fact they were the only third party publisher to properly support the Wii U at launch (seriously, why is all their credit for that lost over one delay?). It's rather astounding how people want to boycott Ubisoft on the Wii U ignoring the fact they gave us one of our only third party exclusive titles in ZombiU... and unlike Razor's Edge, it hasn't been moved to other platforms. They also gave us Assassin's Creed III, while most other major third parties came up with excuses to not port their blockbuster hits, many of which have yet to come out (so they have had more time than Ubisoft did to make it happen).

[PopRocks359]

It would be difficult to effectively port ZombiU without retooling all of the second screen functionality. And even if they kept it, it would require players to have a Vita with their PS3 or a SmartGlass with their 360 (or something of the like).

Look, I don't mind it going multiplat, I really don't. I've always expected Legends to go multiplat because its predecessor launched that way.

But the decision to delay a finished, ready to release product, effectively screwing over not only the Wii U crowd but their own development team as well, Ubisoft really has painted themselves in a very negative light. And I'm pretty certain I'm not the only one who thinks so. I've seen people who don't even give a damn about the Wii U who thought this was scummy.

It's not like I plan to boycott all of Ubisoft's Wii U endeavors either, in fact I don't plan to boycott this one. But I don't have much inclination to buy the game new when it comes out. There are other, less shady games for me to play this year.

[BullyMangler]

put it like this . and what you are about to read is a FACT .

"Even if Microsoft and Sony join forces, they won't be able to OUTPERFORM Nintendo. No matter how much power they hardware .. .

[wiium64]

i totally agree with you, i like rayman, don't love it, and i for one am not gonna punish ubisoft, besides, i agree with the article, zombi u is better than a ton of rayman legends.

[GenericNameHere]

You mean like how the PS1 and PS2 OUTPERFORMED the N64 and GameCube? Or how about the "fact" that the Xbox 360 and PS3 OUTPERFORMED the Wii (not in sales, but in support of great 1st and 3rd party games)

[BullyMangler]

so for your record, you are saying that ps1 and ps2 were better gaming systems than the N64 and the gamecube??

because ps1 had Turok? and Perfect Dark, and Banjo Kazooie, and Ocarina of Time, and 007? . and metroid prime??, and meLee . and conkers bad fur day, and on and on and on . ?? . ah haa

[GenericNameHere]

@bullymangLer

All subjective, really. You might like those games, and I like other games.

Ok, you name those games, and I'll name mines

PS1: Final Fantasy VII/VII/IX/Tactics; Metal Gear Solid 1; Lara Croft 1-3; Crash Bandicoot 1-3/Kart; Spyro; Syphone Filter; Twisted Metal 1-4; Resident Evil 1-3; Gran Turismo 1-2; Xenogears; Suikoden; Parasite Eve 1 & 2, Silent Hill; Tekken 1-3; Castlevania Symphony of The Night; Star Ocean; Breath of Fire; Rayman; Grand Theft Auto 1 & 2; etc

PS2: Kingdom Hearts 1/2; Twisted Metal Black; Tekken 4/5/Tag Tournament; Gran Turismo 3 & 4; Gran Theft Auto 3/Vice City/San Andreas; Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3; Final Fantasy X & XII; Dragon Quest VIII; Godhand; Ico/ Shadow of The Collosus; Jak and Daxter 1-3; Ratchet and Clank; Guitaroo Man; Guitar Hero; Dark Cloud 1 & 2; Breath of Fire; Spider-Man 2; Socom; SSX; etc

Again, like I said, all subjective. You may think Nintendo has the best games, sure you can think that. It's your opinion, and your taste in games. But if you say NONE of the games I mentioned were any good to you, or say that those games are horrible because they are not on Nintendo platforms, then I thinks it would be fair to assume you're a huge Nintendo fanboy and an "idiot" *excuse that harsh language*

Anyways, try and ask people over 30 years old what their favorite gaming consoles would be. I think most would either say PS2 or SNES... Ask for consoles, not handhelds, cause you'll keep getting the same answer if you do

[lovegames718]

Res. .... To bullymangler

lol havent laughed so hard since the last butthurt delusional fanboy comment I last read. Thats a fact by the way haha Nintendo has been getting outperformed since after the snes days.

