100°

EA’s Unprecedented Partnership with Nintendo and Other Fairy Tales

Jonathan Suedmeyer - Ricard Julianti’s third opinion piece looks at the fable that is EA, and how the company is full of lies, deceit, and BS.

EA recently came out and said, “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 developing additional Madden NFL products for Nintendo fans in the future.”

Madden is one of the biggest sports IP’s in the industry today, along with NCAA Football and FIFA, yet EA isn’t developing a version for the Wii U. We have no official word on NCAA and FIFA yet, but all signs are pointing to those not arriving on Nintendo’s console either. If you have several multi-million dollar franchises, isn’t releasing them on everything available the smart thing to do? Especially if you have a strong partnership with one of the oldest gaming companies still in existence? Something here strikes me as…..odd.

Read Full Story >>
playeressence.com
zerocrossing4004d ago

Interesting, I was wondering why EA wasn't planning on releasing any of their up and coming games on the Wii U, looks like we mite know why that's the case now.

showtimefolks4003d ago

Yeh lets hate on EA, I for one like them because unlike a lot of big publishers they actually try new things and game some risks

Their partners program is great for independent developers

But if you have been gaming for 15 plus years than you know 2 things for sure

EA likes Sony a lot since original playstation, their relationship with Nintendo has always been bad

Nintendo home consoles are bought for 1st and 2nd party titles, you don't buy a Nintendo home system to play 3rd party games that's insane

EA few E3's also promised support for wiiu but than the system came out and did quite poorly, now they see the specs for ps4 and future Xbox system and look at wiiu as an obsolete device and their thinking isn't Wong say whatever you want but Nintendo systems don't sell 3rd party games as well as their own exclusives

I am tired of hating on wiiu but I mean come on, didn't Nintendo learn anything from ps3-xbox360?

Where is their online structure? Didn't they lean from start of PSN and an established service like xblive? Why do we have to start from scratch again with anther system? Why couldn't Nintendo look at offerings of other system and at the very least match those from day one?

Also why were the actual specs of the system better? Did Nintendo really expect to compete with future playstation and Xbox With a console that was barely better than the current systems?

Nintendo wanted core audience with HD console offering and casuals With gamepad which resembled iPad but in the end atleast fun until now they haven't been able to get either side to really get on board

EA
Take-Two
valve
CD Project
Crysis developer

Are some of the main publishers developers who won't be supporting wiiu anytime soon.

Say whatever you want about EA but they own a lot of development teams and control a lot of IP's so they are very important to gaming industry, now we may not agree WTH a lot of things or their practices but they also do some things right

zerocrossing4003d ago

I disagree, EA is one of the "worst" publishers in the history of the gaming industry.

Pretty much every new and innovative IP they buy up ends up getting watered down, casualised and/or just plain bastardised in order to appeal to the masses, Fifa, Dead Space, Mass Effect, The Sims, Rock Band and Assassins creed to name just a few, each one of these game franchises has suffered a bitter demise purely due to EA's crapy business ethics that put maximising profits ahead of creating enjoyable quality gaming experiences that appeal to the core fanbase.

EA is under no obligation to develop for the Wii U but I'm sick to death of hearing all the rumours and misinformation being spread as to why they suddenly chose not too, EA knew well ahead of any of us what the Wii U could and could not do, if they had issue with the console being under powered they would have taken that into consideration before announcing that they intend to start development of their games for the Wii U.

It's more than likely that the Wii U's online infer-structure conflicted with EA's pursuit to incorporating DRM into their next gen games, so they decided to opt out of developing for the Wii U and make up some BS to justify it.

3-4-54003d ago

They try things? like what?

ThaBlackBaron4004d ago

This article is the 100% truth! ea is full of $h*t!

jcnba284004d ago

This is ridiculous, EA blatantly lied to everyone's face at E3 2011.

miyamoto4004d ago (Edited 4004d ago )

So did Nintendo with their empty promise of EA partnership. Its them who made that showing.

