EA pulled
this stunt and
this stunt with the Fifa games (they deceived Vita owners, too). Some want to blame Nintendo fans (i.e., the customers) because of their own agenda, but the reality is that when they have practices such as this, wouldn't that affect YOUR customer confidence in EA products? THAT is why their more recent products haven't been as successful as they could have been on Nintendo platforms. THAT, then their decision to drop their degree of support or neglect that set of customers. THAT, and the decision to release a trilogy alongside a single entry, then charge those customers full price while offering other platforms significantly better value for money. That last point is critically important in the current economic climate, because the same customers have much to consider before they part with their money, and for computer games, and for a lot of them, that's becoming an increasingly difficult. When you're voted the worst company and your business defends that title, then perhaps it's time to look within, to look at what you could do as a business to restore customers' faith, not antagonise Nintendo fans. Let us also remember that these fans have a history of supporting EA products, with many million-sellers on the Wii and GameCube. They were successful on the Wii up to a point, and with a good number of titles. Nintendo fans were genuinely excited at the prospect of an 'unprecedented partnership' - Battlefield, Mass Effect, NFS all possibilities on Nintendo's first HD console. But they remember all of the rotten events above, and certain figures at EA telling lies and being cuntish. That said, I do feel that while the state of relations appear to be a mess, I believe that it is rectifiable. I also believe that there are plenty of fans and prospective Wii U owners who would love to buy their games. Cases in point? Need For Speed: Underground 1 & 2 were million-sellers on the GameCube, which is actually an impressive sale-user base ratio. NFS: Carbon was a million seller on the Wii, too. People can knee-jerk all they want about the NFS: Most Wanted Wii U sales, but it's a fact that it wasn't released on a level playing field, and at one point, Wii U owners didn't know it was coming at all, then they were told to buy the game in the hope that they MIGHT be supported with its DLC. So, that's what happened between EA and Nintendo fans. I don't whitewash Nintendo themselves in all of this; Elsewhere, I wrote:
Getting the better/final kits out earlier should have been imperative. I think this measure would've crushed development concerns which came out in in 2011. If you remember, Battlefield 3 was pencilled in for a Wii U release (which ran on Frostbite 2). It was soon cancelled. The kits had seen many improvements since then. If you remember the 'horrible processor' comments, again, these were on early kits during Darksiders 2 development. I suspect that the recent EA storm was in relation to those events, and that they hadn't come back to it since - you could, however, release a Fifa 13 (what some called Version 12.5 with GamePad features, not Frostbite 2, but still an EA game on the platform). MOH: Warfighter (also Frostbite 2) was another title listed in the launch window reel, but never saw a release. So, in this case, I would be critical of Nintendo.
To summarise, EA have much to do to restore customer confidence in their products, especially for those fans. There are plenty of Nintendo fans who would be ready, willing and able to support their games. For Nintendo, they must ensure that all EA developers have the final kits, as well as provide all the necessary help, and perhaps EA can look to Criterion to see how they can get more out of the Wii U. I believe that they will bring games to the console in the future, as well as titles which will exist on the XBoxOne and PS4, but they must adopt a better attitude and approach if the disillusioned fans/customers are to return, and if they are to enjoy more success there.
