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Ubisoft's 2009 lineup-this is why third parties can't succeed on the Wii
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Kotaku broke a story about Ubisoft's upcoming lineup for 2009 and it's filled with some expected titles like Assassin's Creed 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, and some more Tom Clancy games. As far as the Wii goes, the two major titles Wii owners can expect Red Steel 2 and Tenchu: Shadow Assassins, which isn't even developed by Ubisoft.
Red Steel 2? Really? They're putting their money on the number one console into that horrible tech demo. And Ubisoft probably wants to people to pay $50 dollars again just because it's going to use Wii MotionPlus. I haven't seen any screens or actually touched a demo for the sequel, so I may end up being wrong about Red Steel 2. But all I'm going off of is the fact that Red Steel sucked. Hard.
And it gets worst for Nintendo fans as the DS and Wii releases get progressively closer to shovelware. Grey's Anatomy? More Petz and Imagine? I get that it's brought in a lot of money and revenue for Ubisoft and in this economy, they'd be fools not to keep piling it on for 2009.
"2009-10 looks very promising and our teams are working flat-out to provide gamers with the best the industry has to offer," said Ubisoft president Yves Guillemot. "Our line-up comprises several potential blockbusters with the launch of seven franchises, including Assassin's Creed, Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon, as well as four license-based games including James Cameron's Avatar, three new brands and a further-enhanced casual games portfolio. Although we have to be cautious in light of the current economic environment, we expect Ubisoft to once again be one of the most dynamic and profitable publishers in the games industry in 2009."
Is anyone really believing that Ubisoft spends its money and works its ass off on the Petz series?
It's news like this that makes me happy that most of their titles don't succeed financially. When they funnel a lot of their money they make from their shovelware and licensed stuff into the more powerful consoles, it makes me happier to ignore their contributions for the Wii. Would it be that hard to make a port of Assassin's Creed? Or a Rainbow Six game? How is it that Activision seems to be the only one that can actually port a competent copy of their best franchises?
Memo to third parties: I don't know what the reason that you can't take risks and put your best franchises on all platforms but it's not going to help you build a new audience and you're only going to succeed in alienating whatever hardcore Wii owners remain. And if you're still spending $20 million developing titles that already sell, then you're shooting yourself in the foot. You need to take half that money and start putting it into online games you can download. Capcom has proven with Mega Man 9, we're all better off for it.
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