MasterCornholio4003d ago

Well Nintendo made a lot of promises with the Wii U and so far they havent been able to keep them.

For example Nintendo promised future Wii U owners that the PS4 and the 720 would be similar in spec to the Wii U. Nintendo also promised that the system would receive heavy first party support from the first day that it releases. And Nintendo promised that the Wii U would be swarmed with games from 3rd parties.

They broke their promise on the systems power, heavy first party support at launch and so far it doesn´t appear that the Wii U will have a strong library of 3rd party games.

Im pretty sure that Microsoft and Sony will make some promises and break them like all console manufacturers but the promises that Nintendo broke are quite severe and can be considered another case of false marketing. Like what Randy Pitchford did with Aliens Colonial Marines for example.

Realplaya4003d ago

So it's Nintendos fault that they can't force a developer to release there games that were promised on the system?

@ MasterCornholio what lie did they tell? they went after third parties who at the time were applauding the system. The system is as powerful as they said it it is also they can't force a developer to give us games unless they pay them to release a game that might not sale.

Knightofelemia4003d ago

Wow EA really blew smoke up the consumers ass with the Wii-U promises. I think EA should have released the Mass Effect trilogy on the Wii-Uthen the sales figures wouldn't be so low. Honestly I bought Mass Effect 3 for $20 new and bought Mass Effect 1 on the PSN I finished Mass Effect 2 on PS3 saw no need to re buy it. Lets just hope EA pull their head out of their ass and begin holding hands with Nintendo again and play in the sandbox again. EA not tapping the Wii-U with games does hurt the fans but releasing shotty versions of games also hurts the fans.

Baka-akaB4003d ago

Even with the trilogy instead , the mere fact that it ran as badly , framratewise than its other consoles counter part is a nail in the coffin imo .

The added stuff wasnt even appealing to boot . a map really ? When most times the landscape is a two forked corridor and you'd rather not constantly be reminded of that ?

Gimmick touch stuff and weapons muffled sound coming from the pad ?

mii-gamer4003d ago

Great article. The truth should come out soon

Show all comments (26)
80°

Nintendo's Massacre Of The 3DS And Wii U Is Finally Complete, Regrettably

Hanzala from eXputer: "The cruel hammer of Nintendo has fallen. Farewell, 3DS and Wii U, you surely brightened my life and many others; you won't be forgotten."

280°

Xbox's Preservation Step Sets A Much-Needed Example, Especially For Nintendo

Hanzla from eXputer inquires: "If Xbox can care about preserving its games and legacy, what exactly is wrong with Nintendo, trying to kill game preservation single-handedly?"

purple10110d ago

Ahh yes the good old game preservation of saving all your games to a removable hhd on the Xbox 360, taking it round your mates house, setting up multiple tvs to
Be met with “save data corrupted, please re download”

Or how about removing 360 games
From the store
, download them now or else, and, better hope to god that save data doesn’t corrupt, or it’s lost for ever

Nice one ☝️

Zeref10d ago

It's better than what Nintendo and Playstation is doing. It might not be perfect but at least they are TRYING. Unlike the others.

DarXyde10d ago

Trying? Take off the blinders for a moment, mate.

1. A failure to preserve games is just that: a failure to preserve games. Don't try to sugarcoat it: NO ONE is doing it properly. Better than awful is nothing to write home about.

2. At the time of this comment, isn't it the case that you need an internet connection to play Xbox games even if you buy physical discs that are hardly in circulation anymore? I don't have a Series X and I can't verify, but I think that is correct. I'm fairly certain you can at least play PS5 games at version 1.0 (not much of a win really when many games require day one patches). I think Microsoft's all digital, licensing approach is by far more aggressive than anyone else's. They really try to push you to game pass where you lose your entire library by umm.... Skipping a month of payments.

