| N4G | VGReleases | BADJoystick | GameNews24 | ZTGD | Price Comparison |

Read

260°

EA chief: The Wii is 'weaker than anticipated'

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello didn't pull any punches when he spoke at a quarterly earnings call earlier this week. As he discussed some of the issues his company faces in today's gaming market, he singled out Nintendo and its Wii as contributing factors.

According to Riccitiello, third-party games on the Wii just aren't performing nearly as well as EA had expected. And as the Wii's sales start to slip, it doesn't seem likely that that will be changing anytime soon.

"To be honest with you, I think the Wii platform has been a little weaker than we had certainly anticipated," Riccitiello said, according to a transcript of the call published by Seeking Alpha on Monday. "And there is no lack of frustration (about this coming out) at precisely the time where we have the strongest third-party share."

Read Full Article >>

news.cnet.com

bebo - contributor
Published: 40 days 21 hours ago | Article | Wii | Industry News

Save | Email | Info | Report | Add Alt Source

Comment Settings

Showing: 1 - 44 of 44 Comments

Shut this user up

Let user speak

RememberThe357 - 40 days 21 hours ago

1 - I don't mean to sound negative,

but gamers have been saying this for years...

Agree(22) | Disagree(3) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

Saaking - 40 days 21 hours ago

1.1 - The Wii is weaker than anticipated

Um, No duh

Agree(21) | Disagree(3) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

Conan997 - 40 days 20 hours ago

1.2 -

yup, would you support a company that tells you this??

http://www.n4g.com/dev/News...

Agree(5) | Disagree(2) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

Noctis Aftermath - 40 days 20 hours ago

1.3 -

isn't this a trend for nintendo systems, how their first party games sell well but everything else sells mediocre/crap?

Agree(3) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

sikbeta - 40 days 19 hours ago

1.4 -

A couple of sentences like:

.Isn't that obvious!
.You don't need to play as Sherlock Holmes to figure that out
.Hell! is a f*cking GC 1.5
.Thanks you Captain Obvious and water is wet too
.Those crappy games doesn't tell anything to you

Are really appropriate this time -_-

XP

@Noctis Aftermath

That's because N have a really supporter fanbase, the nintendo fanbase always is expecting for those First Party tittles

Agree(2) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

velcry - 40 days 19 hours ago

1.5 - This proves once again that console sales are not everything.

In my extended family of 8 households, 5 households bought a Wii, and 2 bought a Xbox360 or PS3.

But then again, those Wii-households bought maybe 3-5 games each - Super Smash Bros, Wii Fit, Super Mario Galaxy, maybe a few other 3rd party titles. Doesn't help that the cousins in those households aren't... "hardcore" gamers.

Me? I've got over 20+ titles in my library, my other HD-enabled cousin has gotten 15+ for his.

EA, try to read the demographics a bit better next time, kthnxbai.

Agree(1) | Disagree(1) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

Maddens Raiders - 40 days 3 hours ago

1.6 - I think I've seen -

this show before from Nintendo. Great fan bases + Golden 1st party games and gimmicks will only get you so far before the lack of hi-tech luster & a strong "hardcore" (3rd party) games lineup wears off. This is 2009 Ninty, not 1999.

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

darthv72 - 40 days ago

1.7 - weaker in terms of sales...not console power.

It is clear he is referring to the lackluster 3rd party sales the wii is generating. Obviously people will constitute this as he is meaning system power (or most will think that). Just because something sells millions for one company doesnt mean it will be the same for others on that platform.

Sorry EA and the rest of the bunch. Nintendo is playing keep away with the good set of library codes and everyone else has to make their own. Some have done a bang up job from scratch (mad world, conduit) and yet dont get the sales because their games lack the name mario or wii-... in them.

A shame really. The ones that bought the wii bought it for the casual approach it brings to gaming. There is a market for the core but it is very small as compared to the casuals. When looking at the 360 and ps3 it is clear there is the opposite. Core first casuals second or sometimes even third. Nintendo is casual first core......somewhere in there.

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

na-no-nai - 40 days 21 hours ago

2 -

that funny we all knew the wii is underpowered to its rivals
but what does being underpowered have to do with making qualities games on it

Agree(9) | Disagree(2) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

dchalfont - 40 days 19 hours ago

2.1 -

just how many accounts do you have nainainai????

Agree(4) | Disagree(2) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

Chubear - 40 days 20 hours ago

3 - ...