[PopRocks359]

No. That isn't factual at all. For one thing Nintendo dominates the dedicated handheld market and the Wii is a #1 contender in the previous generation.

Fair point to make, the others are creeping behind it in sales now, but it's still an incredible success as far as hardware goes. Not to mention the platform has been in first place for a solid, what, five years?

[lovegames718]

Its a fact. Dont know what context your using the term "Out perform" but I know in what, context im using it.

[dennett316]

Care to define it then? If you're talking about hardware power, that hasn't actually mattered since the SNES days....and it didn't matter in all territories then either (Master System outsold the NES, Megadrive outsold the SNES in the UK for example).

Despite Nintendo consoles being "underpowered", they're by far the most successful video games company around. Microsoft and Sony? Their games divisions are almost always in the red for the majority of their systems lives. Both MS and Sony also focus on other things, Nintendo is the last exclusively video game company still creating hardware after Sega ran themselves into the ground.

[MacDonagh]

Legends would've had a better chance of selling more on February than it has in September. Going head to head with GTA V is suicide and the numbers will reflect that Rayman Legends will have died a peasant's death.

[sypher]

Let's be honest here the people who will buy Rayman will buy it regardless of GTA releasing (looking like 10k wii u owners) so not even enough to pay for the food bill whilst developing the game.

It's sales bulk will come from PS3 and Xbox owners. Few hundred thousand at least. And a few hundred thousand at $60 or £35-£39 here in UK is much better than what they would have to charge for it, if they released the Wii U one now.

Sucks for Wii U owners yes, but Ubisoft want to actually at least break even with this game lol.

[MacDonagh]

I slightly disagree on 10k Wii U flocking to buy Rayman Legends because it's not like Nintendo won't have titles out as well when September comes around. Would people flock to Rayman or a previously established franchise on the Wii U? Rayman was already a niche title and to release it during the September season is absolute madness to me.

Don't get me wrong. Rayman Legends looks great but it looked a lot better when there wasn't any other titles stealing the show. That's not even including the games that will be released in-between February and September. Here's just a small list.

Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Metal Gear Rising: Revengence, Pikmen 3, Luigi's Mansion 2, Injustice, Rainbow Six Patriots, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Remember Me, Beyond:Two Souls, Wonderful 101.

And the list goes on and on. I've not even mentioned Fifa or COD that will come around during the September-December period but how much more desirable is Rayman Legends now compared to the games that are going to be on offer during that time?

[rainslacker]

At this point in the Wii U's life-cycle, Rayman Legends would have done really well, particularly since there is not really anything of merit coming out until Mid-March now, and nothing of great worth has come out since launch.

It was in a prime position to be a seller on the system. There are about 4 million Wii U owners. If even half of them are hungering for new games on the system(like myself), Rayman Legends was the best they had.

I think it will sell marginally well like Origins did on it's release, but Ubisoft better not come back and say that no one cares about the game because it's sales are lower than expected due to increased competition on it's new release date.

[sypher]

@MacDonagh The 10k im referring to is how many people 'signed' a petition. Which is basically the Wii U owners who want Rayman. And it's a lot easier to sign a petition than it is to fork over actual money for a game. It needs a couple of hundred thousand unit sales on the Wii U to even start to get any kind of development money back. And other titles right now on the Wii U aren't showing anything like that.

Where as we know just as with origins (which also released in a game heavy month) it still sold a few hundred k on each platform. That is a given, so it is best to take a guaranteed money than losing money. It is a business after all, that's all I'm saying.