I don't think anyone is doing it right whatsoever. Don't get me started on Nintendo, who goes after anyone looking to preserve their games better than they ever would with extreme litigation.

Don't be a simp for any of these companies. Get it together.

PhillyDonJawn10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

@DarX never speak on Xbox again. You lost all credibility with your internet connection comment. Smh you have 0 clue and misinformed yet speaking on something you don't no squat about.

Einhander19729d ago

What has Sony done exactly? You guys keep deflecting to Sony but I am not actually seeing any results, and ai am certain nothing that you can come up with even comes close to what Microsoft has done and what they have tried and failed to do, like tie all your disks to your account on xbone.

Microsoft removed their whole indie section when they moved to the xbone because they were going to only allow games on the service that came from a publisher, id@xbox started after xbone launched and it only exists because Sony embraced indie and Microsoft was forced to cancel their plans and reverse course.

And every single game that was part of games for windows live including disk games (I have gta 4 on disk that won't work) so hundreds of games that use that DRM no longer work unless the company themselves patched it out which of course very few did.

MrBaskerville9d ago

Not trying. Tried. they killed of the backcomp program years ago. They set something up again, but sounds like it's more of an attempt to save the current library on whatever they are planning next. With luck they save everything and more, but let's see. I could see them killing off parts of the OG xbox and 360 libraries. Can't imagine that they would allow us to play Forza 5-7 in the future.

With that said, I do like what they've done and really wish they could have done more.

shinoff21839d ago

Zeref

So killing off physical media is trying what exactly. Ms don't really give a fk if you think they do your kidding yourself.

Profchaos9d ago

They are not trying this team is established for forward compatability the team is. It interested in preserving Xbox or 360 games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 9d ago
isarai10d ago

Is that why Hellblade 2 is digital only?

Zeref10d ago

Just because it's digital only doesn't mean you can't preserve it. Just put it on an external and you have the exact same functionality of what a disc does.

MrNinosan10d ago

Guess you're trolling, but if you actually think that's how it works, I'd recommend buying some braincells.

mkis0079d ago (Edited 9d ago )

Volitile vs nonvolitile data. A disc will not corrupt either. A drive can be corrupted.

Einhander197210d ago

This is just a scammy PR move to distract from the fact they are going digital only and trying to push streaming and subscriptions only.

No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft.

Without discs there is no preservation, preservation can't be done by the rights holders it can only be done by the consumers, anything else is a lie.

10d ago Replies(3)
Einhander197210d ago

Anyone remember xblig which Microsoft removed their whole 360 indie section removing hundreds of games from people?

10d ago
10d ago
Zeref10d ago

Do you know you can put your games on an external and preserve them that way? There are no benefits to discs. ZERO. Idk why some of you are still obsessed with them.

DarXyde10d ago

Because games like Persona 5 exist. It's STILL V1.00. On Playstation, that's a win because 1.00 is installed on the disc—no need to download anything.

If a game does not require any updates, it's all on the disc.

Extremely low bar in the modern era, of course. It's not much of a win by any stretch.

But for now, physical media does have a purpose, at least on Playstation.

Einhander197210d ago

That is factually not how game licensing works, try plugging your hard drive into someone else xbox, It's not going to work, and it won't work if the licensing servers ever go down.

Einhander197210d ago

Anyone remember games for windows live.

I have around a dozen games, some on Steam itself that will not work because Microsoft shut off the licensing servers.

BehindTheRows10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

I do. I STILL have games (Gears of War being the big one) I cannot access because Games for Windows LIVE is total garbage and no one has held Microsoft accountable.

Zeref9d ago (Edited 9d ago )

You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership.

Chevalier9d ago

"You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership."

Damn how many times do people got to explain your idiocy to you? You can take a copy of Persona 5 like someone used as an example and play that game on ANY console WITHOUT logging in which means I can lend the game to a friend without internet and they can play my game. Can you lend your hard drive to anyone without logging in for them to play? NOPE. That is a huge difference and if you think otherwise then sorry you're an idiot.