Ouch

Agree(4) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

crck - 40 days 20 hours ago

4 -

You guys do know that he is talking about Wii software sales being weak and not the system right? But yeah I would say it's weak on both counts. I remember Riccitiello saying last year that EA bet on the wrong horse with too many games in development for PS3 and 360 and not enough on the Wii. This guy did the worst thing a gambler can do. He second guessed himself and is paying for it now.

Agree(5) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

Smacktard - 40 days 20 hours ago

4.1 -

You know, alternatively they could put out some genuinely good Wii games instead of the same football and whatever yearly rehashes that 360 and PS3 owners eat up. I bought Boom Blox and Boom Blox: Bash Party, the only two EA Wii games that appeal to me.

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

scissor_runner - 40 days 20 hours ago

5 -

What is funny is we are all luaghing at 17 million trade INS but EA just wish the wii was so gulliable. Pc gamers and many are not getting it and I would doubt it if the servers are attacked those mods guys mean bizniz.

Seriouly wii gamers only play fun games. It is only weak if you are seriouly a weak developer. What is sad is creative games on HD will never get close to these games. If uncharted 2 is so good then is it not doing these numbers or what about the halo? Killzone who?

I love it when the 3do guys try to talk junk.

Lol ea did bet on the wrong horse they should just fire every one else and make fps like I'd did.
We all knew EA could notreally make good console games. I think red steel 2 may actualy prove them wrong. Yet really extraction was forgotten even on hd consoles. EA load is spent they have nothing left.

I wonder how many will ever buy another ea war game? Will they see the ut3 effect pretty soon? Who knows boy was that painful.

Agree(1) | Disagree(1) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

Arius Dion - 40 days 16 hours ago

5.1 - EA

Needs to know its roll and shut their mouths. You want to know what's weaker? Their effort on the Wii. They are disappointed in the Wii? We're disappointed in THEM. And guess who gets the final say?

I don't give a damn about Saturday morning cartoon Madden, I actually bought Grand Slam Tennis and returned it because it was half assed, Extraction? Dead Space didn't sell on HD platforms but an on-rails spin off is supposed to do Mario kart numbers? Please. Nitro? looked promising until I heard it had no online. Mario Kart had online, I mean c'mon.

Wii owners do not get blinded by hype. Hype kills. Hype is empty promises. Hasn't EA Sports Active sold more than Madden on a single platform? Tiger 10 is where I take my hat off to EA for actually making a worth while game for Wii. But all this blaming and shi*. Whining is for babies.

EA needs to put up or shut up. Their act is getting old anyway. Annual renditions of Madden and the like with basically a roster update. It's just like guitar hero and we see where that cow is headed..straight to pasture. Call of Duty ain't the far behind either, how long will people remain sheep?

I'll put it this way: Third parties, you work for the gamers not the other way around. If your game doesn't sell that's your own damn fault!

Agree(2) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

Alpha-Male22 - 40 days 20 hours ago

6 -

Nintendo deserves this. Actually, the probably don't even care. But they know what they did with their Wii (grow up readers) and they know the standards that the competition put up. They clearly had a different plan and congratulations to their success, but really, I don't see why this is newsworthy. It's not controversial or shocking that someone states this fact about the Wii.

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

nintendostar - 40 days 20 hours ago

7 -

He's going to look kinda bad tomorrow

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

scissor_runner - 40 days 20 hours ago

7.1 -

It is really sad to see gamers agree with this guy just because they hate nintendo lol. Also he does not care about returns he has his money now. What is sadder is you have gamers that love this game even though they where over charged lol. EA is a rich mess right now. At least wii gamers do not treaten to trade in top games.

I'm just wondering when these new comers will get tired of these games.

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

neonlight45 - 40 days 20 hours ago

8 -

Wii may turn out to be one of those consoles where there has to be a successor every four - six years

Agree(0) | Disagree(1) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

Seferoth75 - 40 days 7 hours ago

8.1 -

So pretty much a normal console... That is just sad and proof of whats wrong with most gamers... Here you are commenting trying to slam the Wii and in the process call it a normal console, but you don't have the gaming knowledge to actually know what you are saying. 4-6 years is the norm. Oh but wait one gen Sony went 7 years... I guess 1 console going 7 years while the rest for 4-6 means that the norm is now 7 years even though only one console ever did it?

Agree(1) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

born hell - 40 days 20 hours ago

9 -

nintendo has gone casual.

