This isn't a flame on you, even though it appears you were flaming me (and others) defending Nintendo's position. This is a response to your point of view -- which is limited, however truthful it may be.I love some of you fanboys that say things like "who cares about fifa, EA are gonna fail".
You people need to take your Nintendo Specs off, FIFA is one of the biggest selling gaming franchises, it is played across the entire world, just because you people may not like it doesn't mean nothing, and when EA said they have no games in development for the Wii U at the moment is a HUGE disaster for Nintendo, like it or not games like Madden, Fifa, and Battlefield are system sellers (i should know ive worked in gaming retail for 8 years), and to not have any of these titles for the next year is really bad.
This is the scenario for next year:
Customer walks into a game shop, looks at the Wii U, Next Xbox and PS4.
Wants to buy a new console to play with there friends online on Fifa or BF.
Asks member of staff which one would be ideal and the prices.
Staff member instantly says, "well that counts the Wii U out as there are no Fifas or Battlefields out on this console besides last years fifa"
After having chat with staff member the customer walks out of the store with a PS4/Next Xbox with a copy of the new Fifa/Battlefield.
That will happen a lot, believe me..........a lot.
Unless a customer is looking for a specific Nintendo title....Mario, Mario Kart, Zelda or another Wii Fit then the Wii U is gonna sink fast because most people would prefer to buy the new game on the newer console as it will look better, and trust me when I say the average customer that walks in takes one look at graphics and online capabilities and will dismiss the Wii U altogether.
I love my Wii U but its getting harder to defend, the lack of games is killing it, and to have a company like EA saying they have nothing coming is shockingly bad.
*Flame Suit ON*
As someone who worked retail in a Game Store (Game Stop or something like that, I assume) then this question should be easy for you. For the Wii, if one was going to buy one, what was the top selling game? According to the sources listed below this response, Wii Sports and Mario Kart Wii. Wii Sports went on -- although this is sorta cheating since it was bundled with the Wii originally -- over 80 million copies since 2006. This is compared to the FIFA 11, being 132 on the list -- barely, globally, selling one million copies. Madden NFL 08 is even worse, not even reaching one million copies (and in Japn the numbers are so low that my source has 0 copies sold). Now EA Sports Active, which sold over 3 million units globally did respectively well. However, the follow up went on to sell under two million copies. Usually, when a direct sequel doesn't do well it generally mean the previous owners weren't that happy with the game. If they were, wouldn't you think the second would have at least crossed the 2 million mark? Even looking beyond the Wii, and going back to the GCN days. EA doesn't even get on my top 25 selling games for the GCN. Which means none of their games sold more then one million on the GCN. Looking at the Wii U, it doesn't get much better. I'll just let you look at the numbers, they really do speak for themselves. They are higher on the list -- but there hasn't been many huge sellers yet on the Wii U (sadly, which is Nintendo's fault) -- but even still Madden of FIFA aren't on the top ten list. Top Ten List of Wii U. Meaning, out of all the customers who bought a Wii U (over 3 million customers), not even one third of them wanted a Madden or FIFA game. Combine the sales, sure EA has one third of the Wii U customer base. Which is pathetic.
Looking at these numbers, it is easy to see EA pulling back from Nintendo and not supporting them. Nintendo clearly doesn't need EA to see consoles. Really, Ubisoft and Nintendo are ther system sellers for NIntendo. Ubisoft has confirmed they are committed to the Wii U -- so Nintendo is fine there. As far as I know, Nintendo is still publishing games for the Wii U, and haven't pulled back support to the other platforms (such as the Sony PS3 -- and yes, that is a sarcastic remark). So, with Nintendo and Ubisoft being commited to the Nintendo Wii U. Ubisoft bringing Watch Dogs and Assasins Credd IV: Black Flag to the Wii U (and it's all but confirmed Nintendo is getting the same engine as the PS4 with the same visual assets used for Watch Dogs U). Let's not forget Sega, who also helped sell GCN's, and Wii's and will continue to help sell Wii U with the new Sonic games coming exclusively to the Wii U platform. These are publishers who understand want Nintendo fans want. Who know how to be successful on said platform. EA, sadly, is unable to sustain themselves on the Nintendo platform. This isn't Nintendo's fault. It's EA's.
However, my personaly distaste for EA doesn't come from my dislike for their games. In fact, I like their Mass Effect series and would be interested in Dead Space. The SIMS is always fun. Would probably be a blast on the Wii U. I actually was excited to see Nintendo and EA seem like buddy buddy's E3 2011. No, my distaste for that company is because of choice employee's for making comments that aren't true. You see, when a Microsoft employee makes comments the company doesn't approve of we get an appology and that employee gets fired. EA, on the other hand, either approves of these comments or don't care what their employee's are doing. Either case, it's wrong. These developers obviously don't know what they are talking about. Saying Frostbite 2 and 3 can't run on the Wii U, when said engines are running on the Xbox 360 and PS3. Saying the Wii U is less powerful than the Xbox 360 and is "crap". This is unprofessonial, even if the comments are true. It's meant to harm another company and not meant to be constructive. I will not support a company who bluntly lies about about company. It's not like EA hasn't proven the Wii U graphically, because they have with Need for Speed Most Wanted. I actually wanted that game, and was planning on purchasing it. But I won't now. The reason? Because EA is a horrible company, and they deserve their poor sales they are getting on these titles.
With all that said, Nintendo and EA need to come together and work things out. Nintendo can and will do fine without them. EA will probably do just fine too. However, you can't tell me EA won't want to have a system seller on a platform that has a user base of 40+ million units. I believe Nintendo can easily sell 40 million units in three years, even with the slow start. If Nintendo surpases or even meets that goal, EA will be behind the curve and they won't be able to change it. They are using their resources now, and by the time Nintendo has their system sellers out EA won't be able to move quick enough. I've seen in back with the Wii, with most developers and publishers writing it off until they noticed it was a run away hit. Took time for them to move resources and development to the Wii. Here, most developers aren't counting Nintendo out yet. In fact, Ubisoft did a 180 with Watch Dogs and decided to put a team on making Watch Dogs for Wii U even though they have a lot of their resources making games for the Wii U. That means they believe they can make it profitable, and I have no doubt that they will do well on the Nintendo platform.
Now, to bring this back to how your point of view is truthful. It will mean Nintendo will have a hard time selling to a certain crowd. It will mean that the Wii U will have to be a second system for some gamers. However, Nintendo doesn't need those gamers to sell Wii U's. Nintendo just need their own fans to buy into their platform. Even if they just sell to current 3DS owners, that would be very good. So yes, your point of view is correct. But that doesn't mean Nintendo is doomed. It just means those gamers are going to be harder to reach.
[I]But those aren't the only gamers in the world.[\I].
With that ... I am done.
SOURCES:
GCN Sales
Wii Sales
Wii U Sales