Tacoboto9d ago

"No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft."

Ubisoft is literally erasing games people bought from their libraries... My PS1-3 discs are useless on modern hardware. Nintendo's re-published and resold almost their entire Wii U library, and the eShop is completely dead with no BC mechanism in the Switch software. Microsoft publishes everything they make today day one on Steam and Xbox/Windows. Sony only brings to PC the titles they think you might want some years later and Nintendo won't even design a functional long-lasting joystick.

You're absolutely trolling and not serious if you think Microsoft today is the worst offender.

shinoff21839d ago

Yay steam

Not everyone fks with computers though. The disc is still the best way as a console player. Period.

Tacoboto9d ago

How do Sony and Nintendo feel about these discs from 2001-2013?

Don't be stupid, you know Xbox is the best at this today.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 9d ago
Hofstaderman10d ago

Nobody wants this. Sales or the lack of it in the case of XBOX is very telling. I wonder how the adorably all digital series X will fare. Adorably dismal perhaps?

crazyCoconuts9d ago

Only time will tell, but for from someone like me suspecting that Xbox is trying to gracefully exit the console market, that "forward compatibility" team is trying to get Xbox games playing on Windows PCs. I mean, it's nice that they're not planning on exiting with a "enjoy your games while the hardware still works" message, so that's nice. They still have a brand to protect via Microsoft so probably feel obligated to have a better exit strategy.

Xeofate9d ago (Edited 9d ago )

That is not their plan, their plan is to transfer users accounts to the cloud.

Phil Spencer himself said as much a few months back, plans could have changed but I think people are reading way too much into one statement where Phil said he would allow Epic on xbox because he wants to be able to sell xbox games directly on other platforms. Aka, instead of selling Sea of Thives through PSN he wants to have an xbox store to sell his games on PlayStation without giving PlayStation any money.

Again, it's extremely unlikely that Phil plans to put PC on xbox and licensing would prevent them from just giving out other publishers games purchased on xbox copies of thier games on PC, Microsoft does not own their games.

crazyCoconuts9d ago

The thing that doesn't align with the cloud strategy is the giving up on exclusives. You'd still need strong exclusives for cloud streaming - it's still a "platform" , just with a lower upfront hardware investment. I feel like they've learned what PS learned with PSNow long ago. We're not ready to stream games and it's only gonna lose them money to try at this point

FinalFantasyFanatic9d ago

I would love that, I'd buy up some of the Xbox games if they could run on PC, like the Rare Replay, Lost Odyssey and Dead or Alive Ultimate, probably a pipe dream though.

Show all comments (43)
90°

Nintendo's War Against Player-Made Content Will Hurt The Company In The End

Danish from eXputer: "Nintendo has historically gone against player-made content and emulation of its games. This has done much to harm the company's image."

XiNatsuDragnel17d ago

I agree nintendo hire some these folks to help in your games it'll help imo.

banger8816d ago

They need to stop announcing these mods and fan remakes until they're finished. Finish it, upload it, and then if Nintendo dmca's it tough shit. Once it's online, people can share it around, even if the original download gets taken down.

Jingsing16d ago

True, but most modders need constant admiration during the process to motivate them.

PRIMORDUS15d ago

Yup, once it's a torrent nothing can be done Nintendo is helpless at that point. But it would be wise if they just had a site on the dark web, it's also easy to use with Tor and no one will bother you.

mastershredder15d ago

This is all coming from the mouth of short-sighted fandom and grifting madness.
No.... it wont. There is a clear defined reason why they don't. This is nothing new. Make your own shi7 from your own original ideas especially if you are trying to capitalize of it it. Duh.

Yeah, hire people that have zero respect or understanding for an established process. Wow. Yep. Totally makes sense.

shinoff218315d ago

Those guys that made that sonic game got a gig from sega or something along those lines and that game was dope as hell. One of the best sonics as of late.