Agree(0) | Disagree(1) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

Shnazzyone - 40 days 20 hours ago

10 - Sigh.. EA

Let's cover what you've done for the wii in the last year...
Madden 10: You gimped the formula insulting wii gamers

Need for speed: Nitro: You gimped the formula Insulting wii gamers

Dead Space: Extraction: You gimped the formula insulting wii gamers.

Are you detecting a pattern? I am!

Stop treating the platform as if it can't handle anything realistic looking. It has more power then the Xbox!! Spend money on making it up to this generations standards and spend the money on the advertising to push the damn units. Developers don't seem to understand your not going to sell units if you don't tell people the game exists.

Agree(4) | Disagree(3) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

scissor_runner - 40 days 20 hours ago

10.1 -

Obviouly they don't care 7 million people bought this lol and it's a gimped hd version of the gimped pc version. They should just change their name to gimped arts GA or electronic gimps or better yet pimps lol.

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

maniacmayhem - 40 days 19 hours ago

11 -

Funny how EA was one of the companies praising the Wii and if i'm correct dedicated a whole team to develop just for the Wii. All they saw where $$$ from Nintendo's superior first party titles and thought they could cash in with quick gimmicky controls and under par games.

Shame on you EA! Dead Space should not have been a first person shooter on rails! The Wii is more than capable of handling a third person action survival horror game.

Agree(2) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

dib8rman - 40 days 19 hours ago

12 - EA

Made some nice games on the surface.

But they didn't have much to do with content.

If they had gone to over the head 2d madden or NBA Jam 2.5d and added the crazy fun NBA Jam 95 had and made the pace faster, cut the jetsam and other cookie cutter jumbo out and just made it fast paces scoring unfair dirty fun that would make the two players almost wanting to strangle each other for being so low as to flaming slam dunk from the other end of the court to win. XD

Content EA content.

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

Product - 40 days 18 hours ago

13 -

I find it funny how EA blames Nintendo for their games not selling on Wii. They want Nintendo to help them "partner" with EA, why should they? You treat Wii games like they are sub-par. Yes we did get a great couple of sports titles in the form of EA Sports Active, Tiger, and Grand Slam Tennis, but what about the other titles? I tell you ... sub-par.

Ea once said "we will rival Nintendo in quality on their own console"..........really? You haven't done anything near that or your titles such as Dead Space would have sold. Doesn't help that EA had so much faith in Dead Space that they understocked it, and major retailers such as Walmart or Target are either in extremely low quantity, or not even on the shelf.

Come on EA, listen to the customer instead of guessing what trend is hot or what might sell. When you listen to the customer, you always win.

Now they fire and "layoff" employees at EA. EA I'll give you a little business tip. Since decisions come from the top, why are the pawns getting fired and not you? Riccitiello, you should fire yourself and put an actual gamer in your spot to make decisions. Then maybe your company could go somewhere on Wii.

You have people who don't care about gaming running these companies and it is taking its toll on one of my hobbies. Why should people who have no interest in video games outside of the money be in control of one of my hobbies?

Regardless, EA is failing on Wii because they are not giving customers what they want. We wanted a true football sim and instead got a wannabe NFL Blitz. We wanted a true Need for Speed and we got a sub-par Burnout, we wanted a third person Dead Space and got a House of the Dead Space. After all these examples, EA wonders why Wii owners are not stupid enough to buy into their half assed titles.

Agree(3) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

Arius Dion - 40 days 15 hours ago

13.1 - Damn Product

If I'd've read your post first it woulda saved me the three minutes it took for me to write basically the same thing.

Any way, agreed, 100%.

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

eagle21 - 40 days 16 hours ago

14 -

EA should just go make games that are....... i don't know...good? lol

Agree(1) | Disagree(1) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

eagle21 - 40 days 15 hours ago

14.1 -

Trust me, I know who disagreed. He is the definition of wack. :)

Agree(2) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

Arius Dion - 40 days 15 hours ago

14.2 - LOL

Your second post gave me a good laugh. Thank you, I needed that.

Agree(2) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

sidar - 40 days 13 hours ago

14.3 -

Go on then, tell us D=

Agree(0) | Disagree(1) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

lizard81288 - 40 days 16 hours ago

15 - didn't EA

also blame wii owners for their games not selling well, or at least DS:E? i thought EA was making a killing with nintendo. sometimes i think there only a handful of devs treating the wii right, like Capcom. sure they gave us Rail Shooters 7_7 but we have other great games like zack and wiki, TvC, the best PORT of okami, the best PORT of RE4. hell, instead of just bringing TvC to America, there adding content which is awesome, and what have you done EA? it seems like your underestimating the wii. do you know why 1st party games sell so well? because they are fun, last long and most of them a replay value. i browsed through your website, and all you(EA) seem to have are party games, and the My Sim series on the wii.
and your wondering why your not doing well on the wii?