[pr0t0typeknuckles]

like i said before microsoft is a reason for why the wii u version is delayed but if i were ubisoft id say screw them, release the wii u version on time and make the ps3 and pc version later, and i dont even have a wii u and im saying this.

all in all this rayman legends thing is another thing that we can add to ubisofts douchebag list
1-where the heck is beyond good and evil 2, and the new rainbow 6
2-milking assassians creed to death
3-putting prince of persia on pause even though the 08 game has a huge cliffhanger, and forgotten sands was mediocre, but they can innovate on assassians creed but not PoP.
4-the online DRM crap, thank god people spoke up for it
5-of course rayman legends delay
6-why would they delay it in the month of september, the same month as GTAV, its like they want it to die,everybody that made a video about the delay all asked the question of "Ubisoft are you stupid"

[rainslacker]

You know for a fact that it was MS policy that is causing this delay? Seriously, I'd imagine if they wanted to do this they would have asked MS if they would have rejected it on their system. What purpose would it serve MS to reject the title when it will still make them money due to licensing fees. However Ubisoft and MS have a good working relationship. It's highly unlikely MS would reject one of their IP's just because it was first on another system.

The only reason I can see is to slow Wii U sales, which is understandable. However, given a September release one title being delayed isn't going to affect Wii U sales that much.

This is more likely due to Ubisoft's policy of publishing games at the same time across all systems to maximize revenue. If a game comes out on another system 6-7 months later, it is just an old game, and sales are affected by it. It sucks that people and companies look at it this way, but that's just the way it is.

The delay to September is probably the time frame they have for getting it ready for those systems. Multi-plat was likely always in the works for this game, and that may be when they were going to release it in the first place.

All that being said. This whole situation sucks, and Rayman Legends was the reason I decided to get a Wii U at launch. I'm looking forward to some of the other announced titles they came out with not too long ago, but I can't play announcements.

[pr0t0typeknuckles]

microsoft has a policy that if a game is not released on there system the same time as the other syatems then that game can never come to the 360.

[rainslacker]

I'm aware of the policy, but nowhere does it state that they WILL not accept it. Just says they MAY NOT accept it.

If Ubi was worried about MS not accepting the game, then they surely would have found out before making this decision. It very well may have been that they did ask MS about this, and MS said "no we won't allow it", but that isn't known, and stating it as fact, as so many are, is just trying to make MS look bad. Your looking for a conspiracy where it may not exist.

The more likely scenario is Ubisoft just decided it would be better for their sales, likely due to heavy market research, just like every other publisher does on a daily basis to make these kinds of decisions.

[admiralvic]

The reason they lose credit for the launch was due to Rayman Legends being delayed... It was ORIGINALLY a launch title that got delayed to launch window and then this. While they did do a good job with Zombi U (mixed reactions aside), they really should have delayed ACIII to be a simultaneous release. Combine the ACIII thing with the 3 delays Rayman Legends has and now you have a LOT of peoples outlooks.

Zombi U wouldn't work on other platforms, since it uses the tablet controller for virtually everything. Even if they DID work it out, it would lose all of its charm / uniqueness if the controller concept was dropped.

While the M$ bit is true, they could skip the Xbox version (saving them dev costs for a xbox port) and just release it on the PS3 / Wii U. Furthermore, I sincerely doubt M$ would reject the title if the PS3 version was out on the same day. M$ and Sony are in more direct competition than M$ and Nintendo, so the Wii U version wouldn't really make a big difference.

According to both Xseed and Nintendo, Operation Rainfall had little to no impact on them bringing the games over. Also there is a HUGE difference been getting the rights / localizing a title vs pressing a disc for a game you already have completed.

The fact you claim anything is "worth 1000x" more than a game you've not played, really makes makes you look like an idiot. The fact is, Rayman Legends was looking to be the first Wii U title that showcased what the Wii U could do. The graphics are stunning (huge leap from Origins) and it made good use of the Wii U's tablet controller functions.

[PersonMan]

I'll buy it for PS3 and I'll also buy GTA V.

[killerorca258]

I agree that Ubisoft have done a great deal of good for Nintendo, and I hope they'll cpntinue to support Wii U in the future, but think of it like this, if you were in tge military and you and your mates had just finished 6 months of the most gruelling training you've ever experienced, and your senior officers were really helpful and kept pushing you and encouraging you, but then after all that you'd done, you were told you would have to do it for another 6 months because two other greenhorn groups would be joining you, without any experience in the field you were trainjng for. Imagine how you would feel, and that's how everyone feels about Ubisofts decision.