Agree(1) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

rmedtx888 - 40 days 16 hours ago

16 -

Only Grandmas and poor people love the wii and they don't buy games.

Agree(1) | Disagree(1) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

scissor_runner - 40 days 9 hours ago

16.1 -

Wow the wii is for every one yet you seem butt hurt over older people playing video games. I wonder if the kids and other people in your family like playing HD games?

Mw2 confirmed that only fps newbs buy games for hd console. This includes old people just like patcher. You know he is some where spamming grenades. 7 million yet uncharted 2 can only get 600,000 sad. Is mw2 that much better than u2.

Gamers intelligence pool must be pretty low right now. HD games don't even run in HD lol.
You guys are so clueless.

Agree(1) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

EpsilonTeam - 40 days 14 hours ago

17 -

Another question.

Where are the rpgs for the system? none.
DS has more rpgs than any other platform combined and it's doin' more than great.
I hate to admit it but ds is the definitive rpg system.

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

sidar - 40 days 13 hours ago

17.1 -

"Where are the rpgs for the system? none. "

Underway xD.

FF:CC:CB
Arcrizefantasia
Tales of graces

and then some?

it already had some rpg's, just cant remember their names xD

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

Dark-vash - 40 days 11 hours ago

17.2 - here's some more

Tales of Symphonia
Okami
Valhala Knights
Super Paper Mario

That's all i can remember for now...

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

hatchimatchi - 40 days 8 hours ago

17.3 -

okami and super paper mario are not rpg's

okami is an adventure game similar to zelda

super paper mario is 2.5D platformer

they're both good games though

Agree(0) | Disagree(1) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

Dark-vash - 40 days 7 hours ago

17.4 - well

I agree with you to some point...

In my opinion even Zelda is a RPG!

Paper Mario, well, it has some RPG features, like leveling up

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

sidar - 40 days 13 hours ago

18 -

Sales wise people, lol.

But hey if you make an onrail....nevermind....not gonna bother.

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

TrollSlayer - 40 days 11 hours ago

19 - EA made the same amount of revenue on wii as they did on PS3

so those saying wii doesnt sell third party games are saying that PS3 doesnt sell games either.

to me Tiger woods, Boom Blox (and sequel) and Extraction are |EAs best wii games. As a gamer im glad we got extraction but i think it was the wrong product for EA. Theres clearly a market on wii for on rail zombie games but dead space wasnt a good IP to use. I think EA could have had more success if they had put more effort into Spore hero. With a higher level of quality and strong marketing behind it i reckon that game could have sold very well

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) |

20 becoolbiz300 | 40 days 8 hours ago - deleted by mod -

Shut this user up

Let user speak

lizard81288 - 40 days 4 hours ago

21 - RPGs

Phantom Brave
Super Robot Wars Neo
Arc Rise Fantasia
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
Rune Factory Frontier
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
Arc Rise Fantasia

i'd say the DS has TONS of RPGs, if you like RPGs, then i suggest getting a DS.

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) |

Shut this user up

Let user speak

na-no-nai - 40 days 3 hours ago

22 - @2.1

what do you mean? why would i waste my time on arguing with people who dont listen and crap.
so therefore i only need 1 account and that all i ever need unless my acc get hacked and toss out

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) |

Showing: 1 - 44 of 44 Comments

Add Comment (Gamer Zone)

Gamer Zone Posting Guidelines
The Gamer Zone is for members who want a more friendly and civilized discussion. This section is heavily moderated by the N4G staff, so leave your fanboyism at the door please. Members who are unable to behave in a mature and respectful manner will be temporarily or permanently restricted from posting in the Gamer Zone. Using words such as Xbots and Sony droids, or other words from the console war vocabulary, is strictly prohibited in this Zone.
Read More...

You must log in to post comments.

Username:

Password:

Remember

Join N4G

Login

About N4G

N4G is a social game news site that covers the game industry 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
More Info... | Submit News

- Site Menu
  
  Game Index
  Help & Info
  
  RSS Feed
  Feedback
  
  Full Menu...
  Webmaster Tools